Best US Soaring Weather

[[email protected]]

If you were pulling up stakes, where would one move to find:

1. The longest soaring season.

2. The best x-c conditions, on average.

The OLC would suggest Blairstown, NJ... Any other opinions, with or
without objective data?

Erik N.
5E

[[email protected]]

Define "soaring season". We have a 12-month season in Arizona, but
obviously some parts are better than others. (We had several 300-400k
days in January and February.) The x/c weekends far out-number all
others here.

And we're one-day drive from Exlxyx, NxVx, home of the best soaring on
the planet! (Name munged to keep the the Lennys out.)

~ted/2NO

[BTIZ]

I'll second Ted... I live in Southern NV, we fly year round, some months are
better than others... and "winter" soaring depends on the ElNino effect..
I'd live in So NV or So AZ before I'd live in SoCal
BT

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Define "soaring season". We have a 12-month season in Arizona, but
> obviously some parts are better than others. (We had several 300-400k
> days in January and February.) The x/c weekends far out-number all
> others here.
>
> And we're one-day drive from Exlxyx, NxVx, home of the best soaring on
> the planet! (Name munged to keep the the Lennys out.)
>
> ~ted/2NO
>

[[email protected]]

The Great Basin is the best in the USA for the summer. When the big
bang happens, its the best for your buck. Takeoff locations could be
discussed, but Ely seems to have the best bang for a early start
inwhich you can head out. Parowan is close, really close, and if
Parowan was on the east side of the range, then it could very well be
the best, for the summer. The best about these sites, is, you can go in
any direction, but summers don't last long, so play time is short.
Running the ridges for the winter, that's cool, ya, and its cold.
Spring time in Mifflin is good, really good when the wind blows and you
get in a ridge misson. Marfa, Hobbs, Uvalde, the homeless of ASA,
all have steller soaring, and remember Odessa, home of many long, long
flights. Moriarty has ABQ soaring club, whuch has shown the conditions
over the last several years in leading the USA OLC for clubs. Maybe
your answer comes in any day you can get up and away, is best where
ever your at, and I seem to like that the best.

[Jack]

I'd have to plug Dallas/Fort Worth. They soar year round and it's the
home of Texas Soaring Association. That part is as important as the
weather. It matters not how great the weather is if you can't get a
tow. That group has it together and will for a long time.

Regards

Jack Womack

[bagmaker]

pull them up properly and move to Australia!

[[email protected]]

Hours of research has already been done on this very question with over
100 parameters.
N 33'37.17
W81'15.30

This is not a joke and when you scratch your head, remember your
question. R

[Fred]

I DID pull up stakes for the soaring two years ago, and am in Minden.
Good wave (although a little late this year), good XC in the summer,
and world records just waiting to be set. There's a commercial
operation offering tows, oxygen and other support every day of the year
(weather permitting), and the scenery is stunning. Minden's reputation
stretches around the world (we have four Japanese and one British pilot
flying with us this week), and for good reason. We are not without
criticism, as future posters will doubtless point out, but we're
working on the things we can change and I think I made the right
decision. Fred

[Richard]

Erik,

If you want to consider some other factors such as:

Cost of living,
Uncrowded 7500 X 150 Runway, No tower, very little traffic
Excellent Soaring Condition
Rural Area
Temperate Climate
Beautiful Scenery


Look at Siskiyou County, CA
Montague

Link to Mount Shasta Soaring Center http://www.craggyaero.com/mssc/


Richard
www.craggyaero.com

[Frank Whiteley]

You need to keep watching OLC.

Frank Whiteley
Colorado

[Stewart Kissel]

The weather can best be appreciated if one can get
to it....before pulling up stakes one might consider
the ramifications of a blown jug, failed medical, outrageous
increase in commercial insurance rates, development
pressures on airport usage. Unfortunately over time
these seem to work against our sport.

If you intend to self-launch, ignore the above. And
if you are in fact a self-launcher and enjoy desolation...anywhere
in the Great Basin should fit the bill. Otherwise
for the Western US, my humble suggestions would be
in no particular order the metro areas of Albuqurque,
Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Reno, Salt Lake City and
SoCal.. At this time there seem to be enough clubs/commercial
operations to justify a move to one of these areas.
Other opinions may vary. :)

[[email protected]]

If you have to stay in one place, it's hard to beat California City,
Estrella or Minden for good year-round conditions. Tehachapi has more
amenities than Cal City, but the day tends to start a bit later. An
FBO or club with year-round towing is an important consideration. For
me, hangar availability would also score points.

When I was (much) younger, I used to follow the snow from upstate NY to
VT and on to UT in late spring, staying in youth hostels, unguarded
college dorms and the like. Gliders are a bit harder to transport than
skis, unfortunately, and I'm now partial to a certain level of
familiarity and comfort in my living arrangements, but with an RV of
sufficient size, it might be possible to have the best of it. Owning
gliders (or at least shares) in multiple hemispheres would be another
neat solution. Off to buy a winning lottery ticket.....

