April 2, 2005 - Morgan, Utah in my Phoebus, 1 Tow to 3,300 ft agl, 1.1 hour flight.
First soaring flight of 2005. Over the winter months I flew power planes out of Provo for about 7 hours. It was fun to get current again in regular airplanes but it also showed me how much more fun flying a sailplane really is. Also, over the winter months I worked on editing some of the video footage I shot throughout 2004 and put some up on this site. I was amazed at the amount of interest those videos have produced! I had about 2500+ downloads of the various video segments the first month they were up and a good number of people have contacted me with comments and suggestions. I love sharing this hobby with others.
Today was overcast with moderate westerly winds. I didn't expect to go anywhere and didn't. I had a great deal of help from the other pilots puting together my glider and was again reminded how nice people are in this sport. I learned that you are supposed to do your positive control checks when you put your glider together and not wait until you are out on the line getting ready for takeoff. I felt bad that I didn't understand this simple procedure and had to make a few people wait a minute or two while we did it. I apologized and everything was ok.
Takeoff was perfect. It is very nice flying out of a paved runway compared to the gravel at Cedar Valley. The only thing that I did wrong on takeoff was that I didn't think about rope break procedures the entire tow. I will do better next time. There was only some light spotty ridge lift but it was great to practice tight circles again. Because I have been flying power planes, I didn't feel rusty at all. Landing was a 9.9 as well. I maintained airspeed up till touchdown and flew the plane right onto the runway. In the Phoebus this will always produce a very soft landing instead of holding it one foot above the runway, bleeding off speed and letting it settle down. You tend to get a thump that way. I also played with my new SeeYou Mobile software this flight and was quite satisfied with the performance. Great start of the 2005 soaring season!
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 June 4, 2005 - Lakeport California
Drove with my brother in my dad's motorhome this weekend to Lakeport CA to pick up my new ASW20BL I purchased from Rick at Yankee Composites. The trip was a very long 3 days, had a great time hanging out with my brother, the glider and trailer beautiful, I'm a happy guy!
I sold a share of my Phoebus to a very close friend Dale Taylor. He and I have been flying buddies for several years now. He has since flown it over 15 hours by now and completely loves it. I am very glad to have found a partner who can truely appreciate how fine a sailplane the Phoebus is.
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 July 1, 2005 - Morgan, UT ASW20BL - 1.5 hour flight
This was the maiden flight with my new sailplane. It took so long to fly since picking it up because of two reasons. First, I installed a transponder after picking it up because I was sick of not having Salt Lake ATC see me on their radar and having to dodge airliners. Second, airliners have a system on board called TCAS that will not pick me up and warn them of my presence. I can fly with more confidence that I won't have a 737 sneak up behind me and say hi.
The first takeoff and landing were both great. The roll rate of the ASW20 even with winglets is not as good as the Phoebus. The performace though is pretty amazing! With negative flaps above 120 miles per hour you still feel like you are flighing pretty level while with the Phoebus you would be pointing 45 degrees down it seemed! The flexible wings of the 20 also really smoothed out the ride compared to the Phoebus where you do feel every bump. In a nutshell, it is not fair to compare these two gliders that were built 20 years apart. I still love the Phoebus and am amazed at what a ship that was built back in 1966 can do. I am also thrilled with my new 20 and hope to take her on many long cross country flights. Both have their virtues and both are great fun to fly. One is also 4 times more expensive so it really puts things into perspective.
This flight was mainly a ridge lift flight. I highly recommend not having to fly a ridge to stay aloft on your very first flight with a new glider if you can help it. I was very cautious this flight because I didn't want to test the spinning characteristics right next to a ridge.
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 July 2, 2005 - Cedar Valley, UT ASW20BL - 3.5 hour flight
My second flight in my 20 and I landed out. Good grief! It was a pretty crummy day with mostly overcast skys. The wind was from the west so I decided to run the Oaquirr mountains to the north up to the Great Salt Lake. In a nutshell, the winds shifted on me coming from the north because I stayed out too long, too far. I limped back into Cedar Valley from the southwest but didn't have the altitude to make it. I didn't make the good decision to stay in the last lift and just decided to go for the airport and see what happens... About 2 miles from the airport I was down to 400 agl and passing the last good field. I turned into the wind immediately and landed. The field was real soft so I stopped in about 75 feet. I put a few love scratches on the belly because the wheel dug in a little bit but nothing a buffer won't take out in the winter. A bunch of guys from the airport brought my trailer out to the field and we put her away all nice and dirty. The next time I flew her it took me 5 hours to get all the dirt and dust out of her. Live and learn!
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July 15, 2005 - Cedar Valley, UT ASW20BL - 4.0 hour flight
With my first landout behind me, I decided my 20 was deserving of a small cross country. I flew south and ended up close to Manti and then I up with Dale in our Phoebus up over Mount. Timp east of Provo. We soared around together for the next hour and really had a blast. I was amazed at how well the Phoebus kept up with the 20 at speeds under 60! Both Dale and I were pretty proud of our 39 year old glider. Great flight! Bumpy landing though. I learned from it and hope I don't repeat another ugly landing like it.
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