On behalf of the White Sands Soaring Association, welcome to soaring the Sacramento Mountains of southern New Mexico. This area is unique in that a high desert plain exists for many miles to the north, west and south of the airport wherein lies the White Sands National Monument, Holloman AFB and a very large Restricted Area. To the east lie the Sacramento Mountains that extend to the southeast and northeast of the airport.

The White Sands Soaring Association is a long established organization that currently ranks first of all the clubs in the United States. The club is very active and trains many new pilots each year as well as having many very experienced cross country pilots who in total fly more miles than any other U.S. club. The club has one Cessna 182 tow plane that is primarily used for club members. The club has a Grob G 103A Twin II Acro, Grob G 102 Astir CS, and a Let L13 Blanik for use by club members. Many club members have their own ships. The club has graciously invited quests to come fly but it would be easy to overwhelm the facilities of the club. The clubhouse is small with seating for about ten people. There is one restroom and one outside water faucet and hose. Please call in advance.

The airport is located about five miles southwest of Alamogordo on the road to Las Cruses and Holloman AFB. Turn south off the main road toward the airport. The club is located on the northeast corner of the airport. When approaching the airport on the access road you must turn immediately to the left or northeast and proceed to the gate. The gate requires a credit card sized pass to open the gate. The airport is secure due to airline operations being conducted at various times. Arrangements must be made to obtain a pass from the WSSA. 505-434-2671.

Pilots should sign in at the club upon arrival with their name, type of glider, competition letters and whether a tow will be required. Ask where to tie down your trailer.

Wind is a fact of life at Alamogordo. Expect 10 to 25 knots most of the time. Unexpected winds to 40 knots can occur unannounced for short durations on the ramp due to dust devils, etc. The good news is that the predominant wind is mostly down the runway, from the southwest. You must assemble your glider in the early morning hours. Loose gear must be monitored at all times and never left unattended on the ramp. Loose gear can be easily blown into another person’s glider. Gliders must be assembled so as not to block landing glider access to the ramp or hinder departing private/sport plane access to the taxiways. Gliders must be tied down when not in motion and canopies locked when the pilot is not standing at the canopy. One moment of inattention can spoil you or your friend’s vacation.

There is a very active sport plane contingent at the airport located in the same area as the glider clubhouse. There is also a very active Fire Fighting Unit at the airport with several large aircraft that has had many flights per day during previous years during the fire season. We definitely stay out of their way.

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Main Runway: 21/3 7006 X 100 feet

Taxiway North of Main Runway

Crosswind RW 16/34 3512 X 200 Unpaved

Glider Runway 21 2000 X 100 Unpaved north of and parallel to taxiway.

Calm wind runway: 21

Glider Traffic Pattern: Right Hand to runway 21 and 16 Left Hand to 3/34

Elevation: 4200 feet

Lat/Longs: N3250.40 W10559.44

Common Traffic Advisory Frequency: 122.8

AWOS: 127.825

Holloman Approach Freq: 120.6

ABQ Center: 132.65

Club Phone Number: 505-434-2671

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In the interest of maintaining good relations with the Airport Management, the following precautions should be taken.

Gliders should be tied down when not in motion. Canopies should be locked when the pilot or crew is not standing in the cockpit area. Short duration wind gusts to 40 knots can and do occur without notice.

Crew vehicles should have the keys in the ignition at all times when on the ramp or taxiway to allow a vehicle to be moved in an emergency. Crew vehicles should not be backed up when on the ramp unless absolutely necessary to prevent backing over unseen equipment or into a glider wing that may have been inadvertently moved behind your vehicle.

Vehicles should be moved off the ramp as soon as possible and when unattended.

Avoid driving through the tie down rows where wing stands and equipment may be difficult to see. Tie down wing stands and equipment or put them in your vehicle when you leave to go fly to prevent them from being blown into someone’s glider.

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Pilots should review the written materials in the clubhouse for any NOTAMS (Notice to Airman) that may be on the Board concerning special procedures that may be in effect because of the closeness of Holloman AFB.

Pilots should be thoroughly familiar with the airport diagram, frequencies, etc. Review SSA signals, rope break procedures and altitude, landing and rollout plan.

Collision Avoidance is a very high priority in the Alamogordo area. There are many types of Military fast movers at low altitudes in and around the nearby mountains. The final approach course of the main runway at Holloman AFB passes NE to SW just north of the city of Alamogordo. Maintain a constant lookout with a swivel head for power and glider traffic.

Pilots should contact their crews once per hour giving a latitude/longitude location, altitude and direction of flight. The crew should write down this information.

Pilots should study the Albuquerque South Sectional Chart to note the location of the Restricted Areas and landmarks used to avoid entry. Note that R-5107A,B,C,D,H,J are located west of a north/south line drawn over Alamogordo Airport. R5103 B&C are located six miles south and east of the airport. Your Sectional Chart tells you what days of the week they are active and at what specific altitudes.

