In Memoriam - Lee Imlay
by Bill Ordway
Long-time ASA member Lee Imlay passed away March 8th after several months of illness caused by liver Cancer. He was seventy-five. His memorial service was held March 12, and many friends joined the family to pay tribute to a fine man with an outstanding aviation career.
Lee grew up in Indiana, and at age 18 was accepted into the Air Corps. He ended up flying P-51’s and had a number of missions escorting B-29’s over Japan to his credit. After WW II he attend Spartan Aero, obtained his A&E certificate, and worked as a mechanic until the late 1940’s when he hired on as a pilot with Northwest Airlines. He stayed with Northwest flying DC-3’s, Martin 220’s, DC-6’s, DC-7’s, Boeing 707’s and 747’s until his retirement in 1977. Lee was captain on many overseas flights, both in propeller and jet aircraft.
He started flying gliders with his son Scott in 1972, and owned a 1-26 for many years, a bird which Scott now owns and has flown well in several contests. He also had a Citabria for several years which he kept at his home in Stellar Airpark.
Lee gave a lot to the soaring community. He and Boots (married in 1947 and celebrated their 50 th anniversary just a few weeks ago) were always available to help on contest staffs, be in the gate, window, line - what have you. They made a great team, and I was fortunate to work with them on a couple of Region 9 contests, as well as a 1-26 Nationals here in Arizona. They helped at a Region 8 contest in Washington and several local ASA Contests. Lee was a jack-of-all-trades and helped refurbish the ASA Blanik at one time. He will be missed by his many friends.
World Team Pilots Prep with ASA
The ASA Contest Series at Turf on May 3-4 marks a notable milestone in the history of ASA. Our own Bill Bartell will be joined by his 15-meter teammate, Gary Ittner, to fly the tasks as part of their preparation for competing at the World Soaring Championships at St. Auban, France later in the summer. In addition, several open class pilots from Colorado are reported to have scheduled a trip to Arizona that same weekend to participate. Let’s hope for great weather and a call by the CD’s that is worthy of this caliber of competition. Come out and measure your skills against America’s best. After the flying on Saturday, Bill has invited everyone involved to his new house in north Phoenix for fun, relaxation and (not by coincidence) to have an opportunity to donate to the World Team fund. Details will be provided at the pilots meeting.
Be Alert in General Aviation Training Area
by Andy Durbin
CFI, glider, airplane, instrument
In general power pilots and glider pilots, unless rated in both, maintain a resilient ignorance of each other's operations. At a recent power club meeting I was asked how far away from Turf would gliders be found. My answer of several hundred miles was clearly at odds with his expectations. He was looking for assurance that gliders would not usually venture as far as "his" North West Practice Area. I told him that most glider pilots had never heard of his practice area and had no idea what frequency he would be using in that area. In the spirit of co-operation, I told him I would pass the word about the practice area lest one of each sub-species of aviator unwittingly attempt to occupy the same airspace at the same time.
The Deer Valley North West practice area is , surprise, North West of Phoenix Deer Valley airport. I have never seen a definition of it's extent but personal observation places it North of Carefree Highway, East of Turf, South of the foothills, and West of I17. Since this area is undefined I assume it is subject to wide interpretation by different instructors. Aircraft in this area are between perhaps 6,000 ft and the surface and working various maneuvers such as stalls, steep turns, chandelles, lazy eights, simulated engine failure landings, etc. One thing is common to all these exercises. The student is fully occupied and the instructor is busy observing his performance. Neither is thinking much about gliders. Some, but not all, aircraft in this area use 122.75, the "air to air" frequency, to announce their position and intentions. A typical call would be "Cessna 25H, 1 mile West of the shopping mall at 5,000 for commercial maneuvers".
The bottom line: If you fly in this area look for power traffic and expect it's movements to be unpredictable.
ASA Turnpoints
by Doug Bell KD
Attached to this issue of Air Currents is the latest listing of ASA turnpoints. You might want to check these against your charts, or update your GPS database. To that end, the turnpoints that have been verified using ground based GPS at the turnpoint are marked with bold turnpoint numbers. All other turnpoints coordinates are from charts or other sources.
