Scott Clark took the initiative to arrange for all of those interested to attend a luncheon at Pilot Pete's restaurant at the Schaumburg Regional Airport. There were about 40 of us there for the lunch.
There were also 7 of us who flew at the airport in weather that was clear and cold the temperature was in the range of 10 to 15 degrees fahrenheit. It was cold!
It was way too refreshing! Lance and Jeff G flew too in spite of the cold!!
I think that there were 7 of us who flew. Please correct me if I am wrong. The list includes: Gary Brown, Scott Clark, Mike Mixer, Pete Sachs, Jeff Goin, Lance Marczak and yours truly. [Wes should have flown but didn't.]
There were a good number of regular PPG-ers in the area who were missing. Fred W, Steve R, John S, Scott B & his son, Eric R, Pete [Polish], Paul P, Len S & Kathy, were among those who we would have liked to see also.
The conditions weren't that steady. We were flying in the neighborhood of 10 to past 11 AM. The temperature was in the neighborhood of 15 degrees and it was sunny. There was definitely some thermal activity. The snow was quite crusty and there was ice mixed with it making for rough edges of frozen stuff that grabbed lines [I know this very well]. There was also ice on portions of the tarmac which wasn't fully cleared in the area we were in, making the footing very slick in spots. The wind was a little stronger than we had anticipated. When pulling the wing up on the snow or ice pilots were slipping. Mike and I circled the
airport and the rest of the PPG pilots stayed relatively close to where we were operating. Mike launched first and I launched second. I found that there were some significant bumps and more lift than sink as I circled the entire runway in a left hand pattern [staying low beyond the ends of the runway, well below the GA approach and departure paths]. The cold was the biggest problem. My hands were very cold as I landed. My hands warmed pretty quickly after landing however. I was hoping to take a second flight but time didn't allow for that.
We had quite a few observers and late-comers join us too. It was great to have Steve and Kelly Koerner join us and drive up with Lance, Sally and Wes from Kankakee. Alan Abair made the trip from Syracuse, Indiana. Mike and Stacy Mixer came all or the way from Quincy, IL. There was quite a bit of family participation too. The Gary Brown family, the Pete Sachs family, the Jaro Krupa family. Lance's very significant other, Sally, was there too as well as a number of spouses. It was good to see Alan Abair's fiance. Eugene and Yolanda Hablik
were partying right along with the rest of us. Albert and Jerzy were very welcome participants but didn't fly due to circumstances which had them arriving late. We had some of the hang gliding crew from Enjoy Field south of Kankakee join us too.
It was a good turnout and a great time! Scott Clark did a great job with the lunch arrangements and Gary Brown did a great job clearing the way for us to fly right at Schaumburg Regional Airport. Thanks, guys!
Thanks Wes for the photos. Lance, we are all looking forward to your video.
My best to all of you during this holiday season, in the new year, and always!
Dave
[Most of the above is from a post I put up on our IL powered paraglider Yahoo Group site.]
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