Outgoing President Joe Parrish bids farewell after two rewarding years, announcing his move to Boston and urging members to fill the urgent gaps in the club's instructor and tow-pilot ranks. His year-in-review celebrates the 10th Anniversary Gala, the sale of the long-serving Miss Daisy, the ASK-21 facelift, and a new crop of 1-26 competitors, while also acknowledging Fred Mueller's July landout as a sobering reminder of the sport's risks. A gripping account from Tidewater Soaring describes a battery charger that broke loose during a spin in an L-33, struck the canopy, and lodged in the rudder mechanism—a vivid FOD cautionary tale that resonated across the club. The issue also carries a spirited call-to-action from Piet Barber and Dave Weaver to recruit new CFI-G candidates before the season, details on the upcoming SSA Convention in Ontario, California (featuring a rare screening of the 1968 film *The Boy Who Flew with the Condors*)
George Hazelrigg Jr. steps into the presidency of Skyline Soaring Club with a candid 'Headwinds' address, thanking outgoing directors Joe Parrish and Dave Brunner for years of service as both prepare to leave the area. The club enters its second decade buoyed by the imminent arrival of a Grob 103 two-seater—its first major capital purchase in ten years—while confronting a pressing instructor shortage of just four teachers for twenty-two students working toward ratings. The issue also carries a moving tribute to Dudley Matson, the cross-country pioneer and 1-26 Association member who died in January at nearly ninety, remembered for discovering a new form of ridge lift along the Blue Ridge and for his legendary desert retrieves in Nevada. A cautionary tale from Tidewater Soaring about a Blanik L-33 that flew fourteen more sorties after a foreign-object incident buckled its wings serves as a sharp reminder of the cost of a lazy preflight, and Bill Vickland reports on the Pawnee towplane's ongoing battle with peeling fabric, a stubborn left tilt, and a radio that refuses to cooperate. Round out the issue with the Civil Air Patrol glider program's rapid growth in Virginia, a new Land's End club-logo apparel line, and the announcement of the 2002 WSPA Seminar at Caesar Creek.
The Grob glider has finally landed back at the field after an 850-mile retrieval from Erie, Pennsylvania, with a work crew spending two days compounding and waxing it to flight-ready condition. The March issue is packed with early-season action: a February 17 flying day that delivered rain, sleet, snow, and 20-knot winds yet produced nine flights including a 100-minute ridge run, and a remarkable first K-21 solo by Joe Lingevitch that stretched to two hours and twelve minutes at 9,000 feet on a nearly cloudless day, earning B and C badges. The newsletter also details a hands-on winter project in which three members fabricated a fiberglass LS-1 backrest for roughly $200 (versus an estimated $2,200 from the factory), welcomes new member Scott E. Kinsey, congratulates Mark Ballinger on his tow-pilot qualification, and features an extended safety discussion on Grob pitch oscillations, canopy-latch failures, and ground-crew procedures around the Pawnee tow plane. President George Hazelrigg Jr. closes with reminders about thorough first-of-the-year preflights, currency checks, and the club's tradition of welcoming newcomers.
April's Skylines opens with President George Hazelrigg Jr. addressing a recent glider damage incident and issuing a pointed call to preserve the club's safety culture, invoking Murphy's Law and urging every pilot to honestly assess personal limits before launching. The issue's centerpiece is Geoff Hazelrigg's gripping first-person account of a five-hour cross-country flight in an LS-1, from a terrifying low-altitude ridge passage over Signal Knob to a triumphant arrival over Winchester and a long, steep-turning descent back to Front Royal. Board member Dave Weaver sounds the alarm on no-show tow pilots and duty officers, while Jim Kellett contrasts the communal labor of soaring with the solitary ease of powered flight and champions the old-timers' dinner-table storytelling as a vital training tool. The newsletter also announces a unique advanced cross-country program at the Flying Cow Farm in Lovettsville, where retired American Airlines pilot Jan Scott uses a Scheibe SF-25C motorglider to let students practice off-airport field selection and approaches at a simulated 30:1 glide ratio, and lists a Schleicher Ka-7 two-place glider for sale to club members. A Memorial Day picnic is set for May 26–27, rounding out a busy early-season issue.
