Tag Archive for Sailplane

1-26 Championships Day 1

Once again I don’t think anyone was too inspired by the forecast this morning. Weatherman John Lubon said it was going to be blue blue blue, unless a crazy thermal was heated up enough to make it up to the lofty altitude of nearly 7000 feet. So, we all expected solid blue. What most of…

Tour of the Stemme S-10 Motorglider [Video]

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…

Kai Gertsen Book Wins Harris Hill Soaring Corporation’s Joe Lincoln Award

BTLinkPublishing is pleased to announce that Kai Gertsen’s book “Desperate to Fly” was awarded the 2012 Joseph Lincoln Award for “outstanding contribution to the sport of soaring through the use of the written word.” “Desperate to Fly” is part memoir, part instructional handbook with Kai’s manuals on Cross-Country Soaring, Off-Airport Landings and his clear and important manual on Spinning included as appendices.

Chilhowee Cross Country and Team Flying Camp

99 Soaring Fans, This is Bravo Zulu                  7 September 2012 Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were flying days.  So the camp was completed as planned.  Cloudy mornings preceded clearing to partly cloudy by 1300.  Wednesday and Thursday could be characterized as challenging since the ceilings were below 4000 feet MSL and the thermals were generally light. …

Novel About Particle Physicists and Soaring in the Alps

“My novel ‘Catalysed Fusion,’ has several vivid chapters about gliding in Switzerland, including a diamond distance flight over Mont Blanc. It is primarily a racy story about particle physicists at CERN Geneva with some steamy erotic episodes, but some people say that the gliding episodes are the best part. Some exciting near misses are featured.”

[Video] A Gliding Day Dream

Thanks to reader Skyler for tipping us off to this dreamy video taken at the 2012 Cowley Gliding Camp in Alberta, Canada by Doran Clark and Don Hammond of Rocket Productions. Gliders come from vast distances to participate in this summer event.

Video Interview with Schleicher’s Michael Greiner

Michael Greiner is the young Schleicher engineer who designed the extremely successful ASG-29 15/18 meter glider. As a young designer, he was mentored by Gerhard Waibel and so, in a sense, he is Gerhard’s protegé. Michael was in Uvalde earlier this week, so I asked if he had time for an interview, and he graciously…