Moriarty Pilots

Stan Roeske

2008-11-09T15:41:00.025-07:00

Stan flying his LS3, Moriarty, NM

Stan Roeske can be described as a “Jack-of-all-trades”. I have never seen him sit still for more than a short moment. He is constantly doing something like making minor repairs on a glider, flying the tow plane, teaching someone how to fly a glider, mentoring new club members or even burning weeds in front of the club hangar.

Stan began building airplane models in 3rd grade, but didn’t experience flight until he was a junior in high school with the Civil Air Patrol (which is where he met his wife Carol.) He started flying lessons after high school, and in 1961 after 2 years of flying on and off he earned his pilot’s certificate. He then took some time off from flying to attend college. He became a member of the Albuquerque Soaring Club in 1974 and earned his instructor rating in 1993.

Stan has just under 1,000 hours in gliders- almost 2,000 flights. He also has another 800 or 900 hours in power-planes, which amounts to 1600 or 1800 tows and about 2000 flights. He has flown several kinds of gliders including the 2-33, 1-26, Lark, Blanik, Grob, 1-34, Libelle , LS3 and the Twin-Astir. He has also flown a number of power-planes including the J3 Cub, Cessna 140, 150, 172 and 182, 90 & 180 horsepower Super-Cubs, Tri-Pacer, Pitts, Decathlon, Citabria, Piper Seneca and Pawnee. Presently he owns an LS3 glider and a 1947 Aeronca “Chief” restoration project.

Stan is a kind hearted soul who has helped many people, including myself. One experience I will never forget is a day when I had a botched take-off in the Grob. I took off too early and found myself in ground effect with little control of the glider. I released and bounced away into the field next to the runway. Before I knew it everyone on the ground ran over to me and told me I need to fly again right away. I was pretty shook-up and not convinced that I should fly. Then Stan rode up on his motorcycle like a Knight-In-Shining-Armor and said “Let’s go fly.” After about an hour in the sky with Stan my confidence was restored.

Background

What kind of work did you do? Were you involved somehow in aviation?

No, I wanted to be but I was in electronics. My degree is in electrical engineering. The closest I got to it was in the 1960’s during the period of time when I wasn’t flying. I was going to college at night and was working at Sandia Labs as an instrument tech at their wind tunnel. They have a supersonic and hypersonic wind tunnel. That was really interesting stuff. That was probably the most fun I had in the almost 40 years that I worked at Sandia.

When did you take your first glider ride?

My first glider ride was with the Albuquerque Soaring Club in 1961. The club had a Schweizer 2-22 that they were keeping at 7-Bar. They had somebody with a Super Cub that was providing tows for them. They were flying off a deserted airstrip called El Rancho. It is up on the bluff in Petroglyph Park; about a ½ mile from the radio-controlled airfield.

The fellow with the Super Cub flew in and was looking around. I was the only one there. He told me that they were flying gliders and they were shorthanded. They needed someone to run wings and attach tow-ropes. I told him I didn’t have anything else to do, so he put me in the back of the Super Cub and flew me out to El Rancho.

I helped him for the rest of the morning. They said, “You have been working and helping us, would you like a glider ride?” I told them, “Yeah, I would like that. That would be neat.” So they put me in the back of the 2-22.

Herman Wente, a former member of the glider club, was my pilot. So we flew back and forth over the bluff there to see if we could find some ridge lift. We didn’t find much and landed. They put me back in the Super Cub, hooked the glider up, towed the glider and then flew me back to 7-Bar. I sort of forgot about it.

In 1974 I joined the club and had my first instructional flight with Herman Wente. We caught up 13 years later. I flew with Herman, with Al (Santilli) and two other instructors in the club to add the glider rating to my power rating.

Did your parents fly?

No. In fact my step-dad thought I was nuts. He said “Why would you want to be involved in flying? That’s silly, that’s nonsense. Go on and do something serious with your life.” He and I had a disagreement about that since before I was in first grade.

I remember going to the news reels with my parents. This was right at the tail end of WWII. You would go to the movies back then and in between the double features you would get the news reels. And here were these pictures of the war going on in Europe with fighter planes and bombers. Boy that was cool stuff to this little pre-first grader.

That was in Chicago. When we moved out here we lived under the landing pattern for Kirtland/Albuquerque International. My dad swears that I wore out two or three screen doors because every time a plane would come over our house I would be out the door to see what it was. That was in the days when I was in grade school and the National Guard was flying P-51’s, retreads from WWII. I remember watching the air-guard move from the P-51’s to the F-80 Jets and on through the entire sequence that they had.

You instruct and you are also a tow-pilot for the club. Do you ever get to fly your glider?

Rarely. That is probably the most popular joke amongst me and my friends. The LS3 has not been out of the hangar this year. It flew once last year. My partner Harry Saxton flies it less than I do and I only flew it once.

What was your most exciting-scary flight in a glider?

Probably the one exciting-scary flight, and it is just that it sticks in my mind, was one of these funny days. We actually had thermals, scattered cumulus clouds and the cloud base was about 10,000 feet (MSL.) I worked my way up to cloud base and went over to South Mountain and all of a sudden there was this big hole right there. And I wondered if there was a wave working. So I noodled out in there and there was a weak wave and I got up to about 16,000 feet (MSL.)

So here I was up at 16,000 looking down at the clouds. That was cool. I headed south down towards Estancia then turned East to head back towards Moriarty. Then I hear jet noise…and I am saying to myself, “That’s awful loud, that’s awful close. Which way do I go?” I don’t see anything. Well, it was a 727 and it was only about ½ mile away and above me. But I was where he would have least expected me to be, several thousand feet about cloud base, out there all by myself. That was a little scary.

Did you have a transponder?

No.

Do you have one now?

No, but I am saying to myself, we really need to put one in the LS3. I think transponders are needed.

Of course the new technology, we are talking about the ADSB system, the electronics in the airplanes talk to each other instead of talking to center. Which I think is better. But we’re not there yet.

Yeah, I think you need some kind of active collision avoidance.

If somebody were to give you the money to buy any plane in the world, what would you buy?

An Aviat Husky (2nd choice a Citabria) AND a Salto.

What do you think is the difference between flying a power plane and flying a glider?

The analogy that I have used is it is the difference between jumping in a ski boat and driving across the lake and jumping into a sail boat and looking at the weather and working with it to get yourself across.

I find soaring much more fun and challenging than power overall. You’re always flying the airplane. I am terribly impatient and I get bored easily. I enjoy flying power planes, I’ve got around 400 hours and something like 1600 or 1800 tows in the club’s old Super Cub and both our Pawnees. That’s fun because you’re doing something constantly. But to take a 172 and go cross-country is okay. I enjoy the views as they go by. But it doesn’t have the challenge that soaring does.

Teaching

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxStan and Mary Hawkins

What is it that you enjoy about teaching?

I find teaching rewarding. I like to coach new pilots and offer them some of the things that I have learned. I see them improve their skills to the point that they don’t need me along.

I enjoy the one-on-one interaction. I enjoy sharing something that I do with someone else. And it really gives me a sense of satisfaction to see someone else develop those skills. And maybe I did something to help them along that road.

I am a facilitator. Teachers don’t teach. They provide the information and they provide an environment that makes it possible for that person to learn.

What is the most exciting-rewarding flight you ever had in a glider?

To me the most rewarding thing is the flying I have done working someone up to a solo. That is exciting and rewarding.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Stan congratulates Cliff after his solo.

Today you were able to solo someone. Tell us about it.

Cliff Goldman. Cliff has been fun to fly with. He is power rated so I jokingly said that the thing we have to work on is un-learning some of those bad habits he learned flying power planes. And that is sort-of true. That is sort-of tongue in cheek but there are some very serious differences that you have to instill in a person so that they can fly a glider safely.

Cliff was a delight to fly with. He has been a good student and actually we probably could have soloed him last weekend but there was enough cross-wind that we said no, let’s wait.

You have soloed three people this year?

Well within the last 12 months, yeah. Cliff, Mary Hawkins and Kevin Bielek.

How old is Kevin?

We soloed him on his 14th birthday.

Stan with Kevin Bielek after his first solo.

This is the second time I had a teenager solo on their 14th birthday.

The first one, I hadn’t been instructing that long and I was still learning how to be an instructor. We had a young teenager who was brought out by a mutual friend, a power pilot. She got involved with the glider club very shortly after her 13th birthday and we soloed her on her 14th birthday.

A mutual friend, Phil Philips (a pilot and realtor in Albuquerque) had the media out here. It turns out it was the same day that John Glenn flew the shuttle for his second space flight. That evening on the news they talked about John Glenn making history going into space, the congressman and former astronaut doing it again. Then they said we have another story here of a young lady making her own history here in aviation and they showed footage of her flying her first solo flight out here.

How cool!

That was cool. To me that probably was the most exciting thing relating to gliders.

Has a student ever scared you?

Actually no.

Once or twice with a student I have had to grab the controls and say “I’ve got it.”

Once one of our club members who was a rated pilot but who was terribly rusty flew with me. He wanted to give a ride to a friend but he hadn’t flown in months. So we were going to do three pattern tows together. I wasn’t happy with his landing so I was suggesting that he do his pattern a little different.

On his second flight he overshot final and started to pull the Grob too hard. If you have ever done any spin training the airplane does a funny thing. It is like you are sitting on a chair and you are about to fall off the side of the chair. If feels like you are on the verge of falling off. Here we were at 300 feet and he was trying to suck the thing around because he overshot final. I had the controls faster than I could say “I’ve got it.” I straightened it out a little bit and then said “It’s your airplane, finish the landing.” That really startled me. It was partially my own fault because I wasn’t expecting it.

Spin Training

Back when we had the Lark I offered spin training to anyone who wanted it. The Lark was an honest airplane, it would spin. It was recoverable, well behaved and very predictable.

I had taken one of our students up. What we would do is climb up high, 12 or 13,000 feet. We did a lot of briefing ahead of time. I would demonstrate a one turn spin and then I would let them try it. Then we would head back to the field. On the way back to the field I would have them slow the airplane and keep the wings level while purposely feeding in rudder. I wanted them to feel what it is like just before a stall when the plane was getting ready to spin. And that had worked well with a number of students.

On this particular flight I did a spin. He did the second one and when he stomped opposite rudder and relaxed back pressure on the stick the canopy popped open. That was exciting. Fortunately the canopy lanyard caught it and I was able to grab it and pull it back down. But it got sprung so we couldn’t latch it. We just had to hold it all the way down. The first reaction was, “Well you guys must not have locked the canopy properly.” We got it into the shop and the mechanic looked at it and said, “No, it wasn’t their fault. Those latches were pretty badly worn.” It was just the inertia of the spin. You would go ahead and spin that thing and when you put in opposite rudder and relaxed pressure on the stick, it would stop (Stan click’s his fingers) almost like that.

You mentor just about everyone who joins the club. What is your advice to new club members?

Wow, I didn’t realize I was looked at as a mentor. To me that is one of the highest compliments that you could pay somebody. I enjoy doing that.

Advice

You have to be patient. You are learning a new skill. It’s like the difficulty you had when you were a kid trying to learn how to ride a bicycle. You have to have patience and you have to stick with it. You have to have confidence in yourself that this is something you can do.

You have to invest the time and energy into it. Learning how to fly a glider is basically pretty easy. Learning to fly it well is a challenge.

I make the comparison to learning how to play a guitar. Yeah, learning to play the guitar is pretty easy. Learning how to play it well…it can be one of the more difficult instruments.

Learning to soar is pretty straight forward, it’s easy.

Bill Hill, Jim Cumiford and anyone you read about in soaring magazine that are national champions like Chip Garner, could reach that level because of a tremendous amount of dedication and practice.

Connie Buenafe

2008-08-25T15:57:00.025-06:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxConnie Buenafe in her Salto

Connie Buenfe is an active presence at the Albuquerque Soaring Club. She is on the Board of Directors, schedules the operations assignments and often fills in for people who cannot fulfill their ops duties.

Connie commutes most every weekend from her home in Santa Fe. She has worked for Honeywell for the past 12 years. Until recently she worked out of Los Alamos. Now she is stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base, right next to the runway.

The first thing you will most likely notice about Connie are her amazing blue eyes and warm smile. She is a down-to-earth, no-nonsense person who can hold her own with the other pilots. Both quick-witted and sharp she doesn’t frazzle easily.

How did you get started flying gliders?

Well actually my husband decided he wanted to fly gliders. He came down to Moriarty and decided he was going to take lessons with Rick at Sundance Aviation. He was going to come down on Wednesdays with a friend of his to take lessons. They were going to fly down in his friend’s airplane. Then he decided to join the Albuquerque Soaring Club instead. I said, “Okay, this sounds like a good thing we could do together so I will join the club too.” So I came down and I joined the club. After about 3 or 4 lessons my husband decided he didn’t want to do it. And that was the end of that.

Now he didn’t want to do it but you continued?

Well we took power lessons when we were first married. Both of us did but he actually got quite a ways. He had done several cross country flights. But at that time we were young and poor and had a kid. It just got too expensive so he didn’t quite finish it up.

I had only taken about 4 or 5 lessons. I scared myself pretty good and I quit. So when he was going to join the soaring club I decided that I was going to get my license even if I never set foot in a glider again afterwards. I was not going to quit until I got my license. It took 2 years but I did finally get my license.

What year did you get your license?

Don’t ask me any questions with years in them. I have the lousiest sense of time. It has probably been at least 10 years. Maybe more like 12.

When did you purchase your glider?

It was about a year after the convention. If you let me look at the calendar…about 2001.

What type of a glider do you have?

I have a Salto.

Salto’s are specifically designed for aerobatics, is that right?

Well they are an aerobatic plane but it does have a pretty good glide ratio. The main reason I got the Salto is because it is small and easy to put together. It has automatic hook-ups so I am not likely to forget to hook something up. It doesn’t have water and it doesn’t have a retractable gear so I thought it was simple enough that I could actually learn how to fly it and not kill myself.

Since you bought your Salto have you flown anything else?

I fly the Grob and 1-26 occasionally and I have flown the 2-33 on very rare occasions. I have never gotten into the Libelle, which I probably should do in case sometime my glider is down and I want to go fly. Mainly I fly my glider now.

Who else in your family flies?

My husband flew for a while. He still flies models but not as often as he used to.

My brother and my sister both have their (power) pilot’s license but neither of them have flown since they had children. I guess they figure it is much too risky, although I am not sure why. Either that or much too expensive.

My parents both used to actually fly gliders when they were in England at Brize Norton Air Force base. The RAF (Royal Air Force) had an operation there and they started letting Yanks (as they called us) into the classes. The Yanks, maybe for insurance reasons, were not allowed to aerotow, so they had them do the winch launches.

My mother is 5ft tall. She had polio as a child so she has one leg shorter than the other and so on and so forth. But she actually learned how to fly. I think they flew Grunau Babies. She never got her license but she did solo before they left England.

When they came to the States they actually bought a partnership in a glider for a while. But my dad wrecked it and they decided they couldn’t afford that anymore. He had his power license for a while.

Did your parents ever fly with you?

No. By the time I was flying my dad had Alzheimer’s and emphysema. The environment of the glider would have been very difficult for him.

As my mother got older she didn’t have the physical strength. I am not sure we could have got her in and out of the glider. Rick probably could have picked her up and put her in…but no, neither of them have ever flown with me.

What about your kids?

Well Kevin actually came out and took lessons for a while. He also took some power lessons with me for a while. And he enjoyed it but in the gliders he tended to get a little air-sick. He enjoyed the power more. But not enough to get out of bed and drive all the way down to Santa Fe. We were living in Los Alamos at the time. I was really hoping he would get into it.

Michelle hasn’t flown with me but she flew with Al Santilli. One year when she came back from college her and her boyfriend both went up with Al.

Several of my relatives have flown with me. My niece and nephew, brother and brother-in-law all flew with me. But none of them appeared to be terribly interested in it.

What is your fondest memory of flying?

My fondest memory of flying? Well I have quite a few. The first year we went up to Air Sailing for a Women in Soaring seminar. I enjoyed that a lot. And taking my brothers and sisters up for a ride when we were in Minden, which was enjoyable. I don’t know, I just always enjoy it.

What is the scariest flight you have had?

Actually I don’t think I have ever seriously scared myself. Which is a good thing. I have had some anxious moments.