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Basically, if you fly a minimum of two miles east of the highway that runs north out of Alamogordo to Carrizozo, you will avoid R5107B. North of Tularosa in the area of Three Rivers the highway actually goes into the Restricted Area for a few miles. North of Carrizozo do not fly west of a line directly north of Carrizozo and you will avoid R5107C&H. Do not fly more than five miles south of Alamogordo airport and you will clear R5103. Consult your Sectional Chart for more specific information.

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If you have flight instrumentation that shows Special Use Airspace, than it is relatively easy to avoid these areas.

Pilots should be on 122.8 for launch and landing and within 5 miles of the airport below 7000 msl.

Pilots should monitor AWOS 127.825 each thirty minutes on a local flight for increasing winds or Thunderstorm activity.

You must possess and use a flashing yellow light that must be in operation on the tow car roof to access the taxiway.

Normally gliders are towed northeast along the taxiway toward the northeast corner of the airport. Tow car and glider should not access the taxiway when powered aircraft are approaching. It is a considerable distance to the end of the taxiway to position for takeoff.

Two people, pilot plus minimum of one crew should tow the glider to the end of the taxiway. The crew must insure that the keys to the car are in the ignition of the tow vehicle before the pilot gets out of the tow vehicle. The tow vehicle must be driven back to the glider ramp by the crewmember immediately after the glider departs. Tow vehicles may not remain on the taxiway.

At the northeast end of the taxiway is a large turn around ramp. Gliders should be positioned on the northeast section of the ramp so as not to obstruct taxiing powered aircraft readying for takeoff.

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White Sands Soaring Club Procedures for Tow:

2. Pilot is on board the glider and ready for takeoff while glider is clear of the taxiway.

Self-launch gliders may access the runway following the taxiway to the runway located near the clubhouse. There is approximately 3500 feet of runway remaining to the southwest from that position. Pilots should only launch from that point when they are assured that sufficient runway is available for a safe operation with the particular self-launch glider they are flying.

Carrizozo is one of the very few good landing fields north of Alamogordo. Carrizozo is approximately 50 nautical miles from Alamogordo. Departing Carrizozo with a 20 knot headwind component, cruising at 70 knots indicated airspeed, results in a 50 knot ground speed and a time enroute of 1+00. Assuming your glider has a 225 fpm rate of descent at 70 knots you would descend 13,500 feet in one hour. Since the Alamogordo elevation is 4200 feet you would need 17,700 feet to make it back with no margin. 17,700 feet is very possible on a good day.

Your plan should be to depart the Carrizozo area at the maximum altitude you can attain even if it is not 17,700 feet, proceeding south. Always maintain the capability to turn back to Carrizozo so as to arrive in the pattern with a minimum of 1000 feet AGL. Carrizozo elevation is 5371; therefore, you must arrive at Carrizozo at 6400.

You could proceed south from Carrizozo toward Three Rivers that is approximately 20 miles south of Carrizozo. At that point you would be 30 miles from Alamogordo. You would now be 36 minutes from Alamogordo at a 50 knot ground speed and you would need 12,300 with no margin. If you add 1000 feet safety height, you should be fairly comfortable with 13,300 feet at Three Rivers. You could also make it back to Carrizozo in 24 minutes with no wind effect using only

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5400 feet plus 1000 safety margin or a total of 6400 feet altitude loss arriving over Carrizozo at 6,900 feet msl. Carrizozo is more than 1000 higher in elevation than Alamogordo.

This is an exercise to get you in the frame of mind necessary to fly safely from Alamogordo. The White Sands Soaring Club members have all been well schooled in the caveats of flying from this area. Seek advice from one of the members or instructors if you have questions. Taking a familiarization ride with a White Sands Soaring Club instructor is not a bad idea.

When going cross country from most sites, if you can attain 3000 AGL above the site you will probably fly cross country safely. At Alamogordo, that altitude only gets you 7200 feet msl. The top of the Sacramento Mountain Ridge is 9720 feet. The term Ridge is really not appropriate because the mountains that you see from the ground do not drop off to a valley on the east side. Rather there is a plateau, where the elevation remains relatively high for many miles before dropping off toward Artesia, Carlsbad and Roswell.

As a result, the characteristic ridge lift known in the Appalachians does not exist to the same degree. Many times in the late morning, beautiful Cu’s begin to develop northeast of Cloudcroft over the plateau. These will tend to sucker you in to the east. Before heading for those Cu’s, have enough altitude to buck a strong westerly wind back out into the valley in order to escape sink.

Work yourself toward the northeast Cu’s by stopping to take lesser thermals of 2 to 3 knots to

maintain 12,000 msl before steadily heading for the good looking Cu’s and streets. Once there you will be at 15,000 very quickly.

Sometimes you will not connect with strong lift until northeast of Tularosa. Be very conservative during your initial flights. Like Taos, there are very few places to land.

Launching after 1100 for newcomers to the area is probably a good idea. Stay in the local area until you have enough altitude to start north while maintaining a final glide altitude back to Alamogordo airport in the event the day does not turn out.

