March Snow Fly-In Report

March Snow Fly-In by Joe Gilbert The day started out with unpredicted gusty winds and I imagine this keep some members at home. Too bad as it turned out to be one of the best flying days of the season! The winds did subside and the temperature climbed to 51 degrees under a bright sun. An absolutely fantastic day! Wayne and I arrived just before 8:00 am to set up the stove, tarps and do any required snow shoveling. We decided there was no need for the stove as it was quite comfortable with just the tarp in place. Members started arriving shortly thereafter and we did have a fair turnout. Roland, Bob, Paul, Don Finnemore, Gary Grant, and Ron Gregory joined us for at least some portions of the day. Of these members, all except Ron and Gary got in at least a few flights as the day progressed. Our greatest issue during the day was the sticky snow. The larger planes such as Bob's Kadet and Wayne's “Ole Weird Harold” had a difficult time breaking free from the sticky snow. We ended up scraping off the top layer of snow creating a runway and that made liftoff possible. Much of the flying was with sailplanes being launched by either Bob's or Wayne's planes. This was the test flight of Wayne's “Ole Weird Harold” with a glider launcher on board! I flew my three sailplanes, Gentle Lady, Essence, and HLG, Paul his Vista, and Bob his Spirit and his new SIG Riser. Don managed a couple flights with Bob's Spirit so hopefully, he will join the sailplane flyers group! The high point of the day was Bob's new Riser. His maiden flight was over twelve minutes and second was probably close to a half hour and he had to deliberately bring the sail plane down. It was so high we could hardly see it! Needless to say, Bob is pleased with this new addition to his fleet. Chef Wayne cooked hamburgers for lunch and we had plenty of donuts and chips for everyone. I think it was close to 3:00 PM before we all left for the day. As mentioned above, the best flying day of the winter season.