I am feeling old.

[Vance]

I am feeling old this morning because I am driving to the EAA meeting in San Luis Obispo instead of flying just because it is 3.3C (37.9 F) with a dew point of 2.2 C at Santa Maria.

Winds are predicted to be 320 degrees at 22kts gusting to 33kts at my departure time.

I have suspect the temperature dew point spread will be over four degrees by departure time.

The last time I flew an open aircraft in such temperatures and winds I had trouble making radio calls because my lips became numb and it took me most of the evening and a hot bath to warm back up to a happy operating temperature.

 

[nishanh]

I wouldn't exactly ascribe that reticence to age. Those are uncomfortable conditions no matter how spry one is.

 

[Sv.grainne]

Not a sign of age!

 

[Aerofoam]

I'm from Az. anything under 85F is cold......

 

[Vance]

The flights I remember best are the ones that had challenges.

As fun as sunshine and clear skies are; they are not as memorable as trying to talk to Santa Barbara Approach when my lips were numb or landing in ugly winds at Camarillo.

Somehow the challenges burn the flight into my memory and time allows me to remember it as fun.

My lust for embracing challenge appears to me to be diminishing as age overtakes me.

 

[Mayfield]

Ah young Skywalker, wisdom at last you gain!

 

[MikeBoyette]

Oldness brings with it wisdom. This wisdom and thinner skin made you arrive at the correct decision.

 

[okikuma]

I am feeling old this morning because I am driving to the EAA meeting in San Luis Obispo instead of flying just because it is 3.3C (37.9 F) with a dew point of 2.2 C at Santa Maria.

Winds are predicted to be 320 degrees at 22kts gusting to 33kts at my departure time.

I have suspect the temperature dew point spread will be over four degrees by departure time.

The last time I flew an open aircraft in such temperatures and winds I had trouble making radio calls because my lips became numb and it took me most of the evening and a hot bath to warm back up to a happy operating temperature.

You're not alone feeling the Arctic cold wind flowing down the length of California Vance. Earlier today at KSZP Santa Paula Airport, a number of pilots were talking about using the heater inside the cabin today to remain warm.

Great risk management decision making.

Wayne

 

[WaspAir]

I took a first-flight-of-the-year open cockpit gilder flight in brisk weather on January 1 here in Colorado, but I dressed for the part and kept the flight short.

 

[DavePA11]

Is that an airpark WaspAir?

 

[WaspAir]

Yes, CO15, Kelly Airpark near Elbert, Colorado. Intermixed homes and hangars with runways and taxiways as the common area

 

[Mayfield]

That sand you're standing in is really white. Here in Phoenix the sand is more tan or brown.

Jim

 

[WaspAir]

Yeah, but ours makes really poor sandpaper. Especially if you use a hot adhesive.

 

[okikuma]

I do recognize my tolerance for heat and cold has diminished as I become older. During my teen years, I would surf (along with many others my age) in 50 - 60 degree F water temperature during the winter. On days with near freezing temperatures, I would be fine just wearing a flannel shirt, shorts, and no jacket. Not so today.

Wayne

 

[kolibri282]

The beautiful glider reminds me of the word by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Il semble que la perfection soit atteinte
non quand il n'y a plus rien a ajouter,
mais quand il n'y a plus rien a retrancher.

which roughly translates to

Perfection is seemingly attained
not when there is no longer anything to add,
but when there is no longer anything to omit

Even the instruments are probably very basic and you couldn't even clip her wings very much, they seem almost stubby compared to current designs....;-)


Have a great year, everyone!

Jürgen

 

[WaspAir]

Thank you, Jürgen! Yes, it is a 1962 model, metal tube and fabric cover, fixed gear, with a 12 meter span, from a bygone era. Now everything is 15 to 20 meter, carbon fibre, retractable, with water ballast tanks, a glass panel, and flaps that go negative for high speed, but they lack the charm of this one.

(P.S. Terre des hommes is one of my favorite books)

 

[okikuma]

I've always said that when a glider pilot has earned a SSA Diamond badge in a Schweizer 1-26,

1. A gain of 5000 meters after release from tow (16,404 feet)
2. A distance flight of 500 km. (310.69 sm)
3. A Goal flight of 300 km. (186.41 sm) over an out and return course or a Triangular course.

they certainly have earned the badge. Not much of a challenge with the current 60:1 glasflugels of today.

Hello Jurgen,

There are two films that show how well the 1-26 flies. One is Pyramid Films Dawn Flight and a Disney film The Boy Who Flew With Condors. My apologies for the poor quality of both films.

Wayne

 

[okikuma]

JR,

In the Spring of 2013 (I'm becoming old so I may have the incorrect year - see I'm keeping with the title of the thread) many of our EAA Chapter 40 members flew into Mojave Air and Space Port to attend the annual Mojave Experimental Fly-in.

While on the ramp viewing the various EAB aircraft, we hear a soft wine of turbine engines and see an all sliver SGS 1-26B painted in a USAF scheme making a low pass over the runway. As soon as the glider landed it taxied under it's own power to the ramp powered by twin Jetcat P-200Sx turbine engines.



Needless to say, the aircraft attracted a nice crowd to view up close.

The project was created by the Sanders brothers, Tyler Sanders and Chad Sanders with assistance from their dad, Brian Sanders of the Sanders Air Racing family.

Two years later at the annual Experiment Soaring Association Workshop at Mountain Valley Airport (L94) the Sanders gave a wonderful presentation about their 1-26 project.

Wayne

Turbine Schweizer 1-26 Project

JetCat P200s mounted to 1960's sailplane. Turbines give it the ability to self-launch

csanders2775.wixsite.com

About | turbineschweizer126

csanders2775.wixsite.com

 

[WaspAir]

We always used to refer to Schweizer Aircraft Company as the "Chemung County Boiler and Iron Works" because they made such robust airframes. This story really seems to confirm it!

 

[Mayfield]

What is the square vertical surface just outboard of the second rib on the upper surface of the wing?

Jim