Andy Kozak’s PIREP from the 1-34 today

“5:30 aloft 9,000 ft. Mostly Very smooth lift. Flew as far as New London to the East and Okemo to W. Close to LEB. And S near Bellows Falls.”

The weather looks good for the weekend, so login and reserve your flying slot, and join us for the DIY BBQ this Saturday, June 5 at 5:00 pm.

From left, Bear Mountain, Skye Peak, Killington Peak, Snowden Peak, Ramshead Peak, and Pico Peak, and a little to the right of Pico what Andy described as as “Pollen Devil”
Over Lake Sunapee/New London

Cookout Rescheduled: Sat June 5th

This weekends weather is not cooperating for the holiday or the cookout.  Given the likelihood that Sunday afternoon/evening will be cold and likely may involve some precipitation too, we have decided it is safer to postpone the cookout to next weekend.  So (re)mark your calendars for Saturday  June 5th after flying! We will still do some flying if possible as Wx permits.
Thanks.

Memorial Weekend Cookout: Sunday after Flying

We will have our first picnic of the season starting late afternoon Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (Middle day of 3 days flying weekend) so mark it in your planner.

Given the current state of the world, this will be something a “DIY” style event:

1) While we will have some basics available – burgers, dog’s etc.  If that’s not your thing or you are not comfortable with that please bring whatever you want to throw on the grill. 

2) We won’t be having a pot-luck with shared sides, so please bring whatever sides etc. you want for yourself and family;

3) We won’t be using the picnic tables etc. so please bring a chair so that we can spread out for social distancing.  

Hope to see a good turn out for flying and our first “DIY” cookout event.

The Season Begins!

Thanks to all who volunteered their time the last several days to get the NESA fleet on the flight line, and tow and instructor pilots current. Ben Berg flew with Mark Farley and was signed off and flew his first solo of the season. Andy Kozak accomplished his Flight Review with Mark and is good to go.

We’ve had a dozen inquiries from folks interested in soaring and becoming members, but have explained club members getting check outs and flight reviews are the club priority.

If you are in need of check flight(s) or a flight review, please contact one of the club CFI-G’s via email (available under the Member Resources” tab) to arrange a date and time.

We’re masking and distancing, but the last few days have seemed the most close to “normal” since 13 months ago.

Time to go fly!

Club ships are all on their tiedowns!

With thanks to Brad and Calvin James, Jerry, Alasdair, Larry and Greg Hunter, we assembled the 1-26 and 1-34 today. Jerry towed and Greg took the 2-33 up for his third currency flight, then flew with Calvin. Charlie Freeman flew with the CAP’ers. Beautiful day to officially begin the season! Come out & fly!

Spring Safety Seminar: Sat 4/3/21 – 9am

The presentation agenda is now final:

Wings credit is available. You can sign up at: Pilots – Quick WINGS – FAA – FAASTeam – FAASafety.gov

Joining Instructions:

  • Meeting will be held via FreeConfernceCall.com which we have previously used for last years safety meeting and this years annual meeting.  Connection details are below.
  • Instructions for joining and installing the application etc. are in the user Guide linked below.
  • The meeting ‘space’ will be open at 8:30am – well prior to the start of business to allow some time for anyone using this for the first time to work through connecting/getting audio working etc.
  • Please join on-line rather than by phone so that you can see the presentations and participate fully.

Online Meeting Connection Link

Online meeting ID: flynesa
Join the online meeting: https://join.freeconferencecall.com/flynesa

Back-up dial-in information:Dial-in number (US): (425) 436-6346
Access code: 2716044#

Attendee User Guide: NESA On-line Meeting user guide.

2021 Proving Grounds Tasks set:

With much work by Brian Xander, our 2021 proving grounds X-C series courses have been set. Start talking to the instructors about your cross-country goals for the upcoming season. Note that the Springfield > Post Mills leg of the Striedieck tringle gets you silver distance – 50k+ (max release 2,200 AGL) whether you come home or land at Post Mills.

Spring Safety Seminar Announcement: 4/3/21

The 2021  Annual Safety Seminar will be held onlineSaturday April 3rd at 9:00am. Everyone should now have received an email invitation and instructions for joining the meeting online.

  • The Spring seminar is as close to being a mandatory meeting as we have and we ask that all members make their best-efforts to attend.
  • The full presentation agenda is being finalized and will distributed before the meeting. The instructors are working on their presentations and securing FAA Wings program credit for the event. Rusty Pilots will obviously be an important topic this year.  For many it’s not just a matter of the usual winter break but with COVID, some of us barely flew or didn’t get to fly at all last-year so Spring checkouts may need to be tailored to reflect that and get everyone back up to speed. 

Overall COVID vaccinations seem to be progressing well, amazing really when we consider it was really only a year ago that the pandemic was truly unfolding.  

  • VT travel guidelines have been updated and out-of-state visitors who have received their vaccinations do not need to quarantine.  With caution in mind we will plan to begin the season with daily questionnaires/temperature checks etc., but we will be flying soon. Several of our instructors have already received their vaccinations so we will be in good shape for Spring check-rides.

As always, after the safety seminar the actual dates for the start of regular scheduled flying will be determined by weather and field conditions and not by the calendar.