!I;. ~I

74

AIR MAIL, July, 1964, Gordon l.Freedman) and with no small holein the backside of the line. Anotherreason for changing the vent to ahigher position in this case is thatafter the tanks are filled a gallonor two of fuel will run or siphonOut of the vent and Onto theground, or hangar floor, if the air-plane doesn't happen to be sittingexactly level. FAA? And whilethey're reviewing these ABC's theyshould also establish that the onlytime that spare hole in the backsideof a pressure vent line is permis-sible is when the airplane has ametal fuel tank and a fuel pump.But this is getting off the Volaire'strack.

The ScalesThe Vola ire's weight situation

is 2250 gross, 1280 empty, and 970useful, or 4/44/14 (souls/petrol/bags). This, of course, contemplatesa standard airplane and, of course,none are. The one we flew at Free-way showed an empty weight of1396, including unusable oil and 3lbs. unusable fuel. How did it getfrom 1280 empty to 1396? We as-sume 1) wheel pants and deluxespinner ($214 extra), 2) enginegroup ($135 extra) which is 35amp generator, ignition shielding,vacuum pad and adapter ring, re-cording tach, cylinder head tem-perature sensor, 3) Superhomer,including antennas, speaker, micro-phone, headphone jack, microphone

AIR FACTS

jack, and magneto and generatornoise suppressors (they also offerfactory installation on BEl 990$713, King KX 150 $1108, andNarco Mark XII & VOA-6,$1197),4) accessory package uB"($974) which includes artificialhorizon, DG, vacuum pump, vacu-um pump gauge, electric T&B,Rate of Climb, 8-day clock, OATgauge, stall warner, dome light,panel lights, nav lights, rotatingbeacon, landing light, tiedown rings.In short, that extra cookie forbreakfast costs both in pounds andinflated currency. The one we flew,then, comes Out 4/29/0. The bag-gage compartment, a not overlylarge area behind the rear seats, isplacarded for 120 lbs. and wouldcarry a couple of suitcases.

All in all, we'd say that theVolaire has no more than a normalcomplement of rough edges for afirst-off-the-line airplane. If it mightseem otherwise it is because every-thing it goes up against has beenin proc'ucrion a long time or inhigh volume. The main thing isthat its base price of $8500 is inthe base-price ring of the two-placeairplanes. If they can just hold thatprice they've got a roomy enoughlittle four-place which can go along way towards more economicalflying. And one which pilots willenjoy flying, once they get it towhere it isn't so easy to overshootwith.

• • • • •

A great placeto soar.

SugarbushBy

ROBERT N. BUCK

A BOUT sixteen air miles southwest of Montpelier, nestled

among Vermont's majestic moun-tains, is Mad River Valley. It ispastoral with a clear river thatwanders through fields and twistsaround white farm houses. Themountains rise dramatically andruggedly on each side. It remindsyou of Switzerland and Austria.It's beautiful.

In this valley is Sugarbush, bestknown for its wonderful skiing butthere are other things too; a tough,interesting golf course, fishing,hunting and, most of all, soaring-and what soaring.

Near Waitsfield, in the valley, isEsty Air Park. A fancy soundingname for a simple grass strip 3,000feet long. There's a big hill at thewest end so you land toward thehill and take off away from it withlittle regard for the wind. The eastend of the strip heads toward thevalley so any trouble on take offgives a good choice of pastures forlanding. The field is fairly smoothand things as big as DC-3's havelanded there. It's a good place to gofor summer or winter fun.

John Macone of the Alpen Innoperates the airport and has twoSuper Cub tow planes and aSchweizer 2-22 and 1-26. You canget checked Out there.

During October ] ohn, alongwith Jim Herman of the SugarbushInn, puts on a soaring encampmentwhich is sort of a clambake forsoaring people, a time when theycome from far dragging their sail-'planes behind automobiles on trail-ers to fly and to "Howdy folks." Atnight, in the Inns, the flying talkis about stratosphere thick andgood.

