Club History

The Caesar Creek Soaring Club (CCSC) was born out of the Soaring Society of Dayton which was started in the late 1940’s by a group of employees of the Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Air Force personnel. The South Dayton Airport (no longer in existence) was the first base of operations for SSD. By 1958 the club had moved operations to Richmond Indiana airport.

In 1968 the club moved to its current base of operations, a re-purposed farm now glider port, located 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Waynesville, Ohio and 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Caesar Creek State Park. The 120-acre (49 ha) plot of farmland was purchased in 1967 and over the next one and a half years it was converted from a dairy farm into a field suitable for sailplane operations. As of today there is a 2,800-foot-long (850 m) east–west grass runway, a club house, picnic grounds, a campground and hangars for trailers and aircraft.

With over 200 members, CCSC is one of the largest clubs in the United States.

HISTORY OF CCSC – JIM HURST

In 1993 Jim Hurst, a long time member, wrote a nice essay about the early history of CCSC titled, “What Makes Caesar Creek Tick” that was published in the July 1993 issue of SOARING.

HISTORY OF CCSC – BOB ROOT

In 2014 Bob Root provided some of his stories about the history of CCSC.

TROPHY FLIGHT – BILL MAXWELL

Read Bill Maxwell’s report of the 1984 initiation of the competition with nearby soaring clubs to be in possession of the eagle trophy.

THE “PICKLE” & BRUCE HELVIE – JOHN ANTRIM

John Antrim explains how N36135 got its green color, the strange decal and Bruce Helvie’s name.

THE MAURERS OF CCSC

One highlight of one family’s connection to soaring at CCSC.

JOHN ANTRIM EXPLAINS PHOTO ON CLUBHOUSE WALL

Ever notice the photo with the Stearman PT-17 in the background with Bob Root’s Wednesday Breakfast Club in the foreground?

RIDGE SOARING MEMORIES

Back in 1975 when we were a lot younger, a delegation from CCSC were some of the first customers at Ridge Soaring Gliderport in Centre County, Pennsylvania, midway between Altoona and Lock Haven in the Bald Eagle Valley and approximately 20 minutes from Penn State University. Tom Knauff was tickled that we showed up that year because Pat DeNaples was a tow pilot and Tom didn’t have a tow pilot. This was when Ridge Soaring Gliderport was just getting started and Tom put everyone to work doing something – Bob Root, 2/2016

Three CCSC Members Complete 9 Badge Flights in 36 Hours

Using a single 1-26 glider these three pilots had a great couple of days soaring at the ridge.

STORY BEHIND THE FUNNY WINDSOCK TROPHY

Have you noticed the small windsock trophy with a kink in the windsock pole? It normally resides on the mantle. There is a second similar trophy that gets blown around the clubhouse as well. Jim Hurst took so much heckling about an incident that took place while he was flying the tow plane that he wrote an article for the Frequent Flyer that was published in December 1991. Since then the wind sock has been relocated at least twice, so for this story you should visualize it on the northeast corner of the runway just where pedestrians stand to wait for a landing tow plane. Here is the story:

Pat DeNaples Flight to Work in Oxford, OH

Pat had an engineering consulting appointment in Oxford, OH, on a Wednesday several years ago, so he grabbed his briefcase and went out to Caesar Creek Glider Port and got launched in his 1-26. After an hour or so he landed at the Oxford, OH, airport and made his meeting!

VINTAGE SOARING HOME MOVIES

Paul Allen has put movie footage on YouTube for us to enjoy. It was taken by his dad, who passed away in 2003. His dad was one of the founding members of Soaring Society of Dayton. The movies were taken during the 1950s and 1960s at soaring meets and club activities before the club moved to it’s current location. https://youtu.be/5wNS80veggI

AWARDEES – THE HENRY MEYERROSE TRUSTEE’S AWARD

This award recognizes the individual (selected by the three previous Awardees) for his support and contribution to CCSC.