LATEST NEWS

Ali Rastegar Adds Private Glider Rating to his ASEL Pilot's Certificate • Feb 9th, 2008!

On February 9th, Ali Rastegar passed his checkride at Hollister with DPE Dave Morss to successfully add his glider rating onto his Private Airplane Singe Engine Land Pilot's Certificate. Congratulations Ali! Thanks also go out to Ali's CFIG, Jeffrey Hazlegrove, who worked with him through the fall and into the winter. Great job Jeffrey! Ali had been weathered out twice before over the last few weeks with the storms and rain that we were having, so the clear skies of Saturday morning were a welcome sight. Ali is a hang-glider pilot, and has flown the Cessnas at Gavilan Aviation on the Hollister airport. He'd begun his glider training at HGC late last summer, flying with Ruth Cook, and occasionally going for some great soaring flights with Drew. After a brief absence, Ali got back onto the HGC schedule with Jeffrey Hazlegrove. Congratulations once again to Ali, Jeffrey, and everyone else who helped along the way toward his successful checkride!

—Happy Soaring, Quest

Ettore Leale Rang in the New Year by Passing his Private Glider Checkride!

Mr. Ettore Leale rang in the New Year by passing his private glider checkride with examiner Dave Morss to add his glider rating onto his ASEL certificate. Congratulations Ettore! Ettore began flying with Jeffrey Hazlegrove just about three months ago, and made very fast progress towards excellence in glider flying. He soloed after just a couple full-day training sessions, and seems to be a truly natural, gifted pilot. Ettore made great strides quickly, and then was away for the holidays. When he came back, all he had to do was brush up a bit, and his checkride was a breeze. Great job Ettore! And also congratulations to Jeffrey for doing a truly excellent accelerated training course with Ettore to make it all look easy. Great job Jeffrey!

Ettore lives in San Francisco, and flies power on the Peninsula. We're looking forward to seeing him when the weather gets warm, and he especially wants to come to Hollister to experience Panoche Valley. We'll definitely reserve a time slot for him at the next Gliderpalooza in the fall.

— Happy Soaring, Quest

Lars Fore Passes Commercial Pilot Glider Checkride! • November 27th, 2007

Hi everybody, HGC would like to congratulate Lars Fore for successfully passing his checkride for a commercial glider add-on rating to his airplane certificate. Additionally, Lars required only one flight to get the job done with examiner Dave Morss. Great job! Lars has been flying at Hollister off and on for about six months, coming out when he has a few days off from his job flying as a First Officer for a large commuter airline. HGC's very own Ruth Cook was the proud Flight Instructor who deserves a great round of applause for another job well done. Congratulations once again to both of you, and Lars may now enjoy the unique pleasures of soaring flight that only a glider pilot can truly appreciate.

—Happy Soaring, Quest

Johannes Zadrozny Passes Private Pilot Glider Checkride! • November, 2007

Another checkride passed at HGC! Hollister Gliding Club would like to congratulate 16 year old Johannes Zadrozny for passing his Private Pilot Glider checkride with Designated Pilot Examiner Dave Morss on Friday, November 16th! Great job Johannes!! CFIG Erick Teeters was Johannes' Flight Instructor, and another big round of applause goes out to him too.

HGC would also like to congratulate and thank Johannes' parents, Graciela and Peter for their complete and unwavering support for Johannes over the last three years of his pilot training. Johannes becomes the third generation of pilots in his family. His father is a power pilot, and his grandfather was a glider pilot.

Johannes chose to begin his training in gliders after being encouraged to do so by airshow performer Sean Tucker, whom he'd talked to one year during the Salinas Airshow. He began at Hollister as a member of the Youth Soaring Academy when he was thirteen. Johannes worked the line on many Saturdays and took his first few lessons with Russell Holtz. He then moved on to fly with Brett Hinze, and when Brett left HGC for greener pastures, he hooked up with Erick Teeters, another HGC success story. Johnannes is now attending a preparatory college, and hopes to go into international business law. He also wants to begin working on his Airplane SEL rating as well. And with his determination, as well as his refusal to never give up, I'm sure he'll accomplish all the goals he sets for himself. Congratulations again to Johannes, as well as to Erick, Brett, Russell, and his parents! Great job everybody!