Last year Ben Greene came fromGreensboro, North Carolina towinghis Standard Austria in its plushcocoon-like trailer, the monotony ofthe fourteen hour drive beingbroken by music from the stereorecorder he has in his automobile.A large contingent came from Can-ada with strong representationfrom the Montreal Glider Council.Ev Keeler, DC-8 Captain of Sea-board and Western, came with his1-23, Bernie Carris hauled theSchweizer's dreamy 2-32 from El-mira behind his car. All in all

75

I,i,

76 AIR FACTS

A German built, Canadian flown SCHLEICHER KA-8, spoilers ex-tended, approaches at Sugarbush's Esty Air Park. All landings here aremade in this direction. Photo by Allessandro Macone, Inc., Concord, Mass.

about forty sailplanes showed up.There were English Skylarks, Ger-man KA-6s, the Austria, a Sisu, lotsof Schweizers, an HP-10 and oth-ers. With them came pilots, wivesand busy children.

There were many friendly greet-ings, jests and kidding and then,always, a look up into the sky andsome remark about the wave be-cause the wave was the excuse forcoming, the big yen to fly the wave,perhaps even get a Diamond alti-rude gain which is over 16,000feet. The wave in soaring has a

magic sound, it has mystery, grand-eur, promise and challenge, it's thebig time.

What is it? Well, let's list thethree basic ways of soaring: l.Ridge Soaring: the kindergartenpart where you fly along a ridgesupported by the wind flowing upits slope. Although it's elementarv,experienced sailplane pilots willuse it happily at times; 2. ThermalSoaring: circling and climbing inthermals which is r~ally the basic,most done kind; 3. WavB Soaring:this has to do with mountains

JULY, 1965

again, but it's not ridge or slopesoaring, it's something different.

Look at a fast moving stream orriver. See where a rock is below thesurface and then see how wavesform downstream of the submergedrock. The waves stand in the samespot and the water flows down andthen up to a crest, then down againand repeats this up and down mo-tion until it gradually subsides fur-ther downstream. The waves are inup and down motion all the time,but stand in one place in thestream.

With the right condition thesame standing wave forms on thedown wind side of mountains. Fastmoving air is the stream, a moun-tain is the submerged rock. Pilotswith skill and some luck get in theup-rising side of the wave and goup.

The biggest wave flown is theone off the Sierras. Near Mojave,California, Paul Bickle set theworld's glider altitude record of46,267 feet! He could have takenhis Schweizer 1-23 higher, but coldand the lack of cabin pressurestopped him. He had oxygen, ofcourse, but you need pressure toOabove that level.

They Aren't Simple

There are many complicatedthings about how waves form andwhat they are like-that's part ofthe discussion back at the Innseach night-and there's a require-

77

rnent to be careful in waves be-cause of turbulence and, sometimes,clouds. It's obvious, too, that awave has down as well as up mov-ing air. Glider pilots like to stayout of that because, in the downpart, altitude can be lost in hugegulps. With understanding, thisdown can be used to advantage if,for any reason, you want to getdown quickly.

Under the hump of the wavewhere air, moving in different di-rections and at different velocities,bangs against itself it is rough.

Knowing something about wavesis worth while for powerplanepilots. It doesn't take much imagi-nation to visualize what it wouldfeel like to cut across a wave athigh speed hitting, in sequence,down air, rough roIling air underthe hump, and finally up air. It canbe a wild ride, especially goingthrough about four successivewaves.

Anytime there is a strong flow ofair, especially after a cold front pas-sage, across a sharp mountainrange, pilots can be suspicious ofwave conditions.

Lenticular Cloud

One way to tell a wave is by thelenticular cloud which often formsannouncing the wave. The cloud iscreated by the rising air on thefront of the wave condensing anymoisture of the right mixrure.. Thecloud dissipates on the down side

Rob Buck, left, gets a little dualfrom Bernie Carris on taking a2-32 off the trailer.

as the air is heated adiabatically.The cloud appears in front and dis-appears in back in a constant proc-ess. It's like a cap cloud and thebest way to tell it is by noting thatit doesn't drift along like a regularcloud, but just sits in one place.It lives and dies on the wave andstays where the wave stays.

