Where to live with soaring in mind?

"tienshanman" wrote in message
...

I would appreciates some suggestions…..I am looking for the ideal place
to live in the US – for soaring


Take some time to research and visit the places mentioned.

I'm retired and fortunate to be able to live wherever I wish. I moved to
Minden, Nevada mostly for the superb soaring, but also for the scenic
beauty, recreational opportunities, and lots more. I've never seen a place
I'd rather live.

But, this sort of thing is one of those personal decisions that, in the end,
you'll need to decide for yourself. However, you do owe it to yourself to
visit Minden!

bumper
QV & MKIII
zz

On Feb 14, 9:50*am, wrote:
On Feb 14, 2:22*am, tienshanman wrote:

snip ...places to live which have the best combination of

access to good flying, good schools (3 elem school age kids), a
critical mass of interesting people and culture and good weather. One
thing I do not want to do is drive anything more that about 15 – 20 min
to a glider field and I intend to buy a self launching glider if some
sort so I could presumably fly from a small, welcoming GA airport.

Sounds like odds of finding a job in your chosen field isn't a major
criterion - congratulations!

You can soar pretty much anywhere in the US so you need to decide on
your minimum threshold for strength of conditions and soarable months
out of the year. If you want nearly year-round cross-country soaring
you are almost certainly talking about the desert southwest. My
experience is that some of the best soaring locations are more remote
and are far less developed/diverse in terms of cultural offerings and
public school systems - again this is a threshold question (as well as
personal taste - if you like rodeos you are in luck!). One way to
counter the trend for schools is to find University towns such as
Boulder, CO, Austin, TX and Tucson, AZ. I haven't spent much time in
Albuquerque, NM but there is some awesome soaring and I know great
people who fly there. There is a regional contest in Logan, UT near
Salt Lake City this summer that could put that city more on the
soaring map. Dallas, TX appears to have an active soaring community.
If you are okay with winter hibernation it opens up possibilities in
more northern states.

The 20-minute requirement could put serious constraints on your
housing choices in many locations unless you don't care about being at
an airport with an established soaring operation - this is an issue
for me because I prefer flying with friends. Even without a glider
operation finding an airport that close will require a tradeoff in
most places. When I lived in Tucson my home was on the outskirts of
town closest to the El Tiro glider field and it was still a 30-minute
drive.

Best of luck,

9B

If you want to stay married never, ever disclose access to soaring as
a consideration.

Andy's list is pretty complete - I wouldn't criticize any of the
cities he mentions. I don't think anyone in Boulder drives more than
10 minutes to get to the airport - some just ride a bicycle.

US soaring weather is pretty darn good anywhere in the western
mountains and deserts with the exception of a thin strip along the
west coast which is usually under the influence of a marine inversion.

On Feb 14, 12:15*pm, Nyal Williams wrote:
Move to the Mid-west. *Housing is cheap. Thermals don't go very high
(5000agl on the best days) so retrieves are cheap. *Fly only seven months
of the year, so the entire bill is cheap. *Lots of hangar flying in the
winter, and that's cheap.

At 17:30 14 February 2009, Jp Mobo wrote:





redding, sandwiched between a high fire hazard zone and a flood plain

http://www.ci.redding.ca.us/devserv/gis/download.html

desert southwest - dry, lifeless air not good for soaring

At 16:52 14 February 2009, wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:49=A0am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. =A0I moved here 4 years ago for the
soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. =A0Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place
to
live. =A0Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. =A0 Write if there are any questions I
can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email =3D flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA *Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)

Ah yes, Midwest soaring. I spent "Two years, Two months, Too long" in
Minnesota, followed by nearly five years too long in Missouri. The
only good part about the two was the pilots I got to know while
there. The soaring was marginal and unpredictable and the season was
short. Never did get into ice fishing (or is it ice drinking?) in MN.

My criteria was south and west of MN and a true college town to get
the small town atmosphere coupled with all the cultural and health
amenities of larger cites. My commute to work is 1.1 miles and less
than 4 miles to the airport. I think college towns are a big plus for
long term livability.

Can't complain I ended up in one of the best and best kept secrets of
soaring in the world. Thermals to 18K, hundreds of miles of ridge and
wave.

