soga-2016

The Skydog Report

Saturday July 30, 2016 I drove to SOGA field to meet Oded Kalir and Jimmy Kolynich who were coming from New York and planning to fly for their first time in Canada. They arrived around 1 pm and we chatted with all the pilots attending the SOGA Fun Fly Comp. It was a bit too windy so we drove over to TOGA Field so that they could see what we have available in this area.

The Skydog Report

Saturday July 16, 2016 and Nick will be towing at SOGA field. I arrive at 11 am and Nick, Andy and Watson are there getting ready to fly. I set up and get the GoPro on and by 1 pm there are nine pilots getting ready to fly. Nick tows Andy up first and Andy seems to be sticking so I get on a cart and take of into the low cumulous day. I see Andy landing as I am releasing at 2,500 feet. Nick drops me in a decent thermal and I work with it for a half hour or so getting up to 3,300 feet ato in the light drift. A few others are towed up but no one seems to be sticking. I finally move ahead to the next good looking cloud and I get there with only 900 feet ato and I climb in this one up to 3 grand but this one is not as strong as the first one so upwind I go again and now I am sinking and not able to stay aloft so I land with a 56 minute flight. Back in line again and Steve Bellerby is launching with Don Vermeer next and then Les Tapol gets off. I am third in line now and the tug has a problem so no more tows today. The rest of us get our gliders back to the breakdown area as we watch Les, Don and Steve get close to base at 3,500 feet. Les lands with a 45 minute flight up to 3 grand and Don gets one hour up to 3,450 feet ato and Steve is still at base when I leave and he later tells me that he got up to 4 grand for a three hour flight. A very nice day for those who got airborne.

If any one else wants to do a report, send it to me and I will include it here.

The Skydog Report

Friday June 10, 2016 I drove to SOGA field alone and when I arrived Tim was all set up with his Atos C and I quickly got into gear. We were ready to go around one pm but the first snag was that the tug would not start right off so we jumped it and finally after getting gas to the engine it spun up. Kenny was first off followed by Rod and then it was my turn. Kenny came down to 300 feet after releasing but caught a good one and took it high where Kenny and Rod flew a triangle coarse for 3-1/2 hours. Oh yes, so my tow, well I was on the ground again in 14 minutes so I did not find the great lift that Kenny and Rod were in. Back of the line up for me. John Pop was off next and John got low, like 300 feet once and took one back up to 3 grand but found sink again that put him on the ground in a half hour but John later said that he really enjoyed that flight with the low save. Jagdish was next and landed out. Then Nick Jones towed Dan Piche up and Dan also landed out. Mark Dowsett took a tow late in the day and did a nice triangle and was the last to land. Nice flight Mark. Now it was Tim Mason's turn and Tim had a twist on take off so he released just in time and rolled off into the field for a safe stop. OK so I tried again and this time Nick flew me into some great lift and Man, I was feeling good getting up to three grand thinking that I finally was going to be able to catch up to the high guys but wouldn't you know it, I did not find another thermal so I landed after 25 minutes dropping the nose over so I was NOT Lucky Skydog today.

Note - Nick Jones, our new tug pilot is doing really well at getting us up and we all appreciate his efforts. Great job Nick. Nick has also filmed every tow on this day and posted them on Nick Jones facebook website so take a look.

The Skydog Report

Saturday June 4, 2016 Maureen and I drove to the SOGA field near Arthur, Ontario and there were about fifteen pilots there and some were new to aerotowing and most were seasoned pilots. Nick Jones was our tug pilot for the day. The newer pilots started first around 11 am under the supervision of Mark Dowsett and all had good flights. By 2 pm I was ready and anxious so Nick Jones towed me up and we went through a thermal at 318 feet that was so powerful that I ended up with way to much slack in the rope so I pinned off and took a second tow to 1,800 feet in rock "n" roll conditions. As soon as I pinned off I found a good core and worked it up to 4 grand. Les Tapol was up next and we played together for a while as others were being towed up. Ken Kinzie headed southwest and landed near Palmerston airport for a 26 mile flight topping out at 5,660 feet ato after a 300 foot save near Teviotdale. Steve Bellerby flew with us and later told me that he got up to six grand and I am not sure if that was MSL or ato and I think Steve may have stuck for 1.5 hours. Don Vermeer went downwind a little farther than he should have hitting major sink on the way back but just made it into the landing field. My flight was 2 hours and 10 minutes up to 5,300 feet ato or 6,840 MSL. A good day!

If anyone has more stories from this day, send them to me on facebook.

Les Watches Steve Land

Steve Flairs

Skydog Bob - Wills Wing T-2-C

The Skydog Report

Friday May 6, Patrick O'Donnell and I drive to the SOGA field near Orangeville, Ontario, Canada and meet up with eight pilots from the local area. The forecast wind was to be 9 mph but when we arrived at 10:30 the wind was a disappointing 15 to 20 mph. The wind drops off by noon to 12 mph and Rod Reiger gets towed by Gary first and breaks off early and lands saying that it is pretty bumpy. Ken Kinsey takes a tow shortly after and hangs on up to 2 grand and works the lift to over five grand and heads downwind for a flight of 35 miles landing close to Mitchell, Ontario. Mark Dowsett takes off next and takes the lift downwind about 18 miles. Around two pm. Gary tows me up and I find lift shortly after releasing upwind of the launch and I work it up to over 5,300 feet getting downwind about two miles and then work my way back to launch finally getting down to 600 feet and ready for a landing approach when I bump into a thermal just above the tree line on the edge of the landing field and it really turns on with my averager reading 800 feet per minute. Wow, this is fun and I take it up to 5,976 feet ato. Rod tows up again and is working below me at 3,500 feet and takes off downwind for a flight of 36 miles. I was trying to get over six grand but did not quite make it so I headed back to the field not finding another climb and landing with a flight time of 1 hour and 20 minutes. Les Tapol took a flight later and pinned off early for a short flight. Steve Younger took his first aerotow flight in five years on the glider rather than towing us in the Dragonfly. Steve will be thermalling with us now that we have another tow pilot. Patrick decided not to fly today and helped with launches.

My Glider

Wills Wing T2-C

My Flight - Flytec