Paul Briggs

xxxxxxxxxxxxxPaul Briggs, ready for take-off, Day 1. Parowan


Paul Briggs is a friendly, easy going man who is eager to learn. He works at Brycon Construction as a Project Manager. The owner of Brycon is one of our club members, Bill Lemon.

Paul was born in California, grew up in Maine and moved to New Mexico 7 years ago from Colorado. He has been married to Patricia, a native of Sante Fe, for the past two years.

Paul started in aviation by flying paragliders 7 years ago. He was on a Mount McKinley climbing rescue team at the same time a French group of paragliders attempting to bag all the highest peaks in every continent. He saw them soar off the mountain and through the clouds. He decided that was cool, and thought flying paragliders would be a good addition to climbing at the time. Ten years went by before he took paraglider lessons. x

This interview took place in Parowan, Utah at the Region 9 soaring contest. Paul has been a sailplane pilot for only two years yet he bravely entered the contest. His experience is worth reading for both neophytes and seasoned pilots. x








Parowan, Region 9 Contest, June 22, 2008
Day 1. x

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Paul, how did you get into flying gliders?x

I was flying paragliders for 5 years and I had an accident, I broke my back, not too badly but I couldn’t fly paragliders and really wanted to fly. My mother was driving me around because my back was so messed up. My paragliding guru said, “If you want to fly, it is hard to fly paragliders in the summer here. If you want to fly anything in New Mexico, sailplanes are the thing to fly.” x
So I went to see Rick at Sundance Aviation. I looked at the cockpit of a glider and I said, “With my back messed up, I can get in but I don’t think I can get out.” I told Rick that I would start lessons in a couple of weeks when I was able to get enough mobility that I could sit in the cockpit. I started lessons 2 years ago.x

Is this your first glider contest?x

This is my first glider contest, though not my first contest. I flew paragliders in contests down in Brazil and also in Mexico.x

How does this compare to paraglider contests?x

They are very similar, of course the starts are on a hillside with a paraglider and everybody gaggles up and you’re basically hanging in a lawn-chair and you can yell at somebody if they get too close. Here you are flying at 60 miles an hour or more and it is a little more intimidating because you have blind spots in a sailplane that you don’t have in a paraglider. x

The tasks are similar, but in paragliders you don’t have the multiple choice tasks (MATs) which are extremely challenging to figure out. And the glide ratio in a paraglider is 5 to 1, while a glider is 40 to 1. That’s a big difference.x

This is Day 1 of the contest, what is some of the advice you have been given?x

Some of the rules, I mean they tipped me off to a bunch of the rules. Although I read the rules over and over again and thought I understood them. When you actually come to pay attention to them and have to fly to them there is big gaps between what you read and what you remember. x
For example, 17,500ft MSL is the maximum height you can fly. I did not remember that so I would have busted that repeatedly along with the start cylinder. x

Some of the advice I got about how to handle the start cylinder was coming out the top or staying within the lower level for 2 minutes and then coming out the side. There are a bunch of strategies. I spend a bunch of time in the beginning just getting comfortable with the day and am not flying as well as I do later in the day. So knowing the start cylinder is really important.x

How does it feel in the beginning when you are waiting for the start and you are in a gaggle?x

You know that is not too bad for me. I thought it might be a little intimidating but once I get into the cockpit I am pretty focused on the tow-plane and my flying. My world becomes my world and the rest of the distractions don’t matter to me. Once I am in the plane I am ready to go.x

I have heard a lot of pilots say they tried to leave a thermal at 17,200 ft but were pushed up to over 17,500 on the way out. What is your strategy for staying under 17,500 ft MSL? x

I start looking at it early on and judge the lift. And try to time my circle so that when I come to the back side of it I can really plant my stick so that I can pick up all the energy I possibly can coming out the front side where I know the sink is going to be so that I am already plowing through it. x

What is the difference between a MAT and a TAT?x

(Laughter) You better ask somebody who knows what they are talking about. That’s classic, because that’s the thing, I have an idea what the MAT’s are and I know what the AAT’s are, I mean I have read this stuff, but to actually go out and fly it… I am basically trying to figure it out as I go. x

