Crestline Soaring Society

We’re looking for volunteers to help repair the stairs at Crestline. (Some sort of Off Road Vehicle decided to have fun spinning donuts in the set up area and used the steps to get up there. The steps were damaged badly enough to need replacing.)

We’re planning on doing the work Saturday morning, 6-21-08. We'll meet at 9:00 AM in the LZ and those who join the work party should be able to fly from Crestline afterward. Rob McKenzie has offered a free shuttle ride to the first 6 pilots who volunteer.

We will need to remove about 15 to 20 old railroad ties and replace them. I can bring the replacement ties up in my truck and take the old ones down.

Kenny Westfall has offered to make the cuts, and he says the best way to cut the ties is with a chainsaw. He says you do have to sharpen the blade after each cut but he knows how to do this quickly with a portable sharpener. We have the chainsaw and sharpener in the CSS tool shed, but we should check them out to be sure they are working.

We’ll need to drill holes in the ties and drive rebar to pin them together. We do have a generator and one powerful drill and some long auger type drill bits, but if anyone has another heavy duty drill, and/or any bits long enough to go through two railroad ties it would help. We have ½ in. drill bits that are about 17 in. long, so some ½ in. rebar will be needed for the pins.

Shovels and maybe a pick ax will be needed to prepare the ground; wrecking bars to pry the ties out; sledge hammers to drive the pins.

Don’t forget gloves, ear protection and eye protection for the power equipment.

Dusty suggested cementing a post at the foot of the stairs so vehicles can’t drive up there again. We’ll need a stout piece of pipe, maybe 4 or 5 inches in diameter and 5 feet long so a good amount can go into the ground and still leave 3 feet above.

Any suggestions? Am I leaving anything out?

Mike Z