As part of their update for the April 11 SSA Board of Directors meeting, regional directors submitted reports of what clubs in their region are doing. To help keep you informed, SSA is publishing the reports so you can learn more about what other clubs are doing across the country.

Regional Director Joe May submitted the following report for Regions 1-3, which includes the Adirondack Soaring Association, Connecticut Soaring Association, Harris Hill Soaring Corporation, and Sugarbush Soaring Corporation.

Still running around 100 members. With three Grob 103's, one Grob 102, and two Pawnees. We have around 25 privately owned sailplanes. We have access to two Duo Discus's for Cross Country Training. We had a tough winter and ultimately had no flying from January until March. Our glider assembly day was scheduled on Saturday, March 22 to kick off our soaring season. We were able to achieve nearly a dozen licenses last year. We did not host any events or encampments last year.

Tim Hanke
Operations/ Treasurer, Adirondack Soaring Association

In 2024, the Connecticut Soaring Association (CSA) saw 360 glider launches with the successful inauguration of midweek soaring. CSA celebrated three glider solo flights, including first glider solos by one junior member and by two transitioning power pilots. Our SGS 1-34 successfully completed its two-year refurbishment to rejoin our 1-26 and two 2-33s on the flight line complemented by 4 glass gliders owned by club members.

In 2025, CSA is working to exceed 400 glider launches and to move five club members on to their glider ratings. To grow club membership, CSA has started an "Intro to Soaring" presentation for EAA Chapters in our region with the aim of recruiting transition pilots (potential short track to glider solo and glider add-on ratings) as well as tow wheel qualified pilots who might fly tow in our Pawnee. We will continue efforts to grow our midweek soaring, which tends to attract retired pilots and weekend workers.
The CSA junior soaring membership is active with five members, including two solo student pilots. A shortage of CFI-Gs and tow pilots continues to pose a challenge for CSA as our roster includes only two CFI-Gs and four tow pilots.

Joseph Palmisano
President, Connecticut Soaring Association

• Membership: 82 Senior Active, 42 Associate Members, and 33 Junior members for a total of 157 members. Membership increased 10%.
• Flying Activity: We flew over 2,350 club flights, of which 636 were passenger flights and 514 were junior member flights.
• Ground School was conducted at the Flight Center during February and March. We had 30-plus participants and covered the Russell Holtz curriculum.
• Junior Summer Camp was conducted June 24-28 with 23 junior participants
• The IVSM 2024 and Vintage Sailplane Association 50th Anniversary was held July 6-13 with 140 registered participants, and 24 vintage sailplanes. The international community was well represented with participants from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Canada.
• John "Corky" Gill presented the Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Award
• Hosted Region 3 Contest August 4-10.
• Senior Summer Camp conducted August 19-23 with about 10 participants
• Club members participated in regional contests at Elmira, Perry, Mifflin, and Wurtsboro. One member flew for the U.S. Team at the Uvalde World Contest.
• Training: seven initial solos, three new private glider pilots, four new commercial pilots, two new CFIGs, two new tow pilots and multiple badges.
• Snowbird 2024 was held November 28-29 at HHSC.
• We will host the Club Class Nationals and Region 3 Contest in 2025.

Joseph A. May
President, Harris Hill Soaring Corporation

The 2024 season was filled with milestones and teamwork-driven achievements at Sugarbush Soaring Association. We welcomed a new tow pilot, requalified another, and celebrated multiple pilot milestones, including three initial solos, two power pilots soloing in gliders, and one glider pilot soloing in a powered aircraft.

We also saw a commercial glider add-on and an initial private pilot check ride in gliders. Our dedicated team trained two new line crew members and successfully ran three Youth Soaring Camps, fostering the next generation of aviators. It was a season of growth, learning, and community.

Tom Anderson
Operations Director, Sugarbush Soaring Association

International Night ~ Revisited 
International Nite was last night from 7 to about 9 pm with the expectation of flying today. International Nite has each team bring food and drink representative of their country's culture. We decided on a Hawaiian theme: Teriyaki meatballs with pineapple and rice, fruit skewers, and Mai Tai's. Team USA had a wonderful International Nite!

Wildfire smoke begins to Arrive at 11:30 am

Unfortunately, the smoke from the multiple fires north of Narromine which we have been concerned about for the past few days began to arrive about 11:30 am this morning. It got more and more smokey as we approached pushback time at 12:50 pm… They delayed pushback until 1:50 pm and switched to Task B for all classes, but there was not really any change to the visibility: 15m and Standard Classes had their day canceled at 1:51 pm.

The sniffer was relaunched at 2:20 pm hoping the visibility was better aloft. It was not with less than 2 km visibility. Club Class day was canceled at 2:36 pm.

There is another daily competition on the ground: Creative Rope Award. Team USA was one of the winners for the Creative Rope Award. The weather is expected to improve tomorrow, if the cold front to our west pushes in to switch the wind direction to the west. We'll see…

Go Team USA!