You can’t just read how to do it, you end up making mistakes. For example, you are up in the air and you are trying to get the multiple choice turn-points. How do you figure that out? You have a PDA where the screen is so small, you zoom in and there’s about 1,000 turn-points. So you look at your chart and you really don’t have a good sense of it. There are a lot of challenges that way with the MATs. x

So far, what is the most intimidating part of this contest for you?x

Probably it’s being around the big guns. The guys who really know what they are doing. And feeling like you could just disrupt the whole operation by screwing up. That’s probably the biggest thing.x

What types of things are you thinking about when you are starting to come back from the task?x

That is another trick. I think in the middle of the task flying fast is pretty easy in Parowan because of the terrain. But the start is difficult and the final glide seems to be critical in sailplane contests. Figuring out how to burn up that altitude or not land out 2 miles away is a real trick. x

How important is it to have a crew person at a glider contest?x

With all the little tricks to come set up I think it would be crazy to come without the support of crew. For example, the last minute, 5 or 10 minutes before launch you have little wishes that you need to take care of to get rid of your nervousness. If you have a good crew, he takes care of it. He may give you a chart that is better than the chart you have in the cockpit. It is very comforting. x




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DAY 2, June 23, 2008.x



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How do you think your day went?x

Today I started off a little sloppy. I almost made another beginner mistake by coming out the wrong start cylinder but realized that and went back down. x

When I started I hit some severe turbulence and my back-up PDA fell out of my pouch and went down below my feet and I couldn’t reach it. So I was afraid it was going to jam the rudder. But after I got that all settled I started to feel comfortable. After about an hour my flying started to improve. x

What do you think your average speed was?x

I don’t know, I think somewhere in the 90’s (kilometers), a lot slower than yesterday. The lift seemed weaker and I didn’t seem to be as aggressive.x

How was the final glide today?x

I didn’t know how to handle the final glide. Our minimum task time was 3 ½ hours and because I didn’t go deep into the cylinders in the beginning and the later ones just dumped you off in the blue sky. So you would dodge out in the blue sky and then come back into the cloud. x

I dodged into the hillside at Cedar City really low expecting that I would get out of there but I couldn’t go any deeper into the turn cylinder or into the final turn cylinder so I came back with a half hour left to go. I knew you got dinged a penalty for that. I didn’t know if it was all the points or not, I know now. So I got stinking high on top of the ridge with 20 minutes left to go to the minimum task. I was so, so high! I just floated around an extra half hour up there. When I did come in it was bubbly.x

What is the penalty for coming in early?x

I will have to check for sure but I think it is that they take your time and speed and divide it by the minimum task time. So if you had a screaming speed today and finished in 1 hour they would divide it by 3 ½ hours anyways.x

Were you at the minimum altitude for your final glide today? Were you at least 500 ft AGL?x

I was at 5,000 feet! I was so high I had my airbrakes on for 20 minutes. I could have flown over to Cedar Breaks. I could have flown all over the place. x

How did you feel about the tail-wind when you were taking off this morning?x

I don’t feel comfortable with a tail-wind and a downhill runway. The Pegasus has very poor aileron control until it gets up and running. It is worse taking off downhill.x

I seem to be getting the same damn tow-pilot. He comes out and hooks up to me, puts a slack in the rope of about 5 feet and then jerks me. The people trying to run my wing get it jerked out of their hand.x

What did you learn today?x

I learned a bunch! This vario-task stuff is so tricky because you have a radius and you can just tag the way-point and then leave. Or you can go to the actual center which is the way-point or you can go that radius difference beyond. If you don’t do that and get distance in the beginning there is no way you can make it up in the end. So you almost have to take a little bit of a risk in the beginning, go deeper in there so you can hedge your time. x

I came out 30 minutes too early today. If I had gone into the first turn cylinder a lot further…I would have burned up that task at top speed and would not have come in so early. But, the turnpoint area lift looked kind of dicey and I wasn’t flying as confidently today. x

June 24, 2008. Day 3.x

Paul, how did day three go for you?x

Today was fantastic but challenging. x

I had another downwind launch and take-off. I find those disconcerting. We scraped along the ridge for a little while. That was hard. But once I got up high it was a beautiful day. It was just fantastic flying.x

