soaring in the San Francisco area

[[email protected]]

I used to fly gliders some years back, and I am thinking of getting
back into it. Where do glider pilots in the San Francisco area tend to
go for soaring?

Johan Larson

[Jack Daniels]

check www.ssa.org


> wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> I used to fly gliders some years back, and I am thinking of getting
> back into it. Where do glider pilots in the San Francisco area tend to
> go for soaring?
>
> Johan Larson
>

[BTIZ]

better yet.. check "where to fly" on www.ssa.org

Hollister, Byron, Williams and Middleton are the closest
BT

"Jack Daniels" > wrote in message
...
> check www.ssa.org
>
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>>
>> I used to fly gliders some years back, and I am thinking of getting
>> back into it. Where do glider pilots in the San Francisco area tend to
>> go for soaring?
>>
>> Johan Larson
>>
>
>

[Marc Ramsey]

wrote:
> I used to fly gliders some years back, and I am thinking of getting
> back into it. Where do glider pilots in the San Francisco area tend to
> go for soaring?

Northern California Soaring Association, at Byron Airport, a club about
an hour from SF on I580:

http://norcalsoaring.org/

Williams Soaring Center, in Williams, CA, which is around two hours from
SF, north of Sacramento on I5:

http://williamssoaring.com/

Soar Truckee will open for the season in May, 3 hours from SF on I80:

http://soartruckee.com/

There are still tows available at Hollister, which is about an 1.5 hours
south of SF on 101, but it's not clear when (or if) instruction will be
available again...

See also:

http://www.pacificsoaring.org/

Marc

[Marc Ramsey]

BTIZ wrote:
> better yet.. check "where to fly" on www.ssa.org
>
> Hollister, Byron, Williams and Middleton are the closest

Crazy Creek in Middletown is pretty much gone (housing development),
except for occasional tows for an indeterminate period of time.
Hollister has a new person doing tows, but no instruction or rentals
yet, as far as I know...

Marc

[Ken Ward]

In article >,
Marc Ramsey > wrote:

> BTIZ wrote:
> > better yet.. check "where to fly" on www.ssa.org
> >
> > Hollister, Byron, Williams and Middleton are the closest
>
> Crazy Creek in Middletown is pretty much gone (housing development),
> except for occasional tows for an indeterminate period of time.
> Hollister has a new person doing tows, but no instruction or rentals
> yet, as far as I know...
>
> Marc

What about Avenal?

As an aside, does anyone base Open gliders there?

Ken

[Marc Ramsey]

Ken Ward wrote:
> In article >,
> Marc Ramsey > wrote:
>
>> BTIZ wrote:
>>> better yet.. check "where to fly" on www.ssa.org
>>>
>>> Hollister, Byron, Williams and Middleton are the closest
>> Crazy Creek in Middletown is pretty much gone (housing development),
>> except for occasional tows for an indeterminate period of time.
>> Hollister has a new person doing tows, but no instruction or rentals
>> yet, as far as I know...
>>
>> Marc
>
> What about Avenal?

True, I just don't tend to think of it, as it takes longer for me to get
there than Truckee...

> As an aside, does anyone base Open gliders there?

I've seen some there over the years...

Marc

[Jeremy Zawodny]

Marc Ramsey wrote:
> BTIZ wrote:
>> better yet.. check "where to fly" on www.ssa.org
>>
>> Hollister, Byron, Williams and Middleton are the closest
>
> Crazy Creek in Middletown is pretty much gone (housing development),
> except for occasional tows for an indeterminate period of time.
> Hollister has a new person doing tows, but no instruction or rentals
> yet, as far as I know...

Hollister has instruction and pretty much had it all through the
ownership transition.

Contact Quest Richlife ) for details.

Jeremy

[BTIZ]

Soar Hollister is shut down?
I did see the Duo there was for sale..

BT

"Marc Ramsey" > wrote in message
. com...
> BTIZ wrote:
>> better yet.. check "where to fly" on www.ssa.org
>>
>> Hollister, Byron, Williams and Middleton are the closest
>
> Crazy Creek in Middletown is pretty much gone (housing development),
> except for occasional tows for an indeterminate period of time. Hollister
> has a new person doing tows, but no instruction or rentals yet, as far as
> I know...
>
> Marc

[BTIZ]

"Jeremy Zawodny" > wrote in message
...
> Hollister has instruction and pretty much had it all through the ownership
> transition.
>
> Contact Quest Richlife ) for details.
>
> Jeremy

Who is the new owner? Is Drew gone?
BT

[Jeremy Zawodny]

BTIZ wrote:
> "Jeremy Zawodny" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Hollister has instruction and pretty much had it all through the ownership
>> transition.
>>
>> Contact Quest Richlife ) for details.
>>
>> Jeremy
>
> Who is the new owner? Is Drew gone?

Quest is the new owner of the Hollister Gliding Club. His business
provides tows and instruction. He's looking for a full-time instructor
right now, but there are several part-time instructors handling the load
now.

Drew is operating Bay Area Glider Rides as a separate entity from HGC
now (and doing a bit of instruction, I'm told). So he's not gone,
though the Duo is up for sale.

Jeremy

[[email protected]]

Marc Ramsey wrote:
> wrote:
> > I used to fly gliders some years back, and I am thinking of getting
> > back into it. Where do glider pilots in the San Francisco area tend to
> > go for soaring?
>
> Northern California Soaring Association, at Byron Airport, a club about
> an hour from SF on I580:
>
> Williams Soaring Center, in Williams, CA, which is around two hours from
> SF, north of Sacramento on I5:
>
> Soar Truckee will open for the season in May, 3 hours from SF on I80:
>
> There are still tows available at Hollister, which is about an 1.5 hours
> south of SF on 101, but it's not clear when (or if) instruction will be
> available again...

Thanks so much. Any word on the quality of lift at these clubs? Byron
would be closest, but I'm a bit worried about possible influence from
the Pacific Ocean.

Johan Larson

[KP]

Hi Johan
I am a member of NCSA, come on out and I will be glade to give you a
ride in my G103. It is a nice place to fly. Some times great soaring.
We fly all year round. And it is close to SF as you can get, about an
hour away. Go to the web site and get the dircections.

See You There

Ken (KP)

http://norcalsoaring.org/

[Ramy]

See additional link below.

Ramy

Marc Ramsey wrote:
> wrote:
> > I used to fly gliders some years back, and I am thinking of getting
> > back into it. Where do glider pilots in the San Francisco area tend to
> > go for soaring?
>
> Northern California Soaring Association, at Byron Airport, a club about
> an hour from SF on I580:
>
> http://norcalsoaring.org/
>
> Williams Soaring Center, in Williams, CA, which is around two hours from
> SF, north of Sacramento on I5:
>
> http://williamssoaring.com/
>
> Soar Truckee will open for the season in May, 3 hours from SF on I80:
>
> http://soartruckee.com/
>
> There are still tows available at Hollister, which is about an 1.5 hours
> south of SF on 101, but it's not clear when (or if) instruction will be
> available again...
http://www.soarhollister.com/ (Tows, instructions and rides are
available)

>
> See also:
>
> http://www.pacificsoaring.org/
>
> Marc

[Ramy]

The Diablo range south of Byron is very soarable from spring to fall
with lift to about 8000ft, if you don't mind a long tow (20-25 miles).

Ramy