| Show I i I 4 3 q J ti R j k EVERETT WELLS G ZES OVER the open canopy on the fuselage of his hit glider towards the direction whence rf It come came The silhouetted Wells Well looks the longingly at pattern In the sky created by the g sun as if he is mysteriously being c tolled back bock to the area where he achieves a feeling of calmness and serenity 1 r a w EVERETT AND NINA ELLS New York State residents disengage the wings m their glider following Everetts Everett's three hour flight from f I ber er City during a thunderstorm on Friday afternoon They ode ade the trip from New York to participate in the Mount n Pilots Rendezvous in Heber held two weeks ago Utah t ri not oy oly for th birds Friday August 12 was not the kind of day that one would want to wander through the fields rest underneath a large tree or go flying in a light plane Thunderstorms abounded the area complete with lightning strikes on the ground one even struck a tree near the Ross Merrill farmhouse causing the tree to catch on fire Yet if you happened to look lookup lookup lookup up in the sky south of town during the mid-afternoon mid you would have noticed a strange object floating down from the skies It appeared too large for fora a bird and too small for the light aircraft that can be seen circling circling circling cir cir- cling the airport from time time to time As incredulous as it seems it becomes obvious that a glider is about to land at Vernal Airport An occurrence that is as likely to happen as a snowflake landing landing landing lan lan- ding during August or even December for that matter IT CAME TO pass that the glider pilot Everett Wells of Norwich N NY Y had made the flight from Heber City where he had just concluded a week-long week rendezvous with approximately 25 other glider The annual together get-together for re-born re eagles appropriately named The Mountain Pilots Rendezvous Rendezvous Rendezvous Ren Ren- predominately draws pilots from the western states with an occasional New York Stater or Minnesotan The seven fifty-seven year-old year Wells left his wife Nina with their truck and trailer and started on ona ona ona a path to Vernal with hopes of turning around and catching the lifts back to Heber lIeber WHILE FLYING over Duchesne he noticed a storm to his north and immediately requested information from a land based radio lie He was told the storm would stay in the mountains whereupon he changed his course to circumvent cir circumvent cir cir- the problem area Bythe Dy By the time he reached Vernal the storm had managed to close in inon inon inon on him threatening him with lightning and quick strong updrafts that could virtually chew his plane apart Quickly recognizing the danger the glider instructor of three years radioed back to Heber to inform his wife o of his decision to put down at Vernal where he would wait for her to bring up the glider trailer behind their truck and camper Now it was Ninas Nina's turn to face the stormy stonny elements as she trudged through the construction construction construction con con- site on US U.S. 40 east of Heber City during the storm 1 hat at had just missed Everett fter fler more than three and a if hours of fighting th the storm bule ale lile hauling an empty thirty- thirty Art t trailer she pulled up arlly to the Vernal Airport j in time to begin disman- disman tl II tl i im Ii the glider for loading It 1 was a fatiguing trip for Y U 7 M VB hotl boti W but but ones that were safely ma E r rU tt began soaring a scant 9 y rs ago at the age of 48 Inthe in inthe the Soaring Capital of the wo d Elmira NY He fulfilled an ambition that began in Lordon England during World wn Va 11 w where ere he was a military wet wc weatherman herman and had the op- op por to witness the mil military ary g iders g in Inaction action j 1 n VING from the buil ng cof cor construction field he can r row w tak the he time to pursue his hobbies h lie le cites the great soaring lifts n the west as the main mam reason reason for or traveling out here he fhe is fairly flat and cant can't get t tte lift that the ire re fortunate to tons have tj Welly Wel ment ns os that the cost involved wit with soaring are not prohibitive I l b points his own bird out as an an The 4 pound metal and nd fabric glider a would cost about nc new nev He mentioned that an old wooden woden one could be picked u of for or around The enjoyed the beauty and o of the Vernal area fo for fOl a few days before to the East Coast They that they have been to locking forward to coming to this rea for quite a while because f the reputation of the The W Wells Walls enjoyed the beauty and relaxation relaxation atlon of the Vernal area a few days before heading beading back bick to the East Coast They mentioned that they have been looking forward to coming to this area for quite a while because of the reputation of the Dinosaur Na lonal Park and the Flaming Gorge area When ask asked why he took up gliding and continues to do it Wells summed it up by stating staling Do what you vant want todo to-do not what you have haw to do A watermelon it is 92 81 percent water |