What do you think was the most difficult part of the task today?x

The difficult part was when the cloud streets ran out. x

I was a little nervous coming onto the final turn-point, because the cloud street ended quite a bit sooner than the final turn-point. But I had enough altitude saved up that I could make it into the cylinder about 3 or 4 minutes before turning out. It turned out pretty good.x

How was the gaggle in the beginning?x

I felt comfortable because RX was in there. And BG which I know is a real good pilot. I was probably the weakest of the 3 pilots in the gaggle. I knew they were probably watching out for me. I feel pretty comfortable with gaggles. I checked in with RX and he said I did OK.x

How many people are in a typical gaggle in a paragliding contest compared to a sailplane contest?x

There can be up to 60 people in a paragliding gaggle. It is so deep that you are only paying attention to about 10 people.xx

How many people are normally in a sailplane gaggle? x

So far, the most I have been in is maybe 5. But again, two of them may be really low, two may be really high, so you are really just flying with one person.x

What do you think your average speed was today?x

I think it was substantially slower than even my practice day. Because I was out there fumbling around trying to get high, making a jump at the very end. And it wasn’t necessary, there was a consistent lift and I just botched it by spending too much time floundering around in the beginning. My speed was probably in the 80’s or 90’s (kilometers.)x

What did you learn today?x

My PDA went on the blink and I couldn’t figure out how to punch the MacGready in there. I will have to take it home and figure out how to do that. It just fritzed out on me. What I could do yesterday I couldn’t do today. x

This is the third day of the contest. Do you think your skill level is increasing?x

You know I am getting really comfortable with the glides. I look forward to the glides, so I think yes, my skill level is increasing. It has probably doubled from what it was a week ago.x

Did you have a good time today?x

Incredible! Yep. I did not put as much pressure on myself. I think it is just a matter of staying consistent. I botched the first day so I am really out of the running and can’t hope to achieve much. I can just be consistent.x

June 25, 2008. Day 4.x

Paul, how do you think today went?x

It went very good. Except for the fact I didn’t know how to push the stick forward very well. I was catching thermals in the blue areas by reading the terrain below. I am pretty happy about that. But I stayed in the ratty thermals too long. I wasn’t willing to make leaps out into the blue space without getting as high as I possibly could, which meant I spent way too long in ratty thermals.x

So the blue skies are a little bit intimidating?x

Not too bad…because early on I got a good sense that there was going to be a bunch of thermals. And to the north you could see the cumulus developing so you had to assume that the thermal activity was as good down south, it just wasn’t reaching dew-point. It wasn’t too bad.
Again, reading the terrain around here makes it a little easier because you can follow the ridges and you have to believe that things are going to bubble up the ridges.x

What was your lesson for day 4?

Fly faster! Do not stay in ratty thermals. If it is not going up, or it is starting to fall apart, get out of there. I stayed in it way too long so I had the slowest speed of the entire race so far.x




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June 26, 2008. Day 5.x




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Paul, tell me how day 5 was different from the other days.x

It was a blue day and it was extremely difficult flying conditions for me. After seeing the other flights it seems that other people had better flights and did a better job than I did. x

I had a real difficult time getting away. I got off tow and I couldn’t get high. I just bobbled around 10,000 feet. Sometimes I got up to 12,000 feet, which is the top of the start window and then I’d just get slammed back down. x

About 45 minutes after start I got as high as I thought I could get, which was something like 12,500 ft., and started off down course. x

I headed off down course and immediately found nothing. I kept getting flushed, and had to spill off the ridge over towards Panguach airport. I was thinking I was going to land at the Panguach airport right after start which was really discouraging. I dodged it to the cliffs and found lift and wind. The whole day went just like that.x

Two of our club members landed out today. Did you come close to landing-out?x

A couple of things happened that were pretty new to me. I found myself following a plane across the valley. I followed him to what might have been a good idea of going into high terrain but in the back of my mind I knew it was leside. I got over there and I got hammered. I kept trying to follow the mountain around in 600 to 800 ft/per minute sink down hoping to round the terrain into the lift. x

I kept following it around and started to chant “I’m backing myself into a corner, I’m backing myself into a corner.” Again, I had to turn and follow the terrain down towards the fields.
I got so damn low that my only safety was to dodge into a field. I was aiming for some hot rocks and I caught a little altitude that brought me right over this little tiny ranch airport that was hardly discernable from the air. You could just tell the grading in the ground that it was a ranch airstrip. I circled around it setting up for a landing. I was so damn low I could see the backyard of the ranch and the BBQ. It was bad, I was probably at 8,000 ft MSL (about 1,000 ft above the ground.)x

In retrospect, is there anything you would have done differently?