I have a friend who is about 20 years older than I am and one of my 1st passengers was her father. He was Al’s (Santilli) age and he was German. Al was out here the day he came out and since Al spoke flawless German they got along. He used to fly before WWII. He hadn’t been up in a glider since then.

He came out and I took him up in the 2-33. He was only the 2nd passenger I had ever taken up. My husband was the first. We were flying east of the airport, which normally in the 2-33 I would try to stay west of the airport. We were sort of scratching around and all of a sudden I looked back at the airport and we seemed to be a long ways away. So I started flying back towards the airport. I was looking at every field we passed thinking, “Can I land there? Can I land there? Can I land there?”

If we hadn’t hit about a mile of zero sink we would not have made the airport. As it was, probably from about 5 miles out we did a straight in glide, I didn’t touch the spoilers once, we rolled up to ops, I never touched the brakes. It was a beautiful landing but it was spoiler-less, no brakes and very, very close.

Where have you flown other than Moriarty?

I flew once at Hollister (California). I have flown at Air Sailing (Nevada) and at Minden (Nevada). I went to a Women in Soaring seminar in Avenal, California. And I have flown in Taos.

How are the Women in Soaring Seminars?

Those are a lot of fun. First of all, it is mainly women. Men are only there to make it easy for the women to fly. Sometimes there are a lot of women who are fairly new to soaring and sometimes there are women who are out to get their diamond badge and stuff like that. It depends on the location.

When we went up to Air Sailing, which is in the similar area as Minden, there were a lot of people there who were trying to do cross-country, so it was a more experienced group. When we went to Avenal, where there isn’t great soaring, it was mainly women and students who hadn’t been in soaring for very long. They usually have a number of instructors there. They usually have a young person there that they give a scholarship to so they can come to the seminar. It is a lot of fun.

How many women usually show up to these events?

I would say between 15 and 20.

Were there many women in the Albuquerque Soaring Club when you joined?

There were probably 3 or 4. Not very many. Most of them were far more experienced pilots than I was. Many of them had been flying for many, many years.

I am sort of used to being the only girl in a crowd of guys. Even in High School, in my physics and math classes I was the only girl. In college I went to Socorro which had a 4 to 1 ratio of boys to girls. And where I work it is often the case where I am the only woman in the room. So it wasn’t terribly intimidating for me to be the only woman here.

Have you had any mentors along the way?

Oh certainly, Jim Weir and Stan Roeske of course mentor just about everyone who joins the club. And they have certainly been mentors to me. Bob Carlton has been kind of a goad. It’s like, “What? You haven’t spun that Salto yet?” That being said he did give up his hangar space for me. That has made flying a lot easier. And Mocho, for all his gruff demeanor has been a great help. He rebuilt my trailer and is always willing to help out. There have been quite a number of people who have encouraged and helped me along the way.

What is it about gliders that you like better than power planes?

I don’t know…first of all they’re less expensive.

I am actually trying to get my power ticket now.

Gliders are less complicated than trying to fly a power plane. Especially out here where you don’t have a tower. When you are flying a power plane you are normally taking lessons out of a towered airport. And you have the power settings to worry about. And you’ve got the radio to worry about. It is just more complicated. There is a lot more to remember and a lot more to do.

On the other hand when you are flying a glider you are really flying. But when you are flying a power plane it is like driving a really complicated truck. It’s just different.

You have been flying for 12 years now. How many times have you landed out?

Just once. It happened about a month ago. Normally I have turn-back-itis, but for some reason that day I had get-there-itis. I knew that Brian Morrison was going to try to make it to Mountainair. I actually passed him coming back as I was going out and I assumed he made it. And I thought, if he can make it…I can make it. Of course he had turned back.

Truthfully you know I was under this big huge cloud and the first half I was sort of in lift and then I started getting into sink and more sink. I kept thinking if I just get beyond the edge of this cloud and out into the sun I will find lift again. Well of course it didn’t happen that way.

By the time I was in any kind of trouble I was within easy gliding range of Estancia and Mountainair. I was never worried about having to land in a field.

I ground away out there. I would find these little narrow thermals that I would be flying half a circle in lift and half a circle in sink. Then I would claw my way up a couple hundred feet and then I would fall out. I must have done that 5 or 6 times before I gave up and landed.

What was landing on the runway in Mountainair like?

Well I had been out last year to look at that runway because I thought I might try to do a silver distance and that is the preferred place to go. So I knew the runway was very soft dirt. Once I landed my tail-wheel actually dug in more than it rolled. I didn’t need to use the brakes. Fortunately it wasn’t raining or anything because it gets pretty muddy there too. But other than that, I had landed on dirt before because the runway at Avenal is dirt. Although it is hard dirt, more like what you see at Estancia, rather than soft dirt.

It probably wasn’t my best landing, but I got it down and I got it stopped. Then I tried to call the field but I couldn’t raise them. Fortunately there was a power pilot who relayed messages back and forth. Once I got down I had Robert Mudd’s phone number in my cell phone because he had done some work on the glider. So I called him and he went out and talked to ops (operations) and gave them my cell phone number.

The main thing is that I had to sit on this hot runway for an hour and wait for someone to come get me.

Coming back there was a big cell of thunderstorms to the east and we got the blow-out from that. And of course there was a crosswind. We drove pretty slow coming back because I didn’t want to drive fast in a crosswind with that trailer. Other than that it worked out pretty well.

Who came to get you?

Colleen and Mark.

That’s great. Do you have a land-out check list for your crew?

Everything is in my trailer. Which is good. They brought my wing dolly and my tail dolly which they really didn’t need to do. That made it a bit snug coming back because I had a bunch of stuff that I bring with me in a big laundry hamper. I had some tow ropes and my land-out kit and I brought a bucket and some stuff for washing the glider. All that was in the trunk. And I think I brought a cooler that day for some reason. So when they added my wing and tail dolly and then I had my parachute and that stuff…it was pretty snug coming back.

I might leave a note on my steering wheel next time that says; “You don’t need to bring my tail dolly and wing dolly.” Other than that I usually keep everything I need in the trailer so it was not a problem.

You are in charge of scheduling ops (operations) for the glider club. Do you want to talk about what that is like?

Actually it is pretty easy. Especially since Brian Resor has set up everything online. He gave me a spread sheet with all the names on it and I just usually go back to the membership roster online and make sure I pick up any new pilots.

The main issue we have is when people leave the club because we tend to schedule for two or three months out. And then when they leave if they have been scheduled for ops during that period of time we have holes. I don’t like to go back and schedule people for ops after it has been posted because I think they may have already looked at it and figured that they don’t have to look at it again. So sometimes that can be a problem.

Most of the time it is not a big deal. People are responsible for finding their own subs. So actually it is a pretty easy gig.

I started out trying to call people to remind them that they had ops. But trying to find a time when I could call and when they would be home that wasn’t too late…and a lot of times they weren’t home. Or I would get a spouse or someone and I was never sure about messages. So I just decided I wouldn’t do that anymore. I just do email and that seems to work really well.

I also noticed that you post on the website who has ops for the next week.

Well that is Brian Resor. Brian has done a wonderful job with the website and he had set that up.

I need to talk to him because I think he could write a program that could do all the scheduling automatically. Then I wouldn’t have to do anything.

I see you out here working ops a lot. It seems like you often fill in for people.

I do. Everyone who comes out tends to fill in. Even when the people who are responsible for ops are here. For example, today Mark Hopkins and Bob Hudson have been helping out. People tend to help out a lot when they are out here. That is one of the nice things about the club.

When there is a serious problem, like someone has dropped out of the club and I can’t find a replacement I will often fill in. But that’s okay; I am usually out here most weekends whether I am flying or not. So it is not a serious imposition most of the time.

What kind of advice would you give new club members that are just learning how to fly?

Well they should probably fly a lot more often than I did when I first started.

A) We had kids at home and

B) I had a two hour commute from Los Alamos.

I think I would have progressed a lot faster if I had flown more often.

Even now I don’t fly enough to be really proficient like some of the guys out here. I keep hoping I can get my life re-arranged so that I can come out and fly more often…but it just doesn’t seem to work.

The other is just keep with it. I think the guys used to laugh at me because every time we would hit a thermal I would go “Woo!” Jimmy used to give me back rubs when we were flying and tell me; “Relax, you can calm down.”

Just keep with it. It is scary when you first start. Some people take right to it, but for me flying isn’t a natural act. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn. But it is worth it, it really is.

Paul Briggs

2008-08-06T07:58:00.046-06:00

xxxxxxxxxxxxxPaul Briggs, ready for take-off, Day 1. Parowan

Paul Briggs is a friendly, easy going man who is eager to learn. He works at Brycon Construction as a Project Manager. The owner of Brycon is one of our club members, Bill Lemon.

Paul was born in California, grew up in Maine and moved to New Mexico 7 years ago from Colorado. He has been married to Patricia, a native of Sante Fe, for the past two years.

Paul started in aviation by flying paragliders 7 years ago. He was on a Mount McKinley climbing rescue team at the same time a French group of paragliders attempting to bag all the highest peaks in every continent. He saw them soar off the mountain and through the clouds. He decided that was cool, and thought flying paragliders would be a good addition to climbing at the time. Ten years went by before he took paraglider lessons. x

This interview took place in Parowan, Utah at the Region 9 soaring contest. Paul has been a sailplane pilot for only two years yet he bravely entered the contest. His experience is worth reading for both neophytes and seasoned pilots. x

Parowan, Region 9 Contest, June 22, 2008
Day 1. x

x

Paul, how did you get into flying gliders?x

I was flying paragliders for 5 years and I had an accident, I broke my back, not too badly but I couldn’t fly paragliders and really wanted to fly. My mother was driving me around because my back was so messed up. My paragliding guru said, “If you want to fly, it is hard to fly paragliders in the summer here. If you want to fly anything in New Mexico, sailplanes are the thing to fly.” x
So I went to see Rick at Sundance Aviation. I looked at the cockpit of a glider and I said, “With my back messed up, I can get in but I don’t think I can get out.” I told Rick that I would start lessons in a couple of weeks when I was able to get enough mobility that I could sit in the cockpit. I started lessons 2 years ago.x

Is this your first glider contest?x

This is my first glider contest, though not my first contest. I flew paragliders in contests down in Brazil and also in Mexico.x

How does this compare to paraglider contests?x

They are very similar, of course the starts are on a hillside with a paraglider and everybody gaggles up and you’re basically hanging in a lawn-chair and you can yell at somebody if they get too close. Here you are flying at 60 miles an hour or more and it is a little more intimidating because you have blind spots in a sailplane that you don’t have in a paraglider. x

The tasks are similar, but in paragliders you don’t have the multiple choice tasks (MATs) which are extremely challenging to figure out. And the glide ratio in a paraglider is 5 to 1, while a glider is 40 to 1. That’s a big difference.x

This is Day 1 of the contest, what is some of the advice you have been given?x

Some of the rules, I mean they tipped me off to a bunch of the rules. Although I read the rules over and over again and thought I understood them. When you actually come to pay attention to them and have to fly to them there is big gaps between what you read and what you remember. x
For example, 17,500ft MSL is the maximum height you can fly. I did not remember that so I would have busted that repeatedly along with the start cylinder. x

Some of the advice I got about how to handle the start cylinder was coming out the top or staying within the lower level for 2 minutes and then coming out the side. There are a bunch of strategies. I spend a bunch of time in the beginning just getting comfortable with the day and am not flying as well as I do later in the day. So knowing the start cylinder is really important.x

How does it feel in the beginning when you are waiting for the start and you are in a gaggle?x

You know that is not too bad for me. I thought it might be a little intimidating but once I get into the cockpit I am pretty focused on the tow-plane and my flying. My world becomes my world and the rest of the distractions don’t matter to me. Once I am in the plane I am ready to go.x

I have heard a lot of pilots say they tried to leave a thermal at 17,200 ft but were pushed up to over 17,500 on the way out. What is your strategy for staying under 17,500 ft MSL? x

I start looking at it early on and judge the lift. And try to time my circle so that when I come to the back side of it I can really plant my stick so that I can pick up all the energy I possibly can coming out the front side where I know the sink is going to be so that I am already plowing through it. x

What is the difference between a MAT and a TAT?x

(Laughter) You better ask somebody who knows what they are talking about. That’s classic, because that’s the thing, I have an idea what the MAT’s are and I know what the AAT’s are, I mean I have read this stuff, but to actually go out and fly it… I am basically trying to figure it out as I go. x

You can’t just read how to do it, you end up making mistakes. For example, you are up in the air and you are trying to get the multiple choice turn-points. How do you figure that out? You have a PDA where the screen is so small, you zoom in and there’s about 1,000 turn-points. So you look at your chart and you really don’t have a good sense of it. There are a lot of challenges that way with the MATs. x

So far, what is the most intimidating part of this contest for you?x

Probably it’s being around the big guns. The guys who really know what they are doing. And feeling like you could just disrupt the whole operation by screwing up. That’s probably the biggest thing.x

What types of things are you thinking about when you are starting to come back from the task?x

That is another trick. I think in the middle of the task flying fast is pretty easy in Parowan because of the terrain. But the start is difficult and the final glide seems to be critical in sailplane contests. Figuring out how to burn up that altitude or not land out 2 miles away is a real trick. x

How important is it to have a crew person at a glider contest?x

With all the little tricks to come set up I think it would be crazy to come without the support of crew. For example, the last minute, 5 or 10 minutes before launch you have little wishes that you need to take care of to get rid of your nervousness. If you have a good crew, he takes care of it. He may give you a chart that is better than the chart you have in the cockpit. It is very comforting. x

x

DAY 2, June 23, 2008.x

x

How do you think your day went?x

Today I started off a little sloppy. I almost made another beginner mistake by coming out the wrong start cylinder but realized that and went back down. x

When I started I hit some severe turbulence and my back-up PDA fell out of my pouch and went down below my feet and I couldn’t reach it. So I was afraid it was going to jam the rudder. But after I got that all settled I started to feel comfortable. After about an hour my flying started to improve. x

What do you think your average speed was?x

I don’t know, I think somewhere in the 90’s (kilometers), a lot slower than yesterday. The lift seemed weaker and I didn’t seem to be as aggressive.x

How was the final glide today?x

I didn’t know how to handle the final glide. Our minimum task time was 3 ½ hours and because I didn’t go deep into the cylinders in the beginning and the later ones just dumped you off in the blue sky. So you would dodge out in the blue sky and then come back into the cloud. x

I dodged into the hillside at Cedar City really low expecting that I would get out of there but I couldn’t go any deeper into the turn cylinder or into the final turn cylinder so I came back with a half hour left to go. I knew you got dinged a penalty for that. I didn’t know if it was all the points or not, I know now. So I got stinking high on top of the ridge with 20 minutes left to go to the minimum task. I was so, so high! I just floated around an extra half hour up there. When I did come in it was bubbly.x

What is the penalty for coming in early?x

I will have to check for sure but I think it is that they take your time and speed and divide it by the minimum task time. So if you had a screaming speed today and finished in 1 hour they would divide it by 3 ½ hours anyways.x

Were you at the minimum altitude for your final glide today? Were you at least 500 ft AGL?x

I was at 5,000 feet! I was so high I had my airbrakes on for 20 minutes. I could have flown over to Cedar Breaks. I could have flown all over the place. x

How did you feel about the tail-wind when you were taking off this morning?x

I don’t feel comfortable with a tail-wind and a downhill runway. The Pegasus has very poor aileron control until it gets up and running. It is worse taking off downhill.x

I seem to be getting the same damn tow-pilot. He comes out and hooks up to me, puts a slack in the rope of about 5 feet and then jerks me. The people trying to run my wing get it jerked out of their hand.x

What did you learn today?x

I learned a bunch! This vario-task stuff is so tricky because you have a radius and you can just tag the way-point and then leave. Or you can go to the actual center which is the way-point or you can go that radius difference beyond. If you don’t do that and get distance in the beginning there is no way you can make it up in the end. So you almost have to take a little bit of a risk in the beginning, go deeper in there so you can hedge your time. x

I came out 30 minutes too early today. If I had gone into the first turn cylinder a lot further…I would have burned up that task at top speed and would not have come in so early. But, the turnpoint area lift looked kind of dicey and I wasn’t flying as confidently today. x

