Eastern TMG event?

[Thermalseeker]

Greetings all,

I'm putting this up to see if there is any interest in an east coast TMG gathering?

FWIW, I have hosted several similar events for sailplanes and the Europa crowd at my strip over the years. For the TMG soaring enthusiasts this area offers up abundant ridge, thermal and occasional wave conditions, pretty much year-round. Spring and Fall are best, but late summer (mid August - September) we often see cloudbases in the neighborhood of 10,000' msl (ground elevation 700' msl). Numerous 500K's have been done using the 160 or so miles of soarable ridge that is available nearby, many done in 1-26's. There have even been a handful of 1000K's done here. Unfortunately, Tennessee Code changed last year, essentially making private land owners liable for the actions of others while on their property, even in a trespass situation. So, until this is changed (efforts are underway now) I would be extremely hesitant to host another gathering at my strip (TN89), even if we were to use a general liability waiver. However, 12 miles southwest of me is a sleepy little public county airport (KAPT) with a wide open ramp, on field fuel and plenty of space for camping or RV's. Eateries and hotels are nearby (< 5 miles). Although I've not approached her, I believe the lady who owns the FBO at KAPT would be ecstatic if we were to hold a TMG event there. KAPT is convenient to the ridges (< 3 miles) and the typical convergence lines that set up near the center of the plateau's. (< 5 miles). Although Chattanooga airspace is Class C, it's pretty sleepy Class C and it's location relative to the ridges and plateau generally doesn't interfere with the soaring. The topography and the nearby Tennessee River make this a very scenic area to commit aviation. Chattanooga proper is 25 miles to the SE and offers fine dining, every hotel option imaginable, the Tennessee Aquarium, a really good microbrewery, as well as many other attractions in the downtown area.

I could be persuaded to put a gathering together if there is enough interest. Anyone interested in attending and/or helping put something together speak up!

Regards,

John Lawton

Whitwell, TN (TN89)

Ximango #135

[Richard Pearl]

Great idea, John.

There was talk in one of the early communications to me when a new member joined - I am trying to personally "welcome" every new member, so I sent out about 130 email in the last 15-20 days - of an East coast fly-in. I'll see if I can locate that person or better yet if he reads this message he'll chime in.

One of the clear advantages of this Association and web site is the ability to set up local or area fly-ins. A new TMGA member who will be accepting delivery of a Phoenix this Spring is talking about a fly-in at his home airport, Sedona, next year...perhaps linking with the ASA fly-in as a precursor to the National Fly-In in Minden. Another example is that I'm working on us West coasters possibly dropping in on the Carat fly-in at the Harris Ranch in May.

Another advantage of the web site re organizing fly-ins is the ability to create and use specific Sign-Up sheets. We've got one going for the Minden fly-in so EVERY ONE WHO IS COMING OR EVEN THINKING OF COMING NEEDS TO SIGN UP SO WE HAVE AN IDEA OF PARTICIPATION AND WHERE EVERYONE IS COMING FROM (caps added for emphasis - RP)

Regards,

Richard Pearl

Sacramento, CA

Grob 109 909G

[Steve Sliwa]

Hi John

I would be a maybe from the West coast. It would depend upon the timing. I remember there was a rendezvous of Ximangos in State College in 2008 or 2009. I think 4 flew in and 1 was there. If we get some response and you pick a tentative date, I would be happy to create a sign-up sheet.

BTW ... based upon what you told me you should sign-up for Minden as possible. It's not likely, but depending upon events you might come, sort of thing.

Regards,

[Xenos Ted]

John, I would be interested in KAPT or nearby for an East Coast TMG fly-in. I am in Athens GA about an hour or so away (maybe slightly more) Ted and Nancy Staton

Xenos

[Thermalseeker]

Hey Ted,

If you're that close you should come up and check out the Sequatchie sometime. It's an awesome valley for soaring! FWIW, you'll also find occasional wave when it's stable and blows south-southeast, slightly north of a line between about Blairsville, GA, and Helen, GA. Fort Mountain near Elijay, GA, also kicks up a pretty good wave in SW winds sometimes. Both would probably be less than an hour from you.