I think the only thing I could have done differently is not back myself into a corner by walking around the edge of the mountain. I probably shouldn’t have gone across. I knew the ridge was working well and I had already flown up it, I could easily have gone down it. I found myself coming too close to backing myself into a corner, leaving me no options. I was ground skimming and could see each individual sagebrush. That was too close.x

June 27, 2008. Day 6.x

AM. What is your strategy for today?x

Today they predict blue skies. I am just going to start the day as a new day. I am not going to look back on the other days. I am not going to say, “Well, I am going to modify my strategy to make it different from yesterday.” I am just going to go up, I am going to try to do the same thing I am suppose to be doing. I am going to get up, stay high and go far.x

PM. How did the race go today?x

Today was fantastic. It was predicted to be a blue day and it was not. There were nice beautiful cumies up by Bryce or Wayne's World, whatever it is called. x

I had a good start and I stayed high the whole time. I got to fly a little faster and never had the worries of landing out. x

How fast do you think you went today?x

As far as the rest of the guys, not real fast, but for me, faster than I had been the past few days. Well, maybe not as fast as the practice days. x

I noticed you made it back in good time. Were you able to complete the task?x

I completed the entire task and I really watched the computer this time. I am not sure if I came in under or maybe a few minutes over. Figuring it out on my watch I should be plus or minus 5 minutes. I will be disappointed if I blew the time.x

What did you learn today?x

When you are having a good day and the thermals seem to be popping up you need to change gears and push even harder. Billy told me that if you are on final glide and you’ve got a little lift don’t try to pull up at all, push forward and just burn it up. I did that on the way home and it was great fun screaming across the ground. x

What are your predictions for tomorrow?x

I think it is going to be fantastic! We had cumulus clouds and moisture moving in this afternoon. We weren’t supposed to have any. Tomorrow might start with more cumies. It will make for a real easy flying day so we can go far and fast. x

How do you like the classes they have every morning before the meetings?x

I was just telling my crew John about that. That is probably the most valuable part of the day for me. I get to go out and practice what I heard the first half hour of the day. There are so many little tips that you just would never stumble upon in a million years. It just seems to be common tribal knowledge among these guys. A lot of it was exposed this week. I can’t wait until next year to try it all again. x

How do you feel about the learning curve in a contest like this?x

(Laughter). I thought it would be a sharp curve and I thought I would be at the beginning of it, but I realized that it is way sharper than I expected. I have got a long, long way to go. There is so much to learn. It is so complicated that this is going to be fun for years and years. Aviation is like that.x

June 28, 2008. Final Day. x

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(Paul landed out and did not make it back to the airport for the final interview. This interview took place in Taos on July 11, 2008.)x

Tell me about your last day in Parowan. How did it start?x

I felt really good about the day. I thought I was going to be tired but I woke up and felt full of energy. x

I had a great start. I had great thermals. I watched the time. I came out of the start cylinder probably two minutes after it started. x

I got sky high and went off. I stayed high. Hit the first turn point and felt like I was flying really fast. I was following the textbook, going through the lift band, hitting 11,000 ft and getting back up again. I did that over and over again. I was very happy because I wasn’t stopping in any garbage thermals like I had been this week. x

I started heading down towards the second turn point and realized it just didn’t seem right. It seemed as though the PDA was not sending me to the right place. I couldn’t see the PDA very well so I put on my cheater bifocals and looked at it and thought, “Son-of-a-bitch! I have yesterday’s task in there!”x

