Southwest Soaring Society Newsletter / August 2023

From the President

Hello everyone,

I am hoping you are all keeping busy with building or repairing projects as we finish out our summer of heat.

The Board has voted and approved a big change for our field this past week. With much work and many meetings, we are pleased to announce that the club will be in charge of the field including a major plan to plant winter rye sometime in September.

We have budgeted for the seed and necessary items needed for this project including fuel as we prepare our field for our busy contest season.

We would like to recognize all of the intense hours, stress, and effort Justin has so freely given us these last 3 years but we felt with many family projects, his new job and his busy lifestyle, that it was time to give him a much needed break and allow him time to come out and enjoy the hobby he has put so much effort into.

I would like to encourage anyone that is available to reach out when we require help at the field as this project will need labor from our club in order to make it successful and to make our field lush again in time for the upcoming contest schedule.

Announcements will be made for different stages of the preparation so please keep an eye on your email and/or slack for constant updates.

A ton of planning, effort, ideas, and meetings have gone on to create a successful plan and we look forward to this next chapter in our club history.

Thank you also to The board for working on this and to Justin for allowing us to take the next step.

if there are any questions please feel free to reach out to a board member or myself and we will happily answer any questions that may arise

Thanks

Ken Becker

President

SWSS Member Spotlight

Jim Velleman – Bio for SWSS

I was born and raised in Mishawaka, Indiana (Notre Dame territory). After my high school junior year, I
joined the Navy reserve and later served active duty after graduation. I was part of the first crew on the
new USS Enterprise CVA(N) 65. Making me a “Plank Owner” of the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
I met my wife-to-be, Barbara at IU/Purdue campus in South Bend, In and eventually got married in May
of ’67. That led to a family with two children and now two grandchildren that live in Chandler, AZ. My
wife passed in March of ’22 after 55 years of marriage.
During that time, my career change hands with four different companies. Requiring us to move 15 times.
It was also during that time that I earned three 2 yr. degrees (electronic, industrial management,
computer science) and BA in Business. My career was primarily related to engineering support of
Standard and Procedures and later System Administration. Ten years prior to my retirement, I managed
a 32-unit apartment complex and did maintenance for other people.
So, how did I get into this model airplane hobby. Well, one of my jobs required me to be on the road
Monday thru Friday along the East coast. To help keep my sanity, I decided to build a 40-size model
airplane. I did this in the motel rooms as I traveled. All that traveling caused tress and we moved-on to
my next job in Ohio. We lived in the country where I built our house—took 6 months. The country living
gave the freedom to build and fly as time permitted.
I joined a group that was getting together at the local park. One day a member brought a Gentle Lady
glider and asked if I want to try it. Well, I hit a thermal on my first try. Sold off all my power stuff and the
rest is history. Others gradually moved over to glider flying and we formed the BOSS club (Bryan Ohio
Soaring Society). Boss was eventually push out of the park by the new Soccer field.
I joined LOFT (League of flight by thermal) in Ft. Wayne, In. All of my planes, for as long as can
remember, were “Woody”. Since I had little time to practice, I used contest from Cincinnati, Oh. to
Lansing Mi. and Muncie, In. for practice and enjoyment. I am self-taught and did not have anyone to
assist/teach me back then. So, as it turns out, I’m not competitive and I just enjoy flying gliders.

My shop (12’ x 18’) in Bryan, OH and some woody planes inside.
Fast forward.... Eventually we moved to Mesa, Az in October of 2012 to be close to our daughter and
grandchildren. I joined the Castle club that was active for many years. It eventually became the EVEF
(East Valley Electric Flyers) at the “Mesa Bowl”. This is where I was introduced to ALES and F5J with
electric motor on the plane to launch. Until then, all of my glider flying was on bungy or winch lines.

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