May 18th Students

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Instructor Rich Cizauskas of Madison at the bottom of the training hill going over the basics. With the high winds we opted for the hill leaving the scooter tow in the hanger for the calmer days. In the yellow harness Steve Julik back for lessons after a 35-year hang gliding hiatus. And back for a second lesson Marty Vinson of La Crosse in the red jacket.


Students gradually worked their way to the top of the hill. Today was the inaugural flight of the Condor 225 pictured above.


Pictured above is Joe Julik (Steve's brother) coming in for a landing after his first Mosquito flight, the first one is always the hardest. Ask if he is going to go up again, he said "No thanks - I've had enough!" A good thing to quit while you are ahead with wind conditions not kind to personal aviation firsts. Joe has owned the Mosquito for a year and is very happy to finally know that it works as advertised.

Next Weekend! We will be out, even if the weather doesn't look perfect

Student #4 - 5/8/08

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Marty Vinson of La Crosse recently purchased a used 1999 Mosquito that he found on the East Coast and needed us to take a look at it and also check out his foot-launching skills. At 9am on Thursday morning we all met at Twin Oaks, the wind was steady out of the east at 10-15mph. Since Marty was a Hang II we put him on the Falcon 195 and towed in our strongest winds to date. In short - all went well and he is ready for his first powered harness flight on his next visit.

First Students of 2008

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We welcome into our training program

Dell Cross (Menasha,WI)

Herb Benton (Waukesha, WI)

Dan Kidd (Crystal Lake, IL)

Strong SW winds made the training hill a better option on Sunday afternoon rather than scooter towing. Rik (instructor) and the students had the added benefit of burning a few calories and lowering their carbon footprint for the day.

Left to right: Herb Benton, Dan Kidd, Dell Cross and Rik Bouwmeester

Above: Going over the basics in the hanger at Twin Oaks Airport.

Dell Cross holds the wing steady while instructor Rik Bouwmeester takes a well deserved 30 second break. A special thanks to Terry Kramer for the use of his Falcon 195.

The second to last flight of the afternoon, Herb Benton does well and is looking forward to flying his Mosquito once he gets qualified.

Everyone left the airport happy and will be back for more training.

Rich Cizauskas - First DoodleBug Flight

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Actually this is a photo of his second launch. Rich was impressed with the contraption and bought me a beer later to prove it. The stronger and gusty winds Sunday didn't die down and smooth out until 6pm giving Rich gentler "powered harness newbie" launching conditions.

Twin Oaks Sign Proposal

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I hope as many people as possible can comment on this sign. I have a son (Eric) who has his own sign business in Racine (OneDesign Signs). About $150 will cover material expenses and the vinyl is the less expensive "good for 3-5 years" kind. This will look so much better than hand painted and it takes minutes for Eric to machine cut the type.

The photo an actual club member (please ID for me) that a friend took last summer while I was showing him the operation.

Paul