ASA

July 2001

July 1970: BABOQUIVARI UPLIFTS By Darlene Coulliette / PRESCOTT SOARING by Al Hume

July 1980: DIVE BRAKE FAILURE / THE ASA MEET THAT WASN'T by Dick Townsend

July 1970: BABOQUIVARI UPLIFTS

By Darlene Coulliette

July 4th was a double celebration day for Arnie Jurn, a 24-year-old design engineer for Goodyear Aerospace: He completed his 5-hour duration flight for his Silver and Gold badges.

Arnie got off tow at 4,000 ft. agl approximately two miles east of Chandler Airport. After releasing from tow, Arnie headed east toward some cumulus build-ups over the Superstitions. At Apache Junction, he was down to 2,000 ft. {the lowest point of the flight). Arnie spent most of his time at 10,000 ft. or higher above Apache Lake. At one time during his flight he reached an altitude of 13,500 ft. agl.

Many believe that sink is inevitable when flying in the rain. Arnie did not find this true. It was all lift in the rain. Lift and cold. It was so cold Arnie kept a close watch on the wings to see if they would start icing over. (He estimated the temperature to be between 30-35°). So on this hot sultry July 4th, Arnie was strongly wishing he had a parka instead of a T- shirt and shorts.

After testing and finding all lift, he decided to do a few simple acrobatic maneuvers. He was being practical -- he thought he might as well wash the underside too.

At approximately 4:30, the lift began to fade out so Arnie started a long, flat glide back to Chandler Airport, landing at 5:24, a total of 5 hours and 15 min.

Arnie with no previous flying experience soloed in sailplanes in 13 flights. Since obtaining his glider license, he has also obtained his private power license. Arnie plans to instruct for us as soon as he has enough experience.

Say, guess what Arnie, has been bringing out to the airport since this flight. --That's right. A heavy one, with fleece lining!

PRESCOTT SOARING

By Al Hume

The last month has provided some fine soaring in the Prescott area. Cloud base has been 18, 14, 15, and almost 17 thousand feet for the four weekends starting June 21. The Cu's have tended to form in select areas where the lift has been quite good --500 to 1000 feet/ min. In the blue areas, lift has been rather spotty, sometimes topping out at 10 or 11 thousand. The problem, if there were no cu's over the field, has been to get high enough to work over to the areas of good lift.

On the 28th, there was a strong south wind gusting to 15 or 20 knots on the ground. The thermals over the field were badly torn up, and topping out at 10,000 or so. I was able to reach to some cu' s about 15 miles away, got good lift and quickly arrived at cloud base at 14,000. Some of the clouds over Mingus appeared to have lenticular like tops so I searched around for wave to no avail. I then ran up to Flagstaff, returned to some good cu's north of Mingus and worked up to cloud base again. Heading south, I was about a mile due west of Cottonwood in an area clear of cloud when I hit good lift, circled and finally realized I was in a wave. I found that I couldn't stay "put" without either tacking back and forth or circling occasionally, so the wind velocity couldn't have been over 35 or 40 mph. At 17,000, some 3000 feet over cloud base, and in 500 ft/min. lift, I left the wave to head home, as everyone was down and packing up.

In addition to the good soaring, the view from the air around Prescott is spectacular. Come on up and enjoy it.

ESTRELLA NEWS

The correspondent for Estrella News, Stephen Horvath, was in Hobbs winning second place. Therefore, it is pretty understandable that a column from Estrella will not run this month. One item of news that comes to our minds is that the Japanese team from the Internationals spent several days at Estrella, and left for Japan with several badges and legs in their possession.

YIKES ---Just as I (the editor) was typing the above bit from Estrella, it occurred to me that I made a gigantic goof. So what's new! Nevertheless, in the column, "Up, Up and Away", another name should have appeared. Stephen H. earned his DIAMOND DISTANCE during the Hobbs event. Flying a l-26D (naturally), he flew 312 miles. Hopefully, Stephen will include an accounting of this flight in his story (which I have not yet read). Anyhoo, congratulations! The numbers who have gone Diamond Distance in a 1-26 aren't great you know.

July 1980: DIVE BRAKE FAILURE

ASA member Bob Mitchell had an exciting flight on Sunday, July 13. Having completed a routine pre-flight, he took off at Estrella in his Jantar II and experienced control problems very briefly into the initial climb on tow. At first, he tried to guess what control wasn't hooked up -could it be an aileron? Then, checking the wings, he was alarmed to find ONE dive brake fully deployed. He managed to get the towplane turned around at a safe altitude, then released, planning to land back at Estrella on a straight-in. In the meantime, he figured out that opening the other dive brake gave him symmetry, and better controllability compared to the "Cyclops" mode where the open brake caused that wing to dip. Lined up on final, Bob decided he looked high, so he began an S-turn. Reassessing the situation, those full open dive brakes were creating quite a bit of down, and for a moment it looked like he might undershoot altogether!

Once safely on the ground, Bob ascertained that a fitting of some sort inside the wing had failed. With control rods sealed, wear on these parts goes undetected, and an otherwise "thorough" preflight might not catch a very important item! Bob's recommendations involve two points! If your push rods are sealed, be sure to remove the seals periodically and check the innards! Also, in the event of such an emergency, you should be familiar with the full dive brake tendencies of the aircraft you fly. Whether it's a part failure involving only one brake or an obstruction jamming the actuator arm, there may come a time when having practiced a full brake approach all the way down on final will pay off! (Also check your owner's handbook or check with an instructor, since several sailplanes have drastic fall-out tendencies with full brake after the flare. Trust me. I've plunked in a 2-32 most unceremoniously, and it falls like a shot duck with the boards all the way out!)

THE ASA MEET THAT WASN'T

By Dick Townsend

On Monday before the fourth, Mark Arndt said it was GO. On Tuesday it was maybe. On Wednesday it was ON YOUR OWN. On Thursday Dan Halacy arrived in town, on Friday morn we were in Prescott with 5P.

A call to Paul Lefevre (445-0068) established that a tow could be had, so I prepared for a flight which was primarily to check conditions for a diamond distance flight the next day. The ASW-15 was assembled at the approach end of 21 to the 7,000 foot push. At the appointed time the tow plane appeared, but so did a problem. There is at Prescott the custom that the towee provide the tow rope! But 1-26 owner Dick Blount saved the day by driving into town for his rope; an adapter with European ring was in 5P. Conditions aloft were not strong, when a thermal didn't appear in time, I had to land - a 30 minute flight. We should have taken our golf clubs.

After tying down the ship, and while splicing the main brace, who should drop by but Dave Robertson, who had heard the radio. He flies all day, so wanted to hear any news. Dave, your stopping by made our day!

On Saturday, Dan gave it a try, following Dick Blount. It seemed like a repeat of Friday when Dick couldn't stretch his flight beyond 50 minutes and Dan called to say he was low and would have to land. John Wells stopped on his way back from Flagstaff (by car) and he and I were beside the strip with tail dolly and cold Coors when Dan found lift on downwind. He left, and it was about three hours before he returned. Meanwhile, the Prescott 2-33 was kept busy as several members took flights. After Dan landed, beaming, we put 5P away and headed for Riata Pass, then home. The Sunday we missed was overcast.

Bob Sparling said the Prescott group now has a winch, and measured the cable at over a mile. They are looking at two potential sites, the favored one near Prescott Valley. With a long strip and that much cable, tows might approach 2000 ft altitude. We'll keep an eye on developments.

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