Newsletter Archive 1996

1996

January 1996

Skyline Charts Its Course: First-Ever Strategic Planning Session Sets Bold Ten-Point Agenda Ahead of Crucial Annual Meeting

In a landmark issue for the Skyline Soaring Club, the January 1996 newsletter delivers the full report of the club's first Strategic Planning Session, held at New Market Airport on January 6 and attended by nearly 40 percent of the active membership. Over a six-hour brainstorming chaired by President Spencer Annear, members laid out ten broad goals—from fiscal solvency and hangar improvements to a push to grow membership from 38 to 50 and a renewed emphasis on safety culture—along with specific 1996 recommendations including a disaster financial plan, acquisition of radios for all club sailplanes, and a formal Duty Officer training program. The newsletter urges every member to attend the January 27 Annual Membership Meeting at the Falls Church Community Center, where the Board of Directors will be elected and the strategic agenda ratified. Rounding out the issue: a richly detailed “Meet the Member” profile of charter member Jim Miles, whose aviation journey spans a Piper Cub at Sembach Airbase in Germany, a rebuilt Curtis F9-C2 biplane from the NASM collection, and a career as CFIG and tow pilot at Warrenton Soaring Center; the bittersweet farewell to founding treasurer Bela Gogos, who is relocating to Minden, Nevada, leaving behind the club's beloved “Gogos' Gap”; welcome notes for new members Ralph Vawter, Bill Vickland, and John Ayers; and congratulations to Rob Shallenburger and Steve Szibler on their commercial and private glider licenses, respectively, earned at Bermuda High, South Carolina.

February 1996

Skyline Soarers Nearly Double to 43 as Club Marks Fifth Year; New Board Takes the Helm and a Member's White Humvee Steals the Show

The Skyline Soaring Club enters its fifth year of operation with a membership that has nearly doubled from the 23 charter members of Fall 1991 to 43 active pilots, and a new Board of Directors freshly elected at the January 27 annual meeting. President Spencer Annear's state-of-the-club address looks back on a 1995 season that saw 74 of 85 available days flown and ahead to a 1996 calendar headlined by the Petersburg Wave Camp (February 17–25) and the DuPont Regatta in September. The issue features a richly detailed “Meet the Member” profile of Shane Neitzey, tracing his path from a queasy first tow at Warrenton Soaring Center in 1975, through a memorable off-airport landing in a Blanik L-13, a stint building time at Maryland Airlines, and a sign business that bankrolled his flying, all the way to earning his Gold Badge and two Diamonds in a LAK-12 in 1995. Also included: planning details and local hotel listings for the wave camp, a retirement reception for longtime member Jim Kellett, the club's consideration of SSA Chapter status for better insurance and dues savings, a new three-month duty roster for March through May, and a call for members to return outstanding flight-record forms to their insurance carrier.

March 1996

Skyliners Tame the Petersburg Rotor at 15,000 Feet; Club Hails a Korean War Jet Ace and a Peace Corps Gliderman

The March 1996 issue opens with a revised three-month duty roster for April through June and the announcement of Stacey Barber as the club's new treasurer, elected at the March 6 board meeting. A tender In Memoriam section reports the 1994 passing of Helmut Muller, a beloved figure from the old Warrenton Soaring Center days and an accomplished soaring photographer. The issue's two 'Meet the Member' profiles are standout reads: charter member Bill Vickland, a retired aeronautical engineer who built his own Schweizer 1-26, flew Peace Corps assignments across seven countries, and worked alongside the late Fred Cuny on humanitarian projects in the Balkans; and Jim McCulley, a U.S. Air Force veteran who flew 100 combat missions in an F-86 against MIG-15s in Korea, piloted test aircraft over atomic bomb detonations in Nevada, and contributed to NASA's Gemini and Apollo programs. Ralph Popp recounts an aerobatic lesson in a Grob 103 at Estrella, Arizona, and a check flight in a Lark at the Soaring Club of Victoria in Australia. Joe Parrish's report on the 2nd Annual Petersburg Wave Camp, held jointly with the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association from February 17 to 25, describes a week of snow-blocked ferries, a 37-knot gale that kept most pilots grounded, and a final day of smooth 15,000-foot wave riding above Seneca Rocks, punctuated by a gear-extension incident that sent a DG-300 into the airport fence. Jim Kellett's enthusiastic dispatch from the 24th annual Soaring Society of America convention in Huntsville, Alabama, highlights a keynote by British soaring columnist Mike Bird, a CFI clinic, and a Civil Air Patrol/SSA memorandum of understanding. The issue also notes Fred Daams' plan to outfit his Lark with a Cambridge L-Nav system and seek up to five partners for serious dual cross-country work, and bids a fond farewell to Charlie Lee, who is selling his 1-35 'Shark' and heading to Hawaii.