See the US Team on Instagram

WGC Australia – Team USA Page

~Pete Alexander (Team USA Captain)

No task today.

Unfortunately, the weather did not go our way today. The weather problems today are: northeast wind 10 – 15 kts gusting to 20+ and smoke rolling in from 3 fires to the north slowing the temperature rise. The temperature rise was slower than yesterday's. This weather pattern is a very bad pattern for good soaring. If the northeast wind is not significantly diminished by late morning which it did a few days last week, you tend to get a very weak blue soaring day. This wind direction brings in ocean air from the east coast. The current weather pattern is expected to change by midweek? We will try again tomorrow.

Tonight is International Nite where each team brings food and drink representative of their country. Melissa Indrebo (89 crew) is our International Nite team lead for Team USA with help from members across the Team preparing our US inspired creations. We have a pretty cool theme. Details and photos from International Nite tomorrow. We have 4 racing days left.

Go Team USA!

WGC Australia – Team USA Page

~Pete Alexander (Team USA Captain)

No task today.

Maybe later today? Contest Management was expecting severe thunderstorms later this afternoon. They wanted to call a rest day in one of the next four days. They thought, today would be the best choice. It turns out they were probably correct when a line of thunderstorms came raging though Narromine airport a little before 5 pm with winds gusting up to 40 kts and heavy rain.

Many team members spent the day catching up on a few errands, getting some sight seeing in, or just relaxing. Most of the team members have been here for the past 2+ weeks.

Tony and Leah Condon went searching for the official Australian Akubra hats and see The Dish. The Dish is very cool! The bulk of the Apollo 11 moonwalk TV signal was received here. The Dish also spent a lot of time looking for Pulsars and Hydrogen clouds and other things out there. Others visited the Narromine Aviation Museum, which catalogs the aerodrome's history as a WWII training base, and more. Other team members headed out for lunch at the Devils Hallow Brewery in Dubbo which is about 25 minutes from the Narromine Airport.

In the evening, there was a reception hosted by the Narromine Mayor for the Team Captain's, Contest Stewarts, Contest Jury President, and Contest Director at the Soul Food restaurant. We had some very nice passed around appetizers and an open bar. I had the opportunity to talk with quite a few Team Captain's about flying in the upcoming 2024 WGC in Uvalde. The Narromine Mayor gave a speech about the Narromine Airports history and the efforts which went into bringing the 2023 WGC to Narromine. They have had over 150 volunteers working on preparations and now running the 2023 WGC. Many of these volunteers have been working on preparations for the WGC for over a year. The mayor was very pleased with the efforts and results.

Hopefully, we will have better soaring tomorrow…

WGC Australia – Team USA Page

~Pete Alexander (Team USA Captain)

The weather forecast called for a low blue day, with 3-4 kt climbs to 4,000 ft (field elevation is ~750 ft), with lift shutting down at 6:30 pm. Club Class drew a 370 km clockwise racing task which took them over the notorious Macquarie swamp, a broad river valley north of Narromine known for its soft conditions. The class launched last and got on course around 3 pm, giving them three to four hours to get around.

The U.S. Club Class team, Mike Westbrook and Tony Condon, started behind the main gaggle and made good progress until their penultimate leg over the swamp, where their climbs and maximum altitudes slowed. Around 6:30 I posted myself outside the aerodrome on the primary approach vector for all classes, hoping for some good shots of the team as they rounded home. Standard and 15 Meter leaders began streaming over but there was no sign of the Club Class; another check showed them in zero sink at 1,500 ft over the swamp. A few minutes later Team Captain Pete Alexander sent a WhatsApp message: Club Class was low and selecting fields. The next report, around 7:30, was they had safely landed together about 30 miles north of Narromine.

Time to hook up the trailer, get directions from the landout office, and head out into the twilight. I followed Leah Condon and Pete von Tresckow into the outback as the sun set just after 8. We saw a couple packs of kangaroos bounding along beside the road, the first we had encountered since arriving in country. Otherwise, the flat, mainly agricultural countryside was absolutely deserted: not a car, not a house, not a light, and completely dark once the sun set. We drove for the better part of an hour, first on paved then on dirt roads, along stubble fields and a few sheep grazing in paddocks, until we finally found Mike and Tony around 9:30 on a remote dirt road (they had left their gliders and walked some distance toward the main road).

The field was pitch black, but when we shone car lights on the two gliders, great clouds of gnats gathered, coating everything, and crawling into our mouths when we dared open them. A hundred feet away from the lights, the strangely configured stars shone intensely in the moonless sky. Five sets of hands made short work of the derigging, and by 10:30 we headed for home, arriving about 11:30. Thankfully my partner Gina had made a beautiful pizza dinner which we gobbled before collapsing into bed. A third of the class landed out this day.

WGC Australia – Team USA Page

~David Hart (FY – Crew)