On July 17th the day started off with overcast. Club members got their early, like always, but there wasn't much to do except wait. Griffin got on the sim for some training. he did multiple tows and landings trying to refine his technique. Griffin needed to work on landing on center stripe and not over controlling the aircraft. By the time his instructor got there, Griffin had made great progress. Before lunch our instructor, Ryan, helped two of the students set up their Iacra account. This allows them to get a student pilots license, which they will need to solo. The club members then all got together for a hot dog lunch with chili and pecan pie from the Koffie Kup.
Clear skies
By one O'clock the overcast layer was up to 3,000 and by two the clouds had scattered. Ryan took students up for training. James went up for the first time today, and got to work some thermals. He got a lot of practice in a two knot thermal. While it may not be fun to circle in a narrow two knot thermal, it is an important skill to learn. It helps a student learn how to center a thermal and manage their airspeed to gain the most lift. James is a CFI for powered aircraft, bu he is adapting well to our gliders. James is working on his commercial license so that he can take the next step to getting his CFI for gliders.
Member Flights
A few of members took flights as well. Taylor took his Grob up, and after a quick landing for communication issues in his glider, he caught a tow and spent the rest of the day in the air. Wally took two flights in the club Grob. One with Stephen and another with Elaine. Paul also took his glider up and like always he was the last one to land. With so many aircraft in the sky at once a couple of pilots would use the same thermals. A lot of times, glider pilots will communicate over the radios letting other pilots know if they've found a good thermal. With mostly two to four knot thermals in the area, the gliding wasn't too great. However this didn't stop our pilots from making the most out of the day.
