Another soaring year has just about been put to rest. Lots to talk about, so let’s get started.

· The totals for the club ships regarding number of flights and hours for 1999 are summarized below:

The pilots with the most hours in club ships are (based on the ship logbooks): Parke Byron – 47.5 hrs, David Lane – 46.6 hrs, Jim Krog – 44.9 hrs. Additional statistics will be placed on the club web site.

· The annual membership meeting was held on November 18 at Chevy’s in Midvale. Eighteen members were in attendance. A new board was elected for next year consisting of: David Lane, President, Walt Konecny, Vice President, Karl Wernick, Treasurer, and Jim Krog, Secretary. The new board will select the Safety and Maintenance officers during the first board meeting in January.

· The 2-33 wings required additional work before painting. Two sessions of wing stripping, the first at Chris Steinman’s house, and the second at Morgan accomplished this. Actual painting of the wings will be a weather determined event at this point in time.

· The revised flight rules approved by the board were presented at the annual membership meeting. A copy of the flight rules as well as the charter will be sent out with the January newsletter.

· The Grob is now down at Jean, Nevada, assembled and ready for flying. Jean is about 30 miles past Las Vegas, on I-15. The airport is tucked right behind the Gold Strike Casino. Tows from the commercial operator are available seven days a week, and from the local club on weekends. Please check with the LVVSA web site (http://coyote.accessnv.com/lvvsa/) for details on getting club tows. David Lane will coordinate reservations through our club web site.

· Lastly, I would like to thank this year’s board members who helped me conduct and complete my responsibilities as president, namely Matt Zimmer (V.P.), David Lane (Secretary), Karl Wernick (Treasurer), Stan Misiewicz (M.O.), and especially Fred Wright (Safety Officer and Official Newsletter editor and typesetter).

Accomplishments for 1999

I think a lot of work was done this year that deserves a final recognition before we move on to Y2K. The following are the accomplishments of the Board and the club that come to mind in the last year.

· Refurbishment of the 2-33 (N7788S) (John Mildon, Lee Steorts, and Parke Byron, Restoration Committee)

· Development and establishment of the club web site (David Lane)

· Quality newsletters (Fred Wright)

· Correcting the club’s financial classification to allow an independent checking account (Karl Wernick)

· Refinishing the 1-34 (N19721) interior (Doug Spencer), and fabricating and installing the new instrument panel and acquiring and installing new instruments (Walt Konecny)

· Repair of the Grob trailer clamshell top, and overhaul of the brakes and lights systems (Lee Steorts and Walt Konecny)

· Excellent duty officer turnout for the year (All participating Duty Officers), with special kudos to Jim Krog and Heidi Alley for their extra, self-initiated, above and beyond effort demonstrated on their tour. (My apologies to any other duty officers whose efforts were exceptional, that I was not informed about.)

· No incidents or accidents of any consequence this year resulting in no unanticipated repairs or maintenance issues! (Everyone!)

· And, last but not least, the near superhuman efforts by Chris Steinman and Matt Zimmer to get their official glider ratings this year

Now, on the flip side, I had a club member recently decline a small work assignment claiming “it is not in my job description”. Well, in my humble opinion, no one in the club has a job description of any kind. Everyone is responsible to get things done. We have an elected board to control the chaos and to keep things from falling through the cracks. But the board members are no more responsible for doing the work, than anyone else in the club so, this leaves me with the following questions. What will you do next year to contribute to the club’s development? What do you see that can be done to improve the club’s ability to conduct soaring operations? What can you do to accomplish those goals? Think hard! You have several more months of winter before the thermals start popping locally.

· The Grob The Grob’s gel coat, as expected, is beginning to show it’s age. The original plan was to redo the exterior with urethane when the time came. Urethane will allow the Grob to be tied down in the sun with minimum damage as compared to a new gel coat. I have discussed the refinishing job with Rex Mayes of William’s Soaring (Williams, California), where the project could be done. The estimated cost for the Grob is $17,000 -$20,000. We can break it up into a two year project and have wings done one year, and the fuselage done the next year, and still get the preferred refinishing shop rate versus the job rate. This will absolutely have to be done in the next five years. One hitch is that currently, there is only about $6,000 in the treasury. The question arises as to how to pay for the refinishing.

An assessment to cover the cost is one approach. However, in my opinion, the club should consider charging an hourly rental rate on all club ships, which would go to cover maintenance costs. I think this is a more equitable approach, as the people who fly the most, e.g. me, and therefore benefit the most, contribute the most to the maintenance. I would propose a simple honor based system. Pilots keep track of the hours via their logbooks, and send in one check at the end of the month based on the number of hours that month. I would suggest an identical hourly rate of $8-$10 for all club sailplanes. This is quite a modest rate as compared to commercial operators ($24-60 per hr), and most clubs ($12-? per hr). Even at $10 /hr, club activity this year would have generated only $2970. Projecting five years out, though, rental fees would generate over $15,000 towards the refinishing job. Conceivably, in the absence of aircraft damage due to accidents or mishandling, the long term potential exists for sufficient funds to consider acquiring another aircraft.