I’d like to work on updating the database with more GPS obtained coordinates. If you find yourself near any of these turnpoints, and just happen to have your GPS with you (can you spell "landout"?), take a fix and forward the coordinates to me and I’ll update the database. Over time, we should be able to have a pretty accurate set of coordinates for all our turnpoints. Keep this in mind if you’re planning any trips around Arizona. I obtained a number of the coordinates on my way to Colorado last year without having to deviate much from the planned route.
Note that the numbers shown in this list correspond to the numbering used in the turnpoint photo book and do not correspond with the list sent out by Tony in the contest packets. In some cases, the numbers don’t match the turnpoint books used in the Region 9 contest at Estrella a couple of years ago. Those numbering changes were necessitated by a limitation in the computer scoring system. With several numbering systems in use, I had to pick one, so I picked the traditional numbers shown in previous versions of the turnpoint book.
AOPA Says Final Part 61 Pilot Certification Rules Mostly Good, But Disappointed Medical "Self-Certification" Defeated
FREDERICK, MD - The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association says there are many positive points in the new Federal Aviation Administration regulations covering pilots, instructors and flight schools. But the association expressed strong disappointment that the Department of Transportation had eliminated medical "self-certification" for Recreational pilots from the original proposal. FAA is expected to publish the final rule in the April 4 Federal Register.
"It appears FAA kept most of the good and threw out most of the bad," said AOPA president Phil Boyer. "We're pleased that FAA fixed most of the problems we found most onerous. But the process was too long, too complicated, and too political.
"We're extraordinarily disappointed that when the new regulations left the Department of Transportation, the reasonable, safe proposal that would have saved money for Recreational pilots by exempting them from Third Class medical certification requirements had been deleted."
But AOPA noted the new rules contained many changes that would improve safety and reduce the cost of flying, including more reasonable instrument currency and training requirements, cost-saving changes in Private pilot training requirements, and more privileges for Recreational pilots.
The final rule retained nine of ten proposals AOPA said would be most beneficial to general aviation, and modified or eliminated most of the "32 most onerous" proposed changes that would have harmed general aviation.
FAA first released its proposed revisions to the Federal Aviation Regulations Parts 1, 61, 141 and 143 in August, 1995.
The omnibus rewrite of the pilot certification and flight school regulations had taken 11 years and when published in the Federal Register, consumed 124 pages of small print.
AOPA answered with an 86-page response, the largest ever in the Association's 57-year history. The massive rule change also drew a huge response from the aviation community, with more than 5,000 comments submitted to FAA.
FAA responded to pilot concerns
"The final rule reflects most of the concerns of AOPA and the aviation community," said Boyer. "FAA listened, kept most of the good and changed most of the negative proposals we found most detrimental."
AOPA had identified ten proposals in the original Part 61 rewrite providing economic or administrative relief to general aviation. Nine of the ten positive proposals are in the final rule, including:
(portions deleted - ed)
Recreational pilot 50-mile limit lifted
Recreational pilots will now be able to fly cross-country after completing additional training and obtaining an instructor endorsement.
Medical "Self-certification"
Medical "self-certification" was the most significant positive proposal deleted from the final rule. This proposal would have exempted any pilot exercising the privileges of a Recreational pilot certificate from Third Class medical certification requirements.
"AOPA lobbied for unequivocal self-certification, a position also supported by most of the aviation community and professionals within FAA," Boyer said.
Years of safe operation by glider and balloon pilots (who are not required to hold a medical certificate) and medical evidence have clearly demonstrated that medical self-certification for Recreational pilots would not have compromised safety.
Web Pages of Interest to Soaring Pilots
Listed below are a number Internet sites that might be of interest to soaring pilots, along with a brief description of each. Check ‘em out if there are any that peek your curiosity.
