Soaring Club Visit

This weekend was the start of the camping season for Georgia and I. By “camping”, of course, I mean going to our air conditioned travel trailer with plenty of hot water and satellite TV. We spent Saturday getting the trailer opened up and restocked, raking up the twigs and leaves that accumulate on the lot every winter and generally getting ready for the summer.

Yesterday, we stopped by a soaring club that is near the campground. I was very impressed by just how friendly everyone was. We were greeted right away and welcomed to hang out and watch the goings on. We were encourage to look over the sailplanes and all our questions were answered. Overall, I was impressed and almost ready to join the club on the spot.

Unfortunately, the only negative was a big one and it made me decide to hold off another week before making my decision. I had asked about tow pilots and I was told that the club has at least 15 members qualified to fly the tow plane. Yesterday though, despite it being a beautiful weather day, there was not a one on the field. One of the members was making calls but could not find a pilot willing or able to tow that day. With no one flying, we ended up leaving after about an hour.

I will give them another chance and stop back next weekend. If it turns out that tow pilot or CFI availability is a common problem, that would probably stop me from joining the club. I hope it was just a one time thing yesterday. It is still very early in the soaring season here so maybe they just haven’t gotten into a routine yet. We will see.