About Soaring

(photo by Guerry Howard)

Soaring is beautiful…but obscure.

It’s difficult to understand.

It’s almost impossible to describe in words.

Even photographs don’t really do it justice.

Video is better, but when I started flying in the 1960s, YouTube didn’t exist. One televised work then did reach a large audience—a 1967 Sunday night Wonderful World of Disney episode entitled “The Boy Who Flew With Condors.” That, together with a National Geographic article about the same time, introduced soaring to millions and helped spark dramatic growth in the membership of the Soaring Society of America.

A year later, in 1968, the movie The Thomas Crown Affair featured an aerobatic sequence (spoiler alert: flown by a friend of mine, not actor Steve McQueen himself!) set to the Oscar-winning song “The Windmills of Your Mind,” that was more artistically impressive. When I was younger, I took two different girls to see that movie, though neither seemed very impressed.

Sailplanes still pop up in films occasionally, including the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair and Fifty Shades of Grey.

Fortunately, today there are myriad easy-to-access videos, many of which are visually dramatic. For example:

• What Gliding Means is expressive, albeit short on facts.
• This video from the Soaring Society of America (SSA), the U.S. national governing body for gliding and soaring, has more information and features pilots I know at a site (Harris Hill, Elmira, NY) where I’ve flown many contests.
• Visually stunning videos such as this compilation of high-speed low passes are much more effective in communicating what soaring, especially competitive soaring, is all about.
• A Fine Day of Soaring is one of Bruno Vassel’s myriad excellent soaring videos. Bruno is one of the most prolific soaring pilots on YouTube, and his you-are-there-in-the-cockpit videos offer something for everyone. Check out his YouTube channel.

See also the SSA’s site with information on training, racing, soaring sites, membership, and other subjects.