· Nephi With the fuzzy vision of my well worn Sears and Roebuck crystal ball, I see a limited future for soaring at Park City South er … Heber Airport. The new taxiways will soon be populated with new hangars. More hangars means more airplanes and likely more business jets. More aircraft means more high speed traffic and busier patterns. On tow, the construction in the Heber valley resulting in more and more buildings and homes is clearly evident. I have noticed that the sled ride tow pattern has shifted to the west to accommodate the expansion of Heber City over the last several years. Midway is expanding out from the backside of the Wasatch. Deer Valley is climbing over to the east side as well. As the valley fills up, I would expect that glider instruction will disappear first. Glider rides and soaring will continue as the ridge will remain unencumbered. I expect glider rides to be the final survivor as it is a positive tourist attraction for the Park City tourist council, at least until the air traffic becomes prohibitive.

Sounds like a lot of gloom and doom, doesn’t it? Well, the good news is that it won’t happen this year. Now, I enjoy flying in the Uintas as much as anyone and I do not look forward to giving that up as my personal playground. But, the truth is it may not be my choice. Development is coming to the Heber valley big time.

Establishing operations at Nephi will take some long term planning and effort. We will need to be self-sufficient in towing and instruction. There are currently people in the club with towing capability. We presently have two CFIG’s in the club. However, more people will need to step up and qualify as tow pilots and instructors. If you don’t want to learn power and towing operation, then work on your commercial and CFIG add-ons. We will need to acquire a tow plane, most likely a Pawnee. These things will take several years to bring about. We need to have people step up and decide what their role will be in the future, so that in three to five years we will be ready for the transition at a time of our choosing.

Large steps compared to what we have done in the past! But think of the possibilities. Club tows won’t need the profit margin of a commercial operator. That will reduce the cost of tows. Club instructors in club aircraft will significantly reduce the cost of instruction and of obtaining a glider rating. Lower training costs will stimulate the growth of the club through new members. A larger club means more people to help out, better finances, and the improved potential of additional sailplane acquisitions.

Do not get me wrong about the clubs’, or my personal, relationship with Soar Utah. Dave Robinson, Roy Johnson and Soar Utah taught me how to fly gliders with confidence and to fully enjoy virtually all of the aspects of soaring available. Dave and Roy continue to contribute to my development as a sailplane pilot. On a personal level, Dave has been extremely helpful with advice regarding issues I have dealt with over the last two years as the clubs’ president. In fact, it may be the confidence Soar Utah has helped to instill in me that allows me to make this proposal in the first place.

One argument I hear against Nephi on a regular basis is the extended drive. On the recent trip to Las Vegas to assemble the Grob, I timed the Nephi drive in both directions. Leaving Salt Lake on Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm, it took about 75 minutes to get to lower Nephi. On the return trip Sunday evening it took 70 minutes. My drive time to Heber is typically 45 minutes. I would think that from Sandy, it is ten minutes shorter to Nephi and ten minutes longer to Heber relative to my commuting time. So, for the Salt Lake City area members, Nephi is about a 30 minute longer drive. For Sandy members, maybe 5-10 minutes longer. The people significantly affected are the Park City contingent. I would expect an additional 30-40 minutes driving time from Park City, but still one hour or less total driving time. Compare this with California, where I believe the statistic is that 90% of soaring pilots commute two hours or more to their local glider port.

Geographically, there is soaring on a more limited basis available in Morgan. Tim Taylor is attempting to form a new club in Logan. (Tim has already expressed an interest in a Utah Soaring Challenge or Soaring Cup, which would include Morgan and USA. I hope we will have USA people participating whether from Heber or Nephi.) The distance to Logan is prohibitive on a routine basis with respect to the current discussion. Closer to Salt Lake is Cedar Valley, which for various reasons, some complicated, is not a best choice. Nephi, on the other hand, also has the potential to draw new members from the central part of Utah who have no other choices. Nephi also has the potential for summer flights to and from Parowan, which could be capitalized on during the Parowan soaring camp.

Soaring-wise, Nephi starts earlier in the year and earlier in the day as compared to Heber. Soaring flights typically require 2000 foot tows or less. Numerous airports are conveniently spaced out in multiple directions. In the unusual event of landing out away from an airport, there are innumerable nicely cultivated fields from which to select an out-landing spot.

The transition to Nephi won’t happen overnight. More likely it will take a plan with a three to five year time span. But, for this to come about even in five years, things need to start happening now. For now, we can continue this discussion informally. Comments can be returned to me via email (parkito@aol.com), which in turn can be posted to the USA web site by David Lane. The discussion will identify questions that need hard answers based on fact, for instance, what sites are available for a hangar at Nephi? What size hangar could we build or afford? I would propose that the incoming vice president be assigned to the lead role in exploring the Nephi possibilities and running down hard answers for the questions posed by club members. Answers, of course, would be posted on the club web site, ideally in a FAQ file.

Well, that should just about wrap up this years’ stories of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future. I wish everyone and their families happy holidays, and that 15 meter sailplanes show up under the Christmas trees of those members who are truly in need.

Weeee! My last President’s Column!!! My apologies for the verbosity, the newsletter must have caught me at a bad time.