That's what we woke up to on anippy fall Vermont morning. Ilooked out the bedroom window tosee the Inn's parking area full ofgliders on trailers and two menlooking up toward the west. Ourroom faced east and we couldn't seewhat they saw. They looked a mo-ment and then hurried away. It wasa cinch they wanted to get going.Rob joined me at the window justas a man walked by.

"Any wave?" Rob called out thewindow.

78

AIR FACTS

"What?" the man answered quiz-ically.

"Is there a wave, do you see awave?" Rob pressed.

"I'm not quite sure what you'retalking about," the man said. Ob-viously he was one of the few non-glider guests and unfamiliar withsoaring and probably wondering ifRob was a little daft.

We dressed quickly, ran downthe hall and out the door into thecrisp, clear morning. We raced toa vantage point and looked into thesky and there, majestically, myster-iously, alone-white against blue-sat the lenticular.

'The Wave!" Rob said in a sub-dued tone.

We stood without speaking, alittle in awe, looking up at thecloud and suddenly, as we looked,I knew how men feel who climbmountains, how they feel when theystand in a valley and look up at themountain they will climb and Ifinally understood why they say,"Because it is there."

ActivityAt the airport, activity was fever-

ish as people took wings and fuse-lages, rudders and stabilizers offtrailers and assembled them intosleek sailplanes.

The Super Cubs were alreadybusy pulling gliders into the sky,dumping them off and coming backfor another. The preparations werebusinesslike,. important, technical.

lLJLY, 1965

Warm clothing, parachutes, oxygenmasks and system checks, tow hookcheck, canopy carefully fastenedand checked, a raised hand to sig-nal, "Okay, I'm ready," and the towplane would move, the rope lose itsslack and become taut, and then theglider would move. In a momentthey were airborne, the Cub strain-ing a bit, the glider sleekly andquietly sliding along behind it,eager to climb.

And then it was my turn. I wasalone in the Schweizer 2-32, thebig, beautiful, rnultiplace. I wasalone simply because if I got luckyand went to 10,000 feet I might getmy Gold altitude and to get anybadge you must be alone.

I was set with warm clothes, oxy-gen ready if needed, the canopyclosed and my hand raised. Variouspeople looked on with considerableenvy, I'm sure, at anyone luckyenough to fly the 2-32.

AirborneThe Super Cub moved ahead, the

rope took up its slack and we wereon the way. During a circling climbI could feel the bump of thermalsand see the tow plane surge upahead of me as he entered a ther-mal before I did. In a moment I'dget rhe surge and lift too.

The countryside was beautifulwith fall colors and wonderful visi-bility and a pure blue sky. It wascloudless and even the lenticularhad disappeared, probably from

Ben Greene beside his Standard Aus-tria-one of soaring's best pilotsand best gliders.

small moisture change in the airflow. But the wave must still bethere. Others that had taken offhadn't returned and I couldn't seethem anywhere down low. Theymust be ,up in the high sky.

II cut loose at 3,000 feet not farfrom the airport and wrapped upin a thermal. Nothing muchhappened and I got little lift fromit. I tossed that one aside and flewa heading looking for somethingbetter. I found another, but it wassmall and chopped up, I lost alti-tude instead of gaining. Now I gota slightly panicky feeling, mostly

The Place to Stop

RALEIGH-DURHAM, N. C.24 HOUR SERVICE

80-100-115 Oct. -Type A-JP1

79

r-------~--------------~~~80

generated by ego. How awful, Ithought, to land back at the airportfifteen minutes after release in sucha beautiful performing sailplane. Idamned a few things and especiallythe altimeter which was down to2,000 feet.

Ridge Flying

To get time and think thingsover I went to a small ridge justeast of the field and flew up anddown it, staying up by simple ridgeflying. I gained a little on some up-flow and finally decided to use thealtitude to get at a higher ridge alittle further east.

