OSCI's 2001 Trip

Winds were forecast to be strong from the south and that became a big problem. I elected to take two lane roads west to reduce the amount of turbulence being caused by trucks passing in strong winds. The up wind wing was banging against the fuselage support rod. Luckily I anticipated this and wrapped the rod in padding to protect the wing. By afternoon it became apparent that I could not continue the drive unless I re-enforced the trailer (reduce the amount of twisting that was occurring). I stopped at a hardware store and purchased some tension rods and mounted them on the bottom of the trailer. That helped a little plus the winds were not as strong as I approached Colorado. We made it to eastern Colorado and spent the night. Sunday the winds were lighter and the drive to Salida was uneventful. We arrived at our resort along the Arkansas river Sunday afternoon. We had to take the long way there since one of my family members was not supposed to go over 7500ft. Salida is only 3 hours from Denver if you go over the mountains. Once I got to Colorado Springs, the sky was dotted with high based CU all the way to Salida with very little over-development.

Monday, I hooked up the trailer again and drove the 25 minutes into Salida from our cabin and found the airport. What a nice airport. There is an air conditioned pilots lounge with a beautiful view of the mountains right next to the glider hanger. There are several 14,000 ft peaks within ten miles of the airport and a 4000ft ridge within 5 miles. The mountains rise up from the Arkansas River valley so there is always a landable field within gliding distance (even for a 1-26). The 1-23 was there but no Bert. It turns out he had to go back to Denver that morning to fix a car problem and was supposed to be back that afternoon. There were several high performance glass ships there with their pilots waiting for the "strong" crosswind to go down so they could fly (not strong by Nebraska standards). They were all there on vacation with the sole purpose of soaring as much as possible. The winds never did go down that day and Bert never made it back from Denver so I returned to my cabin.

Tuesday, I had scheduled an area familarization flight that morning in the FBOs Blanik and we found some early lift. The glider operation uses a 270HP Pawnee and a Super Cub. After landing Bert arrived and we proceeded to set up the two gliders with help from glider operation personnel. Winds were picking up as a front was approaching. Again the visiting pilots in their glass ships were not flying do to the forecast of strong winds by afternoon. After the 1-26 was set up I filled the tank with oxygen (thanks for the quick installation Bill while the glider was on the trailer – that had to have been difficult). When I tested the system I could not get any indication of O2 flow. After puzzling over it for a while I finally discovered that the flow meter had been installed backwards. I reversed it, and everything started working. Unfortunately, the winds were now gusting over 30mph so I elected not to fly. Bert did decide to fly and we moved his glider carefully to the end of the runway (with west winds it was a long walk). Bert launched and released into very strong lift and we all watched him become a speck in the sky. He was the only glider pilot to fly that afternoon. We waited around for Bert to land which he did after 2 hours and a flight that took him around several mountains. He said the turbulence was incredible but he had a great time.

The FBO is a husband wife team and they are the nicest people I have ever seen running a glider operation. They have a policy that they will not leave the airport until every visiting pilot has landed for the day. They will also come and retrieve a pilot who has landed. Rates were very reasonable with tow charges of $1 per 100ft. Rental of the Blanik was $15 per hour. Jim, the owner, says he tries to keep his prices low to encourage young people to learn to fly.

With all the trailer problems I encountered, I elected to take the trailer to a welding shop and get it stiffened. The price was $400 but I was not about to take the glider back to Omaha unless improvements were made. The wing hitting the fuselage was putting dents in the wing.

The front arrived on Wednesday and there was no flying due to rain and thunderstorms (even snow 2000ft higher than Salida). I elected to take my wife and daughter horse back riding but a thunderstorm and heavy rain put a quick stop to that.

Thursday started out with overcast skies but the clouds started to break in the afternoon so Bert and I elected to fly along with four of the glass pilots. I took a 3000ft tow and then climbed to 13,000ft and got to use the new O2 system. One lesson learned - make sure your mask is properly on before you take off. I got off tow and started my climb but soon realized that the mask and my hat were tangled and I had to take it all off and then put it back on the right way while I attempted to thermal. Since the only CU were downwind of the airport and I was playing it cautious, I headed back to the field but didn’t encounter any more lift so I had to land (35 minutes – oh well). Once Bert landed after one and half hours, he wanted to take apart the 1-23 since he wanted to leave the next morning early. So we worked for two hours with lots of help from the glass pilots to get it on the trailer before it got dark.

The forecast Friday was for much improved conditions. I arrived at the airport around noon after taking my wife and daughter on a morning hike in the mountains. The winds were moderate and it appeared they were breaking up all the lift. I elected to try it anyway and the glass guys did to. We moved the gliders to the end of the runway and I was the first to launch. The tow started out normal enough but after awhile it became apparent there was sink everywhere. For quite some time I had 100 down on the variometer during the tow. In fact the tow pilot gave up trying to find any lift and towed me back toward the airport where I eventually released. There was spotty lift and soon I was in the pattern to land. One of the glass ships launched and he landed soon after I did. The rest of the pilots elected to haul their gliders back to the hanger after watching me take forever to get towed to 3000ft. I then took the 1-26 apart since I had to leave for home the next morning.

So, the trip was not what I had hoped for. The weather system which moved through the area was unseasonable cold (it was 32 one morning) and resulted in poor soaring. The day I left, the winds slacked off and again there were high based CU every where. My family did have a good time since there is so much to do in Salida. I will definitely go there again to soar and take my family. The trip back was better. Strong winds were encountered approaching Lincoln NE but the trailer handled them more reasonably.