Tim

You have to be west if you want to fly thermals. How far south
depends on how you like your winters. Do you want to ski, or prefer
hiking or some other activity when you're not flying?

Your other requirements are more difficult - culture and critical
mass.

I may be viewing this from the perspective of an ex-patriot pommy, but
I don't find the culture in Phoenix to be all that wonderful and
although I have never lived near Minden, Nevada to me brings up images
of gambling and whores, rather than culture. I'm not sure what you
would describe as a critical mass, either. Despite its 5 million
population, Phoenix doesn't really have many soaring pilots - perhaps
only half a dozen really active ones. Minden and Moriarty score
there, however, with Tucson a bit behind. However, in none of these
places will you be less than about 30 minutes from the field.

The only one that scores on all these areas seems to be Boulder. A
nice culture (lots of well-educated folks), a critical mass of soaring
pilots and an airfield smack downtown that you could walk or bicycle
to. The downside there is the long tow (or self-launch) to the
mountains and the nasty winters.

The best spring and fall flying is probably in Arizona and New
Mexico. The best summer soaring further north in Colorado, Utah and
Nevada.

As others have said, check OLC to see where the cross-country flights
are and how many ships are active - that'll give you a starting
point. Once you have a short-list, I'd suggest you spend some time at
each to get the feel of the places.

Mike

"Mike the Strike" wrote in message
news:7a711894-1a6a-4ad8- although I have never lived near Minden, Nevada to
me brings up images
of gambling and whores, rather than culture.
Mike


Now for clarification, when I posted "recreational opportunities", I was not
referring to either of the above!

I put a quarter in one of them slot machines once . . . didn't even get a
ball of gum out, so I figure they are all a rip-off. Wife won't let me do
the other, so will content myself with soaring, flying the Husky, bicycling
etc.

Minden, NV (Douglas County) is not about those things either. It's a
conservative area as well, which suits me fine.

bumper
zz
QV and MKIII

OK Tim, where do you live, it sounds great?
"Tim Taylor" wrote in message
...
On Feb 14, 12:15 pm, Nyal Williams wrote:
Move to the Mid-west. Housing is cheap. Thermals don't go very high
(5000agl on the best days) so retrieves are cheap. Fly only seven months
of the year, so the entire bill is cheap. Lots of hangar flying in the
winter, and that's cheap.

At 17:30 14 February 2009, Jp Mobo wrote:





redding, sandwiched between a high fire hazard zone and a flood plain

http://www.ci.redding.ca.us/devserv/gis/download.html

desert southwest - dry, lifeless air not good for soaring

At 16:52 14 February 2009, wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:49=A0am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. =A0I moved here 4 years ago for the
soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. =A0Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place
to
live. =A0Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. =A0 Write if there are any questions I
can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email =3D flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)

Ah yes, Midwest soaring. I spent "Two years, Two months, Too long" in
Minnesota, followed by nearly five years too long in Missouri. The
only good part about the two was the pilots I got to know while
there. The soaring was marginal and unpredictable and the season was
short. Never did get into ice fishing (or is it ice drinking?) in MN.

My criteria was south and west of MN and a true college town to get
the small town atmosphere coupled with all the cultural and health
amenities of larger cites. My commute to work is 1.1 miles and less
than 4 miles to the airport. I think college towns are a big plus for
long term livability.

Can't complain I ended up in one of the best and best kept secrets of
soaring in the world. Thermals to 18K, hundreds of miles of ridge and
wave.

Tim

On Feb 14, 1:57*pm, "Fred Blair"
wrote:
OK Tim, where do you live, it sounds great?"Tim Taylor" wrote in message

...
On Feb 14, 12:15 pm, Nyal Williams wrote:



Move to the Mid-west. Housing is cheap. Thermals don't go very high
(5000agl on the best days) so retrieves are cheap. Fly only seven months
of the year, so the entire bill is cheap. Lots of hangar flying in the
winter, and that's cheap.