My radio was on the commonfrequency sailplanes with radiowere using.

"Bob," Ben Greene's voice cameto me, "I'm over on your left andI just got a good thermal."

That was the direction I washeaded 'and if a pro like BenGreene was working that way I wassatisfied an amateur like myselfcouldn't go wrong doing the samething.

As I approached the ridge I sud-denly got a big boost ,from a huskythermal that the bigger ridge hadkicked off. I wrapped around andstarted up. "I've got one too," Icalled to Ben.

"Yes, I 'see you and it looks likea better one than mine."

Then I spotted his beautifulwhite Standard Austria about halfa mile away working a different

AIR FACTS

thermal. We both spiraled up. Mythermal was stronger and I climbedabove him. I was still spiralingwhen I saw Ben head over towardthe big mountains to the west. Heprobably decided he had enoughaltitude to get in the wave andstarted toward it. Being less experi-enced and a little more chicken Iheld on to my thermal to get all Icould before I started spookingaround looking for things.

Turbulence

At 3,800 feet the air becamerough, almost moderate turbulence.I hung into the turn trying not tolet it ruin my circle in the thermal.Then I decided I had enough alti-tude to experiment so I straight-ened up and headed west-north-west. Very quickly the turbulenceincreased and in my bouncingaround the rate of climb shot up toabout 900 feet per minute. I wasreally going up. Then, suddenly, theturbulence stopped. One instant itwas rough and the next it wassmooth, not just smooth, but supersmooth. "Damn!" I thought, "I'velost the lift."

My ignorance was appalling. Ilooked at the rate of climb and itwas glued to 500 feet per minuteup! Almost with a shock I got thenews. "The Wave!" ,I said aloud tomyself half in astonishment andhalf in a bomburst of joy.

And then I sat there in fascina-tion at a totally new flying experi-

JULY, 1965

ence. The steadiness of the flight,the smoothness of the air, thechurch-like quietness, the vastmountains receding below, thesweep of the country and again andagain the smoothness of the air.The glider simply hung there, itsdesign stability allowed to demon-strate itself fully. I had it trimmedso I didn't have to touch a control.If I wanted to move the sailplane Icould do it with great precision; apush ever so gently on the stickwould increase the airspeed onemile an hour, a gentle pull de-creased it exactly one mile an houror whatever I wanted. It was a con-dition test pilots dream about.

Tacking

I started to plan so that Iwouldn't drift out of the wave. It,obviously was north and south. Thewind, being fairly light aloft, per-haps thirty knots, wasn't enoughjust to head into, so I tacked up thewave with drift set in. I spotted abend in the river ahead with awhite farm house enfolded in itsrum. That was my northern targetand I flew toward it. Over it Iturned and the only noise aroundmade itself heard-it was a smallsqueek in the right rudder pedal.

Southbound I saw the Alpen Innand I aimed at that. I was wellabove the haze level below whichgliders normally fly. At 7,000 feetthe rate of climb had reduced totwo hundred feet perminute, but it

81

continued in the same steady way.The magic of the flight was

broken by the awful thought thatI had a time limit. Because of otherbusiness I had to be back by 1: 30.I had used a lot of time losing alti-tude after the tow and gaining itback down on the ridge and in thethermals. The hour now was almost1: 30 and time was running out. Ineeded an altimeter reading ofabout 12,000 feet to get the goldC altitude - precisely 9,843 feetabove my low point. It was simplearithmetic that 5,000 feet wouldtake twenty-five minutes. On top ofthat I knew this wave wasn't astrong one and perhaps it didn'teven have the capability I needed.

Greener Pastures?

J was north of the area where thewave is generally flown and I be-gan to mull over the possibility thatit might be stronger near the moun-tains a little further south. The idea

MAINE INSTRUMENTFLIGHT SCHOOLAugusta AirportAugusta, Maine

82

was fortified by the fact I was allalone, none of the other gliderswere around, they were probably ina better place. I was just crossing8,000 feet as I headed southwest to-ward the big hills about ten milesaway.