Aviation / Soaring
http://www.glider.com/asa/index.html
Home page for the Arizona Soaring Association
http://www.cs.arizona.edu/people/spatsch/thermal/index.html
Home page for the Tucson Soaring Club
http://acro.harvard.edu/SSA/ssa_homepg.html
Soaring Society of America
http://www.wcsa.org/
World Class Soaring Association
http://www.groupgenesis.com/index.html
Group Genesis
http://www.avweb.com/
Aviation Web online magazine for general aviation
http://www.awgnet.com/aviation.htm
Aviation Week and Space Technology
http://www.nasa.gov/
NASA
http://olias.arc.nasa.gov/ASRS/ASRS.html
NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS)
http://www.tc.faa.gov/
FAA Technical Center
GPS
http://www.flsun.com/boating/ads/sigma.htm
Sigma Marine
http://www.vitinc.com/nn/mud/el/el6.html
VIT Electronics
http://www.navcen.uscg.mil/gps/gps.htm
US Coast Guard
Weather
http://saguaro.la.asu.edu/nws/textproducts/PHXSFDPHX
Phoenix Forecasters Discussion
http://grads.iges.org/pix/fcstkey.html
Guide to the Forecasts and Analyses
http://WWW.WEATHER.COM/
The Weather Channel
http://grads.iges.org/pix/avn.fcst.html
Avaiation Model Forcast Images
http://grads.iges.org/pix/head.html
IGES Weather and Climate Information
1997 Contest Series News
by Tony Smolder TS1
The 1997 race season is well underway and if you are waiting for the soaring to get good then you have missed the boat and some truly outstanding cross country days in March.
Pre-season Contest 3/1/97 at Turf
Another weak day but never the less it was once again soarable. The taskmaster John Goodman made a fairly conservative call of Forepaugh and return for 88 miles. Getting out of Turf proved extremely difficult and although most pilots got on course most abandoned the task less than 15 miles out. The one loner was TS1, who pulled a sneaky one by calling PT when he was struggling low and asked if he wanted to change the task. PT replied "if we can make Wickenburg and back we’ll be lucky". TS1 predicted this answer and was at 8K just 10 miles out of Wickenburg and dashed in for the turnpoint and back out again. The sink was merciless coming out and at 1000’ over Circle City TS1 looked like he would be buying dinner, but a low save brought him home for the only modified task completion for the day - although with much controversy from CH who insisted that the task cannot be changed in the air (See ASA rules for clarification).
Pre-season Contest 3/15 and 3/16 at Estrella
One word describes this weekend - AWESOME! Some of the best soaring conditions this year greeted 10 pilots on Saturday for 100% task completions! The taskmaster was Bill Bartell and with a somewhat marginal forecast Bill called El-Tiro and return for 127 miles. It was fun, with 6 to 8 knot climbs to 11K, making for a fast run. See the speeds below:
Saturday 3/15/97
Estrella, El-Tiro, Estrella 127 sm
71 Alan Reeter LS-6b 72.57
TS1 Tony Smolder Ventus B 71.21
2E John Liebacher LS-6 69.27
6K Hans Heydrich ASW-19B 68.04
OF Bill Bartell Ventus 2a 62.98
KC Casey Lenox Discus B 61.95
GY Andy Durbin ASW-19B 59.53
BP Bill Poore PIK-20B 54.43
CH Cliff Hilty Ventus B 50.80
KG Kirk Stant ASA Grob 102 46.18
On Sunday we had an even better turn-out with 14 pilots gridded and ready to race. The taskmaster Hans Heydrich correctly evaluated the weather and sent us on our merry way. Speeds were down from the previous day due to a SW wind that made the leg south a little slow. No one landed out and all but 2 pilots completed their tasks.
