Here are some pictures of the Saturday event.

https://picasaweb.google.com/morhall...ToFlyChandler#

It is definitely a different experience to be thermalling up over a
big city. Highway 99 was a literal highway of thermal activity. I
took one passenger about 10 miles out from the airport, all while
staying below 2500msl Class C (2200agl). Straight flying right up the
highway with no reason to turn. Averaged over 90 knots on the way
back and still had to pull spoilers to get down to the pattern.

It's fun to give back, but truthfully I am really looking forward to a
week of racing at our Avenal spring Contest this week.

Morgan



On May 8, 6:19*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On May 8, 1:17*pm, Morgan wrote:



For what it is worth, I spent all day yesterday at Fresno's Chandler
Executive Airport for an EAA Learn to Fly day. *Brought my Duo Discus
and borrowed a tow plane from one of our club members. *We gave away
14 intro flights and collected a few donations. *Two families are
very, very likely to come out and join the club and get their kids
involved in soaring.

The glider was probably one of the bigger hits at the event and the
fact that it wasn't just a static display. *On the Fresno news, the
glider apparently got the most time on air and two of the girls that
went for rides were interviewed.

Whether to call the even a success or not is a little hard to say.
From the club perspective, we didn't collect enough in donations to
pay for the fuel we burned. *But 14 people got to taste a glider
flight and we did something that probably hasn't been done before in
that we brought glider operations to the heart of downtown Fresno.
Thermalling up over Hwy 99, the Zoo and right around downtown. *Who
knows though many of these kids won't even be able to solo a glider
for many more years, but some club or soaring operation may benefit 20
years from now.

And a side benefit was that it was very soarable, so I typically only
took about 1000-1200ft tows and then thermalled up a little to show
people that these aren't just sled rides. *We couldn't climb higher
than 2500 due to FAT Class C (I was Mode S equipped, but they denied
my request to climb into their shelf).

Things that I do think help and event like this. *Go to a place that
hasn't seen glider ops, the novelty alone is going to draw attention.
Bring a beautiful glider out. *Our club trains with 2-33's, we have
them and it's all we can afford, but realistically I think the Duo (or
any glass 2-place) has the appeal to ignite the spark. *Now if we can
just retain them during training with the 2-33's.

The main thing was that it takes a lot of volunteer effort to support
an event like this. *Tow Pilots, booth workers, donations of glider
time, etc...

Morgan
5H

Good on you Morgan and your group,

I just found out about events in my state with an online news blurb
yesterday. *It didn't even mention the EAA chapter involved at my
local airport. *Colorado events are scheduled for 5/21, so there may
be enough time to be involved.

Some soaring organizations may still find opportunities.http://www.learntofly.org/findanevent.aspx

Frank Whiteley