Oh No! What did you decide to do after that?x

I was already into the task an hour and 15 minutes. I plowed into what I thought was the first turn cylinder. I was thermalling really well, centering really easily, and then things fell apart. Then the radio started to blink showing me I had a low battery. So I turned the radio off.
I changed PDA’s. I found out that I had set up the backup PDA just like I did the first. I spent a lot of time looking. I spent too much time in the cockpit. Then all of a sudden I lost my thermalling ability. I was down south and it wasn’t quite as good. I pulled back and said, “Screw it, the day is over.” I decide to just finish the rest of the task as if I just started it. I just manually punched the turn points into my PDA.x

Do you think that realizing you plugged in the wrong task affected your ability to soar?x

I am still thinking about that. Because I think, yes, initially I was upset and I thought, “Damn-it, this would have been a good day! “ Then I said to myself “Put it aside, move on. You’ve already blown the contest on the first day. You are going to do everything you possibly could well. Do it well from this point on.” x

Then I tried to refocus but in the back of my mind I was wondering, have I lost focus because I am not thermally well? x

Then when I went to zig across back to what would have been the third turn point in the real task and I fell out of the sky. I couldn’t find lift. I did search patterns like I had normally done all week, got through them and moved on to the next one. All of a sudden I kept getting lower and lower. Then I landed out.x

Where did you land out?x

I landed out in what I call the dead airman’s field. I was supposed to be Bryce Woodlands, but when I landed there the guy who came up and helped me, Jim, said no, that was three miles away. It was Crystal Springs RV Park and airfield. x

Did you land on a runway?x

It was difficult to tell. I was coming in and I could see a vague outline of what might be a runway. I kept saying to myself, “Maybe the road is better than this runway.” When I got closer and closer you could tell the runway hadn’t been used for years. I later found out that the guy who had bladed off the runway died 5 or 6 years earlier on an approach to this runway. It hadn’t been used since. x

How long did you have to wait for your crew?x

It was clockwork. I hit the help button on my SPOT and then this guy Jim in a Suzuki drove me up to a place where I could get cell phone coverage. John had already gotten the SPOT message and had the coordinates punched into his GPS. He was assuming he would hear from me, which he did. He got on the road and it took about hour and a half to get me. x
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As soon as I hung up with John my wife happens to call. I said “Whoa, you got my SPOT message!” She said, “No, I am just calling.” I said, “I landed out.” She asks if I was OK. I said yes. Then she said, “Oh, by the way, I am at the mall…” She went on talking about shopping and didn’t seem to care that I had landed out. (Laughter.)x

How do you feel about the SPOT?x

It is awesome! It is invaluable. I bought it for my motorcycle and for my fishing. For the glider I have to set it up so that it is sitting on my parachute now. x x

The SPOT works flawlessly. If your crew knows you need help, or if your wife supposedly knows you need help (chuckle), you just push a button to get a retrieve. The GPS in my glider did not give correct coordinates for my car GPS, but the SPOT did. x

Do you have a land-out check list?x

No. That was one of my other beginner mistakes. I went to Parowan with 3 or 4 check lists in my computer. The goal was to laminate them and put them in the trailer, the car and the glider. They never made it there. x

Before I left, Howard Banks told my crew, John that it was likely that I would land out. So don’t forget my wing stands, which I think Mitch’s crew did. That turned his retrieve into a much longer retrieve. With a check list I suppose they wouldn’t have forgotten their wing stands.
There was a day I forgot my cell phone at the cabin. If I had a check list that wouldn’t have happened. x

After flying in a contest for 10 days, you may think you are feeling pretty crisp but you are definitely wearing down. You can make mistakes. Check lists are imperative. x

Your crew member is your brother-in-law, John. How did he do?x

As a beginner you have to have a really good crew. It takes so much stress off from the competition. If you have somebody who doesn’t have a thick ego and is willing to help you out and go the extra mile, it makes the whole contest a joy.x

So he was awesome?x

He was better than awesome! He really was.x

Now that the contest is over and you have a few days to think about it, tell me about your overall experience. x

I have a couple of thoughts that go through my mind. It was an incredible learning experience. It was totally different than what I had expected. It was not a competition, my sister came up with the word, it was a coopertition. The people were real cooperative. A beginner should go to something like this because they will learn so much. x

