Another Practical Test passed at HSC!!

[Quest@HSC]

Hi everybody,

Earlier this month Nicolas Gascon successfully passed a Practical Test
with Designated Pilot Examiner Dave Morss for the addition of a Glider
Rating to his Private Pilot Certificate. Congratulations Nicolas!
Great Job!

Nicolas came to HSC last fall already possessing a rating for
Airplane, Single Engine Land, and wanted to experience the fun and
challenge of working to become a glider pilot. He had a couple hundred
hours in airplanes such as Cessnas and other small GA aircraft, as
well having a few flights in an Extra 300. I knew right away that he'd
probably have some pretty good stick and rudder skills. This was borne
out during the first few hours of training when Nicolas made steady
progress at mastering the coordination and sight picture required to
fly the HSC SGS 2-32. In what seemed to be a very short period of
time, Nicolas was on the eve of his Practical Test when that evil
monster known as "his career" intervened and pulled him away from his
goal for several months. Nicolas is French, and works as a software
programmer for a company that puts French satellites into orbit. It
just so happened that his company was about to launch one of those
infernal machines and they needed his expertise 24/7 to get the
satellite operational. He was required to drop everything immediately
and devote himself totally to the completion of this task so we didn't
hear from him for about six months. Finally, everything was all
settled down and up to speed in the heavens and Nicolas came back to
Earth at HSC to regroup, get current, and put in the necessary
studying and flying to get him through the home stretch. Within just a
few sessions Nicolas was back up to the level of solo, and very
shortly after that I happily signed him off for his Practical Test.
Dave Morss showed up one nice Sunday morning, and the rest, as they
say, is history.

Nicolas had talked about wanting to pursue the art of soaring more in
the future, as well as having an interest in being a part of the Bay
Area Soaring Associates Club. So, notwithstanding any future selfish
demands by his employer for his technical expertise in programming
satellites and associated systems, we may very well see Nicolas back
out at Hollister, joining the rest of us in our own particular, unique
way of launching off into the heavens!

Once again, congratulations Nicolas for a job well done!! We hope to
see you back out at Hollister sometime in the near future!!

Happy soaring,
Quest