[admin]

I found this pic on Airliners.net. It's taken from an inverted Rolladen-Schneider LS-4. Now tell me that doesn't make you wanna fly.

[Captain Eddie]

YEA BOY! I was taken up in a glider, once, as a passenger, in Hawaii. It was great, but we did not go inverted, however. Great shot!

[jim]

Last time I did that I nearly blacked out, but yes it was really cool.

[Kubikali]

Not tempted at all!

[leeG]

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

If you've never been up in a sailplane, I highly recommend it. But you need to go up on a day with a lot of cumulus clouds, when the thermals are working. This is when the air is boiling and there is plenty of lift. That way you can marvel at how a plane without an engine can climb! Circle tightly within the thermals' column of rising air and up you go! I've had a couple of flights of over 5 hours.

If you go up on a calm day with still air, its really boring. Just an aero-tow up and a sled ride back down to earth. Ten minutes of ho-hum.

[jim]

Nice country down there, looks like England.

[Shawn 507]

We would have the same effects with Airborne students and hot air. We once had a 95 pound female who stayed aloft for 15 mins at a 1250 ft drop altitude. We had to call off the second pass because she was a hazard to the jumpers. I only wish I could get such effects when jumping.

[leeG]

Originally Posted by jim

Nice country down there, looks like England.

Those photos were taken at Van Sant Airport, Erwinna, PA. It's about 40 miles north of Philadelphia, along the Delaware River. These are the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. If its clear, you can see Philadelphia and New York City from over the airport . I used to keep my Sailplane there, back in the day when I was an active flyer.

Below is a 25 year old photo of me in my Schweizer 1-26. There is a tree-line along the glider runway, and this particular year corn was planted in the over-run area rather than grass. I really like this picture because it shows a glider on a green-green background, not the usual blue-white of most sailplane photos.

[jim]

Thanks for the info leeG, thats a great photo you posted, happy days eh.

[flyXwire]

Yup, I've done alot of sky sailing back in the 80's myself. I frequented a small airport in Fremont, California which was situated next to a drag racing strip. Those top-fuel dragsters
are really very loud even at 2,000 feet! The mountains nearby have great thermals for soaring and generates great prolonged lifts so you could stay aloft much longer. Sky sailing is
the greatest experience you'll ever have for sure!