Sunday 3/16/97
A Class
Estrella, Ryan, Estrella 172 sm
OF Bill Bartell Ventus 2a 70.20
71 Alan Reeter LS-6b 64.91
GY Andy Durbin ASW-19B 61.80
TS1 Tony Smolder Ventus B 61.80
2E John Liebacher LS-6 57.02
CH Cliff Hilty Ventus B 54.32
PT John Goodman LS-3a 53.75
KC Casey Lenox Discus 52.12
6K Hans Heydrich ASW-19B 51.60
B Class (* indicates optional task flown)
Estrella, El-Tiro, Estrella 127 sm
Estrella, Eds, Estrella 94 sm (optional task)
KG Bob Blakemore Nimbus 3/24.5 63.50
BP Bill Poore PIK-20B 42.33
TB Barbara Mclean ASA Grob 102 37.60*
5MH Mike Hostage Pioneer IID 76 miles*
2R Mike Wyman Pegasus No report
Pre-season Contest 3/29 and 3/30 at Turf
Another good weekend with challenging tasks both days. On Saturday the taskmaster was Cliff Hilty and seeing the cu’s to the north he called a nice task that utilized the cu’s on the first and second legs, yet sent pilots into the blue on the third and final legs. It was tough getting to the Bradshaws but once under the clouds speeds quickly increased as 6 knots lifted pilots to 12K. There were 100% task completions for the "A" class. But the outstanding flight of the day was by 5MH - Mike Hostage, flying his Pioneer II. Mike wasn’t satisfied with flying the "B" optional task of Aguila and return and pushed on to Salome. Making the turn at around 4 pm Mike faced a long 78 miles as the day started to weaken, but he pulled if off and crossed the finish line for a speed finish. A truely outstanding flight! Sally Sisson also recorded her first ever trip to Wickenburg and return in the club 1-34 BW. John Liebacher won the T-shirt with a blazing speed of 75.51 mph!
Saturday 3/29/97
A Class
Turf, Prescott, Bagdad, Wickenburg, Turf 185 sm
2E John Liebacher LS-6 75.51
71 Alan Reeter LS-6b 69.81
6K Hans Heydrich ASW-19B 63.79
OF Bill Bartell Ventus 2a 62.98
PT John Goodman LS-3a 61.67
TS1 Tony Smolder Ventus B 58.12
KC Casey Lenox Discus B 57.81
CH Cliff Hilty Ventus B 52.86
BT1 Bob Thompson Ventus B 52.86
18 Steve Johnson Std. Cirrus 52.61
B Class (* indicates optional task flown)
Turf, Salome, Turf 157
Turf, Aguila, Turf 106 sm (optional task)
TB Barbara Mclean ASA Grob 102 35.33*
5MH Mike Hostage Pioneer IID 31.19
BW Sally Sisson ASA 1-34 68 miles*
On Sunday the taskmaster Alan Reeter called a challenging task of Brenda Jct and return, but once on course in the Aguila area the task was changed to Salome and return. This was done to get pilots back early on Easter Sunday and was much appreciated by all! The flight of the day was by Alan Reeter who negotiated the somewhat difficult conditions to finish in 2:25 for a speed of almost 65 mph.
Sunday 3/30/97
A Class
Turf, Salome, Turf 157 sm
71 Alan Reeter LS-6b 64.97
OF Bill Bartell Ventus 2a 60.00
TS1 Tony Smolder Ventus B 58.88
2E John Liebacher LS-6 57.79
2B Rick Rubscha PIK-20B 55.41
6K Hans Heydrich ASW-19B 54.14
KC Casey Lenox Discus B 53 miles
B Class
Turf, Aguila, Turf 106 sm
KT Kirk Stant ASA Grob 102 38.55
Classified
For Sale: PIK-20B, reprofiled by George Applebay, in beautiful condition, always hangared at Estrella Sailport; includes PZL vario, electronic vario, Cambridge MK-IV Nav Director, Edo-Aire 360 transceiver, clock, battery condition gauge, gear warning, oxygen, 23 gallon ballast system, parachute, Repogle barograph, full plane covers, custom trailer. Contact Bruce Stephens @ Estrella (520) 568-2318, and see the plane there.
For Sale: Ventus B Very good condition. 15 meter tips and 16.6 meter tips. Cambridge L-Nav with GPS and FAI approved secure flight recorder (with latest 1997 upgrades), Cambridge vario, SZD vario, Winter vario, Becker AR3201 720 ch radio with push to talk and Becker gooseneck boom mic. G meter, large oxygen system, dual batteries, tinted canopy, dual gear warning system with separate battery, automatic control hook-up. Recently reconditioned and upgraded Pfeiffer trailer with new tires, ground handling equipment, full cloth covers. $46K with full equipment or $41K without Cambridge system and cloth covers. Call Bob Thompson 938-9550
Driver Needed to deliver sailplane and trailer to Houston for shipment to France for the World Championships. Leave Phoenix in mid-May. Contact Bill Bartell 580-9270.
