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My first look at SkySight looks nice for Saturday. Sunny, lift up to 1600′ agl at up to 2.5 knots. Wind is northerly at 3 to 8 knots. The high temperature is forecast to be 51. Sounds a lot like last Sunday. Maybe DJ and Trigg could or would like to get in one more solo if the pattern holds up. I’ll keep an eye on SkySight and report. John Lincoln
Members, with all due respect to Art, the sixth member of the board is Maintenance. Respectfully submitted John Lincoln
A couple clarifications. The length that is currently being evaluated is 1,400′ starting 200 feet west of the west threshold markers (roughly where the tow plane starts when towing) and ending abeam the east hangar. The width is 30′. However due to the need to “blend in” the highs and lows and the fact that there will be some “extra” material the effective width will be around 32 to 36 feet.
I have not gotten competitive quotes. I have gotten estimates in the last few years for regrading and replanting the runway from Eric Ponch and Chuck Polito. Those estimates have both been well over $100,000. With those prices I stopped investigating with them as I felt that the club could not and would not proceed with them on the regrading.
As to a GA pilot landing on our runway there is a possibility of trouble. It would be reasonable to X out our runway for some period while the grass is growing back in.
If we turn onto our regraded area when going to fast or any other reason I suppose we could damage the work or the plane. I would hope that our pilots would know of what we have done and plan their landings accordingly. After all we will still have the side of the runway for launching, and the side of the runway as well as the taxiway for landing.
“Filling” the “Bumps” isn’t a possibility. “Cutting” the “Bumps” off and filling the “holes” isn’t a possibility either because the “cutting” process doesn’t work with the amount of turf we have.
John Lincoln
John P.,
At the end of the year I have to tie my boat to its trailer. Although I’m a sailor the easiest knot for this purpose is the simple half hitch. I put in several in case one or two come loose. I also feel that several “granny knots” would serve us just fine. Surely even our members can tie three or four “granny knots”. But if not then we need to come up with something else because they have demonstrated that they can’t operate the locking buckles or ratchet straps. I do remember when I took some power lessons in the 1960’s the flight school tied down the Cessna 150 with chains that were the exact length to go from the tie down fixture on the ground to the tie down ring on the plane. Maybe that is what we need to look into. John Lincoln
Fellas, I have been a member of the club for 5 years and this problem continues to come up. I can’t say I know the solution, but it’s time for us to come up with a secure and easily understood and repeatable method of tying the ships down. Maybe it’s as simple as going back to a rope and a knot. That may not be as quick as our current method of locking buckles or ratchet straps but it is easy to understand and repeat. John Lincoln Maintenance
Here’s your Friday update from SkySight.
Saturday lift from 3.1 to 3.9 knots going up to 4300 AGL. Cu’s starting around 1:30 with bases around 5700 MSL but falling as the afternoon progresses. Surface winds are up to 13 knots out of the NW. Lift ending between 3 and 5 pm.
Sunday, solid overcast and rain showers. No lift. Wind SW to NW at 3 to 5 knots.
Maybe Monday will be better.
I’ll be out on Saturday no matter what but with the persistent low up in Minnesota this forecast could change again. See you tomorrow. John Lincoln
The Thursday update. On Saturday lift is starting out at 3.9 knots but dropping to 2.1 knots as the afternoon wears on. The wind is still 12 knots but is now WNW. Cloud base is now down to 5000′ MSL. It still looks like cu’s most of the day. The high temp is 51 degrees, bring your jacket! SkySight does forecast rain at 4:30 but it will be scattered so maybe it will miss Sky Soaring altogether. I’m looking at maybe some streeting and it still looks like a nice day.
Sunday lift starting at 3.1 knots dropping to 2.3 knots as the day wears on. The wind is down to 6 to 7 knots and is WNW to westerly. No cu’s are in the forecast for Sunday. It will be a bit warmer with a high of 55 degrees. Probably a very nice day for instruction.
Looks like there is enough interest to at least get an operation going. Any more interest? John Lincoln
Barrett, Sky Soaring is not closed for the season. The runway work has NOT started (and may not start in what is left of the season). If something does happen with respect to the runway it WILL be posted on the web site. John Lincoln Maintenance
John DeRosa, Thanks for the reminder. I know that I don’t check to see if my first AND last names are on the flight sheet. I probably do like some others, I find my name and glider, note the flight number and the (in my case) tow fee and transfer that to the pay envelope. I do my best to be sure that I have added my last name to the flight sheets. John Lincoln
And now Good Evening sports fans! If you have been following the weather like myself or waiting for me to post something you have probably noticed the precipitation that has darkened my afternoon. SkySight has noticed. First the forecast winds are up to 9 to 10 knots still out of the se. The thermals are now down to 2.7 knots and only go to 2990′ agl. And at 2990′ agl the winds are 17 to 20 knots mostly out of the south. Now no Cu’s. And when I look at the radar map of Illinois there is a low due south of us that’s barely moving. So put it all together and I am going to stay home and finish the mowing that the rain stopped me from doing today, provided it isn’t raining tomorrow. Sorry if I got your hopes up. I hope there will be one more nice day for soaring, but time is getting short. John Lincoln
Good morning sports fans. I started this thread so I feel I should be keeping everyone updated on it. SkySite has changed it’s forecast for tomorrow. The lift is the same, 3 knots, height at 1:30 is a bit higher at 4,000 msl. Basically no Cu’s now. More wind 8 to 9 knots out of the SE. Top of lift is 4,100 agl. The bad news is lift is forecast to die between 3:30 to 4. We might get 2 hours in but maybe not. Since SkySite updates their forecast throughout the day I’ll follow it and give an update late this afternoon or this evening. John Lincoln