If you don’t go there with the idea that you will whip yourself into being in the middle or top of the pack, and just go to learn, it is incredible. On the flip-side, being a competitive person I think, well, next year I will have learned from all these mistakes this year. I won’t duplicate them. I know just seeing a little inkling about what racing and this competition is about I can tell that next year will probably be a whole new set of issues. You have to go with the same idea, just go with the idea that it is going to be incredibly fun and do as well as you can do against yourself and the other people are just there to fly with.x

What is your advice to new students/pilots that want to go to a contest for the first time?x

That’s a tough question because there are so many variables. I think the first thing is going with the right attitude and understanding that people are going to support you. It is going to be a lot better than you could even imagine. x

Go in with the right attitude, be real gentle with yourself. Don’t think of it as a competition against anybody else, just against yourself. Take notes, put things in the back of your mind and use it. Because every minute of the time you are flying you’re learning something. x

You learn from the people you are sitting with and talking to before the flight and after the flight. The minute you start flying new things that you would never have to confront in normal day to day flying situations hit you. x

In a competition the rules change. For example, the tow-plane takes off whether you’re ready or not. That never happens at the airport back home. So you better be prepared and you should always be prepared at home. But we get lax, even as a beginner you get lax. You have to be right spot on when you are flying in a competition.

Mike Abernathy

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Mike Abernathy in his Stemme Motorglider, Moriarty Airport.x

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Mike Abernathy is the Martin Scorsese of the Albuquerque glider community. He is a talented pilot, photographer, filmmaker and an avid fly fisherman and hiker. Most of the Moriarty pilots would agree that the best soaring photos they own of themselves are the ones that Mike has shot. Mike is also working closely with his nephew, Matt Murray, to produce a spectacular documentary on soaring.

Mike’s talents are as diverse as his background. He grew up in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California.

Mike is a software engineer by profession. He worked as a Manager and Principal Engineer at Rockwell International for 15 years. Then he started his own company, Rapid Imaging Software, Inc. Mike works and lives with his business partner, Carolyn Galceran, his wife.

I have flown with Mike once and witnessed his enthusiasm for the sport. He made me feel like I was a child seeing the world for the first time. His approach to flying is that of a pilot who enjoys the sport the way a hiker enjoys nature. He seems to appreciate not only the art of flying but also the incredible scenery that is only available from high above the earth.

“If soaring is an intellectual sport then Mike Abernathy should be at the top of the heap.” – Mitch Hudson

How and when did you get interested in aviation?

I was born with it. As a 5 year old all I did was draw airplanes. I wanted to fly since day zero. I was in my mid forties when I realized that it was achievable.

What type of planes have you flown?

S 2-33, G103, G102, Discus CS, T6 Texan Radial Engined warbird, Stemme S10VT.

What type of gliders do you presently own?

Discus CS, Stemme motorglider

What advice can you give pilots about purchasing a motorglider?

Honestly ask yourself before purchase – do I have the discipline to fly a motorglider safely. Am I able to not get low and bet on the engine starting? An MG pilot should never gamble on an engine start without a landing option. If you can handle that, then ask yourself if you can handle the complexity of motorgliders, without loosing the joy of soaring.

What are the pros and cons of owning a motorglider?

Cons: Complexity and cost are significant.

Pros: You can fly to anyplace and from anyplace with the right motorglider. So it has many of the benefits of owning a regular power plane. Because of the disintegrating infrastructure of soaring (fewer glider operations every year) a motorglider greatly facilitates soaring safaris. I am doing everything I can to support glider operations like Rick Kohler’s Sundance Aviation, but for long cross country flights, a motorglider helps. Also, you can fly yourself to areas of lift when it is too far or too high for the tow plane so you have few experiences with “falling out.” You can launch between other pilot’s tows (a big plus in 90 degree weather) and, if you are inclined, you can scout lift (under power) for your non motor friends. With an engine restart (even if you have had to land) a lot of the hassle of landing out is removed.

Are you a competitive pilot?

No. The only person I compete with is me. I want to get better and better. Racing is of zero interest. I enjoy the companionship of flying with other pilots, but not competition. Like all glider pilots, I race the sun, competing with the weather to go further and further.

What is it about flying gliders that you enjoy most?

