Originally published in "The Michigan Soaring Pilot", the newsletter of the Vultures Soaring Club
Ole "Frostbite" Ferguson wasn't born and raised a Yuper like I was, but he sure tried awfully hard to be a Yupee. He'd do things just to prove that he could take the harsh winter climate of Michigan's Upper Peninsula as well as us natives. He'd go in swimming before the Fourth of July, or when he took a sauna he'd run out after and jump in Lake Superior. We all liked Frostbite for trying to be one-of-the-boys, but we never gave him much credit for having a sense of survival.
'Fergy', as he was originally called, flew powered planes up at the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, City Airport. Even more to the admiration of the young airport hang-abouts, he also flew a glider. It was a nicely painted, fully equipped 2-33. He had taken me up a couple of times and shown me the intricacies of soaring. I guess because of that I felt obligated to help him whenever he asked for advice, especially about U.P. weather.
When you come right down to it, Fergy should be the one telling this story, but then I know how he tends to exaggerate. It's best I tell it so you can get the true account.
A lot of Lowpees think that thermals in the U.P. are too weak, too small and the season too short, so they don't even try soaring up here. Sure, the winters set in a shade sooner and last a bit longer. Big deal.
When winter does set in, however, it just sticks around and doesn't move off to the east like prevailing weathers elsewhere. This made the weather man's job at WSOO easy. He would just take the temperatures we had accumulated and when another front came through, which was most every day, he would add that on to our accumulated temps. That would be our temperature till the next front came through. You can very well see that even a cold front felt more like a warm front to us Yupers.
One stormy winter day we were sitting around the airport office jawing, when I mentioned to Fergy about those "great winter-time thermals that everyone passes up". Needless to say, Fergy was anxious to try out a 'Winter Thermal'.
A couple of days later I was poking around the airport not doing much of anything when up walks Fergy.
"What's your opinion on thermals today, Tim?", he asked my advice. When I told him that, yes indeed, there would be thermals up there today that he could write home about, he turned on his heels. Next thing I saw, he was being towed off on runway three. I wish he would have stuck around to get some more advice, 'cause winter thermalling in the U.P. was a different ball game than he was used to.
Well, I kept him in sight. They made a go around the airport, then at just a little over 1000 feet, Fergy must have hit the big one 'cause he pulled the release and started circling. Up he went, two, three, four thousand feet.
Then at five thousand feet it happened. The 2-33 suddenly stopped circling, stopped flying, just stayed still in the air. I knew what had happened. Thermals elsewhere usually condense into clouds. In the U.P. they just freeze. That's what happened to Fergy. At five thousand feet, that thermal froze solid with Fergy and his 2-33 inside it.
Well, Fergy was trapped in that thermal for two days wondering what in tarnation he should do. On the morning of the third day, a winter gale came ripping off Lake Superior. The wind was so strong that it blew thermals apart. Fergy couldn't stay in it for more than a quarter of a turn...so down he came.
Everything turned out OK. I believe he still holds the Michigan record for flying the shortest distance in the longest length of time. Fergy was a little wiser for his experience, but ever since that flight we've called him
| Dr. Günther Eichhorn | Springer 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013 USA, email me |