Sierra Blanca Peak is 11,978 feet. This is 33 miles from Alamogordo airport. About 3 miles further than Three Rivers. If you have 13,500 feet over Sierra Blanca, you should have final glide to Alamogordo airport.

These discussions are based on performance for a 15 meter Standard Class glider. No account has been taken for higher True Airspeed at altitude. These numbers are very conservative and your glider should do better than these numbers. Pilots should check their flight manuals to see if their glider’s sink rate approximates the 225 fpm at 70 knots dry no water that I have used. Pilots should develop their own performance numbers for the points that I have mentioned.

The glider should have a minimum of basic survival equipment onboard for even local flights. Cross country flights should carry even more equipment. The most important gear to carry is communication equipment. If you can communicate your latitude and longitude to another glider pilot, to your crew via cell phone or to an airliner on 121.5 immediately upon landing, then you may not have need of your other survival equipment. Club phone number: 505-434-2671.

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If you cannot communicate your position with accuracy you will probably spend a night in your glider. Expect the temperatures to reduce to near freezing if you do. You must write down your latitude/longitude on a piece of paper and keep it with you if you trek off somewhere to a nearby road, etc. After you give your Lat/Long then you can estimate that you are 20 miles northeast of Ruidoso, etc. It is essential that an accurate Lat/Long be communicated to your crew and the Club House.

I emphasize accurate coordinates because it is nearly impossible to find a glider if the coordinates are off just a little bit.

If you cannot immediately communicate your position, then you now need:

1. Emergency Locator Beacon mounted to aircraft or on your person
2. Signal Mirror
3. Flares (caution when using flares so as not to set a fire!)
4. Strobe Light
5. Large Whistle

For an overnight stay you must have water, food bars, space blanket or jacket. I would not recommend flying in shorts from Alamogordo no matter how hot it is on the ground. You will be freezing at 15,000 plus feet in short order.

If you are flying and you hear a pilot call in that he has landed out, the first priority is to insure that his transmissions get accurately relayed with read backs. A glider pilot flying who can safely orbit the area until it is confirmed that the pilot has another person, crew or rescue team at the site or another aircraft orbiting the area, greatly increases the successful outcome. When the Club is notified, it is possible that a private pilot may be available to launch to orbit the site.

Most downed pilots will respond that, "I am OK". Sometimes the pilot does not know he is injured until after the adrenalin stops pumping. Take a downed pilots statement that he is OK with a grain of salt. Assume he has injuries of some sort and react accordingly.

When a crew does not hear from their pilot each hour, a communication search should begin. Ask pilots flying to call your pilot, who may be out of your radio range. Make an attempt to establish contact.

Pilots should tell their crew what type of flying they plan to do and where they plan to go. If in flight the plan changes due to weather, etc, then the pilot should relay that information to his crew. If by 6PM, no one has heard from a pilot for several hours, a decision has to be made to notify the FAA, CAP, etc. Procedures will be put in place to locate the pilot and normal soaring activities will grind to a halt. So it is incumbent that pilots who are down or who are low somewhere, communicate this to other pilots with their position.

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Pilots should contact their crew one hour out with an approximate estimated time of arrival. Crews should be prepared to meet their pilot.

Pilots should plan the final glide to Alamogordo with a minimum of 1000 feet safety altitude above the airport or 5200 msl. If strong sink, heavy traffic or increment weather is anticipated

inbound then 2000 feet or 6200 feet msl should be planned.

Pilots should monitor AWOS (127.825) and CTAF (122.8) frequencies inbound to access the traffic and weather situation. The flat desert terrain near the airport can give pilots an optical illusion concerning their height above the ground. You will appear to be higher than you are. Monitor your altimeter during approach. Adjust your pattern anticipating 10 to 20 knots of headwind on final. Do not fly your downwind to close to the runway. This reduces your options for dealing with sink, wind, and turbulence and makes your turn from downwind one continuous 180 degree turn to final. Plan a ninety-degree turn on to base and another 90 degree turn on to final. Do not extend your downwind too far beyond the end of the runway when more than 10 knots of headwind exist and shoot for 500 feet AGL when turning base leg. If your approach picture appears to be low, angle in toward the runway on base leg. If it is turbulent, carry a few knots extra airspeed. The runways are long and wide at Alamogordo so landing short should not be an option.

Pilots should announce their arrival in the area on 122.8. "Alamogordo Traffic this is glider Zulu Oscar five miles north landing runway 21" or words to that effect. Make calls on downwind, base and turning final. If there is powered traffic in the pattern, communicate with them to let them know you are there.

Normally, you may land on runway 21, the unpaved glider runway. In an emergency, you may land on the taxiway assuming no aircraft of vehicles are using it. If you land on the main runway 21, you must clear your glider off the runway quickly. Your crew should be standing by at the taxiway that leads to the glider ramp. Plan your approach to stop at that taxiway which is approximately 3000 feet down runway 21.

Fly friendly and considerate of the other users of the airport. White Sands Soaring Club must deal with Airport Management long after we are gone.