One of the pilots in our local soaring club was surprised to discover that he was sharing a thermal with an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV).
Author Archive for Rand Baldwin
Rand is a Soaring Cafe Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief. Fascinated by soaring since early childhood, Rand learned to fly sailplanes while in graduate school (at Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics), and earned his private glider rating at Yankee Soaring in Plymouth, Massachusetts. He joined the M.I.T. Soaring Association in 1974, where he completed his Silver Badge and became a flight instructor. After moving to Huntsville in 1977, Rand flew and instructed on weekends at Eagleville Sailplanes south of Nashville, Tennessee. In 1985, he and a handful of other soaring enthusiasts organized the Huntsville Soaring Club at Moontown Airport. Rand chaired the 1996 SSA National Convention and has served as an SSA Director-at-Large, SSA Governor and State Record Keeper for Alabama. He has set two U.S. national soaring records and many AL and TN state records.
Upcoming SSA Convention Coverage at the Café
by Rand Baldwin •
If you can attend the 2014 SSA Convention in Reno, we strongly encourage you to do so, but if you can’t, we’ll try our best to be your surrogate eyes and ears. Our convention coverage begins Thursday, February 27th, so follow us on Twitter @SoaringCafe or watch for our daily (and hourly) reports on FaceBook. Longer posts will appear later on the Café website
Landing the World’s Fastest Glider
by Rand Baldwin •
In AllThingsAero.com, former pilot astronaut (and former Huntsville Soaring Club member) Jim Halsell describes what it’s like to land the Space Shuttle. For several years, Jim was a member of our local soaring club in Huntsville, Alabama. Unfortunately, he was so busy attending to his professional responsibilities that he had little time to fly gliders (other than the Space Shuttle!), but we were happy to have Jim as a member.
Introducing the Café Calendar of Events
by Rand Baldwin •
The latest in a continuing series of improvements, additions, and upgrades to SoaringCafe.com is the Café calendar of events.
A ‘thumbnail’ view of the calendar appears under ‘Upcoming Events’ in the right sidebar beside the ‘Other News’ column header. You can also access it by clicking the new Calendar sub-menu.
The most exciting feature of the new calendar is that it’s YOUR calendar. We invite all our readers to begin posting soaring events to the calendar NOW! Using the calendar is pretty intuitive, but to help you get started, we’ve included a series of screenshots.
“The Aviators” To Feature Soaring in Fall Premiere
by Rand Baldwin •
The Aviators, now in its third season, is a TV show all about—you guessed it—aviation. My only gripe about the show is that there’s been nary a word about my favorite way to aviate. Well, that’s about to change. The season premiere, scheduled to air this September, will feature a segment on soaring.
The Café Has a New Look!
by Rand Baldwin •
As most of you have no doubt noticed, we’ve made a few changes to the Café this month—well, actually more than a few. Bill has racked up scores of hours in behind-the-scenes machinations that we hope have made the Café more visually appealing, easier to navigate, and more responsive. Our goal has been to make…
Tour of the Stemme S-10 Motorglider [Video]
by Rand Baldwin •
For many years, the Stemme S-10 has been a star attraction in the exhibit hall at the (now biennial) SSA convention. At the 2012 SSA convention in Reno, Nevada, we asked Alexander Papenberg of Stemme USA to give us a tour of the Stemme S-10, arguably the most beautiful and luxurious touring sailplane on the…
Interview with Frank Paynter (TA) [Video]
by Rand Baldwin •
If you’re a regular visitor to the Café, participate in Condor virtual contests, read Soaring magazine, or fly in U.S. competitions, you surely recognize the subject of this interview. Frank owns a Ventus 2bx and is one of the most active competition pilots in the U.S. Frank is also an accomplished user of the Condor…
Sunday’s Record Flight Wrap-Up
by Rand Baldwin •
Thanks to Gordon Boettger for sending us this post-flight wrap-up. On April 14th, Gordo and Hugh flew Hugh’s Duo Discus 691 miles from Minden, NV to Gunnison, CO, which reset the U.S. multiplace record for free distance. Considering the lack of good lift I’m very pleased with the outcome. As we all know in the…
Six-Seat Sailplane Concept Seeks Crowd-Funding
by Rand Baldwin •
Richard Glassock, an Australian glider pilot and designer, has just announced a crowd-funding project for his ground-breaking and breath-taking six-seat sailplane design. Contributions will be accepted beginning March 27, 2013 (21 hours from now as I write). He has engaged Pozible as a vehicle for crowd-funding and has set a goal of A$5,000,000 in 90 days.