April 1996

Bagels, Safety, and New Wings: Skyline Club Rallies for Mandatory Meeting as a Commercial Pilot Joins and Spring Fun Day Nears

The April 1996 issue of Skylines opens with an urgent call to all members for a mandatory safety meeting on 27 April at New Market Airport, where input on the club's top priority—safety—will be solicited over a continental breakfast of bagels provided by Joe Parrish, with the amusing warning that absentees will be required to watch the official SSC safety video. The club welcomes Jim Garrison, a commercial-rated glider pilot and former regular at Warrenton Soaring Center, as a new probationary member who plans to enjoy the local ridge in his ASW-19. Meanwhile, Shane Neitzy is rallying volunteers to build a dolly and approach for the club's SGS 2-33A in the hangar, and Fred Daams has his water-ballast-capable Pegase "5 Fox" up for sale. The New Market Spring Fun Day is set for 11 May with a rain date of 19 May, and the EAA chapter's Young Eagles fly-in on 18 May invites members to carry local youth in the front seat. The issue also features a "Meet the Member" profile of Bill Westerman, a patent lawyer and SCCA Mazda RX-7 racer who grew up in Tulsa and first took to the air at Warrenton, before editor Piet Barber issues a plea for more member autobiographies to keep the column going.

June 1996

Frozen, Tossed, and Triumphant: Bill Vickland's 20-Year Quest for the 1-26 Triple Diamond Ends in a Freezing 5,070-Meter Climb

In a report that reads like an adventure novel, Skyliner Bill Vickland recounts the flight that finally completed his triple diamond badge in a 1-26 glider (No. -238) at Petersburg, West Virginia. The Diamond Altitude leg—a 5,000-meter climb in one of the smallest and slowest gliders in the sport—had eluded him since 1980. On a Saturday in late February 1996, tow pilot John Ayers hauled him into a violent mountain-wave rotor where the tow rope went slack four times and the glider nearly climbed over the Scout. After a harrowing release and a 43-second dive through the rotor, Vickland found smooth lift and began a grueling climb in freezing air, only to discover he was being blown backward by winds stronger than forecast. He ultimately scraped past the 5,000-meter requirement by a mere 70 meters, landed with nearly frozen heels, and spent the evening in a cold-sweat over a barograph conversion error before confirming the score. The newsletter, written by Jim Kellett, also celebrates the web of friends—Dudley Mattson, Bob and Tracy Collier, Al Dresner, Key Dismukes, and others—who dedicated days, tow planes, and 4 a.m. phone calls over roughly two decades to make the achievement possible, and it includes a detailed description of the Petersburg wave site and its geography.

July 1996

Under Wraps at Last: Skyline Fleet Moves Into Closed Hangar as Club Profiles a Physicist Who Worked with Apollo 13's Swigert and a Designer of U.S. Postage Stamps

The July 1996 issue of Skylines announces a major milestone for the club: thanks largely to the efforts of member Shane Neitzey, the fleet—including a Pawnee, a 2-33, a K-21, the club car, glider trailer, and tent—has been stored safely under a new closed hangar, complete with newly constructed north-side doors and a purpose-built dolly for moving the 2-33 sideways into the space. Plans are already underway to add two adjacent hangars for additional gliders and trailers. The issue also features richly detailed member profiles: Bob Collier, a physicist with three degrees from Rensselaer and Ohio State who spent a decade working on RF antenna research alongside Apollo 13 astronaut Jack Swigert, holds the Region 4 1-26 100 km triangle speed record and is the only pilot ever to replicate Richard C. DuPont's 1933 Waynesboro-to-Frederick flight; and Phil Jordan, a Washington-area art director who has designed Priority Mail, Express Mail, and numerous commemorative U.S. postage stamps, recounts how a 1979 demonstration ride at Warrenton hooked him on soaring and how he is working to regain proficiency after an 18-month hiatus. New members Mike Fournier and Richard Linenberger are welcomed aboard, and the 'Pegasus Ponders' column looks back at soaring moments from 1966, 1976, and 1986, including Karl Striedieck's 1,015-mile out-and-return in an ASW-17 and the first Bolkow Phoebus delivery to the United States.

August 1996

First-Ever DuPont Regatta Takes Flight at New Market as Airport's Future Hangs in the Balance

The Skyline Soaring Club gears up for a landmark September: its first hosting of the Richard C. DuPont Memorial Regatta for vintage sailplanes, with calls for volunteers to man the airboss, registration desk, and duty-officer posts. The excitement is tempered by a tense August 17 meeting at New Market Airport, where FBO Linda Raney will brief members on IRS rulings that could force a sale of the field. The issue also features a remarkable

September 1996

Pawnee in Peril: Skyline's Towplane Ferried to Elmira for Emergency Overhaul as Club Scrambles for a Replacement

