With a whimper, not a bang.

Done. Over. Gone.

Bye-bye to the 2009 soaring season, which ended with rainy weekends and a fizzle. Ah well, I knew it would. The soaring gods were not as kind this year as in the past.

What did I accomplish this year? Well, actually I accomplished my soaring goals for the year. I learned how to fly high performance fiberglass ships and notched up my experience level one more notch. I'm really pleased that despite the scare of my landout mid season that I now officially feel pretty comfortable flying the ASK-21 and still love the 1-34.

I took several friends up for rides in the 21, which is a much nicer ship to take passengers in than the venerable 2-33. I still have a soft spot in my heart for the 2-33 and like that ship quite a bit. It's like a big forgiving teddy bear. And the ASK-21 isn't too far behind either. It's my new best friend.

I tried to mishandle the 21 the last time I was out and it's just darned difficult to do. I intentionally flew it right on the edge of a stall and fed in some rudder. It should have turned a half spin and stalled but it didn't. Just sort of mushed through the air and descended quicker. A really nice handling machine. The type that could lull you into trouble flying a super high performance ship. I'll have to keep on my toes with that as I move up.

Move up? Yes, there are two more ships on my 'next year' list. The Duo Discus and the single seat Discus. Luckily, the club owns two of these machines and they are suitable for serious cross country flying. Next year, I'll sign up for cross country training and depart the comfy confines of the Harris Hill ridge and Elmira valley. I'm excited and I'll spend the winter finding materials to read and study in preparation for the flights.

And maybe...just maybe...commercial rating? If I get a commercial rating, I can fly passengers for hire but more importantly, I don't pay for the flights. It's a good way to build time without paying for it.

Anyhow, one more event on the calendar this year but I won't be able to attend - the annual Snowbird contest takes place the weekend of Thanksgiving. The weather is usually bad but the contest is stuff like spot landing and so forth. Then...perhaps some flying on New Year's day and then the long march to April.