Soaring Reports

The winds were forecast to be brisk but the thermal index looked good up to 6000ft. I arrived at the field to find Frank Mitchell pre-flighting the Pawnee and Patrick Greenwood opening up the hangers and CU were dotting the sky. Winds were strong out of the Northwest...

Hi All of OSCI, The day started for some of us (about 14) with the club quarterly meeting at 9:00 with enough to talk about to last until about noon. Then: It was a pleasant day with light WNW winds allowing a mostly 31 operation. There was enough lift for most...

The sounding for the day was pretty good up to 6000ft.  Arriving at the field, there was a cumulus filled sky so it looked good even with the winds having a significant cross wind component.  Whitt had the Pawnee out ready to fly and the L-23 was on its way to the...

Hi All of OSCI,   It was just another glorious day to be at BTA.  Well except for not much lift, for most of us.  We did ten flights, eight in the L23 and two flights by Mike and Anders in their Russia.  All flights were in the :16 - :23 range except for Mike’s...

Hi All of OSCI, Labor Day was a lot like Saturday without the morning low clouds.  The similarities were some puffy clouds, light NW winds, rain the previous night, and no significant lift.  That wasn’t all bad because we  had a good turn out and short flights kept...

Hi All of OSCI,   The forecast clear day had fog and lingering low clouds.  We didn’t get the first flight off until 13:47.  We then did get six flights: 1)  Tom Schaap / Whit on a dual flight 2)  Gift Certificate holder Debbie Galusha / Jaime on an Intro 3) ...

  Giving rides to the antique aircraft assoc had been scheduled for months so a bad weather forecast was disappointing.  A call to the group representative said they were still coming despite the wet forecast.   The weather radar showed a break in precip so there...

Hi All of OSCI, My urging to come a bit early, push out at noon, fly, and get out of the heat, resonated.  I arrived about 11:40 to find the ships ready to move up to the far end for a 13 operation.  We did nine flights with the first off at 12:39 and the hangar...

A check of the sounding held out hope for some weak thermals with cloud bases around 5000ft.  Winds were out of the south and light so we elected to takeoff on 13.  We started a little later than normal with the first launch at 1330 and that was Steve Davis with Whitt...

Hi All of OSCI, A half dozen showed up at Skywerx for the ground session I proposed:  Don Meyer, Paul Jelinek, Steve Davis, Bob Arant, Tom Schaap, Tom Ostlund.  We mostly talked about basic glider flying stuff wherein each commented on their impressions of how they...

Hi All of OSCI,   Tuesday’s flying was primarily arranged because of Ken Costello’s email that he would be in town for one day and asking if we could do his Flight Review.  I’m glad we could! Ken handed me his Safety quiz and we were good to go.  Again we set up...

Hi All of OSCI,   With the wind from O60 but forecast to become SE (it did) we set up for a 13 operation having the possibility of some 31 landings.  Then: (all two place flights are in the L23) 1) Paul flew solo in the L23, :28, signs of lift? 2) Jerome and I...

The thermal index for this day was good with lift indicated to about 7000msl with CU forming at 5300msl.  With this type of sounding, CU can form at lower levels, as it grows and hits the inversion at 7000ft msl, it spreads out in to a semi overcast layer.  This is...

Hi All of OSCI,   Saturday 7/26 mini Soaring Report:   Morning for CAP I-Cadets Jim C. did the crack of dawn solo Dan P did 9 cadet flights without getting out of the back seat (as far as I know) Paul towed 1 – 8, Frank towed 9,10, but really was out for the...

Hi All of OSCI, My arrival time was delayed by a clothes dryer hose failure.  A duct tape temporary repair allowed me to see the first launch as I approached the airport about 12:15.  Earlier in the week I had sent an email saying we had only Lisa D’Alurra (mother and...

Hi All of OSCI,   It was a spectacularly nice day, 70’s with a light and variable wind, good lift for the most part.  We set up for a 31 t/o-13 ldg operation and did nine flights.  The L23 flew eight flights, three duals, one ride and four solos.  I did the duals...

Hi All of OSCI, The threats for the day involved TRW, wind, wet field.  None were significant by a little after noon.  And another positive note for your Flight Officer was the presence of four CFI’s (Bob C.,Dan P., Whitt, me) and ditto for tow pilots (Frank – primary...

Looking at the thermal index for Thursday, it beckoned lots of soaring with lift to 7000ft possible.   As I left work and headed to the airport at noon, cumulus clouds building to the east seemed to confirm the forecast.   However, approaching Blair airport, it was...

Hi All of OSCI,   I arrived a bit before the 1:00 start time and found the hangar doors opened with Whitt and Steve D. talking to visitors Darcy McAbee and her dad Dal McAbee.  Darcy had contacted me several days ago to try and get her dad an intro flight this...

Heading out to the field after an historic rainfall, I expected the field to be too wet.  But Blair was north of the heaviest rain so the field was useable though damp.  At the field were Steve Stevens pre-flighting the Pawnee.  Mike Boska, Anders Backlund, and Jerry...

HI All of OSCI,   I arrived a bit before noon and found Whitt and Pat G. already on hand.  I had received two last minute regrets just prior to heading out to the field so knew Anders was the last listed hope for having a workable number of 4 members on hand. ...

Submitted by Bob Craig: I had to work till 1230, so I didn’t get out until 130pm.  The sounding looked good up to 8000ft ( -3 lifted index) but clouds were predicted at 6000ft and this verified very well.  The operation was in full swing with Anders Backlund, Whitt...

Hi All of OSCI, The day turned out far better than forecasted.  There was no close threat of showers and some flights had good climbs.  Some had bad sink.  Flight (1) :23, Jay and I on his safety flight, was off at 12:28 which was pretty good for a noon start and...

I was late getting out to the field but found Whitt Bonifant instructing, Steve Stevens towing, Jerry Adams running the radios, and Stephen Davis and Pat Greenwood flying with Whitt.  We also had our newest member, Don Meyer, getting his second FAST Kit flight.  Don...

Hi All of OSCI, Submitted by Jaime Alexandar We set up for a 13 operation and launched (1) Mike on his Safety Flight with me :19.  Steve Stevens (2) went solo to regain passenger currency :19.  Steve Davis and Whitt flew a dual flight (3) :23.  Donna Neff flew her...

I arrived at the field just before noon to find Steve Davis and Whitt Bonifant also there.  We were joined by Jerry Adams, Don Meyer, and Frank Mitchell.   We got the L-23 and Pawnee out and moved to the NW end of the runway (SE winds).  The first flight was me giving...

As I was driving up to Blair, the sky was getting more and more overcast - darn.   This was not what we were hoping for with a decent thermal index up to about 6500ft.  Luckily, after arriving at the airport, the showers north of the field moved off to the east...

Hi All of OSCI,   I arrived a bit before 9:00 passing Frank Mitchell, early tow pilot, in the “alley way” inside the gate.  The hangar doors were already open and when I turned the corner to drive out on the field I noticed the tent set up on the far end.  The...

Hi All of OSCI,   The first day of spring turned out to be a jewel in March’s unpleasantness.  I arrived a bit before noon and found Jim C. with the hangar doors open and a project underway putting a “new” radio in the trailer.  The job isn’t complete but Jim...

OSC kicked off it’s first flying on this warm but windy March day.  It didn’t start off windy but the forecast said we would eventually have too much crosswind once a cold front move through.  After the OSC board met, we moved out to the field and set up operations...