Freedom. In a glider you are free in an indescribable way. A non- pilot lives in 2D. A power pilot lives in 2.5D because they are limited by their motor. But the glider pilot lives in a dimension which they cannot imagine they really live in 3D+. This freedom is for me often a spiritual experience. The cross-country soaring pilot lives in harmony with nature, and that is a powerful communion.

I also believe that soaring is a life-long commitment to learning. Flying is an activity that challenges you to get better and better for your whole life. So you will find yourself staying in shape, exercising, watching your weight, and generally taking care of yourself. You will find yourself reading books about how to be a better soaring pilot. You will find that every year of experience counts, so you will listen to the experiences of your friends to learn from them. You will relive your own flying experiences trying to glean every morsel of education from them.

I am inspired by a man named John Muratore, a NASA innovator who created the X38. He said that our society needs to explore in order to grow, and that without that our society would stagnate. I strongly believe that for these same reasons soaring is good for our society. It gives people an opportunity to learn and grow and to see our world in a whole new way. It is energy efficient and intensely engaging, challenging and fun. It is not too much to say that becoming a good soaring pilot will make you a better person overall, because it requires personal excellence at some levels.

Soaring is the safest and most affordable way to fly, but more important it is also the most fun because the challenges never end. For a power pilot, once the landing and take off and other mechanics are mastered, the learning curve flattens out while more air time is accumulated. As a power pilot once said to me “I have about 400 hours – but really it is like the same hour just repeated 400 times over.” With soaring, the evidence is clear that learning to read the sky is a lifelong quest. I am fortunate to have guys like Billy Hill, Mark Mocho, Jim Cumiford, Tim Feager, Rick Kohler, Brian Resor, and other great glider pilots who share their experiences with me, as this helps one become a better pilot.

What is your most memorable flight?

September 11, 2004. I declared an out and return to San Luis, CO and back. I was joined traveling north by Mark Mocho, Billy Hill, Howard Banks, and Al Whitesel. We all went different ways at different speeds but basically went up the Sangre De Cristos. It was my first declared 500km flight and moment of profound pride and a day of unbelievable natural beauty. It was such fun. Just the memory of days like that will get you through a lot of ground-bound days of winter. Cloud bases at 20000 feet plus and 10 kt thermals. Absolutely awe-inspiring. Below us the mountains were changing color with the season so they were green, yellow, orange and red.

Your hangar is often the hang-out for several glider pilots after a long day of soaring. What is one of the funniest stories you have heard during the "pilot cocktail hour"?

It is a great blessing to have the companionship of so many skilled, yet giftedly-humorous, pilot friends visiting our hangar. Billy Hill and Mark Mocho have made me laugh so hard that I lost my breath many times. It is hard to pick which story is best.

One afternoon we were all flying an “iffy” day and Billy had gotten low and radioed that he would have to land-out at Mountainair. Mark Mocho couldn’t resist ribbing him, even at such a tender moment. “You should thermal above your ego!” Mark suggested. As I drove off to pick up Billy, I saw that Mark himself had been forced to land-out at Estancia! The next time Mark was at the hangar with us I asked him what happened to him after such hubris.

He just looked at me and said “Those whom the gods would land-out, they first make proud.” This is a variation of a very ancient Greek proverb. I still laugh about that, and I still believe it is true.

Jim Cumiford

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Jim Cumiford in his ASW 27-B on the runway in Moriarty, New Mexico.

Jim Cumiford could be best described as an overgrown Teddy Bear. He is a tall drink of water that walks with a rolling gate, (hence the Teddy Bear reference). He’s easy going and ready to lend a helping hand which might include driving to retrieve a fellow pilot who was not able to make it back to the airport of origin.x

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Jim can be found at the Moriarty airport most weekends. He is usually one of the first to bring his sailplane down to the staging area in order to be one of the first airborne when conditions permit.

As a kid growing up in Chula Vista, CA he built and flew small model airplanes (U-Control) and occasionally would send them off on a "free flight". He was known to sit and watch general aviation planes coming and going from Brown Field airport for hours. x

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He started flying gliders in December, 1975 with Pegasus Aviation. Pegasus was located at the old Coronado airport in north Albuquerque.

