UK Glider pilot visiting Minnesota

[Mike Philpott]

Hi,

I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the northern
part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.

I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as single
engine land planes.

Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota that
welcomes limeys?

Advice would be greatly welcomed.

Thanks,

Mike

[Peter von Tresckow]

A good place to start is the SSA website and the soaring club locator.

http://ssa.org/sport/wheretofly.asp

Unfortunately there isn't much in far northern MN. The clubs in MN are all
around the Minneapoilis StPaul area.

Peter

"Mike Philpott" <@> wrote in message
. com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the northern
> part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
>
> I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as single
> engine land planes.
>
> Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota that
> welcomes limeys?
>
> Advice would be greatly welcomed.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
>

[Tony[_5_]]

On Thursday, April 12, 2012 1:21:00 PM UTC-5, Mike Philpott wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the northern
> part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
>
> I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as single
> engine land planes.
>
> Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota that
> welcomes limeys?
>
> Advice would be greatly welcomed.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike

Red Wing Soaring Association (http://www.rwsa.org/) is in Osceola, WI, on the Northeast side of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and is, as far as I know, the furthest north glider club in Minnesota. That said it is still in the southern third of the state. However when you get too much north of there there are a lot of trees and not a lot of fields. Some flights have been done to the north, as far north as Duluth, but there is still a lot of Minnesota north of there with even more trees and water and fewer fields.

[Mike Philpott]

Thanks Guys,

That's the part where I will be working, just a few miles south of
the Canadian border and well to the north of Duluth. I visited the
place last week and it is gorgeous and I fully agree about lakes
and trees.

Is there anywhere over the border in Ontario? I don't know how
my UK and US licenses would fare in Canada.

Maybe I'll try to sample some floatplane flying instead.

Mike



At 18:50 12 April 2012, Tony wrote:
>On Thursday, April 12, 2012 1:21:00 PM UTC-5, Mike Philpott
wrote:
>> Hi,
>>=20
>> I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the
northern=20
>> part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
>>=20
>> I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as
single=20
>> engine land planes.=20
>>=20
>> Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota
that=20
>> welcomes limeys?
>>=20
>> Advice would be greatly welcomed.
>>=20
>> Thanks,
>>=20
>> Mike
>
>Red Wing Soaring Association (http://www.rwsa.org/) is in
Osceola, WI, on
>t=
>he Northeast side of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and is, as
far as I
>kno=
>w, the furthest north glider club in Minnesota. That said it is
still in
>t=
>he southern third of the state. However when you get too
much north of
>the=
>re there are a lot of trees and not a lot of fields. Some flights
have
>bee=
>n done to the north, as far north as Duluth, but there is still a
lot of
>Mi=
>nnesota north of there with even more trees and water and
fewer fields.
>

[Tony[_5_]]

SAC website (www.sac.ca) shows a club in Winnepeg but nothing anywhere near the Minnesota/Canada border. It's all trees and lakes on that side of the border too. Curious, are you a lumberjack or something?

I recall some posts about the Canadian nationals being flown by US pilots and getting the certificate converted wasn't too much trouble.

My wife spent a lot of time in that area, canoeing and guiding in the Boundary Waters just up the road from Grand Marais. She also did a few long canoe trips into Canada. It's beautiful for sure. I was amazed when we were paddling in the BWCA and could see the bottom of the lake! Not used to clean water down here in the middle of the country.

Bring warm clothes, no matter what the calendar says. I was there on July 10 and it was below freezing in the morning.