Arizona Soaring Association
Turnpoint List
(Bold turnpoint number indicates coordinates established with ground based GPS)
No Name Latitude Longitude Alt
3 Aguila 33° 55' 00'' 113° 10' 00'' 2206
63 Ak Chin 32° 59' 00'' 112° 02' 00'' 1210
51 Arivaca 31° 34' 00'' 111° 20' 00'' 3700
47 Ashfork 35° 13' 00'' 112° 29' 00'' 5000
27 Avra Valley Airport 32° 24' 00'' 111° 13' 00'' 2031
52 Baboquivari 31° 49' 00'' 111° 27' 00'' 3500
93 Bagdad 34° 36' 00'' 113° 10' 00'' 4183
90 Bartlett Dam 33° 49' 00'' 111° 37' 00'' 1700
39 Benson Airport 31° 57' 00'' 110° 15' 00'' 3628
44 Bisbee 31° 22' 00'' 109° 53' 00'' 4780
37 Bisbee-Douglas Intl. 31° 28' 00'' 109° 35' 00'' 4151
43 Black Canyon City 34° 04' 32.4'' 112° 8' 23.3'' 2000
48 Bouse 33° 55' 00'' 113° 59' 00'' 900
42 Bowie 32° 20' 00'' 109° 28' 00'' 3737
6 Brenda Jct 33° 40' 00'' 114° 01' 00'' 1500
9 Buckeye-Pierce 33° 21' 00'' 112° 37' 00'' 860
11 Carefree 33° 49' 00'' 111° 54' 00'' 2568
56 Casa Grande 32° 57' 00'' 111° 45' 00'' 1462
80 Castle Wells 33° 52' 00'' 112° 36' 00'' 2080
72 Central Arizona College 32° 51' 00'' 110° 41' 00'' 2200
70 China Peak Observatory 32° 43' 00'' 110° 17' 00'' 4800
66 Chuichu 32° 45' 00'' 111° 46' 00'' 1400
88 Clementine Mine 33° 47' 00'' 112° 21' 00'' 1530
30 Continental Airport 31° 50' 00'' 110° 58' 00'' 2869
24 Coolidge-Florence 32° 55' 00'' 111° 25' 00'' 1587
12 Cordes Junction 34° 19' 56.2'' 112° 07' 33.6'' 3810
7 Dateland Airport 32° 49' 00'' 113° 32' 00'' 500
25 Eds Field 32° 41' 00'' 111° 30' 00'' 1644
62 El Tiro Gliderport 32° 26' 00'' 111° 23' 00'' 2100
61 Eloy 32° 48' 00'' 111° 35' 00'' 1513
1 Estrella 33° 05' 00'' 112° 09' 00'' 1273
17 Flagstaff-Pulliam Airport 35° 08' 00'' 111° 40' 00'' 7011
69 Fort Grant 32° 37' 00'' 109° 56' 00'' 4800
74 G.M. 32° 54' 00'' 112° 14' 00'' 1616
8 Gila Bend Municipal 32° 58' 00'' 112° 40' 00'' 778
67 Gila Compressor 33° 15' 00'' 112° 49' 00'' 838
64 Helvetia Mine 31° 54' 00'' 110° 47' 00'' 4000
13 I-10 Intersection 33° 32' 00'' 113° 09' 00'' 1200
55 Kearney 33° 03' 00'' 110° 54' 00'' 1828
95 Kingman 35° 15' 00'' 113° 56' 00'' 3446
23 Kitt Peak 32° 01' 00'' 111° 34' 00'' 3100
35 La Cholla 32° 27' 00'' 111° 00' 00'' 2940
89 Lake Pleasant Dam 33° 51' 00'' 112° 16' 00'' 1800
68 Lake St. Clair Dam 32° 39' 00'' 111° 56' 00'' 1500
36 Little Hills Mine 32° 35' 00'' 110° 51' 00'' 3886
73 Lordsburg NM Airport 32° 20' 00'' 108° 41' 00'' 4286
81 Luke #1 33° 43' 00'' 112° 32' 00'' 1400