June 24, 2008. Day 3.x

Paul, how did day three go for you?x

Today was fantastic but challenging. x

I had another downwind launch and take-off. I find those disconcerting. We scraped along the ridge for a little while. That was hard. But once I got up high it was a beautiful day. It was just fantastic flying.x

What do you think was the most difficult part of the task today?x

The difficult part was when the cloud streets ran out. x

I was a little nervous coming onto the final turn-point, because the cloud street ended quite a bit sooner than the final turn-point. But I had enough altitude saved up that I could make it into the cylinder about 3 or 4 minutes before turning out. It turned out pretty good.x

How was the gaggle in the beginning?x

I felt comfortable because RX was in there. And BG which I know is a real good pilot. I was probably the weakest of the 3 pilots in the gaggle. I knew they were probably watching out for me. I feel pretty comfortable with gaggles. I checked in with RX and he said I did OK.x

How many people are in a typical gaggle in a paragliding contest compared to a sailplane contest?x

There can be up to 60 people in a paragliding gaggle. It is so deep that you are only paying attention to about 10 people.xx

How many people are normally in a sailplane gaggle? x

So far, the most I have been in is maybe 5. But again, two of them may be really low, two may be really high, so you are really just flying with one person.x

What do you think your average speed was today?x

I think it was substantially slower than even my practice day. Because I was out there fumbling around trying to get high, making a jump at the very end. And it wasn’t necessary, there was a consistent lift and I just botched it by spending too much time floundering around in the beginning. My speed was probably in the 80’s or 90’s (kilometers.)x

What did you learn today?x

My PDA went on the blink and I couldn’t figure out how to punch the MacGready in there. I will have to take it home and figure out how to do that. It just fritzed out on me. What I could do yesterday I couldn’t do today. x

This is the third day of the contest. Do you think your skill level is increasing?x

You know I am getting really comfortable with the glides. I look forward to the glides, so I think yes, my skill level is increasing. It has probably doubled from what it was a week ago.x

Did you have a good time today?x

Incredible! Yep. I did not put as much pressure on myself. I think it is just a matter of staying consistent. I botched the first day so I am really out of the running and can’t hope to achieve much. I can just be consistent.x

June 25, 2008. Day 4.x

Paul, how do you think today went?x

It went very good. Except for the fact I didn’t know how to push the stick forward very well. I was catching thermals in the blue areas by reading the terrain below. I am pretty happy about that. But I stayed in the ratty thermals too long. I wasn’t willing to make leaps out into the blue space without getting as high as I possibly could, which meant I spent way too long in ratty thermals.x

So the blue skies are a little bit intimidating?x

Not too bad…because early on I got a good sense that there was going to be a bunch of thermals. And to the north you could see the cumulus developing so you had to assume that the thermal activity was as good down south, it just wasn’t reaching dew-point. It wasn’t too bad.
Again, reading the terrain around here makes it a little easier because you can follow the ridges and you have to believe that things are going to bubble up the ridges.x

What was your lesson for day 4?

Fly faster! Do not stay in ratty thermals. If it is not going up, or it is starting to fall apart, get out of there. I stayed in it way too long so I had the slowest speed of the entire race so far.x

x

June 26, 2008. Day 5.x

x

x

Paul, tell me how day 5 was different from the other days.x

It was a blue day and it was extremely difficult flying conditions for me. After seeing the other flights it seems that other people had better flights and did a better job than I did. x

I had a real difficult time getting away. I got off tow and I couldn’t get high. I just bobbled around 10,000 feet. Sometimes I got up to 12,000 feet, which is the top of the start window and then I’d just get slammed back down. x

About 45 minutes after start I got as high as I thought I could get, which was something like 12,500 ft., and started off down course. x

I headed off down course and immediately found nothing. I kept getting flushed, and had to spill off the ridge over towards Panguach airport. I was thinking I was going to land at the Panguach airport right after start which was really discouraging. I dodged it to the cliffs and found lift and wind. The whole day went just like that.x

Two of our club members landed out today. Did you come close to landing-out?x

A couple of things happened that were pretty new to me. I found myself following a plane across the valley. I followed him to what might have been a good idea of going into high terrain but in the back of my mind I knew it was leside. I got over there and I got hammered. I kept trying to follow the mountain around in 600 to 800 ft/per minute sink down hoping to round the terrain into the lift. x

I kept following it around and started to chant “I’m backing myself into a corner, I’m backing myself into a corner.” Again, I had to turn and follow the terrain down towards the fields.
I got so damn low that my only safety was to dodge into a field. I was aiming for some hot rocks and I caught a little altitude that brought me right over this little tiny ranch airport that was hardly discernable from the air. You could just tell the grading in the ground that it was a ranch airstrip. I circled around it setting up for a landing. I was so damn low I could see the backyard of the ranch and the BBQ. It was bad, I was probably at 8,000 ft MSL (about 1,000 ft above the ground.)x

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

I think the only thing I could have done differently is not back myself into a corner by walking around the edge of the mountain. I probably shouldn’t have gone across. I knew the ridge was working well and I had already flown up it, I could easily have gone down it. I found myself coming too close to backing myself into a corner, leaving me no options. I was ground skimming and could see each individual sagebrush. That was too close.x

June 27, 2008. Day 6.x

AM. What is your strategy for today?x

Today they predict blue skies. I am just going to start the day as a new day. I am not going to look back on the other days. I am not going to say, “Well, I am going to modify my strategy to make it different from yesterday.” I am just going to go up, I am going to try to do the same thing I am suppose to be doing. I am going to get up, stay high and go far.x

PM. How did the race go today?x

Today was fantastic. It was predicted to be a blue day and it was not. There were nice beautiful cumies up by Bryce or Wayne's World, whatever it is called. x

I had a good start and I stayed high the whole time. I got to fly a little faster and never had the worries of landing out. x

How fast do you think you went today?x

As far as the rest of the guys, not real fast, but for me, faster than I had been the past few days. Well, maybe not as fast as the practice days. x

I noticed you made it back in good time. Were you able to complete the task?x

I completed the entire task and I really watched the computer this time. I am not sure if I came in under or maybe a few minutes over. Figuring it out on my watch I should be plus or minus 5 minutes. I will be disappointed if I blew the time.x

What did you learn today?x

When you are having a good day and the thermals seem to be popping up you need to change gears and push even harder. Billy told me that if you are on final glide and you’ve got a little lift don’t try to pull up at all, push forward and just burn it up. I did that on the way home and it was great fun screaming across the ground. x

What are your predictions for tomorrow?x

I think it is going to be fantastic! We had cumulus clouds and moisture moving in this afternoon. We weren’t supposed to have any. Tomorrow might start with more cumies. It will make for a real easy flying day so we can go far and fast. x

How do you like the classes they have every morning before the meetings?x

I was just telling my crew John about that. That is probably the most valuable part of the day for me. I get to go out and practice what I heard the first half hour of the day. There are so many little tips that you just would never stumble upon in a million years. It just seems to be common tribal knowledge among these guys. A lot of it was exposed this week. I can’t wait until next year to try it all again. x

How do you feel about the learning curve in a contest like this?x

(Laughter). I thought it would be a sharp curve and I thought I would be at the beginning of it, but I realized that it is way sharper than I expected. I have got a long, long way to go. There is so much to learn. It is so complicated that this is going to be fun for years and years. Aviation is like that.x

June 28, 2008. Final Day. x

(Paul landed out and did not make it back to the airport for the final interview. This interview took place in Taos on July 11, 2008.)x

Tell me about your last day in Parowan. How did it start?x

I felt really good about the day. I thought I was going to be tired but I woke up and felt full of energy. x

I had a great start. I had great thermals. I watched the time. I came out of the start cylinder probably two minutes after it started. x

I got sky high and went off. I stayed high. Hit the first turn point and felt like I was flying really fast. I was following the textbook, going through the lift band, hitting 11,000 ft and getting back up again. I did that over and over again. I was very happy because I wasn’t stopping in any garbage thermals like I had been this week. x

I started heading down towards the second turn point and realized it just didn’t seem right. It seemed as though the PDA was not sending me to the right place. I couldn’t see the PDA very well so I put on my cheater bifocals and looked at it and thought, “Son-of-a-bitch! I have yesterday’s task in there!”x

Oh No! What did you decide to do after that?x

I was already into the task an hour and 15 minutes. I plowed into what I thought was the first turn cylinder. I was thermalling really well, centering really easily, and then things fell apart. Then the radio started to blink showing me I had a low battery. So I turned the radio off.
I changed PDA’s. I found out that I had set up the backup PDA just like I did the first. I spent a lot of time looking. I spent too much time in the cockpit. Then all of a sudden I lost my thermalling ability. I was down south and it wasn’t quite as good. I pulled back and said, “Screw it, the day is over.” I decide to just finish the rest of the task as if I just started it. I just manually punched the turn points into my PDA.x

Do you think that realizing you plugged in the wrong task affected your ability to soar?x

I am still thinking about that. Because I think, yes, initially I was upset and I thought, “Damn-it, this would have been a good day! “ Then I said to myself “Put it aside, move on. You’ve already blown the contest on the first day. You are going to do everything you possibly could well. Do it well from this point on.” x

Then I tried to refocus but in the back of my mind I was wondering, have I lost focus because I am not thermally well? x

Then when I went to zig across back to what would have been the third turn point in the real task and I fell out of the sky. I couldn’t find lift. I did search patterns like I had normally done all week, got through them and moved on to the next one. All of a sudden I kept getting lower and lower. Then I landed out.x

Where did you land out?x

I landed out in what I call the dead airman’s field. I was supposed to be Bryce Woodlands, but when I landed there the guy who came up and helped me, Jim, said no, that was three miles away. It was Crystal Springs RV Park and airfield. x

Did you land on a runway?x

It was difficult to tell. I was coming in and I could see a vague outline of what might be a runway. I kept saying to myself, “Maybe the road is better than this runway.” When I got closer and closer you could tell the runway hadn’t been used for years. I later found out that the guy who had bladed off the runway died 5 or 6 years earlier on an approach to this runway. It hadn’t been used since. x

How long did you have to wait for your crew?x

It was clockwork. I hit the help button on my SPOT and then this guy Jim in a Suzuki drove me up to a place where I could get cell phone coverage. John had already gotten the SPOT message and had the coordinates punched into his GPS. He was assuming he would hear from me, which he did. He got on the road and it took about hour and a half to get me. x
x
As soon as I hung up with John my wife happens to call. I said “Whoa, you got my SPOT message!” She said, “No, I am just calling.” I said, “I landed out.” She asks if I was OK. I said yes. Then she said, “Oh, by the way, I am at the mall…” She went on talking about shopping and didn’t seem to care that I had landed out. (Laughter.)x

How do you feel about the SPOT?x

It is awesome! It is invaluable. I bought it for my motorcycle and for my fishing. For the glider I have to set it up so that it is sitting on my parachute now. x x

The SPOT works flawlessly. If your crew knows you need help, or if your wife supposedly knows you need help (chuckle), you just push a button to get a retrieve. The GPS in my glider did not give correct coordinates for my car GPS, but the SPOT did. x

Do you have a land-out check list?x

No. That was one of my other beginner mistakes. I went to Parowan with 3 or 4 check lists in my computer. The goal was to laminate them and put them in the trailer, the car and the glider. They never made it there. x

Before I left, Howard Banks told my crew, John that it was likely that I would land out. So don’t forget my wing stands, which I think Mitch’s crew did. That turned his retrieve into a much longer retrieve. With a check list I suppose they wouldn’t have forgotten their wing stands.
There was a day I forgot my cell phone at the cabin. If I had a check list that wouldn’t have happened. x

After flying in a contest for 10 days, you may think you are feeling pretty crisp but you are definitely wearing down. You can make mistakes. Check lists are imperative. x

Your crew member is your brother-in-law, John. How did he do?x

As a beginner you have to have a really good crew. It takes so much stress off from the competition. If you have somebody who doesn’t have a thick ego and is willing to help you out and go the extra mile, it makes the whole contest a joy.x

So he was awesome?x

He was better than awesome! He really was.x

Now that the contest is over and you have a few days to think about it, tell me about your overall experience. x

I have a couple of thoughts that go through my mind. It was an incredible learning experience. It was totally different than what I had expected. It was not a competition, my sister came up with the word, it was a coopertition. The people were real cooperative. A beginner should go to something like this because they will learn so much. x

If you don’t go there with the idea that you will whip yourself into being in the middle or top of the pack, and just go to learn, it is incredible. On the flip-side, being a competitive person I think, well, next year I will have learned from all these mistakes this year. I won’t duplicate them. I know just seeing a little inkling about what racing and this competition is about I can tell that next year will probably be a whole new set of issues. You have to go with the same idea, just go with the idea that it is going to be incredibly fun and do as well as you can do against yourself and the other people are just there to fly with.x

What is your advice to new students/pilots that want to go to a contest for the first time?x

That’s a tough question because there are so many variables. I think the first thing is going with the right attitude and understanding that people are going to support you. It is going to be a lot better than you could even imagine. x

Go in with the right attitude, be real gentle with yourself. Don’t think of it as a competition against anybody else, just against yourself. Take notes, put things in the back of your mind and use it. Because every minute of the time you are flying you’re learning something. x

You learn from the people you are sitting with and talking to before the flight and after the flight. The minute you start flying new things that you would never have to confront in normal day to day flying situations hit you. x

In a competition the rules change. For example, the tow-plane takes off whether you’re ready or not. That never happens at the airport back home. So you better be prepared and you should always be prepared at home. But we get lax, even as a beginner you get lax. You have to be right spot on when you are flying in a competition.

Tim and Mary Hawkins

2008-07-03T14:26:00.013-06:00

sssssssssssssssssssMary Hawkins in the 2-33

sssssssssTim Hawkins in the Pawnee

Tim and Mary Hawkins are one of the few married couples who share an enthusiasm for aviation. They are a tall, attractive couple whose cheerful dispositions and candid humor is contagious. After spending a few weekends hanging out with them it became evident that they enjoy each other’s company as much as they enjoy flying.

Tim started in aviation first. The first lesson that he has in his logbook was training from Ralph Brown in a 125 HP Super Cub at the old Ruidoso airport in September 1965. This airport is now a golf course.

Tim was a commercial pilot for many years. He left Ross Aviation in late 2006. Since that time Tim has been flying a Bonanza, Pawnee, Callair, Grob, std. Cirrus, and Citabria.
Tim is a tow-pilot for both Sundance Aviation and the Albuquerque Soaring Club.

Mary is Nurse Practitioner (which may explain why she has such a calm demeanor.) She just passed her check ride for the pilot certificate in gliders on June 8th, 2008. Mary has been flying the Schweizer 2-33, 1-26 and the Grob 103.

Mary Hawkins

Mary, have you always been interested in aviation or did you become interested after you married Tim?

Actually, I was interested in aviation from the time I was about 13 years old. I lived in Greely, Colorado just behind the Greely airport. My dad had been working at the airport and bought me a flight for my 13th birthday. After that I started hanging out at the airport to learn as much as I could about airplanes.

I didn’t get my pilot’s certificate when I was a kid. I didn’t start to pursue a certificate until I joined the Soaring Club.

What made you decide to fly gliders?

Well I had to decide between gliders and power planes because I didn’t know which one I wanted to do. When Tim started working as a tow pilot at Moriarty I came out to see if I would like it (gliders). After two or three rides I decided that is what I wanted to do.

What is the most interesting flight you have had either in a power plane with Tim or in a glider?

Now that’s tough because Tim and I have had a lot of fun flying around and doing different things; spending our weekends landing at little airports and camping out or flying to Leadville, Colorado which is the highest airport in the country. We’ve had a lot of adventures flying around New Mexico and Colorado. Alaska was very adventurous as well, flying low over glaciers and viewing the unusual colors and dramatic shapes were beautiful. We flew to California last Christmas in the Citabria which we are half owners in and that was an adventure because of all the winds we had to deal with.

I guess my most memorable flight in a glider, other than my first solo, was probably the day I flew in mountain wave with Stan, my instructor. We went up to about 18,000 feet. I had never been that high or in a mountain wave before so that was fun.

Did you thermal (turn) in the wave?

No, once we got through the rotor we just flew back and forth along the edge which I thought was the upper edge of the wave. I think Stan said we were in tertiary wave most of the time which my understanding of that I think is the middle part of the wave. It just sort of tries to lift you, it is not like circling in a thermal, you just try to stay in it.

