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Show Glider pilots soar to 50th anniversary A group of glider pilots hoped the soaring would be good between Vernal and Heber City as they made their way to the Soaring Society of America's 50th anniversary safari. The weather crimped their plans Sunday as they tried to fly from Colorado. "It was thunderstorms that stumped us out," said the group's unofficial leader, Bill Neese, explaining that the group of four gliders would have flown into Vernal from Hayden, Colo., Sunday. Instead, they drove that part of the trip, pulling the planes in long box-like trailers and assembling them somewhat like balsa wood toy gliders bought at the grocery store. For one of the pilots, the trip is especially exciting. A leg amputee, he is making his first cross country nignt over mountain terrain, different from the North Carolina lowlands he usually flies over. The next leg of the trip was an adventure for the rest of the group, too. They crossed unfamiliar terrain between Duchesne and Heber City. In addition to Neese, a 36-year-old faculty member at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, other members of the group include Dave Dooley, 35, an engineer from Boulder, Colo., Terry Fraser, 35, an English professor at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and Rich Roberts, a glider repairman from Ft. Collins. The fliers started their journey Saturday in Granby near Rocky Mountain National Park. Neese said they had hoped to land in Craig the first day, or perhaps Vernal. "Some of the terrain between Craig and here is unlandable," he said. Glider pilots have to make sure they have opportunity to land in case of emergency, Neese explained. The event in Heber City will be a get-together get-together of glider enthusiasts from across the country. Neese doesn't like the term "convention" because it's too "businesslike." (Continued on page 4) Gliders... (Continued from page 1) He corrected some possible misconceptions about glider flying. One is the name of the pasttime itself enthusiasts like to reter to is as "soaring." Neese and Fraser said a glider, or sailplane, is easier to land than a motorized aircraft because of better control. A sailplane's wings are equipped with spoilers that increase decent dramtically when popped out of the wing. When pulled back, the sailplane will continue to have a glide ratio as high as 30 to 1, said Fraser. The glide ratio is the amount of distance the plane can fly compared to the loss of altitude. Gliders can land in small areas as a result of the fine control, said Neese. Sailplane pilots continually look for updraf ts in air currents in order to stay aloft, which means flying near cloud formations if possible. Fraser refers to it as flying along "cloud streets." Even on clear days, invisible updraf ts can keep a sailplane aloft. The high glide ratio of a sailplane allows it to go from one updraft to another if few and far between. This is why sailplane pilots as a general rule try to stay near mountain ranges, said Neese. Between 40 and 50 mph is the top speed of an older craft such as the one belonging to Neese. His restored wooden plant is about 30 years old. A newer, aerodynamically smoother plane owned by group member Dave Dooley can fly as fast as 80 mph, Neese said. Though they don't have to be licensed pilots for regular aircraft, sailplane pilots have to be licensed after undergoing the same extent of training he added. And because their flying relies soley on air currents, they have to know a lot about meteorology, the study of weather. Sailplanes have to be built to withstand the same rigors as regular aircraft, Neese said. Fraser said a sailplane's long wings make it susceptible to spinning. So, sailplane pilots receive a lot of spin training, about as much as military pilots, he added. |