Ximango Safari - Jul 2005

These are great guys and swapping tales and stories was an outstanding
part of our time together. I wish it could have ended otherwise, but it
was an adventure indeed.

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Date:         Wed, 6 Jul 2005 23:10:21 -0400
Reply-To:     Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Ximango Owners Group <XIMANGO@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Ted Gordon <tedjgordon@ATT.NET>
Subject:      Ximango Safari

Hi

Just thought I'd let the group know that the North East Ximango Safari
adventure has ended after only a few days. It was great while it lasted
and the fun we had speaks well for planning similar efforts in the future.
We had four almost identical gliders and pilots show up at Laconia NH:
Roland Martin, Bruce Schimmel, Holliday Obrecht and I. The weather was
perfect. Two of us flew west on July 3rd for thermals, and on the next
day, the fourth of July, three of us flew twice around Mt. Washington and
then on to Franconia NH where we hoped to land and have lunch. We flew for
a while in the house thermal near the grass strip and then I went to the
field for a landing.
 
I had a hard landing and broke the gear and the propeller and scratched
the belly. No injuries or major structural damage. The other Ximangos went
back to Laconia without landing. With the help of the glider operation at
Franconia, my Ximango was moved to a safer resting place at the side of
the runway where she still sits.

Yesterday the three remaining gliders started home (to Philadelphia and
Maryland) via Brainard Airport in Hartford CT to drop me off, but when we
got there the weather was so awful they left their planes and drove the
rest of the way. So for a short time at least, Brainard has three
Ximangos, two tied down and one in my hangar.

These are great guys and swapping tales and stories was an outstanding
part of our time together. I wish it could have ended otherwise, but it
was an adventure indeed.

Ted Gordon