What is the most interesting thing you have seen while you were in a glider?

I don’t know, one thing I enjoy is when I look out the window and see birds, dust devils and I think hum... I wonder if I want to fly in that or not. The clouds, the landscape from that perspective, it’s all great!

What are your goals with gliders?

Well, my first goal is to get my license. (Mary passed her check-ride on June 8th, 2008) I would like to fly cross country and get more experience in other planes. I would like to fly more in the 1-26 and the grob. My short term goal is to fly some short cross-countries this summer and figure out how to get back to the airport. My ultimate goal is to fly our glider, which is a Standard Cirrus.

Do you plan to learn how to fly power planes?

I love flying gliders and really enjoy the sport, but I love power planes also. Hopefully, I will eventually get rated in both.

Mary when you started flying gliders and told your friends who were not glider pilots about your new hobby what was their reaction?

It was kind of mixed. I had one friend that would make me call her after my training every Saturday because she was worried that I would get hurt or killed. I had to call her every Saturday for the first few months of my training because she wanted to make sure I was OK. Other people at work would want to know where I was in my training and were fascinated that I would do something like that, because they didn’t think they would have enough courage to do that, to fly something without an engine.

Why do you think some people believe that flying without an engine is more dangerous than flying with an engine?

I think that their view of it is that it is something more mainstay to have a plane with an engine. If you need to you can always use the engine to get from point A to point B and you have the engine as a back-up if you need it. A lot of people that you talk to think that flying gliders means flying hang-gliders. Some people have seen gliders but a lot of them don’t know what I am talking about at all.

What are some of the unusual comments people have said to you about flying gliders?

Some people think it is strange that you would allow a plane with a 200 foot rope pull you into the air. There are some people that have a hard time wrapping their head around that. Someone asked me one time “How do you land with that plane attached to you?” They thought it was like water skiing, you flew around with the tow-plane never releasing.
Do they ever compare it to ballooning?

Occasionally, they want to know who picks you up and where do you land. When you tell them about some of the more experienced pilots who fly to Colorado and back from Moriarty, which is amazing to us beginner pilots, they want to know how many times they land. When I tell them they don’t land, they just fly all day, they find that mind boggling.

Tim Hawkins

Tim, what is the most interesting flight you have had either in a power plane or a glider?

I have trouble answering that because just like Mary said there have been so many. I thought about making a list of the 10 most interesting or frightening times I have had in an airplane. When I think about interesting, I don’t know, perhaps a couple of flights in the north slope of Alaska.

Do you want to hear frightening?

Well one time in a little L-19 two place airplane, I was doing something I shouldn’t have done, I took another pilot who wasn’t checked out in that airplane, and I decided to give him some instruction. s

I thought he was doing alright so I said you see that mine down there? That is kind of a fun place. Let’s land down there on that road. So we landed on the road and I was in the back seat and we hit a rock. s

As soon as we hit the rock we came to a stop. We could see the tire was going flat and we are out in the middle of no where. And if we got caught out there in the middle of no where we would both be fired. So he says “Is there anyway we can get out of here with a flat tire?” So I got in the front seat and said, “Well it is downhill and I don’t know I have never taken off with a flat tire.” It was completely flat. We were sitting on the rim. I had it full power but it wouldn’t move in the sand, so I asked him to get out and push on the tail a little bit. I can’t imagine how sand blasted he got. Somehow we moved a little bit, we were still moving slowly so he jumped in, and out across the boondocks we started picking up speed. s

So then we started flying around trying to figure out how and where we were going to land and what we were going to say. So anyway we decided to try to land on a dry lakebed close to the airport. Luckily the wind came up so I had a nice headwind to land into and everything was fine. Of course I didn’t exactly tell the truth about how we got the flat tire. I said, “Oh, it just went flat.” Nothing bad happened. I got away with that one.

What about flying into a hurricane?

I did fly into a hurricane once in Florida. I was flying for the Department of Justice and we had a prisoner that needed to get to Miami. There was a hurricane between us and Miami. They asked me if I could do that and I said “Well I could just fly around the hurricane.” I found that I could get closer and closer.

What were you flying?

A DC-9.

I started at the edge of the hurricane, there was a lot of moisture. What I didn’t know was that the air in the hurricane is real warm. That’s part of the definition of a hurricane. So I hit the warm air and couldn’t stay up to 35,000 feet. I had to come down to around 25,000 feet. But it was nice, there was no other traffic in that area. So I got to go where ever I wanted. It was not a big deal, it wasn’t that turbulent. I did not fly into the wall or the eye, I just went around the sides.

What is your most interesting flight in a glider so far?

Interesting?

OK, memorable?

A long time ago I first got my glider rating in 1975. I went up, I don’t know how high and there was a little cloud. I only had about 10 hours in gliders. I was in a 1-26 (Schweitzer) and that cloud felt like a vacuum cleaner. It just kept taking me right up. And somewhere around 18,000 feet I decided this is high enough, I need to get away from this vacuum cleaner.

I had another flight back then when I thought to myself , I wonder if I can do this 5 hour thing? It was part of the badge. I went up for something like 4 hours and 30 minutes. I had to go to the bathroom so bad that when I came down I did not want to land near where all the people where hanging out. So I landed at the opposite end of the runway. And I made up my mind that I was going to slam that thing on the ground just as fast as I could and jump out before anybody could get there. I know that’s silly but I remember that one clearly.

Have you ever been scared in any of your flights?

Of course. One time in a DC-9 I was going into Augusta, Georgia, I was the co-pilot. Over the airport we could see on radar that there was a thunderstorm. I asked the pilot, “Surely we are not going to land while there is a thunderstorm?” He said, “Well let’s just take a look.” s

So we shot the approach into Augusta. I kept asking him, “If we go around which way are we going to turn?” because every where around us was a huge thunderstorm. And he said, “We’ll see what it looks like.” s

I broke out of the clouds and in front of us was the lead-in strobe lights to the runway. We could see those clearly. Where the strobe lights ended and the runway began was a black wall of rain coming down, like you see those solid walls. We flew right into that. The second we hit the edge, lightening came out of a cloud and hit us. s

As we touched down lightening hit us and we landed and came to a stop. We did a lightening strike inspection because we carried mechanics. It seemed like that took a couple of hours. During this time it rained harder than I have ever seen rain. s

I found out later that the rain storm we landed in was the record rain storm in Augusta at that time. It rained five inches in one hour. No one else landed. ss

When the rain ended we were the first to take off. As we were taking off we looked up and saw blocks of concrete laying on the runway. We flew over it and went to Florida. s

The next day we flew back to the same airport (in Augusta) and a maintenance man asked if he could come up and talk to me on the airplane. He asked me, “How is your airplane?” I said, “I guess it is fine, we have been flying all over the last couple of days.” He said, “Well that lightening that hit your tail went through and broke up the runway and it took a yard and a half of material to fill the hole up.” So I have always considered myself very lucky to get away with that stupidity. That was one of my top ten exciting times.

Now that you are a tow-pilot for the Albuquerque Soaring Club and Sundance Aviation. Has anyone, (a pilot or a student) done something on tow that made you nervous?

A few times I have had gliders start to take off on the runway and lift the tail of the tow-plane. And I wonder how much of that I can tolerate before I have to release. Also I wonder if I would be quick enough to release before my prop would hit the ground. Fortunately I haven’t had to do that.

I had one tow for Sundance. I learned a lesson, never attempt to tow a heavy glider that is not fully lined up with the runway. Because, it points the tow-plane towards the edge of the runway. The only way to get the tow-plane lined up with the runway is to step on the break, but if you step on the break hard enough the tow-plane with go on its nose. I came a little close that time to having a prop strike. That got my attention.

I have found that towing can be exciting because sometimes the tow-plane experiences the same turbulence as the glider you are towing. When I am bouncing around I worry about the guy behind me. What is he feeling?

Advice to glider pilots on tow...

I would like to tell everybody who is being towed, don’t think that I can tell what you are doing back there, cause I can’t. I can’t see that well behind me. So all those little things they tell you in the manual, all those signals you can give the tow-pilot, most of them don’t work. If you pull off to the side and think that you are telling me to turn, I just think you are out of position. Surely you don’t want me to turn. If you want me to turn you need to call me on the radio.

OK, so the next time I am out of position I am going to claim I was just trying to make you turn :-)

If you want to help me out let me know when you get off tow. If there is a little bit of slack in the rope I can’t tell. If I can’t find you in the mirror the only thing I can do is keep climbing. At some point when I decide to write down that altitude, I just hope it is not too much higher than where you tried to get off.

So your advice to glider pilots is to call you and let you know when they are off tow?

I think that is the most economical thing to do unless you put some tension on the rope so that I can tell. I really appreciate it when somebody lets me know they are off tow.

Mike Abernathy

2007-12-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Mike Abernathy in his Stemme Motorglider, Moriarty Airport.x

Mike Abernathy is the Martin Scorsese of the Albuquerque glider community. He is a talented pilot, photographer, filmmaker and an avid fly fisherman and hiker. Most of the Moriarty pilots would agree that the best soaring photos they own of themselves are the ones that Mike has shot. Mike is also working closely with his nephew, Matt Murray, to produce a spectacular documentary on soaring.

Mike’s talents are as diverse as his background. He grew up in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California.

Mike is a software engineer by profession. He worked as a Manager and Principal Engineer at Rockwell International for 15 years. Then he started his own company, Rapid Imaging Software, Inc. Mike works and lives with his business partner, Carolyn Galceran, his wife.

I have flown with Mike once and witnessed his enthusiasm for the sport. He made me feel like I was a child seeing the world for the first time. His approach to flying is that of a pilot who enjoys the sport the way a hiker enjoys nature. He seems to appreciate not only the art of flying but also the incredible scenery that is only available from high above the earth.

“If soaring is an intellectual sport then Mike Abernathy should be at the top of the heap.” – Mitch Hudson

How and when did you get interested in aviation?

I was born with it. As a 5 year old all I did was draw airplanes. I wanted to fly since day zero. I was in my mid forties when I realized that it was achievable.

What type of planes have you flown?

S 2-33, G103, G102, Discus CS, T6 Texan Radial Engined warbird, Stemme S10VT.

What type of gliders do you presently own?

Discus CS, Stemme motorglider

What advice can you give pilots about purchasing a motorglider?

Honestly ask yourself before purchase – do I have the discipline to fly a motorglider safely. Am I able to not get low and bet on the engine starting? An MG pilot should never gamble on an engine start without a landing option. If you can handle that, then ask yourself if you can handle the complexity of motorgliders, without loosing the joy of soaring.

What are the pros and cons of owning a motorglider?

Cons: Complexity and cost are significant.

Pros: You can fly to anyplace and from anyplace with the right motorglider. So it has many of the benefits of owning a regular power plane. Because of the disintegrating infrastructure of soaring (fewer glider operations every year) a motorglider greatly facilitates soaring safaris. I am doing everything I can to support glider operations like Rick Kohler’s Sundance Aviation, but for long cross country flights, a motorglider helps. Also, you can fly yourself to areas of lift when it is too far or too high for the tow plane so you have few experiences with “falling out.” You can launch between other pilot’s tows (a big plus in 90 degree weather) and, if you are inclined, you can scout lift (under power) for your non motor friends. With an engine restart (even if you have had to land) a lot of the hassle of landing out is removed.

Are you a competitive pilot?

No. The only person I compete with is me. I want to get better and better. Racing is of zero interest. I enjoy the companionship of flying with other pilots, but not competition. Like all glider pilots, I race the sun, competing with the weather to go further and further.

What is it about flying gliders that you enjoy most?

Freedom. In a glider you are free in an indescribable way. A non- pilot lives in 2D. A power pilot lives in 2.5D because they are limited by their motor. But the glider pilot lives in a dimension which they cannot imagine they really live in 3D+. This freedom is for me often a spiritual experience. The cross-country soaring pilot lives in harmony with nature, and that is a powerful communion.

I also believe that soaring is a life-long commitment to learning. Flying is an activity that challenges you to get better and better for your whole life. So you will find yourself staying in shape, exercising, watching your weight, and generally taking care of yourself. You will find yourself reading books about how to be a better soaring pilot. You will find that every year of experience counts, so you will listen to the experiences of your friends to learn from them. You will relive your own flying experiences trying to glean every morsel of education from them.

I am inspired by a man named John Muratore, a NASA innovator who created the X38. He said that our society needs to explore in order to grow, and that without that our society would stagnate. I strongly believe that for these same reasons soaring is good for our society. It gives people an opportunity to learn and grow and to see our world in a whole new way. It is energy efficient and intensely engaging, challenging and fun. It is not too much to say that becoming a good soaring pilot will make you a better person overall, because it requires personal excellence at some levels.

Soaring is the safest and most affordable way to fly, but more important it is also the most fun because the challenges never end. For a power pilot, once the landing and take off and other mechanics are mastered, the learning curve flattens out while more air time is accumulated. As a power pilot once said to me “I have about 400 hours – but really it is like the same hour just repeated 400 times over.” With soaring, the evidence is clear that learning to read the sky is a lifelong quest. I am fortunate to have guys like Billy Hill, Mark Mocho, Jim Cumiford, Tim Feager, Rick Kohler, Brian Resor, and other great glider pilots who share their experiences with me, as this helps one become a better pilot.

What is your most memorable flight?

September 11, 2004. I declared an out and return to San Luis, CO and back. I was joined traveling north by Mark Mocho, Billy Hill, Howard Banks, and Al Whitesel. We all went different ways at different speeds but basically went up the Sangre De Cristos. It was my first declared 500km flight and moment of profound pride and a day of unbelievable natural beauty. It was such fun. Just the memory of days like that will get you through a lot of ground-bound days of winter. Cloud bases at 20000 feet plus and 10 kt thermals. Absolutely awe-inspiring. Below us the mountains were changing color with the season so they were green, yellow, orange and red.

Your hangar is often the hang-out for several glider pilots after a long day of soaring. What is one of the funniest stories you have heard during the "pilot cocktail hour"?

It is a great blessing to have the companionship of so many skilled, yet giftedly-humorous, pilot friends visiting our hangar. Billy Hill and Mark Mocho have made me laugh so hard that I lost my breath many times. It is hard to pick which story is best.

One afternoon we were all flying an “iffy” day and Billy had gotten low and radioed that he would have to land-out at Mountainair. Mark Mocho couldn’t resist ribbing him, even at such a tender moment. “You should thermal above your ego!” Mark suggested. As I drove off to pick up Billy, I saw that Mark himself had been forced to land-out at Estancia! The next time Mark was at the hangar with us I asked him what happened to him after such hubris.

He just looked at me and said “Those whom the gods would land-out, they first make proud.” This is a variation of a very ancient Greek proverb. I still laugh about that, and I still believe it is true.

Jim Cumiford

2007-12-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Jim Cumiford in his ASW 27-B on the runway in Moriarty, New Mexico.

Jim Cumiford could be best described as an overgrown Teddy Bear. He is a tall drink of water that walks with a rolling gate, (hence the Teddy Bear reference). He’s easy going and ready to lend a helping hand which might include driving to retrieve a fellow pilot who was not able to make it back to the airport of origin.x

Jim can be found at the Moriarty airport most weekends. He is usually one of the first to bring his sailplane down to the staging area in order to be one of the first airborne when conditions permit.

As a kid growing up in Chula Vista, CA he built and flew small model airplanes (U-Control) and occasionally would send them off on a "free flight". He was known to sit and watch general aviation planes coming and going from Brown Field airport for hours. x

He started flying gliders in December, 1975 with Pegasus Aviation. Pegasus was located at the old Coronado airport in north Albuquerque.

He has been a member of Albuquerque Soaring Club since 1995 and served on the board four consecutive years, the last as "Y2k president". Jim met his wife Leslie in 1999 at the glider club while she was learning how to fly.

When did you get interested in aviation?

I guess I've been interested in aviation since my first memories. I earned my TWA Wings at the very young age of 4-weeks flying from San Diego to Albuquerque.

My first real memory of flying was around the age of 5-6 in my grandfather's Luscombe. He kept the old bird at the "TWA Airport" located near the intersection of Route 66 (Central Ave) and Coors Road (if my recollection serves me right the old TWA airport was moved to the Sunport and closed to build a drive-in theater).

Were you ever a military pilot?

