July 2024

Hello, all: SkySight forecast that there’d be solid lift today.  It was a lie!  First off, there’s a lot of smoke in the upper atmosphere from the ongoing Canadian wildfires.  We never have good soaring conditions when the sky is hazy with smoke.  Secondly, the corn along the runway is probably ten feet tall,…

Hello, all: We are in the summer doldrums!  It’s hot.  It’s humid.  There’s hardly any wind.  There isn’t much lift.  Even the turkey vultures aren’t soaring more than a few hundred feet above the ground.  We flew ten or eleven flights, but the flight conditions were so bad that BUD had the longest flight…

Hello, all: The weather on Wednesday was so nice!  Light winds, a high temperature in the mid-80’s, and very tolerable humidity levels.  It was so different from last weekend when we wisely chose not to fly, due to the excessive heat and humidity.  This was a gorgeous July afternoon, with SkySight and Dr. Jack’s…

Hello, all: The thermals didn’t materialize as was predicted by SkySight.  As predicted, there was lift to almost 5,000’, but it was a constant struggle to find and stay in the small thermals we found.  The cumulus clouds were popping and passing overhead, but only from about 1pm until 3pm.  After 3pm, they stayed…

Hello, all: We expected a short day today, but we ended up with a total of eighteen sorties.  Since it was a nice day with cooler temps, low humidity, and light winds, multiple club members came out who hadn’t signed up to fly.  There were thunderstorms that passed to the north and to the…

Hello, all: There’s not much to report today.  We started flight operations at 9am with nine Civil Air Patrol – Cadet Glider Orientation flights.  There were five Cadets signed up, and all five flew at least once.    The last of the Cadets had motion sickness and chose not to fly a second time.  Still,…

Hello, all: It was a beautiful early summer day in Nebraska.  The winds were light, the skies were mostly clear, the humidity was low, and the high temperature was 77 degrees.  If there had been strong thermals it’d have been a perfect day for soaring.  However, the thermals were not strong; they were mostly…