New England Aero Tow - May 19-22, 2016 - Salem, Connecticut

[hello82]

So great to see everyone again for the first time this year and also meet some new folks. Yes, many thanks to the club, organizers Len and Steve, all the tow guys and all helpers for making it a success. Sunday was a wild wild ride!.... and to Len for doing that wild inverted super low, super high speed pass!

Hope to see many of you again at windy ridge.

best,
Matt

[JimD]

Just got back to Cumberland at noon today. I stayed in Connecticut last night and departed at 4:00am this morning. Very light traffic all the way out of Connecticut on I-95 and across New York State on I-287 across the Tappan Zee Bridge. The rest of the trip to Cumberland had light to moderate traffic and made for an easy trip.

Just for the record, I departed Cumberland at 6:45am on Wednesday so I would have time to make a fuel stop plus a leg stretch break and arrive at the Tappan Zee Bridge at 1:00pm. That put me in Niantic at the Sleep Inn by 3:00pm and traffic was moderate that time of day with not backups. Was able to maintain speed limit all the way from the Tappan Zee to the motel.

So...all future trips to Salem will be planned around these time frames. Also, I offer this experience to the many that come to Cumberland from Connecticut. Consider these times for least traffic headaches.

As for the event...WOW...just simply wow! Weather could not have been kinder or better. I was committed to all four days no matter what and was rewarded with four full days of flying!

More later once I get unpacked and finish a few chores here at home.

[Jeff D]

Oops, forgot to mention Scott and Bob on towing with their Bidules. My bad. Was late from unpacking. Sorry guys.

[Nodd]

While I only flew two out of the four (or was it five) days I still managed to get a bunch of stick time in on T-HEVY. Once again it was wonderful to see everyone, had fun camping out at the field & telling airplane stories well into the night. A BIG thank you to all those involved. Once again I had a blast.

[Jeff D]

Another fantastic event!! Thank you so much to Steve, Len, Jim D and hosts of others! Also Kevin K. for getting in the towing act as well with his Decathlon. Fantastic weather and conditions. Again as usual, if you listened to the weatherman, you missed it. Silly lift at times.

Got to get going on the pictures - be patient. However here is proof of the of the Bidule Precision Towing Team (Ok, I made that up...) being out in force! But Steve did give them a run for the money





Glad to see old friends again after the winter and continue to meet new ones. See you soon!

Jeff D.

[TomTerrific?]

Wow- great days of soaring! Nice flying with everyone.

BIG T H A N K S to the many tug Pilots for all the tows.

Here's my vote for the best look'in ASW20 cockpit & pilot. See pics.

[Sinkhappens86]

Arrived home at around 500pm after a spectacular 5 days of flying. Had a blast seeing everyone for the first event of the year that wasn't plagued by weather! Was finally able to put the Decathlon to work and having to work hard to land it in the crosswinds the first 2 days. It all paid off as Saturday was perfect Decathlon weather. I put over 8 hours of flight time on it and hauled countless gliders in the air.

Thanks to Len, Steve and the Prop Busters for putting on a great event. The food, company and field were all incredible. Thanks to Larry for the new project, Tom M for helping repair the tailwheel and everyone else that helped me keep the Decathlon going throughout the event.

See you all at Windy Ridge!

[Steve P]

Thanks to everyone who turned out for four great days of soaring. Actually a few got started Wednesday and we went right through Sunday. We enjoyed great conditions -- Thursday was very good, Friday was the nicest day of the year so far, Saturday was good and Sunday was OMG spec-freakin-tacular with hat-sucking lift that did not quit.

41 pilots attended and we had better than that in terms of spectators. A special note of thanks to Jim, Scot, Kevin, Len, Rob, and Bob for towing. I even towed for an hour plus today. Finally, the RC Propbusters members who worked hard, cooked and gave up their field in support of soaring!

[Csessa]

Thanks to all the tow pilots for the great tows.

Also thanks to the Propbusters for hosting the vent.

Photos pleas😀

[BobM]

Just got home after 2 days at the New England Aerotow. The weather turned out very well for the weekend and I was able to get many flights in on my sailplanes both days. Fantastic thermals today especially........it was like an elevator...put you sailplane into the air and watch it climb.

What a wonderful event put on by the Prop Busters with Len and Steve running the event........really great !

Several people were there from the club to help and the event ran like a very fine clock. The Prop Busters field was excellent as always and the club had the grill going so food was available for the event.

Tow planes were always at the ready. Kevin had his Decathlon and there were at least 4 Bidule 170's there (fortunately 3 of them worked flawlessly..........Len, Jim, and Scot had all theirs working really well........had a problem with the main landing gear on mine after about 30 minutes of towing unfortunately). I know others had additional tow planes and helped with towing as well...........many thanks to all the tow pilots for all they do to keep us in the air !

Always wonderful to see so many people come to this event. As much as I enjoy flying I think it is even more enjoyable seeing old friends and meeting new ones, having time to catch up with each other. It also gives a chance to put faces to the names here on the forums.

A wide range of sailplanes at the event as always, from vintage to modern. The sizes were anywhere from about 3 meters to about 8 meters this year. Really wonderful to see how well everyone is flying. I always enjoy watching the take offs and landings and seeing how majestic the large sailplanes look in the sky.

Many thanks to everyone that made the New England Aerotow possible, the tow pilots, the Prop Busters, and all the members of the club that helped and gave of their time.

A special thank you to Len and Steve for all they do.

Bob

[Steve P]

Day four is spectacular....

[JimD]

Day #4 is now underway!

[Gliderhead]

Sorry I couldn't make it for the weekend but had a wonderful few days Thurs and early part of Fri. Sincere thanks to all for making this event possible. Special thanks to all the great tug pilots - Len, Jim, Kevin, and anyone else I missed. Always great to fly at Salem even if you do have to wait for the FAA to vacate the area )

[Steve P]

Eight tow planes at the event! This quartet of Bidules are sitting and waiting to get into the game.

Spectacular Saturday morning conditions!!

[BobM]

Looks great ! Wish I had been there yesterday and today.

I should be there early tomorrow morning.

Let me know if there's anything anyone needs and I'll take care of picking it up before I come if at all possible.

Bob