In a May 2002 issue rich with personal reflection and soaring milestones, the Skyline Soaring Club newsletter opens with a stirring first-person account by Richmond Times-Dispatch writer Peter Bacque of his return to the tow plane three weeks after the September 11 attacks, describing the Virginia Tidewater landscape and the quiet restoration of trust in the aviation community. The issue also chronicles Fred Winter's hard-won Silver badge and a thrilling 196.4-nautical-mile Gold distance flight from Signal Knob through Harrisonburg, Strasburg, Massanutten, and Winchester back to Front Royal, complete with a tense final approach over I-66. Bob Collier recounts a reconnaissance 200 km triangle around Front Royal, Harrisonburg, and Petersburg in a Cirrus, navigating massive sink over the George Washington National Forest and a looming snow cloud. Additional highlights include an off-field landing training session in a Scheibe SF-25C Motor Falke, a welcome to a new crop of members ranging from airline pilots to novices, a Memorial Day picnic invitation, the appointment of Kolie Lombard as the club's Airspace Chairman, and farewell notes from departing members Dave Brunner and Gerhard Braun as they head back to the UK and Germany, respectively.
The June 2002 issue of Skylines is dominated by the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association's 50th Anniversary "Ten-Day Weekend" at Frederick, Maryland (June 28 – July 7), featuring free soaring classes, a July 4th feast with fireworks, an awards dinner, and a visit from SSA Badge Lady Arleen Coleson. Equally gripping is Fred Mueller's dispatch from the Mifflin, PA regional contests, where he describes cruising at 85 knots and spotting two-time open-class world champion George Moffat below him on a tow, only to be corkscrewed into a genuine 11-knot thermal that gained 600 feet per turn. President George Hazelrigg reports on the successful integration of the club's Grob 103A, upcoming airfield paving of the taxiway and ramp, and a committee working on a new hangar proposal. The issue also carries a frank safety discussion on runway-clearing procedures and tow-car radio coverage, Stan Pawlowski's reorganization of the Grob's FAA documentation, congratulations to new badge earners and newlyweds Jonathan and Deborah Kans, an NTSB fire-safety recommendation for Stemme S10 powered gliders, and a gaggle of new members joining from across Northern Virginia and Maryland.
On July 16, 2002, the Skyline Soaring Club's ASK-21 glider (341KS) crashed into the trees on the Massanutten Ridge, killing the aircraft but not its two occupants. Pilot Fred Winter and passenger Dan Liebermann were rescued from rugged terrain in a dramatic operation that hinged on a hand-held radio and a Pawnee pilot circling overhead to guide ground crews to the site. The newsletter details the harrowing search, the club's recovery plan—including applying insurance proceeds toward a replacement ASK-21, a Safety Board review, and a mandatory mid-year safety meeting—and carries a pointed safety essay urging members to respect the ridge's demands. Other items include a feature on NTSB investigator Greg Phillips, whose work on the USAir Flight 427 investigation was profiled in *Air & Space*, a humorous account of a picnic-flight gone awry, the passing of member Al Dresner, and farewells from pilots relocating out of the area.
The August 2002 issue of Skylines is dominated by the bittersweet news that Bela, a naturally gifted pilot who soared for 63 years and endured a decade of abuse under a vengeful regime, has decided to step down from active command, earning a newly created "Member Emeritus" status that lets him still ride along as a passenger and student. The issue also carries the full drama of the 2002 1-26 Championships at the Air Force Academy in eastern Colorado, where Bill Vickland describes a nail-biting final day that left him within 120 points of the lead after a tow-pilot misrelease nearly cost him the task, and Bill Bentley recounts the quiet triumph of finally landing his repaired glider undamaged. Dave Weaver walks readers through the entire odyssey of ordering, customizing, and collecting a brand-new ASW-27b from Alexander Schleicher in Germany, from RAL color codes to wrestling a European 7-pin trailer plug at the Port of Baltimore. Jim Kellett delivers a hard-hitting safety seminar on why experienced pilots are the ones most at risk, offers his historic Cirrus S/N 67 (the 1970 Nationals winner) to club members before listing it publicly, and closes the issue with a mock Navy mishap report about a squadron of Canadian geese that flew into Building 2187 at Patuxent River.