No Name Latitude Longitude Alt
82 Luke #2 33° 42' 00'' 112° 25' 00'' 1300
83 Luke #4 33° 45' 00'' 112° 36' 00'' 1500
84 Luke #6 33° 26' 00'' 112° 30' 00'' 1000
26 Marana (Pinal) Airpark 32° 30' 00'' 111° 18' 00'' 1891
49 Mohawk Pass 32° 43' 00'' 113° 44' 00'' 700
19 Montezuma Airport 34° 36' 38.6'' 111° 51' 53.1'' 3370
85 New River 33° 54' 19.5'' 112° 8' 46.7'' 2000
31 Nogales AZ Intl. 31° 25' 00'' 110° 51' 00'' 3932
54 Oracle Junction 32° 34' 00'' 110° 56' 00'' 3500
71 Paloma 32° 54' 00'' 112° 54' 00'' 737
46 Paulden 34° 54' 00'' 112° 27' 00'' 4400
21 Payson Airport 34° 15' 00'' 111° 20' 00'' 5157
10 Pleasant Valley Airport 33° 47' 55.5'' 112° 15' 09.8'' 1580
57 Potters 32° 52' 00'' 111° 57' 00'' 1309
14 Prescott Airport 34° 39' 00'' 112° 25' 00'' 5042
45 Quarter Circle J 34° 30' 00'' 112° 41' 00'' 4366
59 Ragged Top 32° 30' 00'' 111° 30' 00'' 2200
86 Ranta Strip 33° 51' 00'' 112° 39' 00'' 1840
58 Robles Junction 32° 04' 00'' 111° 18' 00'' 2600
28 Ryan Airport 32° 09' 00'' 111° 10' 00'' 2415
33 Safford AZ Airport 32° 51' 00'' 109° 38' 00'' 3176
5 Salome Airport 33° 46' 00'' 113° 37' 00'' 1800
53 San Carlos AZ Airport 33° 22' 00'' 110° 27' 00'' 2896
34 San Manuel Airport 32° 38' 00'' 110° 38' 00'' 3275
60 San Pedro Vly (Cascabel) 32° 19' 00'' 110° 22' 00'' 3374
96 San Simon 32° 16' 00'' 109° 14' 00'' 3800
40 Santa Rosa 32° 22' 00'' 112° 04' 00'' 1800
98 Sasco 32° 33' 00'' 111° 26' 00'' 1800
18 Sedona Airport 34° 51' 00'' 111° 47' 00'' 4827
15 Seligman Airport 35° 20' 00'' 112° 53' 00'' 5257
29 Sells AZ Airport 31° 56' 00'' 111° 54' 00'' 2409
50 Sentinel 32° 51' 00'' 113° 12' 00'' 700
97 Silver Bell Mine 32° 22' 00'' 111° 28' 00'' 2500
87 Sun City Substation 33° 42' 00'' 112° 19' 00'' 1500
22 Superior AZ Airport 33° 17' 00'' 111° 07' 00'' 2646
41 Tabletop Intersection 32° 50' 00'' 112° 08' 00'' 1700
99 Taylor Field 32° 18' 00'' 111° 19' 00'' 2130
65 Three Points 32° 54' 00'' 111° 45' 00'' 1389
38 Tombstone AZ Airport 31° 40' 00'' 110° 01' 00'' 4743
92 Transwestern #1 35° 12' 00'' 113° 23' 00'' 5115
75 Turnbow Strip 33° 01' 00'' 112° 24' 00'' 1400
20 Wellton Airport 32° 39' 00'' 114° 06' 00'' 400
2 Wickenburg AZ Airport 33° 58' 00'' 112° 48' 00'' 2386
94 Wikieup 34° 42' 00'' 113° 37' 00'' 2000
32 Willcox-Cochise Co. Airpt 32° 15' 00'' 109° 53' 00'' 4181
16 Williams Airport 35° 18' 00'' 112° 12' 00'' 6680
91 Winslow 35° 01' 00'' 110° 43' 00'' 4938