On Thursday, April 12, 2012 2:19:04 PM UTC-5, Mike Philpott wrote:
> Thanks Guys,
>
> That's the part where I will be working, just a few miles south of
> the Canadian border and well to the north of Duluth. I visited the
> place last week and it is gorgeous and I fully agree about lakes
> and trees.
>
> Is there anywhere over the border in Ontario? I don't know how
> my UK and US licenses would fare in Canada.
>
> Maybe I'll try to sample some floatplane flying instead.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> At 18:50 12 April 2012, Tony wrote:
> >On Thursday, April 12, 2012 1:21:00 PM UTC-5, Mike Philpott
> wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>=20
> >> I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the
> northern=20
> >> part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
> >>=20
> >> I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as
> single=20
> >> engine land planes.=20
> >>=20
> >> Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota
> that=20
> >> welcomes limeys?
> >>=20
> >> Advice would be greatly welcomed.
> >>=20
> >> Thanks,
> >>=20
> >> Mike
> >
> >Red Wing Soaring Association (http://www.rwsa.org/) is in
> Osceola, WI, on
> >t=
> >he Northeast side of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and is, as
> far as I
> >kno=
> >w, the furthest north glider club in Minnesota. That said it is
> still in
> >t=
> >he southern third of the state. However when you get too
> much north of
> >the=
> >re there are a lot of trees and not a lot of fields. Some flights
> have
> >bee=
> >n done to the north, as far north as Duluth, but there is still a
> lot of
> >Mi=
> >nnesota north of there with even more trees and water and
> fewer fields.
> >

[Hagbard Celine]

All the clubs in Ontario are in the eastern half of the province so
the Winnipeg club at Starbuck would be the closest. If you were to
make the trip up there to fly in Canada you shouldn't have any problem
using your U.K. qualifications. We've never had any difficulty with
visitors or new arrivals from Europe in my club transferring their
licenses to Canadian ones. Too bad that trying to do the reverse
(using U.S. or Canadian licenses to fly in Europe) in the near future
will be damn near impossible.

On Apr 12, 12:19*pm, Mike Philpott <@> wrote:
> Thanks Guys,
>
> That's the part where I will be working, just a few miles south of
> the Canadian border and well to the north of Duluth. I visited the
> place last week and it is gorgeous and I fully agree about lakes
> and trees.
>
> Is there anywhere over the border in Ontario? I don't know how
> my UK and US licenses would fare in Canada.
>
> Maybe I'll try to sample some floatplane flying instead.
>
> Mike
>
> At 18:50 12 April 2012, Tony wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >On Thursday, April 12, 2012 1:21:00 PM UTC-5, Mike Philpott
> wrote:
> >> Hi,
> >>=20
> >> I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the
> northern=20
> >> part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
> >>=20
> >> I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as
> single=20
> >> engine land planes.=20
> >>=20
> >> Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota
> that=20
> >> welcomes limeys?
> >>=20
> >> Advice would be greatly welcomed.
> >>=20
> >> Thanks,
> >>=20
> >> Mike
>
> >Red Wing Soaring Association (http://www.rwsa.org/) is in
> Osceola, WI, on
> >t=
> >he Northeast side of the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, and is, as
> far as I
> >kno=
> >w, the furthest north glider club in Minnesota. *That said it is
> still in
> >t=
> >he southern third of the state. *However when you get too
> much north of
> >the=
> >re there are a lot of trees and not a lot of fields. *Some flights
> have
> >bee=
> >n done to the north, as far north as Duluth, but there is still a
> lot of
> >Mi=
> >nnesota north of there with even more trees and water and
> fewer fields.

[Edward Lockhart[_4_]]

At 20:07 12 April 2012, Tony wrote:
Curious, are you a lumberjack or something?
>
Just like his dear Papa.

[JC]

There used to be a couple of gliders at the Bong Airport in Superior
Wisconsin, just east of Duluth. They had a k-21 and a 1-26. Not sure
if they are still there but is worth a call to the airport to find
out.

On Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:21:00 +0000, Mike Philpott <@> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the northern
>part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
>
>I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as single
>engine land planes.
>
>Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota that
>welcomes limeys?
>
>Advice would be greatly welcomed.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Mike

[Tom Weiher]

On Apr 12, 2:21*pm, Mike Philpott <@> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the northern
> part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.
>
> I have a US airman's certificate for sailplanes as well as single
> engine land planes.
>
> Is there a gliding club in the northern part of Minnesota that
> welcomes limeys?
>
> Advice would be greatly welcomed.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike

I have a 1-26 in Thunder Bay, just across the border but alas our club
is no more. Winnipeg is a good 7 hours from here, Minneapolis would be
a little closer for you. As others have said, lots of forests in this
area, cross-country flying was really limited.