As a young high school student (near the end of the Vietnam era) my draft lottery ticket was next to be drawn. I had high hopes of becoming a fighter pilot so I tried to enlist with the Navy but the physical revealed color vision trouble (red & green deficient) which meant no flying or aviation anything back then. Instead, the Navy tried to sell me on subs as a sonar technician. The offer didn't sound very appealing and while I was considering it the Vietnam war was ended and so did the draft.

Did you start with gliders or power planes?

Technically I started flying with my grandfather and friends in power planes and have since logged something over 40-hours of motorized instruction time.

My instructor at Cutter Aviation once told me to quit shooting holes in the sky and go take the written exam so he could recommend the check ride but at the time I had a girl friend that took up most of my time and all of my money. I never made it back to the field to finish up my single engine rating but I still intended to do so someday.

Where did you learn how to fly gliders and who taught you?

I learned to fly gliders at Pegasus Aviation which operated from a dirt cross-wind runway. My instructor, Mike Keller would sit in the back seat crunching his corn nuts while I ridged soared the rugged Sandia Crest range.

The first glider I flew was the Schweitzer 2-32, a three seat glider able to carry two small passengers in the rear seat. x

During my first solo in a glider the Piper Super Cub tow plane experienced a serious power loss just as we cleared the end of the runway, which is just at the top of the cottonwood trees on the revers edge airport.

We occasionally soared over Coronado in mountain wave generated from the volcano mesa plateau (uplifted from the shallow Rio Puerco valley). x

On days when the soaring weather didn't cooperate Mike would take me up in his Stearman PT-13 biplane.

I arrived one day for glider instruction in the Schweitzer 2-32 only to find a "closed" sign in the office window which ended my career before I could solo.

When did you get back into soaring?

I began soaring again in 1982 with Gregg & Glad Lill at the Mid Valley Airport south of Las Lunas along the river.

After a short flight and four hours of grinding around in the sky, I struggled to answer questions I was never prepared for but in the end Al Santilli signed me off. That was a very special day in October 1983. I've never flown a 2-33 since.

Do you fly in soaring competitions?

I flew in my first regional contest in 2000. I actually won the first day of my first contest; the entire pack landed out that day and I landed out the furthest ;-)

Do you consider yourself competitive?

I've been involved in competitive sports a good part my life; motocross & desert racing, shooting, softball, now soaring.

I don't feel any of the competitive pressures or stress associate with soaring competition that I once felt in the other sports. Soaring is enough of a physiological and mental challenge in itself without being judged against the other pilots.

When you are flying a glider in a contest it feels just like soaring back home only there are a lot more gliders in the air with you and less radio chatter. All of the same rules still apply.

Mostly the competitiveness occurs on the ground which may involve:
· your ground crew
· preparing yourself physically and mentally
· staging and griding
· knowing the task area such as where the best lift might be found
· where not to land out
· task planning and so on.

You can usually find most of the pilots gathered around the score keeper’s office at the end of a long task waiting on the day’s results to be posted. This is where the real racing is done! You'll hear beer drinking liars (like me) telling stories like; “Gear down I made a low save over Death Valley when I spotted a hawk circling low on the ridge.” or “I would have won the day but there was a mountain in the way on final glide; and did you see that 18-knot thermal?”

What kind of glider do you own?

I sold my Ventus-A to my partner and purchased an ASW-27B in December 2006. The previous owner, Ray Gimmey (7V), had won the 15-meter nationals that summer so I knew the ship was capable...Ray certainly is.

I bought the 27 because I like to go far and fast and so does this glider!

What is your most memorable flight?

They are all memorable but I suppose the best are the ones with long fast high cruises along our powerful New Mexico cloud streets.

Billy Hill and I made a really nice 700-800 km flight this year in convergence lift to Culebra Peak, Colorado. Brian Resor later analyzed the flight and told us we had flown well over 300 miles without making a single climbing turn. We turned in OLC speeds near 100 mph that day. That was pretty cool!

The year before during a Taos event the whole bunch of us made long flights in convergence lift along the beautiful Sangre de Cristo range across the border into Colorado and back a few times. I was flying a borrowed LS-4 and I think all of us struggled to stay below 18000 feet. We still talk about that day.

Then there are the retrieves when a pilot lands away from the home airport (Howard Banks). They’re fun too!

Have you ever flown with eagles?

Yes. Majestic birds of prey, feathered warriors, and they don't seem the least bit frightened by our size. I might also consider soaring with hawks and eagles a sacred moment.

What do you like about soaring?

· The graceful freedom
· mental challenge
· the excitement
· the surge of energy in a strong thermal
· speeding along at cloud base or just above the trees along a ridge.

In a sense soaring is a spiritual experience me....the clouds are like angels guiding the way. I might be a bit of an adrenaline junky too. Traffic conditions permitting; a fast low finish can be an exciting and graceful end to a long task.

Mitch Hudson

2007-12-01T09:39:00.000-07:00

xxxxxxxxxMitch flying his Discus on a "blue day"

Mitch standing next to his Discus
x
x
Mitch Hudson is a member of the Albuquerque Soaring Club. He has not spent a lot of time in Moriarty the past few years due to logistics. His service in the Air Force required him to live in Texas and he recently was transferred to Oklahoma.

Despite not being able to be here very often, everyone knows him. He has an outgoing, charismatic personality and a down-to-earth demeanor that attracts people. Mitch is a kind-hearted soul who is extremely generous. He has been known to lend his Discus sailplane to several young pilots for competitions or training.

How did you get interested in aviation?

Like most kids of my generation, I watched the movie "Top Gun" and was fascinated by it. I just knew that's what I wanted to do. To date myself, I was about 13 when Top Gun was released. I told my parents that I wanted to learn to fly. They, of course were looking for anything to help their hyperactive, dyslexic kid who was not doing too well in school and did not have many friends.

I happened to live in the downwind pattern of the local airfield in Indiana where gliders flew. We had about an acre yard, and it was tradition that when Dad and I got done cutting the grass, we would strip down and jump in the pool naked. Inevitably, we would hear the "Creak, groan, creak" of the 1-26 flying overhead right about the time we chose to do this.

At any rate, I found that I was not old enough to fly power planes yet, but could fly gliders. So as a 14th birthday present, I went out to the airport and started to learn how to fly!

Does anyone else in your family fly?

My mother and my father both went out and learned to fly with me. We all learned to fly together as a family thing. My grandfather also took me for my first airplane ride.

What events prompted your enlistment in the Air Force?

The gliders did not help out much with my school, as a matter of fact in High School I missed MORE school because of them... But hanging out at the glider port was always much more educational than any school could ever be, I think. At any rate, with my blistering 1.7 High School GPA, college just wasn't in the cards, so I joined the Air Force, as this allowed me to be around airplanes, even if I was not flying them.

I wanted to be a Jet Engine mechanic and stationed in New Mexico (because I knew of the great soaring here) but ended up a ground support equipment mechanic in Florida. Go figure! Some people dream of being stationed on the beach and I was miserable.

I got out of the USAF after my first four years and went back home to Indiana where I ran a custom hay bailing company and tried a year of school at Purdue. I quickly got sick of not having any money, so I went in to see if I could go back into the USAF. Sure enough, they were in desperate need of people at that point, AND had a slot out in Albuquerque. I asked "Where do I sign"? And I was back on active duty. The rest is history, I think... I finished college and am now a commissioned navigator on AWACS planes at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma.

What type of planes have you flown?

I love to fly and will go up in anything that I am able to anytime I am able to.

I have flown all kinds of sailplanes, from a Discus II to an open cockpit primary trainer.

I have flown all kinds of power planes from a T-6 Texan II Military trainer to a 1937 Waco Bi-Plane. I have even have an hour logged in both helicopters and the Goodyear Blimp.

If you could purchase any plane in the world, which one would you choose?

I'd have to go with a brand-new LS-8-18 sailplane.

You started flying at a young age, did you have any mentors?

I have had many mentors, and continue to do so. I believe there is always something to learn in flying, and always someone who can teach you. If you think you are too good to have a mentor, you're doomed to fail in this game.

How have the mentors in your life helped you?

I went from a shy, introverted only child to the outgoing guy you see today. I was raised by guys at the glider port and continue to learn a lot from them today. My social formative years were spent with Farmers and Doctors, Mechanics and Airline Pilots and everything in-between. All who shared a common love of flying... I would not be close to the person I am today with the accomplishments I have made without the "Fly daddies" who helped me get here.

What type of glider do you own and why did you purchase that particular glider?

I own a Discus fiberglass racing sailplane.

I flew a 1-26 (Kind of the go-kart of racing sailplanes) for many years. Then Jim Miller let me take his Nimbus II for a flight. After I was able to run up to the mountains without even thinking about it, I just knew I had to have a "Glass slipper" instead of my old metal and fabric 1-26.

I got a great deal on this Discus and could not pass it up, even though I couldn't afford it. When I was enlisted, paying for it took about 1/3 of my monthly pay check, so I ate a lot of Mac and Cheese and made a lot of cut-backs so I could have that beautiful glider.

As Mark Mocho says "You can live in a glider trailer, but you can't fly a house". I have adopted this phrase as my personal mantra.

What type of power plane do you own and why did you purchase that plane?

I have a 1946 Cessna 120. I bought it because I wanted a tail dragger that was easy to maintain. There is nothing that can break on that plane that I cannot fix, and I enjoy flying it quite a bit.

What is your most memorable flight in a glider? / in a power plane?

In a Glider, I'd have to say it would be a combination of any flight in the Discus that I took over the Mountains. Running up to Colorado and turning around is like viewing the world from an easy chair...Nothing is wrong down there, and it's just gorgeous! *Sigh* I can't describe it the way I want, but anyone who has been there knows what I'm talking about.

Power planes are a means of transportation. It's flying and I love it, but it's all about the same. I'd have to say it was a flight in the 120 down through the mountains in TN with the fall colors, and a great friend and one of my mentors flying with me. That was by far one of my most enjoyable flights.

Have you ever participated in a glider competition?

When I started flying gliders I always said "Ill be moving on to power as soon as I am old enough". I said this for most of the summer until one day, on of my glider daddies came whistling down above our ops tent in Indiana at about 10 feet dumping water and at redline. He pulled up into the pattern, finishing up a successful race day. I said "I want to do that" and was never the same again. I didn't learn to fly power for another 14 years. I was addicted to gliders!!

I have flown in many competitions and they are what I live for. They are very stressful but very rewarding at the same time.

Deor Jenson

2007-11-23T13:56:00.000-07:00

Deor Jenson flying his old LS-4 over hwy I-40 between Cedar Crest and Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Deor Jenson is a part-time glider pilot instructor and tow pilot for Sundance Aviation in Moriarty, New Mexico. During the soaring season he lives in New Mexico and winters in Arizona.

On meeting Deor I walked away with the thought that this is an incredibly nice person. His speech and mannerisms convey that of a kind and gentle soul. This is not what you would expect from someone who spent most of their career as military fighter pilot. The stereotypical image of an arrogant, aggressive, hot-shot pilot doesn’t fly here (pun intended).

Deor began his career as a charter pilot and flight instructor to help pay for college and family expenses. After graduation, he entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant and attended pilot training, also known as "the week of 52 years." There he flew the T-37, T-38, A-7D, AT-38B and A-10. After he retired from the Air Force he worked full-time for Rick Kohler at Sundance Aviation.

Deor’s other interests have been bicycle road racing and time trials. He participated in the US Cycling Federation Masters National Championship in 1987.

How did you get interested in aviation?

I can't remember not being interested in flying. However, I can point to something specific that turned me toward a career focused on aviation. The year was 1968. I was serving in North Carolina as a missionary for the LDS Church. I became acquainted with some of the Air Force fighter pilots that were assigned to Seymour-Johnson AFB. These guys were extremely enthusiastic about their "work" and were constantly telling exciting flying stories.

When I learned that it might be possible - even for me -to fly fighters for the Air Force, I decided to pursue the goal when I returned home from my mission. College and AFROTC lead to my career in the Air Force.

You fly both power planes and gliders, what did you learn first?

My first flight training was in a Piper Cherokee 140 in 1969. I didn't earn glider ratings until 1973.

Does anyone else in your family fly?

My younger brother got his private airplane license before I started flying. He now has a "real" job and hasn't flown for quite a few years.

If you could purchase any plane, what one would you choose and why?

The first thing that came to mind was some sort of fighter like a P-51 or F-5E. But, to be honest, my 59 year old body is past the point where high sustained "G" is a good idea. Besides, flying sailplanes has been the most satisfying recreational flying I've ever done. I'd pick an ASH-26E sailplane.

What type of glider do you own?

I've had a DG-400 for a little over a year and a Standard Libelle (my second Libelle) for about a month.

Why did you purchase those particular gliders?

The DG-400 is a motorglider. That makes it very convenient on busy soaring days when a dozen other gliders are in line for a tow. I simply extend the engine, take off under my own power and find a thermal, shut down the engine and go soaring. I can also fly from airfields where a towplane is not available.

I purchased the Libelle as a winter project and also because it's such a pleasant glider to fly. The Libelle is a good value - reasonable performance and not terribly expensive.

You are both a tow pilot and an glider pilot instructor, which job do you like better?

I enjoy the variety of both jobs. It's rewarding to help a student develop safe aviation skills and attitudes and to catch the soaring bug. I also love it when Rick at Sundance asks me on a busy day to climb into one of his towplanes and help get our waiting glider pilots into the sky.

What is your most memorable flight in a glider?

It was a Veterans Day Monday on Oahu.

All the military restricted airspace was cold because of the holiday. I took a tow in my Libelle out of Dillingham Airfield (northwest tip of the island) to the nearby ridge and released at 700 feet in good ridge lift.

I gradually worked east along the ridge climbing up to the 4000 foot summit of Mount Kaala and then crossed the normally hot and hazardous mortar firing range just west of the Army's Schofield Barracks. With the restricted airspace now available, I continued south along the eastern crest of the Waiane Mountains.

The trade winds provided good ridge lift and a street of big black-bottom clouds indicated nice thermal lift.

It occurred to me that my flight path covered the same route as the Japanese attack some 60 years earlier. Soon I had a fantastic view of Peal Harbor, Hickam AFB, Honolulu, and the famous Diamond Head. What a spectacular sight! I could see a steady stream of airliners and military jets flying over the beautiful south shore of Oahu on final approach to Honolulu International.

I continued downtown to the edge of the Class B airspace before starting the return trip to Dillingham. What an enjoyable flight!

What is your most memorable flight in a power plane?

Since three-fourths of my flying time is in powered planes, I've had lots of memorable flights in aircraft with burnable ballast. It's hard to pick just one but I certainly have lots of stories to tell.

What advice do you have for new pilots?

Keep your priorities straight. In order, this is what they should be:

1. Maintain aircraft control.
2. Never hit anything in the air or allow anything in the air to hit you.
3. Never hit the ground or anything attached to the ground.
4. Always be in a position from which you can make a safe landing.

What advice do you have for new glider instructors?

Be kind and patient. Figure out how the particular student learns best and teach in such a way that you meet the students needs.

If you want to learn how to fly gliders check out Sundance Aviation.

Mark Mocho

2007-11-11T08:39:00.001-07:00

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Mark Mocho in his Centrair Pegase 101A in front of his hangar, Moriarty Airportx

Mark Mocho is a main character at Moriarty Airport. You can find him there almost every day of the week. He owns two hangars, one sailplane and a small business at the airport. He is known for his generosity and quick humor. Most of the pilots out there know that if something is broken, Mark can probably fix it. x

Mark manufactures custom glider trailers. The precision of his designs and final products shows that he takes pride in his work. x

When Mark is not busy designing something or helping someone make a repair, he can be found flying his sailplane. He is a member of the Albuquerque Soaring Club and races in the Online Contest (OLC) which is a world wide, all year soaring contest. Members are judged by both distance and average speed.

How did you get interested in aviation?

My father had a Beechcraft Bonanza, so I was introduced to looking at the world from the air at a young age. I loved going flying- anytime, anywhere. Dad used to wake me up early in the morning and we’d have breakfast together and then head for the airport. We would take an early flight and then he would drop me off at school. This was a great way to start the day, and I was definitely hooked. I built a ton of model airplanes while growing up. Flying lessons were not really an option because of my age and the fact that I wasn’t tall enough to multi-task- I could either reach the rudder pedals or see over the instrument panel, but not both. I didn’t start growing until after I graduated from high school, and then I didn’t have money for lessons.

