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why do you soar?
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 I enjoy soaring because it is for me the most interesting form of aviation. The idea of flying for hours using only the lift provided by nature is awesome and elegant. It's also the purest form of aviation: radios and instruments and engines and fuel take a far backseat to making decisions and using the controls. And all of this with more safety and speed than the next closest brother, ultralights. As a pilot, I was always most interested in aerodynamics, and was less interested in instruments, engine management, complex checklists, emergency procedures for fire or engine failure, etc. Sure we still have the necessary complexity of initial launch while soaring, but the rest is pure flying, in its finest form. I often find myself sharing a meal with two other pilots, and one or two non-pilots. The two other pilots eventually start talking about their most harrowing flights and how they cheated death (and then they wonder why the non-pilots won't fly with them). At some point I chime in: "There was this one time, I got up to about 3000 feet, and the engine just totally stopped producing lift. I checked, and there's no oil pressure at all! I thought what should I do? Don't panic, I've trained for this." "So I flew around for a few hours using ridge lift and thermals and then when I got bored I landed back at the airport, drank a beer, and took a nap in the hammock." And then we talk about gliding and eventually everyone at the table is interested and we figure out how to get them down to the gliderport. In the past year I've taken two dozen friends flying gliders and gotten five of them to solo in gliders: all had wide smiles. Soaring for me is simple, cheap, elegant, clean, quiet, and fun. What more could I ask for in a sport? |
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