Congratulations to Ben! He attended the 2019 ACE Camp and joined NESA shortly thereafter. He soloed at 14, got his glider certificate at 16, Private Pilot SEL with high performance, complex and tailwheel endorsements soon after. He and Bill Batesole flew Bill’s C-182 to Oshkosh and back to Springfield this year, and Ben did three takeoffs and landings in the Callair on Monday. He towed Bill three times yesterday in the orange 2-33, and Bill signed him off as a club tow pilot, and he did 9 flawless tows today. Bill says he’s NESA’s first homegrown tow pilot. Ben’s working on his CFI-G rating and his goal is to be a NESA instructor next summer. He’s off to Georgia Tech to begin his college career later this week. Congratulations, Ben!

Due to the predicted inclement weather with anywhere from 0-36″ of snow in the forecast throughout central Vermont, the Safety Meeting has been out one week to Saturday 13th.

Cofee & Donuts @ 9:15am, meeting commences 10am.

Congratulations to Ben Berg for passing his Private Airplane flight test with DPE Daryl Smith. Ben and Bill (his instructor) have been busy flying the Cessna 182 to meet all the requirements for the rating. This included night flying, instrument training, cross-country and solo cross-country flights plus all the maneuvers required. Ben taught himself flying skills using his home flight simulator, achieving a high level of proficiency before he started his actual flying in the 182. Ben learned to fly in sailplanes and he achieved his Private Glider Pilot rating, so he knew how to fly, adding the engine was easy.

Ben is another NESA success story, teaching junior members how to fly. The Honor Roll list of NESA juniors going on to aviation careers is long. ACE Camp and the CAP Glider programs with the dedication of skilled volunteers are are also making a big difference in introducing young people to the world of aviation and all this is happening at Hartness State Airport KVSF.

We have a lot to be proud of.

Tim Chow and Jerry Smith kicked off the season yesterday, both with flights of more than an hour in Tim’s sailplane, BU. Tim connected with wave and climbed to 11,000′ MSL, Jerry climbed in thermals to 6,000′ MSL. Both flight tracks can be viewed at https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=9299074#comment=undefined&map=43.3038%2C-73.6956%2C43.6446%2C-72.0435

Thanks to the efforts of NESA stalwarts Bill B, Jerry S, Greg H, Steve H, Jim M, Ben B, Brian X, Cameron C, Paul H, Larry P and A&P/IA Andy Gelston, the club’s yellow 2-33 and 1-26 received their annual inspections Friday and all five club aircraft were secure in club member’s hangars at the end of the day Saturday. All are ready for flight at the first sign of spring. Thanks, Bill, for the delicious potato leek soup both days!

Club members achieved several milestones this season. NESA welcomed eight new members in 2022. Jim Malecha, former chief tow pilot for the Memphis Soaring Society, relocated to the New London area a few years ago and joined in January, piloted the Callair for 147 tows throughout the season, and attained the CFI-G rating in October. Steve Hurd soloed.

On the junior front, Ben Berg attained his Private Pilot-Glider certificate in June and soloed in Bill’s Cub in September. Colby passed his written and Sebastian made his first solo!

356 tows in 2021, 441 this year, an increase of 24%, still a bit low but directionally indicating a return to more “normal” times.

Watch for updates concerning the club Annual Meeting in January.

Several members made the trip up to Gorham over the 9 days of Wave Camp.

Tows were provided by the PMSC bird-dog (Jerry checked out in it and did some of the towing) and by Aerophoto with Walter bringing his Pawnee up from PA.

Larry took the PW-6 up and several flights were made in it – some wave and some Mt. Washington summit ridge soaring. Both Jerry and Walter had some great PW flights this year.

Andy Kozak took his new ASW-27 up for a couple of days mid-week and had some nice flights.

No record altitudes this year and some mixed weather, but a fun time was had.

P.S. Now that i1 is back at Springfield, Larry could use some help to get it re-assembled. Any volunteers for this coming weekend? If you can help out please reach out to Larry. Thanks!

On a perfect late summer day, junior member Sebastian Lorenz made his first solo flight today in N2041T. Way to go, Sebastian! Not much thermal activity today, but Sebastian was able to gain about a thousand feet after release before entering the pattern and landing.

The weather forecast for the weekend looks terrific. Saturday Jerry and Alasdair will trade towing and CFIG duties, and an afternoon instructional or intro flight slot is still available.

Per our club constitution, we’ve chosen the last Saturday of the month for the club’s General Meeting. Even if you don’t plan to fly, join us for the meeting and a pot luck BBQ. Please bring your meal and a shareable side dish and we’ll fire up the grills around 5 pm.

Unfortunately there are no volunteers to tow or instruct tomorrow, so there will be no NESA operations.