why do you soar?

Tom Seim wrote:
This type of adrenaline rush is what attracts people to our sport.
They don't like to admit (I took some heat when I characterized them
as "adrenaline junkies"), but it is true. We want to subscribe to some
higher calling, such as "the thrill of the flight". But we are
deluding ourselves: we want to expose ourselves to danger and escape -
producing the adrenaline rush. Knowing this can protect us; there is a
limit, if we cross it we WILL DIE.

I was a carrier pilot in the Navy, and I am a (lapsed, for the moment)
glider pilot. I also rock climb as a sport.

Some attractive parts of Navy flying were about cheating death, e.g.,
night carrier landings. But other parts were about the feeling you get
through the ability to move in ways not possible otherwise, kind of like
dancing I guess. My absolute most enjoyable flights were post
maintenance checks on the jet on a blue sky/towering cumulus days, where
once the check was done, I could loop and dive around the clouds,
popping through tunnels in the clouds, loop inverted with the cloud tops
just below my canopy, and even hang at zero airspeed for a second in a
narrow vertical tunnel. None of this had to do with cheating death. It
was all about freedom of movement.

Can't do any of those things in a glider, yet somehow I get the same
sensation of freedom of movement. Especially in wave or ridge. So there
are other attractions, for sure.

When I want adrenaline, I go rock climbing.

I was a carrier pilot in the Navy, and I am a (lapsed, for the moment)
glider pilot. I also rock climb as a sport.

Some attractive parts of Navy flying were about cheating death, e.g.,
night carrier landings. But other parts were about the feeling you get
through the ability to move in ways not possible otherwise, kind of like
dancing I guess. My absolute most enjoyable flights were post
maintenance checks on the jet on a blue sky/towering cumulus days, where
once the check was done, I could loop and dive around the clouds,
popping through tunnels in the clouds, loop inverted with the cloud tops
just below my canopy, and even hang at zero airspeed for a second in a
narrow vertical tunnel. None of this had to do with cheating death. It
was all about freedom of movement.

And you got paid to do this while somebody else paid for the fuel and
maintenance. Ain't fair (I'm jealous)!


Can't do any of those things in a glider, yet somehow I get the same
sensation of freedom of movement. Especially in wave or ridge. So there
are other attractions, for sure.

When I want adrenaline, I go rock climbing.

I gave up rock climbing years ago. And I don't go flying for an
adrenaline rush (which doesn't last very long in any case). Flying for
me is about freedom and testing one's flying abilities. Along the way
you get to meet some great people. This is what keeps people in the
sport however they might have come to it. It is one of the most
beautiful sports in the world, and that is the best way to promote it.
I don't think that blasting recklessly thru uncontrolled airports,
violating FARs in the process, is the way to do it.

Tom

At 06:24 07 October 2003, Tango4 wrote:
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
and danced the skies on laughter silvered wings.
.......

High Flight Says most of it for me.

http://www.deltaweb.co.uk/spitfire/hiflight.htm

Ian

Yep.

For me it's about kinetics: balancing weight, motion,
gravity in three dimensions above a three dimensional
world. It is a lot like dancing the waltz but it is
much more slippery than that.

Now, someone is going to correct me and say that it
is mass instead of weight, etc. but engineering terms
do not convey sensations.

"Deftly they opened the brain of a child and it was full of
flying dreams" Stanley Kunitz. (Kunitz was the U.S. poet Laureate 2000-2001)

I have always wanted to fly. I always had dreams of flying. Prior to
flying, I would take week long hikes in the mountains. I loved the
altitude, I loved looking out over the valley. Looking down from the
peak, I would see the birds soaring below me; I would wish that I could
be there in the air with the birds.

During my college days, a friend's family had a beach cabin at Kitty
Hawk, N.C. During summer breaks, we would travel to the beach cabin.
Francis Rogallo owned the cabin next door. The friendship that
developed with Rogallo during the 60's further increased my desire to
fly. At the time, his hang glider more closely resembled today's
parasail. The wing had no rigid pipes and was controlled by wing
warping with two control lines. He would tether the hang glider to the
beach and fly with the strength of the ocean winds. He would give
"rides" to non experienced pilots. With the "passenger" strapped in,
Rogallo would 'fly' the glider like a kite from the ground with two long
control lines. It was my desire and dream to fly his glider like a sea
gull over the beach. Unfortunatly, I never got to go for the ride. The
winds necessary were never strong enough during my visits.

Hang gliders start gaining in popularity, but since I lived in flat
Florida, they weren't an option. I took what I thought was the next
logical step; I learned to fly power planes. It was boring. It wasn't
real flying, it was operating a machine. The person who taught me to
fly was also a tow pilot at a commercial glider operation.

I went to the glider operation and took my first glider ride. I was
hooked. I continued with lessons and transitioned to the old 2-32.
Now, this was flying. Although I loved flying gliders, I still had the
nagging feeling in my brain that it wasn't quite close enough. The
glider was still a machine. There had to be something that was still
closer to 'real flying'. The old thoughts of Rogallo's hang glider
lingered in my brain.

In the mid 70's, I called Rogallo and asked him if he could teach me to
fly a hang glider. He turned down by request for two reasons. One was
that he wasn't a flying teacher and the second was that a hang gliding
school had been created on Jockey's Ridge. I went up to Kitty Hawk to
rekindle an old friendship and learn to fly hang gliders. The wind gods
were favorable and I finally learned to fly.

The next step was a flight off of Lookout Mountain, a height of 1200'.
I flew out over the valley and I finally saw a flock of birds flying
below me. The feeling that I felt at that moment is the answer to your
question of, "why do we soar"

There is more to my story and I am back flying sail planes, but the
question has been answered.


JuanM wrote:
I'm working on a video and a print project on soaring, and would appreciate
receiving your collective input. We all love this special sport, and are
always trying to convey its uniqueness to strangers.

I would appreciate if you can write a SHORT paragraph about why soaring (and
soaring competition if that is what you do) is so special to you. Why do you
do it? What does it mean to you? How important is it in your life? You can
post here or email me at . Let me know if I can quote your name
or if you would rather remain anonymous.

I will be posting news on the video project here soon.

Thank you very much!

Juan Mandelbaum
"Z8"

My brain has always been full of flying dreams.
When I was a child, the Gemini and Apollo launches usually took place around
my birthday and I felt they were done for me. I loved the thought of the
adventure those men were having and wanted to be an astronaut and have
adventures.
In high school, they offered ground school as an elective. When I went up
in a Cessna I couldn't find the adventure.
I had a little problem with authority in my teens and didn't pursue the
astronaut dream because of the route through the military.
Out of college, I took up SCUBA. Gliding out over a carribean wall that
dropped off into the blue felt like flying.
My wife sent me to a glider field as a birthday present and I was hooked.
The challenge, the freedom, and having an adventure every weekend are what
keep me coming back.
At my first contest, on three consecutive days I set personal bests for the
farthest and the fastest I'd ever flown.

The challenge, freedom, adventure, and the opportunity to associate with
and learn from some of the best people on the planet, doing what we all
love, is what soaring's all about for me.

(sometimes we're a--holes on RAS, but that doesn't count)

Brent

"m pautz" wrote in message
news:5MTib.557995$Oz4.510730@rwcrnsc54...
"Deftly they opened the brain of a child and it was full of
flying dreams" Stanley Kunitz. (Kunitz was the U.S. poet Laureate
2000-2001)