Regards,

John Lawton

Whitwell, TN (TN89)

Ximango #135

[Xenos Ted]

Thanks, John, I did my tow-dependent glider training with Sarah Kelly (now Arnold) so I am aware of the Sequatchie valley. I have never been with her group there, but Nancy(wife) and I have flown over it on the way to Crossville. Thanks for the info on Blairsville and Fort Mountain. I figured Fort Mountian had some action, but have not tried it yet. I am actually about two hrs from you but really close to Helen, etc.

Thanks again. If I can help make the East TMG event happen, let me know (I am retired).

Ted

[Thermalseeker]

Hey Ted,

Yeah, I know Sarah. My wife got her glider rating from Sarah. I'm about 37 nm west of Chilhowee, smack dab in the center of the Sequatchie Valley. When the conditions are right I try to fly over to Chilhowee and back (engine off) in my Ximango. On the right day it's pretty easy. Some days it's pretty challenging, especially getting over the area around the TN River. Another one I like to do is a 110 nm triangle that uses the hang glider flight park at Lookout Mountain near Trenton, GA, and Chilhowee as turn points. That one is really fun. I used to tow gliders here at my strip, too. I hosted the "Sequatchie Soaring Society", a not-for-profit club that was started here in about 1984 by retired Eastern Airlines Captain Art Matthews. I quit towing in 2005 because of excessive liability exposure from operating off of private property and the fact that our volume of tows just wasn't anywhere near enough to pay even the basic expenses of the operation. Sarah and crew come over and tow out of KAPT sometimes when the ridge is on. I think the Chilhowee group is doing a badge and/or a wave camp there sometime around the middle of this month.

On another note, if you haven't already checkout the Runway Catfish House at Habersham County (KAJR). The restaurant is walking distance from the FBO. They've got a pretty good weekend buffet and a lot of EAA'ers frequent it.

'Preciate your offer to help with the event. I'll keep you in mind if this eastern TMG thing grows legs.

Regards,

John Lawton

Whitwell, TN (TN89)

Ximango #135

[Xenos Ted]

Thanks again, John. I will remember the Catfish house at Habersham cnty. Some of our guys from the Athens GA EAA chap tried to go for lunch ("I don't need to call ahead" -types) You guess it. They went on the only day they were closed (hi hi) I can't remember what day of the week that was. So they went to Toccoa to the railroad museum did I get that right? - or was it a parachute training museum - whatever, the triip turned out fun.

I see you are a ham. Me, too. KK4CPO. I put a APRS in the Xenos - check me out on the Apris.fi site (N32XS). At home, I mostly hang out on the low end of 40 meters on qrp cw. Looking for a bluetooth adapter for my HT to connect wirelessly to my Lightspeed headset - any leads?

Sarah is like the daughter we never had. Did I mention that I officiated at her wedding? (retired preacher)

Do you know Tom Muller in Thomasville GA? Ximango - He was my self-launch instructor several yrs ago. Couldn't find a nicer guy. Also, we have a Stimme at our field (AHN) now. Have not met the person, yet. He/she just moved in a hangar. The tower controllers said, "Hey, 32XS, you have a new buddy, but his wings sissor to put in hangar." I said, "Well, don't tell my wife! She fusses about having to remove one of the wing tips to fit in our 45 ft hangar." :-)

As I type this (Fri 5:26 p) I hear that you guys are getting bad WX. I hope you are OK.

Best

Ted

[Thermalseeker]

Hey Ted,

Yes, also a HAM here, although I don't use it much. Sort of an offshoot from my formal training as an electrical engineer. I ran an engineering firm for about 18 years that catered RF engineering services (design, testing, etc) to wireless carriers and equipment manufacturers, primarily cellular, PCS, SMR and microwave. I originally got my Tech license so that I could take advantage of 2M privileges for com with my ground chase crew for hang gliding retrieval when I'd go XC. We also used 2M for air to air com.

I do know Tom. He's been to my strip before. We also flew together out in Minden and Parowan in the summer of 2010. I think he's trying to sell his Ximango now. He's been wanting a high performance single place self launcher for a while now. (ASH26, DG808, etc) He's got an ad up now looking for something 18M with self launch capability. Sounds like he's getting serious because he's offering his beloved Bucher-Jungman biplane and his Ximango as a potential trade.

It'll be interesting to see how much your Stemme neighbor flies. They're a pretty complicated bird with a lot of reoccurring AD's. Also somewhat difficult to ground handle in certain situations, but they sure go good!

One of the really nice design features of the Ximango is how easily it folds. Takes about a minute per wing. I only have to fold one wing on mine, though, to get it in the hangar door. I miss by about 5" of clearing without having to fold.