—Happy Soaring, Quest

Anders Vernblom and Mike Morrison Pass Their Checkrides! • October, 2007

HGC would like to congratulate Anders Vernblom and Mike Morrison (pictured with Jeffrey), both of whom passed checkrides with Designated Pilot Examiner Dave Morss earlier in October. Congratulations!

Both Anders and Mike hold Power Pilot Certificates with Single Engine Land ratings, and we enthusiastically welcome them to the ranks of Private Pilot- Glider! Anders worked with Ruth Cook over the last few months, and he also enjoyed coming down to our Panoche weekend Gliderpalooza a couple weeks ago.

Mike Morrison worked diligently under the guidance and tutelage of CFIG Jeffrey Hazlegrove, coming down to Hollister from Silicon Valley every other Friday beginning in early May. All the work has now paid off, and HGC wishes to thank both students and instructors for a truly great job! We're looking forward to seeing Anders and Mike out at Hollister flying as Private Glider Pilots sometime soon!

—Happy Soaring, Quest

Deepak Aatresh Passes Private Pilot Glider Checkride! • Monday August 6, 2007

Congratulations to Deepak Aatresh for completing the goal he set for himself last Christmas: To become a licensed glider pilot! Deepak successfully passed his private pilot glider checkride after completing his training with instructor Ruth Cook on August 6th. Good job, Deepak!

Ferenc Omasz Passes Commercial Pilot Glider Checkride! • Monday July 16, 2007

HGC would like to congratulate Ferenc Omasz for passing his Commercial Glider checkride with Designated Examiner Dave Morss on Monday, July 16th. Congratulations Ferenc!!!!!

Ferenc is a First Officer on the Boeing 757 and 767 for a Major Air Carrier, and we warmly welcome him to the ranks of Commercial Pilot, Glider! I guess he just wanted to come someplace where he could use the rudder a little bit! The day after his checkride Ferenc was off to fly the San Francisco to Honolulu route, so maybe he'll venture over to Dillingham and do a fam. flight on Oahu with them. Ferenc is Hungarian, and we hope to see him frequently at Hollister after he visits relatives in Budapest.

HGC would also like to thank CFIG Ruth Cook for her dedication to Ferenc's training, and to CFIG Jeffrey Hazlegrove for his phase-check flight with Ferenc before the checkride on 7/16. Congratulations all of you for a job well done!!

—Happy Soaring, Quest

David Schoenwald Passes Private Pilot Glider Checkride! • Friday May 25, 2007

HGC would like to congratulate David Shoenwald for passing his Private Glider checkride to add his Glider Rating onto his Private SEL Airplane Certificate!! Congratulations David!!

David passed his checkride with Dave Morss on Friday, May 25th. David's flight instructor was Ruth Cook, and she also deserves congratulations for a job well done. Great job both of you!!

David is a power airplane pilot who hadn't flown for quite a few years, and decided to get back into aviation by aggressively pursuing his Glider add-on Rating. David and Ruth worked out an accelerated training schedule which involved David flying all day for a handful of days, spread out over a couple weeks. This just shows what students and instructors can do by using enthusiasm, hard work, planning and dedication.

David has also jumped right into cross country flying, as he and Ruth towed to Panoche, soared, and did a Panoche retrieve on Memorial Day, only three days after the checkride. Once again, great job David and Ruth, and we welcome David to the ranks of Private Pilot, Glider. We hope that you continue learning the art of soaring, and gradually break those apron strings to discover the true joy of cross-county flight!

—Happy Soaring, Quest

Multiple Pilots Attempt Mad Dash to Mexican Border Town of Jacumba • Thursday May 24, 2007

Forecast onditions looked right for Ramy Yanetz's "fantasy flight" to the Mexican border on Thursday. Four pilots accepted the challenge, but Ramy made the longest straight out flight of the day at 571 kilometers (355 statute miles).

Ramy reports: Mexico will need to wait for a better day. Made it to Apple Valley (around 50 miles east of Crystal, south of Barstow). It was a great day, but not enough. It was completely blue, did not see a single cloud the whole flight, but lift was strong and topped around 10K. I had a fast run to New Cuyama, getting there at 2:30PM, 2.5 hours from start.

But once in the Cuyama valley it was hard to find the shear line, and needed to polish some rocks until finally got over Mt Pinos and climbed to 13K, the highest for the day. But it was all down hill from there, the sea breeze was already in the Mojave desert and it was a slow progress. At some point I had Palm Spring in marginal glide, but when trying to get over Bear Mountain I lost the glide. Eventually I ran out of lift and backtracked to Apple Valley.

