Sass put its first Wing Tips Clinic on May 8 at Old Carnation Farm. This was a 4 hour event that focused on helping pilots improve their fundamental soaring skills. We had a total of 7 students and 7 coaches and several people that showed up just to help the event run smoothly.  We could not have asked for better weather: mid 60's temp, sunny and the lift was incredible. Students worked on skills such as winch launching, thermaling techniques, landing approaches/patterns and plane setup.

Lauren Steel coaching Michael Wood on the winch, launching an Oly 2

Once again Chief Doug prepared an incredible lunch for us, serving BBQ Chicken and accouterments.  During lunch, students shared with one another what they were working on and the improvements they had already made.  

When the event ended, students and coaches joined several club fliers for open flying well into the evening-the perfect end to an incredible day.
We saw a lot of smiles from the participating pilots after making significant improvement to their soaring skills. Over all we had a great turn out and the event was deemed a success. Kudos and many thanks to Andy Page and Loren Steele for conceiving and planning this event, and to the coaches and additional volunteers that participated in making this event successful.
  

Jim coaching John on the winch
 
Sharman and Lorenzo discussing the finer points of Soaring
  
BBQ, pilot discussion
 
Richard Petters Hand launch coached by Ole