Skyline Soaring Club's September 1996 issue opens with a genuine operational scare: the club's Pawnee towplane has fallen out of compliance with an expensive Airworthiness Directive, prompting the board to ferry the aircraft to Elmira on August 31 for a permanent Schweizer-engineered fix. In the interim, the club is borrowing a towplane from Scott French at New Market to keep members flying. The issue also welcomes new member David Nichols of Reston, Virginia, and announces that longtime layout artist Phil Jordan is stepping up to become the full-time editor of Skylines beginning with the October issue. In the 'Meet the Member' column, Ralph Vawter recounts his unlikely path from a $25 introductory ride in a Schweizer 2-22 nine years earlier to earning his SSA B badge, including a memorable stint of auto-tow flights in flat southeastern Virginia where most sorties lasted a mere four minutes. The 'Pegasus Ponders' column offers a nostalgic look back at SOARING Magazine articles from 1976 and 1966, including the first Mid-Atlantic Soaring Championship and the MASA purchase of its Fairfield, Delaware site. Finally, the Safety Corner carries an urgent call for the club to appoint an Airspace Chairman, set against the backdrop of FAA Administrator Hinson's pointed challenge to the SSA to find a way to eliminate midair collisions or face regulatory intervention.

October 1996

Flooded Runways, 12,500-Foot Waves: Skyline Pilots Turn a Soaked duPont Regatta into a Soaring Spectacle

The 16th Richard C. duPont Memorial Sailplane Regatta at New Market, Virginia, delivered a weekend of drama and altitude that no one at the Skyline Soaring Club will soon forget. Torrential rains and flooding had the airport's runways under water, but when the sky cleared on the 13th, 36 pilots from four clubs launched 19 gliders for more than 86 hours and 300 miles of soaring over three days, improvising an ad-hoc set of field procedures that worked perfectly. Len Dolhert claimed the annual Flight to Frederick trophy in his DG-200, Jim Garrison took the duration title in an ASW-19 after a self-designed 200-mile POST, and the wave on Saturday sent pilots above 11,000 feet, including Shane Neitzey to 12,500 in his LAK-12 and Bruce Barrett from a mere 1,500-foot save in a K6CR. Bill Cloughley made his first glider solo in a K-4, and VSA President Bob Gaines joined the field. Beyond the regatta, the issue covers the club's December 14 Christmas potluck, an invitation to M-ASA's Oktoberfest, a rare two-day open house at the Paul E. Garber (Silver Hill) preservation facility in Suitland, Maryland, a glider ground school in Falls Church, and a wry new-member profile of Navy officer Tony Bigbee.

November 1996

From the CBS Control Room to the Soaring Roster: Fred Winter's Long Flight from Watergate to the Glider Port

Skyline Soaring Club's November 1996 issue leads with a remarkable 'Meet the Member' profile of Fred Winter, a former CBS television maintenance technician who helped cover Watergate, Nixon's resignation, and the Johnson funeral before trading the broadcast booth for the Warrenton Soaring Center desk and a Commercial glider rating. The newsletter also welcomes three new members—including Gary Rubus, a 5,000-hour USAF pilot with his own Ventus—and marks the close of the 1996 flying season with reminders about biennial flight reviews, a December 14 Christmas party at the Barber residence, and a January 4 planning meeting at Valor Field, New Market. Club members Shane Neitzey and Kevin Fleet volunteered in the search for two-year-old Karynne Sheldon, missing from Prince William County, while the 'Pegasus Ponders' column looks back ten, twenty, and thirty years through SOARING Magazine, recalling a John Denver–narrated ESPN film on the Barron Hilton Cup, a Goldwater bill to extend ADAP funding to private airports, and the early days of the Schleicher K-13. Classifieds list a SH-1 Austria and Shane Neitzey's LAK-12 (the glider in which he earned all three diamonds in eleven months) for sale, and a note flags the Pawnee towplane's recent illness as a prompt for members to consider acquiring a backup taildragger.

December 1996

Five Clean Years, a Call for Instructors, and a 30-Year Flight Through SOARING's Pages

Skyline Soaring Club closes 1996 with a milestone—its fifth consecutive accident-free year—and a president's note urging members to carry that gratitude into 1997. The issue is packed with practical and reflective material: Jim Kellett publishes a thoughtful essay on civic leadership and board service, Joe Parrish sounds the alarm on a growing CFI shortage (five active instructors, a need for at least three more), and the club issues an urgent request for members who flew on October 13 to re-submit lost payments. A charming 'Pegasus Ponders' column revisits SOARING magazine's December issues from 1966, 1976, and 1986, tracing three decades of soaring culture from a National Geographic feature to barograph disputes. The newsletter also details the SSA ABC badge program, announces the 25th SSA Convention in Arlington, Texas (Jan 30–Feb 1), and carries a passionate appeal from the SSA Youth Committee to meet a $20,000 CADET scholarship goal by year's end, with Skyline's board approving a $100 club donation and a generous benefactor matching individual gifts dollar-for-dollar. Rounding out the issue, a 'Meet the Member' profile follows lobbyist Joseph M. Rees from small-town Indiana to a lobbying career in Washington and, finally, to the 'sunny sky over the Virginia countryside' that hooked him in 1983, and the club congratulates Matt Little on earning his Private Pilot certificate.