March and April Soaring...where?

[vtcyclist]

If one were to have some time for a month long road trip in March and/or April to tow their glider (DG-300) somewhere and fly, where would you suggest.. Florida, Texas and New Mexico come to mind, but I do not have soaring experience in those places. Especially that early in the year.

Other considerations are: clubs or operations that will tow visiting pilots and gliders, camping and odds that the weather/thermals will be worth the drive.

Thanks

-JM

[Dan Marotta]

You can always get a tow in Moriarty, NM.Â* During March and April you'll
find thermal and wave soaring but the commercial operation, Sundance
Aviation <https://soarsundance.com/>, is on winter hours, closed Monday
and Tuesday.Â* In reality, that means no rentals or rides, but they're
pretty good about giving tows seven days per week.

On 9/28/2018 9:14 AM, vtcyclist wrote:
> If one were to have some time for a month long road trip in March and/or April to tow their glider (DG-300) somewhere and fly, where would you suggest. Florida, Texas and New Mexico come to mind, but I do not have soaring experience in those places. Especially that early in the year.
>
> Other considerations are: clubs or operations that will tow visiting pilots and gliders, camping and odds that the weather/thermals will be worth the drive.
>
> Thanks
>
> -JM

--
Dan, 5J

[D S]

While that isn't our peak season (which is ~May/June) there can be some really good soaring in Southern Az.


On Friday, September 28, 2018 at 8:14:33 AM UTC-7, vtcyclist wrote:
> If one were to have some time for a month long road trip in March and/or April to tow their glider (DG-300) somewhere and fly, where would you suggest. Florida, Texas and New Mexico come to mind, but I do not have soaring experience in those places. Especially that early in the year.
>
> Other considerations are: clubs or operations that will tow visiting pilots and gliders, camping and odds that the weather/thermals will be worth the drive.
>
> Thanks
>
> -JM

[[email protected]]

Peak soaring season in FL. After the Seniors leave, camping on field, tows every day except Monday at Seminole Lake Gliderport.

[Nick Kennedy[_3_]]

I'd go to Florida, given a choice.
I spent several seasons Hang Gliding down there at that time of year and it can be really good! You can get these long periods of great weather, and lots of things to do when the flying is off.

[[email protected]]

I did multiple 400k flights in my aluminum ship at Seminole-Lake. Posted just a couple on OLC over the years...

[Rich Owen[_2_]]

There are a lot of great operations and clubs that can provide a base of operations to fly in the March/April timeframe. I’m a little biased to Seminole Lake. We fly 6 days a week in the commercial operation but if we have 5 pilots who want to fly, we will bring in a tow pilot. To let you know how our weather is, just check the Seniors results, Sailplane Grand Prix results and the 18 Meter Nationals all this year. Tasks were short for the Seniors due to the age of the pilots (I’m one of the over 55 crowd), but we normally fly 300-500k during this period. In April we have flown multiple 700k flights. We also have a good number of racers and XC pilots on the field. It isn’t hard to get a common task set before takeoff.

Our terrain is also very friendly for any XC flight. Lots of airports, great fields with nice farmers, and tow pilots/local pilots that will come and recover you. We have electrical/water hookups for RV’s and a shower in the clubhouse. We also have bunkroom type accommodations on the field.

Now if you want a change from flying you have all the attractions of the Orlando area. Parks, restaurants, sports, and super night life. Disney is only 20 minutes from the gliderport.

The 29th Senior Soaring Championship starts on 8 March and runs thru the 15th. During this time we don’t allow any visiting pilots to fly. You could enter the contest, fly locally and fly the Region 5 North contest in April. Great times and super Flying is waiting for you.

Cheers,
Rich Owen
ZO

[vtcyclist]

Thank you all for the replies. Rich, you make Seminole sound good enough to stay.

I went to HS a million years ago in NM. Traveling west has a lot of appeal. Especially later in the season when strong western thermals are booming. I'd like to plan that trip to include Moriarty NM, Boulder CO, Nephi UT.

On the other hand, Orlando, FL is 900 miles closer. Starting off at Seminole sounds like a great idea. Mulling over ideas yesterday after flying, enough suggestions surfaced to give this idea some legs.

Places suggested to stop and fly from south to north, Seminole, Sequatchie Ridge Camp, New Castle, Mifflin. Time to grease my trailer bearings, eh?

Thanks again.

- JM

[Bob Youngblood]

On Friday, September 28, 2018 at 11:14:33 AM UTC-4, vtcyclist wrote:
> If one were to have some time for a month long road trip in March and/or April to tow their glider (DG-300) somewhere and fly, where would you suggest. Florida, Texas and New Mexico come to mind, but I do not have soaring experience in those places. Especially that early in the year.
>
> Other considerations are: clubs or operations that will tow visiting pilots and gliders, camping and odds that the weather/thermals will be worth the drive.
>
> Thanks
>
> -JM

JM, please let us extend an invitation to you from the Treasure Coast Soaring Club, located in Vero Beach, Florida. We are a club but do have guest privileges and can accommodate you very well. within 1/2 mile there is a Cracker Barrel, Steak and Shake, and many more restaurants. There are also hotels within the same distance, Hampton Inns, Holiday Inn express, and Country Inn & Suites.
We are located west of Vero at the New Hibiscus Airpark, X52 is our identifier. Our geographical area provides excellent soaring conditions and plenty of sea breeze fronts that make for some fantastic soaring. We are not confined by restrictive airspace, and the availability of beautiful geography makes for many safe places to land. We tow seven days a week and on weekends you can always smell the aroma of the BBQ grill. Pilots routinely come from as far away as Miami and Ocala to join in on the fun Treasure Coast Soaring. Our club is only two years old and we are near 80 members and growing.
So, if you decide to head further south to the beautiful area of the sunny coast please be our guest. Bob

[vtcyclist]

Thanks Bob. Sounds good. I think one of our guys (Karl) flies with Treasure Coast? Looking forward to heading south in a few months.

-JM