What did you fly first, hang gliders or sailplanes?

Hang gliders came first for me, in the early days of the sport (1973). It was pretty dangerous because of the terribly unsafe equipment back then and the lack of experienced instructors. You basically learned from the guy who learned last week. It was a lot of fun, but looking back, I am kind of surprised that I survived those first few years. As the years passed, the equipment improved exponentially and I got more experienced without killing myself or having any serious injuries. That came later. I damaged knee ligaments and had to have surgery a couple of times, but I kept flying. After 28 years and over 2,500 hours in the air (mostly over the Sandia Mountains), I finally had to quit because my knees were giving me trouble. I still miss it, but I really like sailplanes now. I started with Rick at Sundance in 1999, got my license in 2000 and bought my first sailplane in August, 2000. Now, in November, 2007, I have about 1,100 hours.

What are the main differences between the two sports?

Performance is way better in sailplanes as far as speed and glide ratio (lift over drag), but a hang glider can often outclimb a sailplane in a thermal because of the much smaller circling radius- you can stay in the strongest part of the thermal. Sailplanes make very wide circles by comparison, so you don’t spend as much time in the core of the lift. But once you get to the top of the lift and head out on a glide, a sailplane just runs away at two or three times the speed and glide ratio. Another big difference is the cost. When I quit, top of the line hang gliding gear could total well over $15,000. At the same period, top quality sailplanes could reach over $100,000. They do hold their value better than hang gliders, though. A two or three year old hang glider is probably only worth half the original price.

What kind of adjustments did you need to apply to thermalling in a sailplane compared to a hang glider?

The biggest difference is learning what to do with your feet. Hang gliders are controlled by shifting your weight, and therefore the center of gravity of the glider, by using your arms and shoulder muscles- it is pretty physically demanding. Your feet don’t do anything except on takeoff or landing. In a sailplane, learning to coordinate the stick (pitch and roll) with the rudder pedals (yaw) takes some doing. It can be like learning to ride a bicycle, and you don’t want to know how long it took me to learn that! Other than the control input, the principles are just about the same.

What kind of advice can you give new pilots about thermalling?

The best advice for developing thermalling skill or any other necessary flying skill comes from flying a lot. Nobody can really teach you how to thermal just by talking about it or drawing diagrams- you have to go out and DO it. Thermals are pretty much all different from the “classic” toroid/vortex ring shown in drawings. You know- the “doughnut” shape in all the books. If you want a graphic example, just watch cigarette smoke in calm air. It looks just like the example- until you wave your hand at it. The disturbance caused by wind just trashes the nice regular curling upward flow and makes it look like a mess. This is assuming you can find cigarette smoke anywhere indoors these days. I like to say that if we could see what the air is really doing, we would probably be too scared to fly in it.

Have you ever flown power planes?

Like I said before, I flew with my dad, and ever since, I have rarely passed up a chance to climb into someone’s airplane for a ride. I don’t have a power license, and to tell the truth, I don’t have much desire to get one. It is still expensive, and I would rather throw the money up in the air and chase it around with my sailplane.

Does anyone else in your family fly?

No. I have three brothers and two sisters, and none of them has any inclination towards flight. My older brother and I split the cost of my first hang glider ($450), but he gave it up after maybe two weeks. Head bonking was pretty common back then, and maybe he had some sense knocked into him. I, on the other hand, have been able to avoid that.

What is your most memorable flight in a sailplane?

I think it was one of my first 500 km flights, in September of 2004. Several of us took off from Moriarty and flew up to Colorado and back. I turned at Culebra Peak, just over the border in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, over 250 km from the airport, and just about flew straight back without turning hardly at all. I think I made my last thermal turn north of Taos and had a 100 mile straight glide home. It took two and a half hours to get to Culebra and only an hour and a half to get back. That was great! Five hundred kilometers in four hours! It was a LOT faster and farther than I had ever gone before, but the best part was getting to do the flight in the company of several of my buddies from Moriarty. We didn’t see each other very much during the flight, but we were having a great time talking on the radio, giving condition and position reports. There was also some good-natured joking going on, which really made the experience enjoyable.

What kind of glider do you own? Why did you purchase that specific type of glider?

I have a Centrair Pegase 101A. It is actually my second one. I bought the first from a local pilot who gave me a great deal, primarily because the condition of the gel-coat surface wasn’t the best. However, I also suspect he fire-saled it to me because his brand new glider was about to be delivered and he subconsciously wanted to avoid wifely comments about having two sailplanes at one time. I bought the second one because it is in better condition and has better equipment, such as the flight computer, tinted canopy and a nicer trailer. I also like it because it has fairly good performance, it is really easy to fly and I think it is a very pretty glider.

You own a business at the airport, what kind of business is it and what exactly do you make?

My business, MM Fabrication LLC, started out when George Applebay asked me to build a custom aluminum sailplane trailer. The design is a pretty common one, but it takes some thought and decent fabricating skills to come out right. George liked it, and contracted for two more. He also sent me some other customers and it just sort of took off from there. I’ve built about 35 or so over the last seven years. I also branched out into things like glider tow bars, wing wheels and one-person assembly aids. I am also a dealer for Mountain High oxygen systems. Right now, though, a new opportunity has arisen through one of my flying buddies. I hope to be producing a tactically deployable multi-screen computer display. We think it will work well coupled with several Ground Control Systems in use by the military for operating UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). I personally think this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as marketing, though. There are many other uses for an easily transportable multi-screen display, such as trade shows and even the video gaming market.

For more information on the products that Mark manufactures contact MM Fabrication at : http://www.mmfabrication.com/

Ron Crawford

2007-11-03T19:21:00.001-06:00

Ron Crawford

Upper photo, providing tows for Sundance Aviation in the Pawnee.

Lower photo, playing his bagpipes in the hanger at Sundance Aviation.x

Ron Crawford is a tow pilot at Sundance Aviation in Moriarty, New Mexico. On a slow weekday you can find him in the hangar playing his bagpipes. He is a member of the band, Order of the Thistle Pipes & Drums.

Ron’s background is very diverse. He has worked in the Military, Aerospace, Agricultural Aviation, Part 135 Charter, Tow Pilot for Southwest Soaring and Calistoga Soaring , Broadcast Engineering and as a Computer IT Analyst. x

How did you get into aviation? x

I learned to fly sailplanes in 1967 when I joined the Arizona Soaring Club. I added a power rating to my Private license and then used the G.I. Bill to complete my Commercial ratings. x

Why did you start playing the bagpipes? x

I've loved the bagpipes since I was seven years old and when I crossed paths with an instructor. x

I felt it was time to do it.What is Scottish Rite, Order of the Thistle? x

The Scottish Rite is an extension of the Masonic Lodge. The Order of the Thistle is an Honor Guard and sponsor group within the Scottish Rite that sponsors our pipe & drum band. Our band is the "Order of the Thistle Pipes & Drums". I'm currently the Pipe Major of the band. We have both women and men that are pipers and drummers, as well as young people. We meet for practice in the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple on Tuesday evenings at 6:30PM. We teach piping and drumming to beginners and you do not have to be a Mason to join the band. x

Do you play any other instruments? x

Yes, I play the Guitar, Bass Guitar, and the French Horn. Also, I love to play the Native American Flute. x

What is your educational background? x

Electronics, Aviation and Music. x

Did you serve in the military? x

Yes, Naval Aviation. I was aircrew, a Morse code radio operator on the WV-2 Super Constellation, and ASW technician/radio operator on the P5M-2 Marlin seaplane.x

What kinds of planes have you flown? x

Sailplanes, many types of single-engine aircraft, several multi-engine aircraft. Mainly, I flew the Piper Pawnee, Cessna AG-Truck, Callair A9-B & B1, Grumman AG-Cat, and Thrush Commander spray planes. Most of my flying time though, is in the Air-Tractor AT-301/R-1340. x

What is your most memorable flight? x

Flying a Grumman AG Cat cross country... It was a lot like barnstorming. Also, flying for six and a half hours in my home built BJ-1 Duster sailplane at Caddo Mills, Texas. Still my best soaring flight.x

What do you like about being a tow pilot? x

Providing a service for other pilots to enjoy their sport of soaring. It also satisfies my need to fly.x

Have you ever had to release a glider from tow? x

Not yet.x

Have you ever not been able to release? x

No.x

If you could purchase any plane you wanted, which one would it be and why? x

I'm a hopeless "aviation" romantic and would purchase a Stearman PT-13A with a R-985 power plant, painted in U.S. Army colors, cause I love flying Bi-wing open cockpit aircraft. Would love to share that experience with others.x

What advice can you give new pilots? x

Your new "License" is just a license to learn. Humility should come to you if you fly long enough, as experience is gained by surviving your mistakes. Flying is less forgiving and no place for a "Cowboy" or "Cowgirl". Be safe... "Ego will kill you", as my first employer in the Ag business reminded me. I've never forgotten those words. Stay current and get proper training before executing extreme maneuvers, etc. Respect the privilege of flying, and then enjoy it!

To learn more about the Scottish Rite go to: http://www.scottishrite.org/

For glider flights or lessons go to: http://www.soarsundance.com/

Jon Held

2007-10-27T20:02:00.000-06:00

Jon Held doing a roll from the backseat of a Grob.

Jon Held was born and raised in San Diego, near the ocean. He was introduced to glider flying at the age of ten when he attended a glider meet at Torrey Pines Glider Port, just north of La Jolla, California. He has worked as an instructor for Sundance Aviation in Moriarty, New Mexico.

Presently he is working parttime giving glider rides at Warner Springs Glider Port in California. He also has a photography business with his girlfriend, Jenna Close. x

How did you get involved in flying?x

When I was about ten I attended a glider meet at Torrey Pines Glider Port just north of La Jolla, CA. I remember the thrill of watching the winch launches. x

I did not fly until I moved to Boulder Colorado and in 1986. A friend gave me a gift certificate for a glider flight over the mountains there. It was great! x

Then for the next four years I would watch these gliders silently drift over my house. But they weren't exactly silent. Some of them would emit this etherial moan. Finally the call was too great and I went out to the airport and began taking lessons. x

Rick Kohler was my instructor.x

Does anyone else in your family fly?

Flight is not a family trait. Though my father was a competitive javelin thrower. x

Do you fly both power planes and sailplanes? If so, which did you fly first?x

Now that I think of it, I did take a ride in a Cessna low wing with my best friend Clark when I was fourteen. So powered flight was first. His dad flew us from Montgomery Field in San Diego to San Jose. And Clark and I spent many hours "flying" in planes we built from cardboard boxes. x

Gliding ultimately proved to be a more captivating experience for me. Clark went on to become an airline pilot. I did get a Sea Plane rating in 2006 in Seattle. I have about 1 hour solo in a floatplane. I do not have a license for a plane with wheels. x

What made you decide to teach flying?x

As my girlfriend and I were driving to Seattle, where she was to attend Photography school, I suddenly announced that I wanted to fly gliders for a living. We had just barely moved into our apartment when I took off back to Colorado to fly as a commercial pilot for Val-Air in Durango for the summer. x

It was such terribly good fun that I chose to fly for another summer. But I had made the decision too late and Val-Air had already hired all the pilots it needed for that summer. x

I recalled that Rick Kohler once said that If I had my instructors rating he would hire me. I got my rating in Vermont at Sugarbush Soaring while we were visiting my girlfriends parents. Rick hired me the next week.x

So, in essence, it was by default that I got my instructors rating, but it was a completely natural thing. I had been teaching juggling for all my life.x

What do you like about teaching?

There is much frustration and satisfaction in teaching. Moments of realization, epiphany, joy, stubbornness, and terror. I like all those things. And I like the student-teacher relationship. Anyone who gets in my airplane has to trust and respect me or they wouldn't be there.

What don't you like about teaching? x

The only thing I don't like about teaching is when I think I have personally failed a student in some way.

What is your most memorable flight?

The number one most memorable flight was on a strong wave day, meaning there were severe conditions and strong winds. I did not allow enough spare altitude as I came back to the field. I was entirely too low. My butt was spared by an unexpected area of strong lift, giving me the requisite altitude to land safely. I won't ever forget that. I was unprepared to take the necessary emergency action in the situation I was in. Meaning I was not prepared to make an unusual pattern or a landout. x

In Durango I gave a ride to an 86 year old woman who had never before been in any kind of plane. This was her first flight experience. By the end of the hour she was flying the plane by herself. x

In Moriarty I had a Bald Eagle come and fly a circle with me just a few feet above the wing. It was inside of my wingspan, less than 10 feet away.

In Boulder I was at 16,000 feet and I saw a horizontal tornado. It looked exactly like a waterspout, about 400-500 feet long and about 30 feet in diameter. It was the rotor from a standing wave downwind of the Rocky Mountains..

What did you do before you became a flight instructor?

I have been a performing juggler for all of my employed career. I started out on the streets of Boulder, Colorado passing the hat and juggling torches and machetes and the like. Eventually I toured the world with a group known as Airjazz. We did lots of international arts festivals, international television and we were on the Tonight Showin 1984.

How does your past profession compare to your new profession?x

They both involve precision motor skills, and although it might seem dangerous to juggle torches, flight has a greater potential for disaster. x

Instructing juggling is easier because we don’t have to teach all the safety issues. When you’re learning to juggle you can just go for it without consequences.

In addition to flight instruction you also have a business with your girlfriend Jenna. What kind of business is it? x

We have started a commercial photography enterprise. We specialize in corporate and industrial photography with a focus on alternative energy. This is a new but growing market, and something of a personal interest. And wind turbine blades are just like giant glider wings. x

P2 Photography
Jon Held and Jenna Close

http://www.p2photography.net/

Bill Hill - Teacher, mentor, cross-country guru

2007-10-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

Bill Hill attaching my tow rope on runway 26, Moriarty, New Mexico

Bill Hill was one of my first glider pilot instructors at Sundance Aviation in Moriarty. Our first lesson started with me asking him not to have a heart attack because I did not know how to land the glider yet. He retaliated by waiting for me to make a mistake in the air and responding by screaming "Oh my god, we are going to die! We are going to die!" x

Bill has never let me succumb to my own fears. Later in my lessons when I would ask him for help in the sky he would pretend to not hear me. He knew when I really needed help and forced me to think for myself. It is because of him that I continued in this sport. x

When did you start teaching glider flying?x

I started teaching in 1963 at the Ft. Rucker Glider Club in Headland, Alabama.x

Have you taught how to fly power planes also?x

Yes, I started teaching in motorized aircraft in 1966.x

What do you enjoy better?x

I enjoy them both the same because in each case there are different challenges.x

You taught glider flying to one of the Blue Angels once, what was that like?x

He was one of the most adept students on tow because he had an in depth knowledge and innate ability to fly in formation. But, because he flew jets he had forgotten what rudder pedals were for. Once I reminded him of the function of the rudder pedals and gave him a little practice he picked it up very quickly.x

What was your best experience with a glider student?x

The best experience was taking a student who was very abrupt and hand-fisted, and over the course of two hours teaching her finesse and how to fly to glider smoothly. x

What was your worst experience with a glider student?x

Having a student get far enough out of position on tow that the tow rope looped back and wrapped itself around the step of the glider.x

How did you get out of that?x

Kicked the glider into an abrupt skid to the left to allow the rope to uncoil itself from the step. It was pretty exciting.x

Have you ever motivated someone to become a glider pilot?x

Yes, I gave someone an introductory flight once from Moriarty. We release at 1,500 feet above the ground, then climbed in rotor lift to about 11,500 feet above ground level. Then we proceeded westbound to the Sandia Crest. We then got into the primary portion of the mountain wave and again climbed to just below to the base of class A airspace (18,000 MSL). From there we flew south to the eastside of the Monzano mountains, then turned eastbound back to Moriarty. We flew about 50 miles in the course of an hour.

He was so impressed that he joined the glider club the next day and went on to become a pilot. He eventually purchased a single place high performance glider which he flew on cross country flights.x

What advice do you have for new instructors?x

One of the most important things for a new instructor to convey to a student is "Who is flying the glider?" The prudent instructor will tell the student when he has the flight controls by stating, "I have the flight controls." The student will be taught to respond, " You have the flight controls." And the reverse is true when the flight instructor returns the flight controls to the student. By starting the student off in this manner it is clear who is in control of the aircraft. x

How do you know when a student has what it takes to be a pilot?x

Flying a glider, or for that matter any aircraft, is nothing more than a skill set involving hand-eye coordination. Very few people are so uncoordinated that they cannot learn how to do this. What separates those who will go on to solo from those who will not is the ability to overcome whatever reservations the individual may have about flying. x

What is the utmost importance is that the student demonstrate a willingness to exercise common sense and good judgment. x

In New Mexico you can learn how to fly gliders at http://www.soarsundance.com/.