Apple Valley is a nice big airport, and luckily I met a flight instructor there which is also a CFIG and used to fly gliders. So I got a ride to Ontario, caught the last SouthWest flight to Oakland, and am back at home. Will make a trip to Palm Spring this weekend and retreive the glider.

Total OLC distance 571km. We had 4 more gliders flying, and Eric did New Cuyama and back. We had reporters covering the story and taking lot's of pictures. Fun day.

—Ramy

David Schoenwald's First Solo in a Glider! • Monday May 14, 2007

Congratulations to David Schoenwald, and his CFIG Ruth Cook, on the occasion of David's first solo in glider N87R on Monday, May 14th. Great job both of you! David is a power pilot with single- and multi-engine ratings who's been out of aviation for a few years, and is getting back into things via gliders and HGC. He's doing an accelerated add-on, so look for news of his successful check-ride sometime within the next week or so. Good luck David!

Lars Fore's First Solo in a Glider! • Monday May 7, 2007

We'd like to congratulate Lars Fore on his first solo flight in a glider at HGC on Monday, May 7th. Great job Lars!! He accomplished this feat under the watchful tutelage of CFIG Ruth Cook. Congratulations to both of you! Lars is a power CFI, as well as being an airline pilot, and seems to be gifted and skilled in all aspects of aviation. We'll be keeping an eye on him as he pursues his Commercial Glider add-on to his existing certificate. Next stop: checkride!

Deepak Aatrash, Mike Morrison & Joy Pierce all Solo! • May 4 & 5, 2007

On Friday, May 4th, Deepak Aatresh soloed an SGS 2-32 under the watchful eye of CFIG Ruth Cook, and Mike Morrison did likewise under the direct supervision of CFIG Jeffrey Hazlegrove. On Saturday, May 5th, Joy "Red Baron" Pierce soloed perfectly (well almost) under the telepathic back-seat voice of CFIG Jeffrey Hazlegrove. Joy has been a dedicated student at HGC since last summer, and we all applaud her venture into the air with an empty back seat! Joy has also been our chief chef at the HGC BBQs, and will be working in our new office on assorted Saturdays, Sundays and weekdays. Congratulations to all three of you, and I'm looking forward to scheduling your checkrides at some point in the near future!

Hollister League: Thermals & Wave! • Saturday May 5, 2007

Saturday was a mix bag of some strong bullet thermals, wave and wind. We all launched after 2PM, releasing near Casa De Fruta. Earlier the lift was stronger and I climbed from 4000 ft to 8000 ft in thermals, contacted a wave and climbed almost to 10,000 ft in wave. Later the thermals were not strong enough to get back to the wave, so we spent the rest of the day in thermals up to 6K. The best lift was in the valley right over Hollister. Kurt used an iron thermal and reconnected with the wave later, when it got stronger and climbed to 12, 500.

We didn't declare any long tasks as it wasn't clear how far we can go today, so the nearest turnpoint was a 20 miles turn area around Reid Hillview. Some of us made it past South County to the turn area, but I have no results yet and not sure how many of us flew more then the minimum requirement of 100km OLC distance. Sunday should be warmer, better thermals, and more easterly wind. If the wind will be light we should have good thermals locally, and if it will be strong we should have good wave as the direction will be more favorable than today. Lets be ready to meet at 11AM.

—Ramy

The Hollister League Starts with a Bang! • April 28 & 29, 2007

Saturday 4/28:

1 - The short task was Hollister to Lookout turnpoint (on the ridge before Black Mtn) to King City and back to Hollister with optional landing at Salinas for the show. The Lookout area turnpoint allowed pilots to turn as short as EL4 or as long as Black Mtn. King City area turnpoint required a minor detour west of EL4 to get within 20 miles.
2 - The long task was Hollister to New Cuyama to King City and back to Hollister (500km). There was some confusion regarding the last turn point (King City) so we decided to not count it.