I spooked through the blue skyin the suspended state of tranquil-ity watching the course, glancing atthe rate of climb and, in mind, try-ing to grasp the tremendous expe-rience I was having. Then, in an ex-citing instant, I saw the others,eight of them, hanging in the sky.They looked like a school of fish ina stream, all headed one way, allmotionless. It was fantastic. Therewere two Skylarks, a blue one anda yellow one, there were I-23's andI-26's and above us all, perhaps athousand feet, was the dazzlingwhite Standard Austria alone in thedeep blue sky.

It was an amazing sight. It gavea feeling of being part of the sky,of being out in the sky, yet safe,that I have never had any othertime in the air. The big dear bub-ble canopy put my head into thesky so I felt in it, the other glidersgave a sense of depth that fortifiedthe feeling. We just sat there, allof us, headed one way, suspended,motionless. It must be somethinglike being in orbit. It was completedetachment.: Now and then one would break

away and fly up and down the wavetrying to find more lift, trying to

AIR FACTS.

learn more about the wave. I turnedmyself, passed a 1-23, and did alittle exploring. The lift wasn't anybetter. I was at 8,SOO feet and therate of climb still was about 200feet per minure, but the clockshowed 1:4S-fifteen minutes latealready.

The awful decision was made toreturn. I changed heading a littleand let the wind drift me backthrough the others until I was be-hind them. Then J pulled on thebig spoiler-brake and shoved thenose down to one hundred indicatedair speed. The precious altituderattled off more than 2,000 feet perminute and the earth came back in-to my conscious, the beautiful trees,the winding river, the farm housesand the airport were again a part oflife.

At 3,000 feet I shut the spoiler-brake and just because I felt like itI did a loop. It felt so good I didanother. Then it was all business asI pulled on the spoiler-brake,entered the pattern and landed.

The first to greet me was BernieCarris. "I didn't make it coach," Itold him with some embarrassment,"I only got to eighty five hundredfeet."

I could see he was disappointedand so was I-very disappointed-but after all getting badges is onlya part of soaring, the real reason forsoaring is to soar and besides, mysilent friend up there, we will meetagain another day! '

WEAK LINK.-.:,"IN AN OTHERWISE fINE AIRPLANE!••

HUNDREDS OF APACHE/AZTEC OWNERSDON'T HA VE IT ANYMORE ... DO YOU?

Loss of an engine is most critical during take-off, Thegear and flaps must be raised quickly and planecleaned up for climb-out. Often just a few seconds canmean difference between a successful go-around anda "harrowing experience". Apaches and Aztecs haveonly a hydraulic pump on left engine. Loss of thisengine on take-off calls for quick and skillful handlingby pilot. At a time when just flying the plane takes100% concentration you must manually pump upgear. Those who have had it happen, either during areal or simulated emergency, know the need of anextra hand.

HOWARD R & D's AUTO-AUX®is an easily installed electrically driven automatic aux-iliary hydraulic pump added to the standard system.When left engine fails the AUTO-AU X keeps operat-ing and gear comes up without pilot attention. Be-cause this system adds to the standard hydraulic pres-sure gear retraction time with both engines operatingis reduced to approximately 8 seconds ••. a safetyplus. Should engine fail at altitude the AUTO-AUXsystem lowers gear and flaps at touch of bu.tton. Costof this added safety and peace of mind for your planeis just $298.50, plus installation.

HOWARD R & DBOX 16216, San Antonio, Texas

HOWARD R &: D's AUTO-AUX is easily installed byany A &: E at your favoriteair shop. Normal installationtime is 3 to 5 hours. Com-plete kit contains pump,brackets, hoses, fittings, andcomplete instructions. Nothingelse to buy. Fully FAA ap-proved for all Apaches andAztecs.

"PRODUCTS TOIMPROVE AIRCRAFT"