Jeremy Patton

2007-10-13T18:41:00.001-06:00

xxxxx

Jeremy Patton in the Grob at Sundance Aviation, Moriarty, New Mexico

Jeremy Patton grew up in Moriarty, New Mexico. He learned how to fly gliders while working as a line boy for Rick Kohler at Sundance Aviation. He spent the entire summer of 2007 at Sundance Aviation learning everything he possibly could about gliders and glider pilots. Presently he is taking time off to study at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM).

What got you started flying gliders?

I had been formally introduced to sailplanes when I had my interview with Rick back in March (2007). As a kid I had seen sailplanes being towed, yet never truly understood the concept of soaring until getting the job as Line Boy. So... I began flying soon after getting the job.

Have you ever flown power planes?

Yes, but only a couple times. Once with EAA Young
Eagles when I was a young lad of 11 yrs., and the other with Rick in the Maule.

Does anyone else in your family fly?

Yeah airlines here and there. I have a couple uncles who own a Piper Cherokee that's about it.

How did you find out about the job at Sundance Aviation?

One simple phone call. I was working at Buford Steakhouse waiting and bussing tables when I decided that I didn't like that job. So what did I do you ask? I looked for a new job. Now if you are familiar with Moriarty, you know that there are maybe few jobs that pay well and are actually fun. "Which ones?" you ask, well I'll leave the guessing to you to give Moriarty the benefit of the doubt, for I only know of one; working at the airport.

What did you like about working as a line boy?

Everything for the most part. I enjoy meeting new people. I enjoy listening to all the stories, tall tales,etc. ha. I loath slow days, especially when I'm moody. Gah, I need something to do, Im depressed, ugh. ha. I learned a lot of new things, met cool people, met un-cool people, and got to FLY!

You managed Sundance for a few weeks while the owner was on vacation, what was that like?

Well, it was great experience for me. Looks good on a resume.

Would you ever want to own a glider operation?

That is a difficult endeavor to pursue. I wouldn't want to own my own glider op, but would possibly go into a partnership. Maybe someday perhaps.

What is your most memorable flight?

Out of all the flights I have in gliders, which isn't saying much, the most memorable is my first flight with Jim Harkins. "Jet Jockey" as I call him, annoyed me to a degree in which made me want to jump out of the plane when flying with him. If only I had a parachute. ha. He picked on every little flaw, making me practice whatever it was until I got it right, or- "good enough". I was so frustrated I wanted to clean his clock. And of all the days I could've flown with him, that was the day I soloed. After 5 grueling flights with the motor-mouthed fighter pilot know-it-all, I soloed. June 12, 2007. He dumped cold water on me when I got back haha.

Despite all of the mean things I said about Mr. Harkins, I love the guy. I learned so much that day, and in the months that followed, I grew to appreciate his overly-analytical approach to instruction as I witnessed men come to Sundance men, and during their time with Jim turn to putty, then leave men with better habits, haha. Jim's great.

Do you plan to buy a glider one day? If so which one would you buy?

Heck yes! When I'm wealthy enough to purchase one. I would like an ASW-20. better yet an ASW-27. That's the ultimate for me. I like the old school Labelles as well. oooh, You want to know what I really want though? That's right, an F4U supercorsair. * drool*

If you want to learn more about flying gliders contact Sundance Aviation
http://www.soarsundance.com/

Richard Kohler

2007-10-06T13:27:00.001-06:00

Rick Kohler, President of Sundance Aviation, Moriarty, New Mexico

Rick Kohler grew up in an aviation family. His Uncle Ray was a captain for American Airlines and both his Aunt Emmy and Uncle Charles were a private pilots. Rick’s father was also an aviation enthusiast and took him to several air shows. As a child Rick would drive his mother crazy by running around all the time with models and toy airplanes. Rick was introduced to gliders by Tom Holloran, friend of Rick’s father who was a glider pilot. Tom owned a farm with an airstrip and provided Rick with several rides.

Rick took his first flying lesson at age 16. An injury and afterwards college forced him to take a break from his aviation activities. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1974 in English Literature. Then went back in 1975 – 77 and studied voice and Opera at the University of Cincinnati College conservatory of music. During his music career Rick performed with the Cincinnati Opera chorus.

Today Rick runs a successful glider operation in Moriarty, New Mexico. He owns a Schweitzer 2-33, two Grobs, an LS-4, a Pawnee and a Callair. He also shares a Maule with his girlfriend Aimee. Aimee and Rick take their vacations in the Maule and recently went to Michigan to obtain their seaplane ratings.

Hours: Total time in power planes, 2,500 hours. Gliders, over 10,000 hours.

You are both a power pilot and a glider pilot. What did you fly first?

I started with power planes. My first lesson was in a Citabria. I soloed in a Piper-Cub. I went on to get my glider rating in 1980 and my instructor rating in 1986. I started flying gliders at Caesar Creek Soaring Club in Waynesville, OH.

What made you decide to become a full time glider instructor?

In 1982 I went to work as an aircraft tech. Did that for a year. Then took a sales job for four years, 1983 – 88. I hated sales. I had been doing gratis instruction for the soaring club. Then I answered an ad as an instructor for Estrella sailport in Maricopa, AZ. I was there for a year then I went to Bolder, Colorado for five years and worked for Cloud Base Soaring Inc. From there I came to Moriarty and started Sundance Aviation in April 1994.

Have you ever flown with difficult students?

I had one guy in Arizona who was a licensed glider pilot and he wanted fly a high performance glider. I don’t think he was in full possession of his marbles. In fact, I don’t think he had enough marbles to play jacks. He was disoriented and was obviously confused. Who ever signed him off on his check ride did the aviation community a huge disservice. I had to keep taking over the controls, he got disoriented and couldn't find the runway.

He was flying a ridiculously long downwind and I told him to make a right turn, we were a mile and a half out at 500 or 600 feet above the ground. He opened the air brakes all the way at which point I said, "I am taking the controls." He replied, "No Rick, I am making this landing." He was a pretty big guy and would not let go of the controls. I asked him for the controls three times and three times he refused. Every time I tried to take the controls he would push the nose down more and open the dive brakes more.

Finally I told him, "If you don’t kill us on this landing I am going to kill you when we get on the ground." At which point he relinquished the controls. I dove it into ground effect to get it over the fence and we just barely made the runway, rolled out and stopped a little bit short. After we got out of the glider, he said, "Wow, I am really glad you took it I really learned a lot." My response was, "I don’t care if you learned anything I will never fly with you again. Do yourself and everyone a favor and find another hobby."

Another time I had a Japanese student with whom I was practicing stalls. He became terrified. He held the stick close to his chest and wouldn't let go. I ended up having to tap him on the back of his head to get him to release. He threw up his hands and started yelling stuff in Japanese. He was so scared he never came back.

What was your most memorable flight?

My very first flight as an employee with the chief pilot at Estrella. It was a really good soaring day. There was great lift. We got as high as 12,000 feet at one point. We were soaring over the Estrella ridge and after a couple of stalls and what not my instructor said. "OK, show me some spins. So I did a spin entry to the left and recovered after about half a turn. Then I did the same thing to the right.

Then in a fairly thick Hungarian accent he said, "Now I will show you how to make the glider really spin." And he did, except that after about ¾ of the first turn the glider went completely flat. We were not wearing parachutes. The first thing he did was to use all the standard spin recovery techniques. Rudder opposite the rotation and full forward stick, nothing. Then he tried opening the dive breaks which in the Grob have a nose down pitching tendency, nothing. Then he removed his shoulder straps and leaned his body forward, nothing, and then he said release your belts and come forward. I was ahead of him and was already on my way into the front cockpit, nothing. It stayed flat for about another 4 or 5 turns. We had lost about 4,000 feet at this point.

Finally he put everything into the spin, stick all the way forward and to the left and full left rudder. At that point the nose began to pitch down and come back up again. With each rotation you heard a big swish. After about two rotations of pitching up and down again we recovered. He was a very skilled pilot, he got us in and he got us out.

Upon landing and walking back into the operations office he made the following authoritative announcement, "We will no longer spin the Grobs!" That was the most scared I have every been in an airplane.

What is your most memorable land-out?

It was July 7th, 1992 when I made my first attempt at the 500 K diamond distance flight. The route was from Boulder to Eleven Mile Reservoir (which is just west of Colorado Springs) then on to Laramie and back to Boulder. It was a good flight but I just didn't make it.

What happened during that first attempt?

I had turned Laramie and was on my way back to Boulder. It was around 6:30pm. I was at about 15,000 feet MSL when I left Laramie and the cloud base was about 20,000 feet. There were plenty of clouds and I was about 20 miles from the mountains. However, I did not find one thermal between Laramie and the mountains. I ended up landing in a cow pasture at between 8,500 and 9,000 feet about five miles NE of Red Feather, CO.

How was the landing?

I ended up coming in too fast and touched down about 1/3 of the way into the cow pasture which was about 800 to 1000 feet long. I got on the brake, which lived up to it's reputation of being a suggestion of stopping rather than an actual device used to stop the glider. I went through the field, bounced across the county road on the only point on that road for 100 feet on either side that the shoulder was shallow enough not to damage the glider. I ended up rolling 20 feet up an embankment. I was amazed that the glider actually stopped and didn't roll back down the embankment. None of this was skill but pure dumb luck. I got out, walked to the top of the embankment and saw a 600 foot shear drop which really got my knees shaking. At that time I didn't know where I was. I went back to look at the chart and saw that the town of Red Feather was about five miles away.

Were there any people around to help?

I saw some dust coming down a country road, it was an older man, his wife and his 10 year old grandson in a Ford pick-up truck. The old man said, "You look like you could use a cold one." I replied, "That would be nice but what I really need is a telephone." He said, "Phone, what’s that?" Then with a chuckle he handed me a very modern cell phone (this was back in 1992 when not that many people owned cell-phones.)

I contacted my crew who started the long drive to this remote location. After calling my crew I found out that the old man owned the entire top of the mountain. He had a well house and a beautifully manicured campsite. I spent the time waiting for my crew riding around in ATV’s and doing target practice with his grandson. He fed me copiously. When my crew arrived he provided light for the de-rigging of my glider and then fed my crew copiously. I ended up mailing the family certificates for glider rides.

My crew did mention on the way up that he noticed there was nothing but trees, rocks and winding roads through many hills. He couldn't believe I found any place to land.

Three weeks later I made the same flight but I was at 16,500 ft over the cow pasture with final glide back to Boulder.

For Lessons or Glider Rides contact Rick at Sundance Aviation, 505-832-2222 or you can visit their website at: http://www.soarsundance.com/

Bob Hudson

2007-09-28T17:40:00.000-06:00

Photos of Bob in his DG-100 on the runway at Moriarty, New Mexico.

Bob Hudson is a retired Air Force Colonel. He started his Air Force pilot training in 1970 at Big Spring, TX. Then he served in Vietnam in 1972. He served in the Air Force for 28 years and had flown everything from B2 bombers to F-16s. He started flying gliders 4 years ago. Bob has been the president of the Albuquerque Soaring Club for the past three years. He also works for UNITECH, a company that does exercises and training for the government.

How did you get started flying?

I was an airport bum at age 15. Hanging out at the airport and begging flights. I would see someone starting to take off with an empty seat and suggest someone should be in the seat. Then in college I joined ROTC. They paid for my flying lessons in a Cessna 150. I got my license from them, but it wasn't exactly free, I was going into the Air Force.

Tell me about Vietnam.

I was over there flying B-52s out of Guam, then I moved to Uptao, Thailand. I was flying out of Thailand, on 26th Dec. 1972 and was shot down over Hanoi. I was prisoner of war for 93 days. I was in two prisons, the Hanoi Hilton and a prison they called the Zoo.

Everyone has heard of the Hanoi, Hilton and how horrible it was…

Yes it was.

Why did they call the other prison the zoo?

Just, of course they had real Vietnamese names, we Americans nicknamed the prisons. This prison had, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens. Other prisons were called briarpatch, dogpatch, the plantation…

Did you get to eat the animals at the prison?

No, they didn't feed us. I lost 53 lbs in those days.

What happened after you got out of prison?

After prison I came back to the states and was a patient in a hospital in Dayton, Ohio for four months. Then they sent me to Omaha, where I flew T-39s.

Did you get to fly during your entire military career?

Some assignments were not flying assignments but I flew most of the time.

What kind of planes did you fly while you were in the Air Force?

First the B52-H then the B52-D, they sound like the same airplane but they are two totally different airplanes. If you walked up the them you would say they look alike. The H at one time was the fastest airplane in the world, the D model was old and worn out, but it could carry a lot of bombs. I was flying the B52-D when I got shot down.

Then the T-39, which is a small passenger business jet. I flew VIPs, everything from four star generals, senators, congressmen, I flew the director of the CIA, Mr. Casey once, Claire Booth Luce, she was a gabby lady, a nice lady and George Will, the newspaper editorialist.

After the T-39 I flew the FB-111 it was the first fly-by wire electronic flight controlled airplane, the wings moved. The faster you went the wings swept back then the slower they would swept forward. It was rated at Mach 2.2 but you could actually get it going a little faster than that. I went almost 900 miles per hour at 100 feet above ground.

Next I flew the EC-135, it was the airborne command post. It’s code name was Looking Glass. The mission was to be the command post for WWIII until we could establish control on the ground again. It flew continuously for 25 years 24 hours a day. We had 13 of them, one would take off and fly an 8 hour shift, then the next one takes off, we just kept rotating them. I was on the EC-135 on the 25th anniversary. We were sent congratulations messages from all over the world. I give lectures on that mission.

One of the reasons we never had WWIII is because we had this plane. The Russians knew that we could retaliate even if they struck first. We could actually launch the missiles from the plane. I got to launch a minute man missile in 1989, of course it had dummy war head. I launched it out of Vandenberg, CA and it landed in the pacific.

I flew the EC-135 for two years. Then I had a couple of desk jobs where I didn’t fly very much. Then I had the opportunity to command two Air Force bases, one was Brooks Air Force base in San Antonio, TX, the other was classified.

I was the last Air Force pilot to fly the F-100 then I flew the F-16. The mission was fun, I did mostly test work. Most of it was chasing classified packages or missiles. You get about half way out and they launch the missile then 3 or 4 of us try to chase it so that we can film it.

How did you get into flying Gliders?

Unfortunately I lost my medical in 1996. I had an artery close up when I was in Saudi, Arabia. It was from an injury I got when I was shot down in Vietnam. I had a lot of damage to my chest, the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was damaged. It finally caught up with me. I had to come back to the States and have surgery. I couldn’t fly power planes anymore, but since you don’t need a medical for gliders I started to fly them.

What was your first glider?

My first glider was a DG-100, I bought it from my ex-boss. I hadn’t seen him in 20 some years. I had dinner with him and he invited me to fly gliders. He died very suddenly about a year later of pancreatic cancer. I bought the glider from his wife.

What was your most challenging flight in a glider?

One day when the stick broke in my hand. I was on tow in my DG-100 when the glider started to pitch up. I kept pushing down and the glider kept pitching up. The tow rope pulled out because of the angle. Then I realized that the reason I couldn't put the nose down was that I was holding the stick in my hand, it wasn't attached. I took the little bit of stick left and did a loop and landed on runway 8. I was scared to death.

Do you still own the DG-100?

I sold the DG-100 and have been flying club airplanes. I am going to buy Al Santilli's glider. He had a Libelle.

You have been president of the glider club for 3 years now, do you like this position?

Yes, I enjoy it but there is a lot more work then I realized. Some days I don’t get to fly because I have so much administrative stuff to do. But I love it, I like the people and just love being around the flying. Its just like being in the Air Force but you don’t have the uniforms and people talk back to you.