President George Hazelrigg Jr. opens the September issue with a spirited lecture on the three laws of thermodynamics, deploying entropy as a rallying cry for volunteers to clean the tow car, tidy the hangar, and wax the Grob and Sprite before the mess becomes permanent. Elsewhere, Bob Michael reports from Silvercreek Glider Port in St. Louis on X-Country training weekends, a Pawnee-based cross-country tow program out of Greenville, Illinois, and the club's role as a relay point for the upcoming Return to Kitty Hawk Transcontinental Glider Race. A barroom tale about the Pawnee taildragger spirals into a remarkable biography of designer Fred Weick, from the NACA cowl and the Ercoupe's first JATO flight to the story of paraplegic pilot Alverna Williams. A sobering safety note draws a parallel between a 1.5 mm scratch that grew into a fatal helicopter tail-rotor crack and the K 7's right-wing discussion. The issue also carries a youth-program name contest, congratulations to Geoff Hazelrigg on his CPL-G check ride, Jim Kellett's listing for his Cirrus sailplane, the official rules for the new hangar fridge, and a round-up of vintage-sailplane book recommendations and aviation curiosities.
The October 2002 issue of Skylines opens with President George Hazelrigg, Jr. announcing the arrival of a replacement ASK-21 glider (to be registered N341KS) expected by late November, alongside a call for members to prepare for the January board election in which Malcolm Gardner will take over as Club Secretary from the long-serving Jim Kellett. The season's most dramatic moment came on September 29, when a transient Aeronca nosed over near runway 09, leaving the pilot with a head gash and a poodle in his lap; Tim and Lisa graciously agreed to house the lucky dog until its owner could reclaim it. Elsewhere, member Joe Parrish reports from his new Cambridge, Massachusetts home, comparing the Greater Boston Soaring Club's operations—golf-cart towing, electronic billing, and a vigorous juniors program—with Skyline's own culture. The issue also carries a safety digest on the limits of do-it-yourself aircraft maintenance under FAR Part 43, a report on a Jet-A-fueled Cessna 182 that crossed the continent in 16 hours on a 230-hp turbodiesel, a thank-you for the tow car's return to all eight cylinders, and a year-end party set for December 7 at the President's house in Vienna, complete with turkey, ham, the SSC Band, and a screening of Dr. Strangelove.
November 2002 brings a thrilling first-flight report from a member who imported a high-performance LS3-A glider from Switzerland and flew it for the first time over the Shenandoah Valley on October 14, logging more than three hours in the flapped, retractable-gear ship. The arrival of the new ASK-21 (expected before year's end) and a major overhaul of the Pawnee towplane set the stage for what President George Hazelrigg calls a "pretty classy" 2003 season. Meanwhile, construction of new runway 27R/09L and an expanded ramp at Front Royal is redrawing the operational "fences" between glider and powered-traffic operations, prompting a club-wide call for patience and vigilance. Other highlights include the Virginia Civil Air Patrol's first cadet solo flight (14-year-old Timothy Genda, October 1), a heartwarming update on Bisbee the poodle who survived an Aeronca Chief crash unscathed, the FAA's new photo-ID requirement for general-aviation pilots, a member's intensive training week at Turf Soaring in Phoenix, and plans for the annual year-end party at the Hazelrigg residence on December 6, complete with the SSC Band and a screening of Dr. Strangelove.
The December 2002 issue of Skylines captures a club in transition. President George Hazelrigg, Jr. lays out a packed January calendar—board elections (with Malcolm Gardner stepping down), the SSA Convention in Dayton, Ohio, and the annual safety meeting—while the Pawnee tow plane heads in for a major inspection, wing recovery, and repaint, and the K-21 glider, damaged in an accident, ships out for repair. The most vivid dispatch comes from towpilot Steve Wallace, whose November 23 shift turned into a field-landing rescue in a neighbor's pasture, a close encounter with a cow about to give birth, a gate guarded by a trotting herd of donkeys, and a blind, flashlight-guided taxi back to the darkened airport. On the forward-looking side, Dick Otis previews the Soaring Youth Fund, a proposed national scholarship program that Skyline Soaring Club would anchor as its first chapter, while Tony Bigbee nears completion of the club's Tenth Anniversary DVD featuring Bela Gogos's speech. Phil Jordan closes his multi-part series on the 100th-anniversary powered-flight stamp by producing NOAA's original weather report proving the sky over Kill Devil Hills was crystal clear on December 17, 1903. Rounding out the issue: a year-end party at the Hazelrigg residence in Vienna (complete with a screening of Dr. Strangelove), the Women Soaring Pilots Association's 'Paper Gliders' commemorative project, congratulations to Raul Fumagali on his PPL-G, and a reminder that the tow car's radiator is leaking.
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| 2002-01 Newsletter (January 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-03 Newsletter (March 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-07 Newsletter (July 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-08 Newsletter (August 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-09 Newsletter (September 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-10 Newsletter (October 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-11 Newsletter (November 2002) | 0 |
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| 2002-12 Newsletter (December 2002) | 0 |
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