1st - Darryl in DX - 62MPH handicapped - 458km
2nd - Ramy in TG - 61MPH handicapped - 577km
3rd - Shannon Madsen in EP - 58MPH handicapped - 580km (first time flying at Hollister)
4th - Darren in U2 - 57MPH handicapped - 524km
5th - Jonathan and Morteza in 1CH - 50MPH handicapped - 469km
6th - Eric Rupp in ER (completed short task)
7th - Steve Saglio in JH (instrument problems, stayed local)

Sunday 4/29:

Sunday started slower with high clouds and stronger winds, however the shear line was exactly as predicted by Blipmap and RASP, way east. It was coupled with some wave activity just west of I5 to 10,000 feet. The wind was below 15 knots, yet there was sink and rotor and weak wavelets. It was definitely an interesting day, but slow going. The long task was again an AAT to New Cuyama and back and the short task to the Lookout and back. Due to the slow going and the easterly route we modified the long task to Avenal and back.

1st - Harry in JH - 46MPH handicapped - 321km
2nd - Ramy in TG - 44MPH handicapped - 347km
3rd - Jonathan in UV - 42MPH handicapped - 273km
4th - Joel Taylor in 7H (went to the MW towers and back)
5th - Darryl in DX (had a bad day, did not complete)
6th - Kurt in PS (stayed local to Panoche)

Overall it was a very successful weekend: No landouts, 3 flights of over 500km, personal best for at least 4 pilots, and 5 new participants. I invite the new participants to share their experience with us.

All scored flights are on OLC:

—Ramy

 

Kevin De Van Passes Private Glider Pilot Checkride! • April 9, 2007

On Monday, April 9th, Kevin De Van passed his check-ride with Dave Morss (in just one flight!) and successfully added his Private Glider Rating to his Private Airplane SEL Certificate! Congratulations Kevin! Kevin began flying with Drew Pearce in late spring of 2006, and then transferred over to Jeffrey Hazlegrove during the summer. He flew with Jeffrey a little bit into the fall, but then stopped sometime in October because of a lack of time. We were glad to see him show up back at HGC just a few weeks ago with enough time available to put the finishing touches on his training. When Kevin came to us last spring, he began using a small headset while flying in the 2-32. It worked so well that we decided we liked the idea, and now we have headsets available to all students who fly N87R. Thanks for the idea, Kevin! Please welcome Kevin into the ranks of Private Pilot, Glider!

Eiji Hagiwara Passes Commercial Glider Pilot Checkride! • March 22, 2007

Today at HGC, Eiji Hagiwara, flying with Dave Morss, passed his Commercial Glider rating add-on to his Commercial Airplane certificate. Congratulations Eiji!!! (Pronounced AJ) I think that Eiji also has a helicopter rating in there somewhere, as well as a selection of instructor ratings in his native Japan. Congratulations also to his dedicated instructor, Jeffrey Hazlegrove. Great job both of you! Eiji began flying with Jeffrey at HGC last summer, and kept at it into the fall, and even completed one of the cross-country tasks in a 2-32 with Ruth last September during our Panoche weekend! He vanished after Panoche, and just resurfaced a few weeks ago wanting to finish up his rating ASAP. It came right down to the wire as he's getting ready to move back home to Japan (Tokyo) on April 1st. In fact, he had to run out on the movers today to come and do the checkride. Talk about cutting it close! He's got a "For Sale" sign on his Mercedes convertible. and will be out of here very soon. Thanks for flying with us, Eiji, and HGC wishes you well in Japan, and hope you find a gliding club to fly with over there. (In fact, where DID the Fox go to over there??) Congratulations again Eiji! Bon voyage!

John Goldsworthy Passes Private Glider Pilot Checkride! • March 12, 2007

John Goldsworthy passed his private glider pilot checkride with Dave Morss on Monday, March 12th. Congratulations John!!! John began his training at HGC last spring with Drew, and then took up with CFIG Ruth Cook in the summer. He's been coming out to Hollister religiously, and the hard work finally paid off! Congratulations also to his instructors: Drew Pearce, Ruth Cook and Jeffrey Hazlegrove who did a final phase-check. Great job, all of you. John has been working the line for us the past few months on the weekends, and his tireless efforts and dedication are much appreciated. John went to the SSA convention this year in Memphis, and is looking into purchasing his own ship. (Possibly a Labelle). Please welcome John to the ranks of Private Pilot, Glider, a goal which he's been wanting to achieve for some time, and has now realized his dream! Again, congratulations John!