At 17:30 14 February 2009, Jp Mobo wrote:

redding, sandwiched between a high fire hazard zone and a flood plain

http://www.ci.redding.ca.us/devserv/gis/download.html

desert southwest - dry, lifeless air not good for soaring

At 16:52 14 February 2009, wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:49=A0am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. =A0I moved here 4 years ago for the
soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. =A0Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place
to
live. =A0Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. =A0 Write if there are any questions I
can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email =3D flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)

Ah yes, Midwest soaring. I spent "Two years, Two months, Too long" in
Minnesota, followed by nearly five years too long in Missouri. *The
only good part about the two was the pilots I got to know while
there. *The soaring was marginal and unpredictable and the season was
short. *Never did get into ice fishing (or is it ice drinking?) in MN.

My criteria was south and west of MN and a true college town to get
the small town atmosphere coupled with all the cultural and health
amenities of larger cites. My commute to work is 1.1 miles and less
than 4 miles to the airport. *I think college towns are a big plus for
long term livability.

Can't complain I ended up in one of the best and best kept secrets of
soaring in the world. *Thermals to 18K, hundreds of miles of ridge and
wave.

Tim

Maybe it is Parowan, right next to a great ski resort too I understand

On Feb 14, 2:57*pm, "Fred Blair"
wrote:
OK Tim, where do you live, it sounds great?"Tim Taylor" wrote in message

Sorry Fred, was trying to keep it a secret (at least until Region 9
North this summer).

Logan, Utah home of Utah State University in Northern Utah about 80
miles north of Salt Lake City.

You can view the area and turnpoints on the WW TP Exchange by clicking
on the google maps link or the Google Earth link. The turnpoints were
just posted this week.

Logan is consistently on the safest small cities list (http://
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-est...es-84379.html).

Also best place to retire young (http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/
article/102845/best-places-to-retire-young&.pf=retirement).

Great small town with SLC only an hour and a half away if you really
need to visit something bigger.

Search this group for "Ridge Running in Northern Utah" and you can
see the ridge potential. We don't bother to rig if you can't do 300K,
a good day is 500K and I expect to see a 1000K out of Logan in the
next two years. You can seach OLC for Logan and see many flights over
the last few years.

The airport is a former WWII base similar to Minden with three runways
(two active). Mountains are less than four miles from the airport,
yet many good fields to land in if needed. This summers contest will
be about a week after the peak of the season, but it should still be
very good. The conditions peak about the last week of July to first
week of August. We are north of the monsoon line so don't usually get
the OD of southern UT and Arizona.

Tim Taylor wrote:
On Feb 14, 2:57 pm, "Fred Blair"
wrote:
OK Tim, where do you live, it sounds great?"Tim Taylor" wrote in message

Sorry Fred, was trying to keep it a secret (at least until Region 9
North this summer).

Logan, Utah home of Utah State University in Northern Utah about 80
miles north of Salt Lake City.

You can view the area and turnpoints on the WW TP Exchange by clicking
on the google maps link or the Google Earth link. The turnpoints were
just posted this week.

Logan is consistently on the safest small cities list (http://
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-est...es-84379.html).

Also best place to retire young (http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/
article/102845/best-places-to-retire-young&.pf=retirement).

Great small town with SLC only an hour and a half away if you really
need to visit something bigger.

Search this group for "Ridge Running in Northern Utah" and you can
see the ridge potential. We don't bother to rig if you can't do 300K,
a good day is 500K and I expect to see a 1000K out of Logan in the
next two years. You can seach OLC for Logan and see many flights over
the last few years.

The airport is a former WWII base similar to Minden with three runways
(two active). Mountains are less than four miles from the airport,
yet many good fields to land in if needed. This summers contest will
be about a week after the peak of the season, but it should still be
very good. The conditions peak about the last week of July to first
week of August. We are north of the monsoon line so don't usually get
the OD of southern UT and Arizona.


Is the soaring as good as Parowan?

At 21:35 14 February 2009, bumper wrote:

I put a quarter in one of them slot machines once . . . didn't even get
a
ball of gum out, so I figure they are all a rip-off. Wife won't let me
do
the other, so will content myself with soaring, flying the Husky,
bicycling
etc.

Minden, NV (Douglas County) is not about those things either. It's a
conservative area as well, which suits me fine.

It all depends on what the meaning of the word "culture" is. Keep in
mind that if you pick a conservative enough region of Nevada, you can have
as many wives as you want. Or as many as you can stand.

Jim Beckman