SCOH History by Dick Hollenberg

Several years ago Val Paget asked me to put together a brief history of our club.  The notes prepared for that presentation were used for this article.  What you are about to read is information based on my memory of events, data graciously offered by Chris Dunning from the club archives, and facts according to Eduardo Iglesias.

The early stuff comes mostly from Eduardo, which is entirely fitting since he is the only remaining Charter Member, i.e., there are none left in the club to challenge his rendition.

Genesis:  In the beginning there were 17 charter members, 15 men and 2 women.  I am told that they chose the name Soaring Club of Houston because they wanted to have the word “soaring” first in the telephone directory.  To this day, we still place soaring first!  Some of the original 17 I have known personally, others I have learned about through conversations with Eduardo.  Although their backgrounds and occupations were diverse, what they had in common was drive to achieve in their personal and professional lives and a need for adventure.  Soaring provided an outlet for their need for both achievement and adventure.  Some have asked about the personal background of the original members.  Here is some of the biographical information.

John Thomas, newsman and talk show host who also substitutes for Bill O’Reilly; James Calloway, electrical engineer; Eduardo Iglesias, electrical engineer; Roger Johnston, corporate pilot for Conoco; James Lovell, MIS manager; Marsha Ivins, engineer with NASA, jet pilot, and later astronaut completing three shuttle missions; Cliff Richards, sales engineer; Joe Rench, chemical engineer and business executive; Frank Pendleton, the attorney who handled the club incorporation; Dr. Joe Soper, optometrist; and Sig Rupp, geologist.

 Eduardo recalls that the idea of forming a club dated back to the fall of 1974.  The Charter is dated June of 1975.  The first soaring site was Skylakes Airport (now named Skydive Houston) just south of Waller.  It was also the home of Dr. Joe Soper, one of the charter members.  There, Joe had a hangar in which he kept a Cessna 150/150 plus a Blanik L-13.  Most of the charter group had been flying from the Skylakes Airport where Dick Taylor was running a commercial glider operation.  Unhappy with this situation, several of them decided that they should form a club.  A meeting was conducted at the Houston Lighting and Power building in early 1975.  As a result, the group formed the club in 1975.

That same year, the club moved its operations to a private strip owned by Ray Reeves, a Houston attorney.  Club member and attorney Frank Pendleton, along with Jim Lovell, found the field belonging to Ray Reeves.  Ray was trying to develop the strip and adjoining property. Planned as an aviation community, the strip was located north and west of the town of Cypress and north of highway 290 near the present-day Fairfield subdivision.

At this time the club owned no equipment, no glider, and no tow plane.  Originally the club rented a Scout tow plane.  Later, tows were made by Dr. Story Musgrave in his privately-owned Decathlon.  A medical doctor and NASA astronaut, he joined the club shortly after its formation. An accomplished aerobatic pilot, he often impressed club members with those skills.  Some claim that he could tow while flying inverted, but to the best of my knowledge there is no photographic record of this tale!  He continued to tow until his responsibilities as a NASA astronaut ended his role.  The club operated with an L-13 Blanik loaned to the club by Dr. Joe Soper.  The first instructor was Marsha Ivins, also a charter member.  During the club stay at the Reeves private strip, the club acquired the Blanik and a 1-26.  Another member, Dick Taylor, owned a 2-33 which he sold to the club.  Later the 2-33 was sold and a Blanik L-13 was purchased.  In the fall of 1978, the Blanik was destroyed by wind gusts while tied down at the Reeves strip.  That same year the club also purchased a 1-26 which was damaged by high water from the flooded Cypress Creek which passed near the strip. The 1-26 was completely rebuilt by Sig Rupp along with other club members. 

 Ray agreed to allow the club to operate from his strip in return for our maintaining the strip.  This was a dirt strip located next to Cypress Creek.  During floods the strip and access road became unusable.  In the beginning there was no indoor plumbing, telephone, or running water.  Plumbing was a port-a-can procured by Eduardo and Sig Rupp, no questions asked.  Later, a house was built on the property and a well completed, providing indoor plumbing and running water.  The club operated from there until Ray lost control of the strip during his divorce proceedings.  At that time the club operation returned to Skylakes.  While still at the Reeves strip, Tom Haywood, who also owned a commercial glider operation, began to provide tows.  Gradually, Tom assumed complete control over the club operations at Cypress, a situation with which club members became increasingly unhappy.  They became determined to regain control.  With Reeves losing control of the property and the losing of the Cypress strip, SCOH returned to Skylakes where they again ran their own soaring operation.  Tom Haywood moved his commercial operation to a grass strip just to the south of Hockley.

