Evergreen Soaring, Inc.

Minutes

May 8, 1997

General Meeting

The meeting was called to order at 7:30PM by President Chris Chantrill in the Aeroclub room at the Museum of Flight. About twenty members were present, including Kay Miner, recovering from cancer treatment. Except for a watch cap replacing his usual Greek fisherman’s hat, Kay looked like his normal self. Belying his looks, Kay said he has been enduring radiation treatment, is almost finished, and is in the “wait and see” mode. President Chantrill announced that Kay had been elected a Life Member at the last Board meeting, in recognition of his generous efforts on behalf of the club, most recently as Chief CFIG two years running. Glad to see you looking so good and congratulations for a well deserved honor, Kay!

The next topic of discussion was status of our glider trailers. Treasurer Mike Delaney and Secretary Jerry Painter have titles/registration for trailers that neither can identify. Mike passed his paperwork to Jerry to figure it out.

The Ephrata traffic patterns are new this year. Power traffic will be on the west side, mixing it up with the gliders. We can expect aerobatics activity to be more frequent and intense, both in the aerobatics box within the airport boundary, in their staging area north of the airport and even over the plateau. Since power airplanes have the same airspace rights as gliders, they are perfectly entitled to fly where they want, even if it’s traditionally been “our” airspace. SGC and the Boeing club are also aware of the situation. It was suggested that a gliding delegation meet with the new Yak distributor based at EPH (and primary aerobatics proponent in the area) to discuss mutually beneficial airspace use. Towpilots should announce glider release position and altitude to keep pilots in the vicinity aware. Keep your eyes peeled, folks, its not such a big sky after all.

Proper and consistent radio usage by glider pilots goes a long way toward keeping everyone aware of traffic. Everyone was reminded to use the radios, at Arlington, Wenatchee, Ephrata, everywhere, all the time. Learn to become attuned to what’s going on around you by listening to what other pilots say, and keep them posted of your own position and intentions, not just in the vicinity of the airport, but in practice areas, too. Nevertheless, keep your eyes open, don’t expect pilots to be as careful and courteous as you are, because they’re not. Radios are NOT REQUIRED at any of the places we normally fly, just the smart thing to do. Vigilance is the only defense.

Heretofore, at Arlington, Wenatchee and Ephrata, properly endorsed members have been able to use club aircraft at will. Is the situation different since we are now “naked” (no hull insurance)? Are new guidelines required? Alpha Soaring is doing some weekday soaring at Arlington. Should Evergreen members catch a tow? The Board will consider the situation.

Pat Dunston has an old shed she’d like to get rid of. John Gilbert will check with her to see if it would be suitable for us.

Craig Kramer was the evening’s headliner, with Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Being the FOO, and then some. Since he has FOO’d more than anyone else in the past year, Craig knows whereof he speak. Of primary importance is SAFETY. Next is delegating tasks to other members, so the FOO can concentrate on running the show, paperwork, ensuring ships are properly signed off for flight, pilot credentials are up-to-date, flights are properly logged and, finally, that ships are put to bed properly and signed off as such. FOO duties and privileges are spelled out in the By-Laws, a copy of which is in the FOO cart, a current copy of which will be inserted by yr hmbl and obdt srvt. Do you know where the nearest hospital or doctor’s office is? At Ephrata and Wenatchee, too? Emergencies sometimes happen, always in least expected ways and times. Attention Mike Bailey: the cart needs a fire extinguisher bottle. Use the radio to keep track of ships in the air. How about a telephone in the cart or in the clubhouse, Board members?

When you head out to the field to fly, make sure you have your pilot’s license, “green card” and/or logbook to demonstrate your currency to the FOO. Time passes quicker than we think, so even if you think you’re current, you might not be. Right, John G? Towpilots take note, too. The FOO is charged with making sure we’re all up to snuff. Remember, we have NO INSURANCE, NONE, ZERO coverage if a non-current pilot incurs a claim. That’s always true, not just in our “naked-hull” situation.

Finally, John Daly played a video of a “gliding” competition held annually in Japan. Called the Birdman Rally, entrants compete to see whose homemade glider or humanpowered aircraft flies the farthest. Starting from a ramp elevated above water, some ships flew off into the sunset, others just set and everything in between. You don’t need to speak Japanese to understand some of the participants expressions. Amazing and hilarious stuff.

The meeting adjourned at 10PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Painter, Secretary