Julia Karas Soaring

Hi everyone! As many of you know last week, Alex and myself attended the 2023 SSA Junior Cross Country Camp. I thought I would share some pictures and tell you about my experience.

 

We were lucky with the weather because we got to fly everyday of the camp. Each day we started out with a safety briefing and lecture, a weather briefing, then flew in the afternoon, and finished with an analysis of our flights.

On day 1, we had a briefing on the airport procedures and area. We also had a nice presentation on parachutes from a local skydiver, Tammy. Everyone was required to wear parachutes during the week, so the presentation was very helpful.

Throughout the week, everyone was partnered with a mentor to fly with. Alex and I were partnered with Rick Hoffmann. We flew with him in his ASG 32. Unfortunately, the flying over the first 2 days wasn’t great due to the smoke from Canada. 

On day 2, Rick started to analyze our flights using a program called SeeYou. SeeYou was one of the most helpful tools. It allowed us to see our flight stats and view our flying in 3D. This showed us exactly the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

On day 3, we had an excellent discussion about land outs. The previous day, one of the Juniors had landed out in his Grob 102, so he shared his experience. I learned that as a minor, I cannot refuse medical care. It is always better to call either 911 or the non-emergency number, before anyone calls in saying a plane crashed.

The sky cleared up on day 3, so we were able to fly a small task. I learned a lot on this day and was proud of my decision-making skills. On this day, we also met Mike Shakman, a chairman of the SSA.

Day 4! We thoroughly talked about the IM SAFE checklist and hydration. Many recommended mixing ⅓ Gatorade to ⅔ of water, as well as investing in a Camelbak hydration pack. I also wanted to mention something that I think everybody should think about more often. We may always think about having enough energy to take just one more flight, but we need to take into account having energy afterwards. To clean and put away the glider, and drive home. Stay safe in the air and on the ground!

On this day, we had the opportunity to practice a simulated land out. We flew down to Highland (another glider port about 10mi south of Silvercreek). There they also had 2 simulators set up for us to fly. 

Lastly Day 5! We had an interesting lecture on flight computers and went out to fly. This was probably the best day flying wise. We flew a task and again landed in Highland to practice on simulators. 

I had a great time at Silvercreek. Rick taught me so many things and I can’t wait to fly at PGC and maybe some contests. I really can’t thank him enough. I got to meet so many interesting people. I got to see how other clubs look and see how other kids my age fly. Overall, it was truly a great experience! I have so much more to share if anyone wants to hear more details and what I learned.