For most of the club’s early life it struggled to gain control over its destiny.  Early on, membership was limited to no more than 30.  As a result, money was always a limiting factor.  The club was a beggar, looking for free use of a soaring site, borrowing tow planes and training gliders.  As the club grew in membership and revenue increased, the club was able to acquire both a towplane and a two-place training glider.  However, a limiting factor still remained a lack of a soaring site that would allow for the construction of club and private hangars along with other amenities, such as telephone, indoor plumbing and water.

When the club returned to the Skylakes airport in 1979, it purchased the Cessna 150/150 towplane belonging to Dr. Joe Soper and replaced the damaged Blanik with another Blanik.  The club remained at Skylakes during 1979 and 1980, but pressure mounted to relocate.  The club paid a use fee to the Skylakes development company, not to the fixed-base operator.  This caused friction with the FBO.  Moreover, many of the homeowners in this aviation community resented the club’s presence.  The airport configuration caused occasional congestion on and around the active runway, making glider assembly, staging, and retrieving difficult for the club members and sometimes causing homeowners delays in getting access to the active runway.  Accordingly, Jim Calloway found a more receptive soaring site at Hempstead.  Jim Josey, and insurance and real-estate broker, kept his Cessna 172 in a hangar at the Hempstead strip.  At that time the airport had only about 20 acres of property, creating a narrow grass runway with limited space for glider assembly or tiedowns.  Moreover, there was little room for staging.  The runway environment was so narrow that launch operations stopped until a glider that had landed was removed.

 While at Hempstead, Bob Kellner designed and managed the construction of a pole barn in which to store the club equipment.  Initially, rain water was captured from the roof runoff and stored in a cistern.  Later, Eduardo had a well completed.  A small clubhouse was purchased and a septic system constructed so the members could have the benefit of indoor plumbing. (The small clubhouse was later moved to Waller where it was destroyed in the same storm that destroyed the club glider hangars.)  In 1983, Dale Flukinger was hired to cut a second runway parallel to the existing one.  Club members joined forces to remove and relocate 3300 feet of barbed wire fence to accommodate the additional landing strip.  All told, the acreage now amounted to 35 acres.

After the move to Hempstead the club grew rapidly, adding both members and equipment.  Clearly, the membership numbers had reached a critical mass, now 80.  Membership was strong enough for the club to host, along with our sister club, the Houston Soaring Association, the 1982 SSA Soaring Convention held in Houston’s downtown convention center.  Michelle Sorenson played a key role in marshalling club resources to make the convention a success.  From 1981 through 1986, the club purchased or leased 2 Blaniks, a Schweizer 1-34, 2 Schweizer 2-33’s, and 2 L-19 Bird Dog tow planes.  Members who owned their own ships built their own pole barn in which to store their trailers.  The strip was now wide enough to allow them to assemble their gliders at their trailer barn.  Barry Dunning and Wayland Savre constructed a hangar for their Lark.  It featured rails for entry and exit from the hangar, a design that was both practical and economical.  It was the prototype for many of the hangars we now have at Waller.

This was a time of experimentation.  A Super Cub was purchased as a replacement for the L-19’s which proved to be quite expensive to maintain and were difficult for the average tow pilot to fly.  One was totaled, another severely damaged during a hard landing.  The Super Cub was intended to serve both as a tow plane and a platform for training new tow pilots.  Experience proved that it lacked capacity to tow heavy two-place gliders, and thus it was sold.  In 1989, Eduardo Iglesias and Bill Benner purchased a Pawnee.  Responsibility for towing was split between them and the club.  By 1994 they formed a contract tow operation adding a second Pawnee to the fleet.  Since then the club has contracted out all of its towing.

 By 1990 club membership had grown to over 100.  Interest in hangars for private gliders and improvements to the airport infrastructure were thwarted by the inability to secure a long-term lease or to negotiate a purchase agreement with the landowners.  We had no formal right to the use of the airport other than a “handshake” on a month-to-month basis.  At that time, the property was owned by heirs to the Chapman estate.  Mrs. Chapman had a life estate in her late husband’s property.  Our airport site was part of that estate.  Tom Cuny, a club member and former resident of Hempstead, acted as liaison between the club and members of the Chapman family.  On several occasions the club made offers to purchase the property, or if that were not acceptable, agree to a long-term lease.  Our efforts were rejected on both counts.