Post-Frontal Fun! • March 1, 2007

Each of the recent storm systems moving through the area have resulted in some great pre- and post-frontal soaring conditions around Hollister, often with beautiful cloud streets running off in all directions. Last Friday Joel & Matt took the DG 1000 for a 100k jaunt north to Loma Prieta Peak (west of Morgan Hill), back south to Fremont Peak and then south east to Bickle. A 3 hour and 6 minute flight from a 1,700 foot tow! Max altitude was 6,500 feet. The next day Jeremy & Miguel flew the DG on another 3 hour local flight. They would have stayed up longer except for the chill at altitude (-5 degrees. Remember to wear your wool socks!) The same day Jim spent the afternoon brushing up on his thermalling in the Junior, and he "had a blast."

Good Wave Soaring Over the Holidays! • January 8, 2007

Over the Holidays we had a few good soaring days. Charlie and Hud soared to 12,500 feet in wave lift over the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The first week of the New Year started off well with a few wave days. Matt and Haven had a great Wave flight that lasted 5.5 hours with a max altitude of 13,500 feet.

PANOCHE FUN WEEKEND & BBQ • SEPTMEBER 23 - 24, 2006

There will be a fun competition consisting of a thermaling contest and mini race both days. The contest will be designed so that participants can launch from Hollister, Panoche or Avenal. And a few adventurous souls have considered trying to make the flight down from Truckee.  We will decide on the contest requirements each morning. If you will be launching from a different airport we will find a way to let you know the race for that day. Please RSVP for our planning needs and bring tie-downs if you will need them.

Gaggle of gliders thermalling in the Panoche valley.

The BBQ will be on Saturday afternoon and will be provided by the Panoche Inn. They will start serving around noon and have food available throughout the day. The BBQ will be $10 a plate plus drinks. Please indicate if you prefer beef or chicken if you plan to attend the BBQ. The BBQ is open to all the Panoche Inn customers so we will have a chance to mingle with the locals. Sandwiches are available at the bar.

Ziggy, the new owner of the Panoche airport, hopes to be there that weekend as well. He has been very gracious in allowing us to continue using the airport with the same arrangements we had with Bill Parker. Because the airport has not been fully cleaned up yet and Bill still has some of his aircraft in the open hangar, we have been asked to not congregate on the airport property but to use the Panoche Inn as our hang out spot. We need to make a good impression with the new owner, so please let anyone you bring down know our concerns.

We have access to the gate so you can trailer down or trailer out if you fly in. Glider pilots that want to fly down in a power plane should contact us for approach and departure procedures that we are requesting to minimize the noise impact and for safety.

The Mercey Hot Springs Resort is a short drive away for those of you who want to camp in the valley that Friday or Saturday night.

Across from the Mercey Hot Springs resort is the BLM's Panoche and Tumey Hills Management Area. Camping is allowed along with hiking and fossil hunting.

The Mercey Hot Springs airstrip has X's on the runway because of county airport regulation issues. The owner said that if somebody needed to use it that he would not care. The last reports about the airstrip were landable but very hazardous.

Tows will be available out of Hollister all day Friday and Saturday morning until everyone has launched then the tow planes will relocate down to Panoche for the weekend.

'Hope to see all of you there, or at Hollister, for a fun, friendly, challenging weekend of soaring and comraderie. We'll say goodby to Summer and hello to a promising local Fall soaring season. (HGC will still be operating as usual out of Hollister during that weekend.)

Look for frequent updates on this forum regarding the activities of that weekend. I'll post them as needed.

Happy Soaring,
Quest

NEW HOLLISTER AIPORT GLIDER OPERATIONS PROCEDURES • JULY 2006
Do you know where spectators are permitted? How about where you should turn off after landing? Things have changed since HGC moved to its new location on the ramp. Download the PDF file and check out the latest HGC Operations Procedures. - HERE

GUIDE TO FLYING PANOCHE
Panoche is a grass strip 30 miles south of Hollister in the Diablo Mountain Range. Unlike Hollister, Panoche is protected from the summer sea breeze. Thermal lift here often goes to higher than 10,000 feet. This Guide is for flying the Panoche Run from Hollister. You will aerotow from Hollister to Panoche, fly in lift at Panoche, land there, and then get an aerotow back to Hollister. You do not need to be X-C checked out to fly at Panoche.
Download the PDF "Guide to Flying Panoche" for an overview of requirements and procedures - HERE

NEW USER GUIDES
HOW TO INSTALL SATELITE IMAGES IN SEEYOU›››
HOW TO POST YOUR FLIGHT TO OLC USING SEEYOU ›››

Schedule

REGION 11 EVENT CALENDAR 2006