Tom

[Brian Thompson]

Mr. Philpott,

I can't send you a private message on here..

The last time I saw you was in the cockpit of my DC10 in about 1995 landing in Orlando!!

A lot has happened since then.. now a 744 Captain with Cathay, living in HKG, house in France near CDG. Ever get over that way?

Have a look at www.abovetheoceans.com. I seem to recall you were flying at High Wycombe? We exhibited at Aero Expo there in 2009 and 10.. don't recall you visiting the stand?

I found a pic of you last night taken in 1977.. scary stuff.

All the best,

BT

[Timothy Sundquist]

Mike,

Hope you enjoyed your stay in the USA, hope you are enjoying even more being retired in the UK. I'm enjoying some traveling in Southwestern U.S. Someday I hope to get to the UK, hope we can stay in touch. Let me know how things are going. Tim:

Tim Sundquist
Minnesota

I'm a UK based glider pilot and I will be working in the northern
part of Minnesota in late April and for most of May.

[[email protected]]

Hi Folks,

Just looked at this thread again.

Thanks for all your answers. No, I'm not a lumberjack but I can do a fairly poor impression of the Monty Python lumberjack song after a few beers. I work in Television and we were making a TV series from near Ely MN for the BBC.

I did not manage to locate any gliding club and fully agree that the opportunities for cross country are extremely limited. When I was there, the sky was full of lovely cumulus clouds. It is worse than looking out of an office window at a good gliding sky. How bad is that??

I did find a floatplane facility and treated myself to a couple of hours of tuition and hooning. Interesting stuff although I would have been far happier in my Ventus.

Thanks again for your help and wishing you happy soaring!

Mike

[Peter von Tresckow]

> wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> Just looked at this thread again.
>
> Thanks for all your answers. No, I'm not a lumberjack but I can do a
> fairly poor impression of the Monty Python lumberjack song after a few
> beers. I work in Television and we were making a TV series from near Ely MN for the BBC.
>
> I did not manage to locate any gliding club and fully agree that the
> opportunities for cross country are extremely limited. When I was there,
> the sky was full of lovely cumulus clouds. It is worse than looking out
> of an office window at a good gliding sky. How bad is that??
>
> I did find a floatplane facility and treated myself to a couple of hours
> of tuition and hooning. Interesting stuff although I would have been far
> happier in my Ventus.
>
> Thanks again for your help and wishing you happy soaring!
>
> Mike

Yeah nothing close to Ely. You'd have to find a club around Minneapolis.
Just out of curiosity can you tell us what the BBC was doing up in Ely???

Pete

[Paul Remde]

Hi Mike,

I live near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ely is a 10 hour drive North of where I
live. It is a lovely part of the world, but very remote. There are no
soaring clubs in that area. There are soaring clubs in the Minneapolis
area. There is a club in Osceola, Wisconsin which is NE of Minneapolis. I
fly with the Minnesota Soaring Club which is about 1 hour South of
Minneapolis. There is also a commercial soaring operation at Faribault
airport which is also an hour South of Minneapolis.
You can see some details here:
http://www.ssa.org/WhereToFly
and here:
http://www.soarmn.com

Feel free to call or Skype for more information.

We start flying in early to mid April.

Best Regards,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
_______________________________

wrote in message
...

Hi Folks,

Just looked at this thread again.

Thanks for all your answers. No, I'm not a lumberjack but I can do a fairly
poor impression of the Monty Python lumberjack song after a few beers. I
work in Television and we were making a TV series from near Ely MN for the
BBC.

I did not manage to locate any gliding club and fully agree that the
opportunities for cross country are extremely limited. When I was there, the
sky was full of lovely cumulus clouds. It is worse than looking out of an
office window at a good gliding sky. How bad is that??

I did find a floatplane facility and treated myself to a couple of hours of
tuition and hooning. Interesting stuff although I would have been far
happier in my Ventus.

Thanks again for your help and wishing you happy soaring!

Mike