 A search for a permanent home began in earnest in early 1990.  We were searching for a site in which the club and private owners would feel comfortable in committing money to construct hangars and provide an upgraded runway environment.  Several tracts were identified.  One site near Skydive Houston was attractive enough to warrant an earnest money contract.  The site was abandoned when the FAA indicated that we would not be able to have a traffic pattern on the east side because it would conflict with traffic into the existing pattern at Skydive.

 Initially, our intent was to find an existing airport at which we could either rent space or purchase hangar plots.  Airports near Sealy and Columbus were investigated, along with one at Navasota.  The Sealy and Columbus sites were rejected on two counts   First, the soaring south of I-10 is typically weaker than to the north.  In the summer-time soaring is often cut short by the incursion of the sea breeze that kills the lift by mid afternoon.  The second reason was that the bulk of our members live north and west of the city of Houston, thus favoring a location near Waller and Hempstead.  Navasota Airport was considered too distant.  The Hollenbergs spent several winters exploring alternative sites.  Finally, in 1994 with the aid of Robert Frost, a real-estate broker specializing in farm and rural property, the Waller site was located.  It met  the criteria the club had established for a viable gliderport, i.e., runway oriented north/south, minimum runway length of 3,000 feet, wide enough for multiple take-offs and landings along with space for hangars and taxiways.  It could have no power lines that would interfere with a traffic pattern and no creeks running through the property requiring extensive culverts.  With the Board’s approval, Randy Hollenberg negotiated the purchase of the Waller property.  Bids to remove trees and the remains of an old farmhouse at the southeast end of the property, plus grading approximately 50 acres for runway and hangar use were solicited, with Dale Flukinger being the successful bidder.  Club members became active, managing the addition of electric power, drilling a water well, and preparing a septic system for the clubhouse.  A road into the property was graded and graveled, hangar plots subdivided, and club hangars built.  Bill Campbell purchased the mobile home which we enjoy as our clubhouse.

 The move to our own home was an event of Biblical proportions!  We had finally come out of the wilderness into our own Promised Land.  So that the club would remain in control of the property, private hangars would be built on property owned by the club.  The right to hangar plots would be for a period of 20 years.  At the end of 20 years, the hangar would become the property of the Soaring Club of Houston.

The first tow from the new field was in 1995 when Bill Campbell launched the 2-33 from the freshly-graded runway.  The move to Waller had to wait until the access road, water, electricity, and other amenities were completed the following year, 1996.  Building the towplane hangar became a club project with many members climbing scaffolding and installing seemingly endless sets of nuts and bolts.  It was the event that symbolized our becoming a club family.

Now came the task of recruiting new members to take advantage of our expanded capabilities.  We hosted the filming of a TV spot on Channel 11 the following year.  Members appeared at local fly-ins and airshows where they displayed their sailplanes, handed out brochures, and answered questions about soaring.  These efforts resulted in the club reaching a maximum of 148 members in 1999.  The club was recognized by the SSA as the club that had added the greatest number of new members several years running.  With increased membership, a full cadre of flight instructors (12), 2 Pawnee tow planes, a full complement of tow pilots (20), 5 club gliders and 35 privately-owned gliders, it seemed that we were at last on top of the world.

Just when it seemed that the club had shed its long shadow of financial brinksmanship, multiple disasters visited us in the year 2000.  First, a club member died as a result of an accident while flying in the club’s old L-23. That same year, our second new L-23 was totaled after running through the fence at the south end of the field.  The final disaster came in September when either a tornado or deadly downburst from a thunderstorm destroyed all three club hangars and totaled or severely damaged the entire club fleet.

Having all these events in one year caused us to become self-insured for hull insurance since we were unable to renew our insurance policy,  Moreover, lack of club equipment discouraged some members, causing them to leave, and the lack of equipment hampered our efforts to recruit new members,  Thanks to the efforts of a core group of members, club equipment was either restored or replaced and new hangars were professionally designed and constructed.

 Today the club is stronger than ever.  It is recognized as a significant asset to the soaring community, a fact symbolized by our club being chosen to host the licensing of SSA Executive Director Dennis Wright.