You can find out more about Albuquerque’s Soaring Club at their website. This site gives information about joining the club and offers links to other sites regarding flying, weather, and glider contests.

http://www.abqsoaring.org/

David Sharp

2007-09-19T21:23:00.001-06:00

Dave Sharp in the front seat of a Grob at
Sundance Aviation, Moriarty, New Mexico

History

David Sharp started flying hang gliders at the age of 19. He was a professional hang glider pilot, paraglider pilot and an instructor for 14 years. He got his first sponsorship after only two years of flying. On July 19th, 2000 he broke two world’s records in a ATOS glider (with a glide ratio of 19:1); the longest declared goal of 203 miles and the overall distance record. He flew his ATOS glider for 9 hours and went 311 miles (501 kilometers).

Outdoor Life Network hired Dave and two other pilots from the States to fly hang gliders and paragliders over ancient ruins in Peru. This was the brainstorm of one of the film produces who happened to have a wife from Peru. Dave was the #1 cross-county racing hang glider pilot in the U.S. and went on to become #1 in the world in 2000. The other two pilots Mitch McAleer (the top aerobatic pilot) and Kari Castle (one of the top hang gliding cross country pilots) joined him for a month of hiking and flying over Cuzco, Arequipa and Machu Pichu.

Dave started flying sailplanes in the year 2000 with Rick Kohler at Sundance Aviation. He now works for Rick part time as a commercial pilot and line boy. You can arrange an aerobatic flight with Dave or Rick by calling Sundance Aviation at 505-832-2222.

Dave owns IMG, Inc. which does real estate investment acquisitions. He buys and sells lower income residential properties in New Mexico. He has been married 17 years and has two children, a 16 year old daughter, Danielle and a 13 year old son, Ryan.

What got you into hang gliding?

I was looking for something to do when I got out of high school. I use to watch them fly off of Sandia Crest from my house when I was a kid. Of course my parents would not have anything to do with that. In January of 1985, when I was 19 years old, I took my first hang gliding lesson.

What was your most memorable flight in a hang glider?

The world distance record.

Tell me about the trip Outdoor Life Network Sponsored for you to fly your paraglider in Peru. What was it like there?

Peru has a magic feel about it, like: desert with red, yellow and white sands that meets the ocean, giant volcanoes near Arequipa, jungle, glaciers , Alpine. You really feel like you on another planet. Oh and the Andes have awesome soaring !!!

What were you hired to do there?

The Mission was to fly the Nazca Lines, Machu Picchu, Arequipa, Cusco and Pisco. We climbed Mount Misti, a volcano that is 20,000 feet above sea level. We were hired to paraglide off the top and land in the town of Arequipa below. It would be a 13,000 foot decent. We also flew over the ancient city of Cusco.

Tell us about the hike up. Did you have a guide ?

Franz was our local guide (Swiss born) he ran a paragliding school from his apartment on the beach at Lima. He had us take some sort of drug that allowed our blood to do a better job holding on to O2 molecules. We were supposed to take it 12 hours before the hike. We all did except Kari who took it the day of the hike and ended up getting swelling of the brain. We just about ran up to the first base camp, 14,500 feet. None of us slept much that night. Kari had a bad headache all night. The next day Franz was just gone he never slowed down except for smoking breaks. All the slow local hands passed us around 17,000 feet.

With less than 3 hours before sunset at about 18500 feet we just ran out of energy. Each step felt like a major effort. So I took off my 50 pound pack and pulled out 2 large oxygen bottles. I offered one to Kari but she had some sort of ego challenge going on and declined. I shared the Oxygen with Mitch which did not really snap us out of it. We slogged our way to the top with
1 hr and 20 minutes to spare.

Paragliders stall at about 12 mph and at 20,000 feet it could not have been slow enough. It took Mitch and I three attempts to get off the top but we did it. Poor Kari would only have enough energy to watch. Kari, Franz and the film crew spent the night sleeping outdoors in 6 inches of snow. They would not launch until 10 am the next day.

The Glide out was un-eventful except for a light head-wind which meant that I just cleared the foot hills and made it to the edge of town. We would enjoy pizza and beer that night and a warm toilet (as I had some problems for most of that trip.) The film crew had ran out of water during the hike and pissed orange for two days (dehydrated).

That event was something I have no desire what so every to repeat, too much pain and not enough joy for a big sled ride.

Why did you make the transition into gliders (sailplanes) from hang gliders and paragliders?

I wanted something interesting to do after retiring from hang gliding. Soaring seemed like a great substitution. I have a family and the traveling and maintaining the sponsorship took a backseat to my family. That led me to pursue flying sailplanes in my backyard.

What is your most memorable flight in a glider?

Doing the Diamond Distance (500 Kilometers) in Dior’s Ventus with water ballast in the wings.

Does any one else in your family fly?

My wife use to fly hang gliders, she got her intermediate rating and flew off the Sandia Crest a few times.

During a family vacation at Zion’s this July my daughter, Danielle and I ran up to Salt Lake to see my friend Chris Santacroce. Chris works for Super Fly, Inc. and is my old partner from the days of running the SOARING CENTER, a hang gliding and paragliding school. While we were there I arranged for Danielle to have her first paragliding lesson. It was fun to watch.

I think she has the knack as I watched her learn I can see little things. Like the way she tucks her arms in before the tandem launch (reduces the center of mass) making it easier for Chris to ground-handle the glider. Or during one of her bunny flights the way she twists and turns facing the PG. This is the correct technique as facing forward means you can get pulled over backwards. Little things like that make me think she could be a great pilot.

However you know how kids are, they have their own plans. Next summer I think both Ryan and Danielle may take the whole course.

You can see a video of Dave performing aerobatics in a Grob and a video of Danielle’s first hang glider lesson at: http://web.mac.com/tenpines/Site/Movie.html

If you are interested in learning how to fly hang gliders a great place to start is Super Fly, Inc. at: http://www.superflyinc.com/

Howard Banks

2007-09-15T18:06:00.000-06:00

Howard Banks in his new ASW-27, Moriarty, New Mexico

Aviation History

Howard Banks was born into an aviation family. His father flew in WWI and was in the manufacturing business all his life as a designer. Howard became an apprentice at the same firm (de Havilland, maker of all sorts of famous stuff such as the ill-fated Comet). He worked in a lab investigating failed aircraft parts and systems.

How did you get started in aviation?

Grammar school in those not long after WWII days had a cadet force (was typically militaristic at that time), ours was associated with the Royal Air Force (RAF) of Britain. I won a prize at school, only one ever and no idea why, and was told to turn up at RAF Halton on a Sunday morning. Did and found I was to learn just enough to solo a glider – T-31 (I think) open cockpit two-seater, fabric, wood and string; one is in George Applebay’s Soaring museum in Moriarty, New Mexico. They were all winch launching. Before my 16 th birthday I made three solo flights and thereby have a British A and B badge. (The RAF, like most air forces, uses gliding as a quick and fairly cheap way to discover suitable people to recruit as air crew. I never went into the RAF, so it was money down a small hole.)

What types of aircraft have you flown?

Mostly gliders of various sorts. I was also a partner in a J-4 Piper Cub (side by side coupe), that was nice but was mashed by one of the partners and I was bought out eventually. Nothing too exciting.

Why did you decide to start flying gliders again?

I didn't decide to start, but it was my “wifie” who got me restarted. I stopped flying, because I was involved in sports car racing and could not afford both. The family, and lots of work, blocked any thought of gliding. But when Joan and I were first married in CA she bought me a ride at Calistoga. Some time after that I was interviewing the governor of Nevada and we had a ride at Minden (not very successful). Soon after I found a glider port just down the road from our house in the east bay and I haven't looked back since.

What kind of glider do you own?

After having an ASW-20 for many years I now have an ASW-27.

Why did you purchase the ASW-27?

I bought it because a friend was going to sell it and we did a quick deal, no negotiating, no nothing just 'sure I will buy it' and he gave me a break on the price. Unplanned, serendipity.

What is your most memorable flight?

Most memorable – anything which has scared the living bejeesus out of me. Perhaps my first land-out. July 4 th back east, haze that made it “sort of” VFR (visual flight rules) and I got lost (all visual in them thar days, no such as GPS). Flying a rented 1-26, landed the wrong side of a stream without doing any damage – but the retrieve was from hell partly because this commercial 1-26 was always tied out in the open and hadn't been apart in decades and it took massive amounts of hammering etc to get it on a trailer that was a disaster. We were all late for a major Chesapeake Bay crab cookout and I was in deep for months.

You can see several vintage gliders, including the T-31 (the same type Howard flew) at the Southwest Soaring Musuem located in Moriarty, New Mexico. More information can be found at: http://www.swsoaringmuseum.org/

Geoffrey Aiken

2007-09-08T11:36:00.000-06:00

Geoff in the cockpit of a Grob at the Albuquerque Soaring Club in Moriarty, New Mexico.

History

Geoff Aiken has competed in various sports. He earned several medals in five different Junior Olympic games. He trained at the Colorado Springs Olympic training center. He has held regional, national and professional road racing licenses. He instructed for a variety of road racing organizations. He ran Gator Motorsports for two years with 383 members in college.

His past hobbies have been fishing, IPSC and IDPA pistol competitions, cross-country running, scuba diving, surfing, kayaking, sailing, road bicycles, alpine skiing, riding dirt bikes and street bikes, building engines, salsa dancing, full contact martial arts, rock climbing, skate boarding, basketball, baseball, tennis, soccer, racquetball and swimming.

How did you get started flying gliders?

I moved out to New Mexico from the East Coast and wasn't sure what my hobbies were going to be. Since I was in a new location there were only a few road racing teams that would still fly me out to do their races. A good friend of mine, Tommy Johnson, a co-driver, told me that I had to go soaring since I was in the best part of the country for it.

So I drove myself down to Moriarty one day and Jimmy Weir did a loop with me, then I pulled out my check book. I commuted from Los Alamos to Moriarty every weekend and slept on a couch in the hanger.

How does flying gliders compare to your previous hobby of racing cars?

Perhaps the most important difference is that I get to sleep in later. Tommy Johnson told me that his favorite difference was the fact that it wasn't such a dirty occupation.

What do you mean by dirty?

You always had oil, coolant and wore three layer fire-retardant suits soaked in sweat.

Getting back to the comparison...

I suppose that the common ground between the two involves the fact that they both require so much of your attention that you achieve a mental quiet that most people aspire to with meditation. Perhaps the best difference between the two that I find is the fact that you have the option to choose who you surround yourself with.

Are you saying that in racing you were sometimes surrounded around people you didn't like?

I wouldn't say that. I think the people you share those experiences with are the closest to you out of anyone. However, if you find yourself needing to work through the pack every weekend you're bound to have incidences that unfortunately always seem to involve the same personality types.

What is the difference between the personality type that flies gliders and the personality type that races cars?

I can't say that I see much difference at all. Especially when it concerns aerobatic or contest pilots.

What has been your favorite flight experience in a glider?

The last one that I did. And that's perhaps my favorite aspect of doing anything new.

You can find out more about Geoff on his myspace account at:
http://www.myspace.com/ufmechanic

Bill Hill - Thoughts on Cross-Country Soaring

2007-09-01T10:05:00.001-06:00

Bill in his Discus 2 flying over Moriarty, New Mexico

This is the first in a series of interviews with the pilots of Moriarty, New Mexico.

Aviation Experience

Bill Hill has been flying gliders since 1963. He is an instructor and an accomplished cross-country glider pilot. He has been in numerous glider competitions and is a mentor to many of the younger glider pilots at Moriarty.

Bill retired from Air Traffic Control as an Assistant Air Traffic Manager in 1993. He has been employed as a commercial pilot ever since. He has flown for Sky West, Seven Bar Flying Service, Rio Grande Air, Westward Airways and presently flies for Cutter Aviation in Albuquerque.

How did you get started flying gliders?

While on a flight from the Frederick Municipal airport in Frederick MD, I spotted a glider circling near the town of Leesburg VA. As I approached the area in which it was flying, the glider started a descent toward the Leesburg airport. Fascinated by the prospect of engineless flight, I followed it to the airport, landed, tied down my trusty Piper Super Cruiser, and took a glider ride. Three flights later I soloed in a Schweizer 2-22 Utility glider and was hooked for life.

What is your most memorable flight?

Since memorable need not equate with pleasurable, I would have to pick the mid-air collision between myself and another competitor during a national soaring championship in 1984. I was hit from behind by the pilot of another sailplane which did substantial damage to my glider. Rather than bail out of my crippled craft, (which in retrospect I should have done), I elected to fly it back to the airport of origin. I had the good fortune to make a successful landing and was able to have the glider repaired. The other pilot who’s sailplane sustained only minor damage also returned for landing.

Why do you think you are such a successful cross county pilot?

Assessing the subtle nuances of change in the atmosphere and making adjustments in tactics enables me to maximize my time spent in cruise and minimize the time spent climbing in thermals. The net result is a higher average cross country speed combined with a greater number of miles flown.

An additional part of the tactics involved in cross country flying is determining how close to the ground you are willing to fly before accepting a weaker thermal in order to keep from landing. This in turn is a function of knowing when to fly slower and when to speed up which is all part of the tactics of assessing change and applying the best technique in order to maximize the entire soaring day.

What usually causes pilots to land away from the departure airport?
Generally the lower time glider pilot tends to get tunnel vision and therefore loses his focus and ability to assess conditions. As he gets lower, his ability to center a thermal is compromised by his level of anxiety which in turn increases as he gets closer to the ground.

The novice pilot becomes distracted by such things as his desire to get home regardless of the conditions. He fails to realize that in order to get home, he must first keep flying. This may require a deviation from his intended route to his destination in order to avail himself of soarable conditions.

Bill’s two favorite books on cross-country flying are:

Cross Country Soaring by Helmut Reichman
http://www.skysailing.com/pages/sup.html

and

Winning on the Wind by George Moffat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_B._Moffat,_Jr.

About the Author

2007-08-25T10:11:00.000-06:00

Diana Roberts in a Schweitzer 2-33, Sundance Aviation, Moriarty, New Mexico

I am a student pilot at Sundance Aviation in Moriarty, New Mexico. This blog started out as a school project. I wasn't sure if anyone would let me interview them but it turns out that all the pilots I asked were extremely enthusiastic. This has been a fun project and will probably continue after the semester is over.

How did I get started flying gliders ?

When I was a child I use to dream about flying around town. I would take a few steps and then be airborne. Gliding around my old neighborhoods was an incredible experience. I miss those dreams.

Last year while hiking in the Sandia mountains I ran across a few hang glider pilots. One of the pilots spent about 30 minutes patiently explaining the process of flying these giant human kites. Then he put the 80 lb kite on his back, took off running and jumped off the cliff. It was amazing to watch him transform from a average man into an eagle. The idea of hang gliding was becoming very enticing. However, there was one little glitch, I was not about to put a heavy kite on my back and jump off a cliff!

A few weeks later I was sitting in the Copper Lounge with friends having $3.00 burgers and $2.00 martinis when I had a brainstorm. Why don't I find a place in New Mexico that offers glider lessons? Gliders are real planes, not kites. You can control them the same why you control a plane. The only difference is that they don't have engines. The appeal to me was that I could soar around town looking down at my neighborhoods like I did in my dreams.

The next day I found a website for Sundance Aviation in Moriarty, New Mexico. I sent an email to them asking for more information. The owner, Rick, called me about a week later. He spent a good hour on the phone explaining to me what it would take to learn how to fly gliders. I liked him so I decided to take my lessons from Sundance. It was a good choice. The instructors are great and not only have I discovered a new hobby but I have met some wonderful people along the way.

My best flights:

Last summer while taking a lesson from Rick I discovered that he is a tenor. I love opera and one of my favorite operas is Eugene Onegin by Pushkin. I asked Rick if he could sing an aria from Eugene Onegin. He sang to me from the back seat of the Schweitzer. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Rick's girlfriend, Aimee, thinks he should offer singing glider rides. Aimee is right, the music made the experience so much richer.

My next incredible flight was this summer. A friend of mine took me on my first cross country flight in his Stemme. We flew for 6 hours without an engine. We went from Moriarty to White Sands and up to Santa Rosa and back to Moriarty. He let me fly 95% of the time. On our way to Santa Rosa we circled in a thermal with an eagle. There is nothing more beautiful than looking up and seeing an eagle in your thermal. This was definitely the best day of my summer.

If you are interested in learning how to fly gliders here are a few websites in New Mexico:

http://www.soarsundance.com/

http://www.abqsoaring.org/