Ray Warshaw

[[email protected]]

Actually the OLC would suggest moving to Namibia. Farther away, but
less backwards than New Jersey.

[JS]

Namibian weather is great.
Just don't land on property owned by the DeBoers company. They shoot
first, shoot second, burn third, bury fourth, ask questions later.
(you know, those lovely people who insist you to pay 2 years wages for
one of their crystals... or you don't love her)

[Tony Verhulst]

JS wrote:
> Namibian weather is great.
> Just don't land on property owned by the DeBoers company.

De Beers?

[Mary Daniel or David Grah]

I live in and fly from Bishop California. Often when people talk about the
great flying in Minden, California City, or Tehachapi the stories they tell
of best soaring is actually within 60 miles of Bishop. My experience
supports this and Bishop should be on the list.

Here is a related story:

http://home.inreach.com/grahdani/24jul00.htm

"Fred" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I DID pull up stakes for the soaring two years ago, and am in Minden.
> Good wave (although a little late this year), good XC in the summer,
> and world records just waiting to be set. There's a commercial
> operation offering tows, oxygen and other support every day of the year
> (weather permitting), and the scenery is stunning. Minden's reputation
> stretches around the world (we have four Japanese and one British pilot
> flying with us this week), and for good reason. We are not without
> criticism, as future posters will doubtless point out, but we're
> working on the things we can change and I think I made the right
> decision. Fred
>

[Shawn]

Tony Verhulst wrote:
> JS wrote:
>
>> Namibian weather is great.
>> Just don't land on property owned by the DeBoers company.
>
>
> De Beers?

No, de beers is whatcha drink when yer watchin' da Bears

Da Bears!


Shawn
(SNL fan since day one)

[Greg Arnold]

Yes, my experience is that the soaring in the Bishop area is
tremendously better than in the Mojave Desert. The only advantage of
Cal City and Tehachapi is that they are within a reasonable driving
distance of a metropolitan area, which is not true of Bishop.

Although you will not find it on the SSA webpage (wouldn't want to let
SSA members know about any towing operation that has not made the
appropriate payment to the SSA), there is a towplane at Bishop (or at
least was last summer). Rod with his Husky at Hangar One.



Mary Daniel or David Grah wrote:
> I live in and fly from Bishop California. Often when people talk about the
> great flying in Minden, California City, or Tehachapi the stories they tell
> of best soaring is actually within 60 miles of Bishop. My experience
> supports this and Bishop should be on the list.
>
> Here is a related story:
>
> http://home.inreach.com/grahdani/24jul00.htm
>

[[email protected]]

Erik,
My vote would be Warner Springs, California. Commercial operation
with 15 gliders and 4 towplanes. Closed only 2 days a
year-Thanksgiving and Christmas. At least 50 private gliders based
there-everything from Nimbus to 1-26. Check OLC for the consistency of
year round cross country flights out of Warner Springs. Thermals all
year round and wave during much of the year.

Dean Chantiles "GO"
Warner Springs

[303SAM]

What, and have the likes of this crew spoil it all? Mum's the word.
> wrote in message
ups.com...
> If you were pulling up stakes, where would one move to find:
>
> 1. The longest soaring season.
>
> 2. The best x-c conditions, on average.
>
> The OLC would suggest Blairstown, NJ... Any other opinions, with or
> without objective data?
>
> Erik N.
> 5E
>

[Marc Henis]

I've got to go with Blairstown (1N7), too.

Until the OLC, it was really one of US soaring's best
kept secrets. About 7 miles from the Delaware Water
Gap, tows every day with even remotely flyable conditions;
reliable FBO (Yards Creek Soaring), great glider club
(Aeroclub Albatross), and pilots ranging from total
newbies to some of the most skilled in the country.

Now whoda thunk all this was available in the same
State which gave the world Tony Soprano and the New
Jersey turnpike?

Marc Henis
BD


At 19:42 02 May 2006, 303sam wrote:
>What, and have the likes of this crew spoil it all?
> Mum's the word.
> wrote in message
ups.com...
>> If you were pulling up stakes, where would one move
>>to find:
>>
>> 1. The longest soaring season.
>>
>> 2. The best x-c conditions, on average.
>>
>> The OLC would suggest Blairstown, NJ... Any other
>>opinions, with or
>> without objective data?
>>
>> Erik N.
>> 5E
>>
>
>
>

[Maule Driver]

Blairstown without a doubt Erik!

303SAM wrote:
> What, and have the likes of this crew spoil it all? Mum's the word.
> > wrote in message
> ups.com...
>
>>If you were pulling up stakes, where would one move to find:
>>
>>1. The longest soaring season.
>>
>>2. The best x-c conditions, on average.
>>
>>The OLC would suggest Blairstown, NJ... Any other opinions, with or
>>without objective data?
>>
>>Erik N.
>>5E
>>
>
>
>