The most recent storm complexes that went through passed north and south of us. This is typical. I think the Cumberland Plateau presents enough of an obstruction that the worst of the storms seem to track through Lookout/Chattanooga valley to the south, or along the west part of the plateau to the north. We do occasionally get rough stuff, but it's fairly rare in my 22 years of living here.

Regards,

John Lawton

Whitwell, TN (TN89)

Ximango #135

[Xenos Ted]

Great on all counts, John. Thanks for the update.

Best to you all

Ted

[Richard Pearl]

Is anyone going to try to set something up for this year? Two new members, Erwin Roger and Michael Nagel, have also expressed some interest. In addition, another midwestern'er who was interested in coming out to the Minden event got sidelined by a wedding, and might also be interested. The hardest part will be getting commitments from people, especially for the first year's event. After that it gets progressively easier.

Using the tools of the website it's easy to put something together, like I'm doing with the Harris Ranch fly-in. One thing that will make it easier will be the map of all our pilots. It's a challenge to get everyone to enter their data - not that it's difficult - and hopefully everyone who reads this will IMMEDIATELY sign up. We'll be working via a special mailing to the entire membership to get with the program.

Regards,

Richard

[Thermalseeker]

Hi Richard,

I put up the query about the possibility of an East Coast TMG Fly-In back in early February. Almost two months later now and there has been a very tepid response. Hard for me to get motivated to organize and promote an event like that when there is such little interest. I figured if I could get 8-10 "maybes" it would might be worth the time to set an event up, but the response thus far for the most part has been non-existent. The response is pretty much on par with how the glider crowd around here reacts to similar events I've hosted in the past. So, it doesn't surprise me. I'm really not interested in going to all the trouble to put on an event like that when there clearly is no interest. Maybe someone else would like to give it a go? I'm happy to do it if there is interest, but the response I've seen so far isn't at all encouraging.

Regards,

John Lawton

Whitwell, TN (TN89)

Ximango #135

[Richard Pearl]

John

What I've learned over the years is that when organizing something like this it takes a LOT of persistence to make it happen. The first year of the Minden event we only had seven participants. I think the key is to continue to "ping" the possibles as frequently as reasonable until you have a critical mass. After the first year it tends to become established and you're no longer dealing with Vapor-wear. Thoughts:

1. Pick a date. If you're coming out to the Minden fly-In (and if you are, please sign up in the Events section), perhaps you'd like to lead a contingent back to Tennessee for the East coast fly-in; others could just meet you in Tennessee for a three day event.

2. Use the tools of the TMGA website, especially the Mapping capability. We're starting to make solid progress in this area, as you've seen since you've already signed up in the Members map section. This will be a work-in-progress but will pay off immensely when we get it populated.

3. For my first West coast fly-in I sent used the FAA data base and sent personal letters via snail mail to people within a reasonable flying distance. Stu can get you the mailing list; you can see the overall possibilities on the full Roster map. Of the 600 possibles country-wide, about 150 are Eurpoa and Moni registrations. I think you'll have better luck with our type of TMG aircraft.

4. Use the various existing TMG broadcast opportunities to double-down on fly-in announcements, in addition to TMGA postings (certainly, we would put the Event on the Home Page of the web site). I'm thinking of the Grob, Taifun, Ximango, Fournier, Carat, etc. groups. All the leaders of these groups are great supporters of the TMGA and I'm sure they'll be agreeable to posting a notice in their respective bulletin boards. Steve, Collin, Finbar, and I, among others, can handle this for you.

5. Even when the Event is somewhat established, it's a constant push to continue to make it a success. Chalk it up to human inertia, plus trying to get people to commit to a summer event when the weather outside is terrible. I've already placed several notices in both the TMGA sections and also pinged pilots through the groups listed above...and I'm just getting ready to put out a special direct email notification to people who signed up for the previous Minden events - whether they actually came or not, or just signed up for the Bulletin Board, i.e. Touring_Motor_Fly-In Yahoo group. It's just the nature of things until the event gets to be a part of the institutional psyche. I'm sure even OSH had problems in the early years.

Think about how the above might work for the East coast fly-in and let me know your thoughts. Certainly, your hard-working and overpaid TMGA leadership team will be there to support you. Your event would be a great Leap Forward for the TMGA

Regards,

Richard