He has been a member of Albuquerque Soaring Club since 1995 and served on the board four consecutive years, the last as "Y2k president". Jim met his wife Leslie in 1999 at the glider club while she was learning how to fly.

When did you get interested in aviation?

I guess I've been interested in aviation since my first memories. I earned my TWA Wings at the very young age of 4-weeks flying from San Diego to Albuquerque.

My first real memory of flying was around the age of 5-6 in my grandfather's Luscombe. He kept the old bird at the "TWA Airport" located near the intersection of Route 66 (Central Ave) and Coors Road (if my recollection serves me right the old TWA airport was moved to the Sunport and closed to build a drive-in theater).

Were you ever a military pilot?

As a young high school student (near the end of the Vietnam era) my draft lottery ticket was next to be drawn. I had high hopes of becoming a fighter pilot so I tried to enlist with the Navy but the physical revealed color vision trouble (red & green deficient) which meant no flying or aviation anything back then. Instead, the Navy tried to sell me on subs as a sonar technician. The offer didn't sound very appealing and while I was considering it the Vietnam war was ended and so did the draft.

Did you start with gliders or power planes?

Technically I started flying with my grandfather and friends in power planes and have since logged something over 40-hours of motorized instruction time.

My instructor at Cutter Aviation once told me to quit shooting holes in the sky and go take the written exam so he could recommend the check ride but at the time I had a girl friend that took up most of my time and all of my money. I never made it back to the field to finish up my single engine rating but I still intended to do so someday.

Where did you learn how to fly gliders and who taught you?

I learned to fly gliders at Pegasus Aviation which operated from a dirt cross-wind runway. My instructor, Mike Keller would sit in the back seat crunching his corn nuts while I ridged soared the rugged Sandia Crest range.

The first glider I flew was the Schweitzer 2-32, a three seat glider able to carry two small passengers in the rear seat. x

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During my first solo in a glider the Piper Super Cub tow plane experienced a serious power loss just as we cleared the end of the runway, which is just at the top of the cottonwood trees on the revers edge airport.

We occasionally soared over Coronado in mountain wave generated from the volcano mesa plateau (uplifted from the shallow Rio Puerco valley). x

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On days when the soaring weather didn't cooperate Mike would take me up in his Stearman PT-13 biplane.

I arrived one day for glider instruction in the Schweitzer 2-32 only to find a "closed" sign in the office window which ended my career before I could solo.

When did you get back into soaring?

I began soaring again in 1982 with Gregg & Glad Lill at the Mid Valley Airport south of Las Lunas along the river.

After a short flight and four hours of grinding around in the sky, I struggled to answer questions I was never prepared for but in the end Al Santilli signed me off. That was a very special day in October 1983. I've never flown a 2-33 since.

Do you fly in soaring competitions?

I flew in my first regional contest in 2000. I actually won the first day of my first contest; the entire pack landed out that day and I landed out the furthest ;-)

Do you consider yourself competitive?

I've been involved in competitive sports a good part my life; motocross & desert racing, shooting, softball, now soaring.

I don't feel any of the competitive pressures or stress associate with soaring competition that I once felt in the other sports. Soaring is enough of a physiological and mental challenge in itself without being judged against the other pilots.

When you are flying a glider in a contest it feels just like soaring back home only there are a lot more gliders in the air with you and less radio chatter. All of the same rules still apply.

Mostly the competitiveness occurs on the ground which may involve:
· your ground crew
· preparing yourself physically and mentally
· staging and griding
· knowing the task area such as where the best lift might be found
· where not to land out
· task planning and so on.

You can usually find most of the pilots gathered around the score keeper’s office at the end of a long task waiting on the day’s results to be posted. This is where the real racing is done! You'll hear beer drinking liars (like me) telling stories like; “Gear down I made a low save over Death Valley when I spotted a hawk circling low on the ridge.” or “I would have won the day but there was a mountain in the way on final glide; and did you see that 18-knot thermal?”

What kind of glider do you own?

I sold my Ventus-A to my partner and purchased an ASW-27B in December 2006. The previous owner, Ray Gimmey (7V), had won the 15-meter nationals that summer so I knew the ship was capable...Ray certainly is.

I bought the 27 because I like to go far and fast and so does this glider!

What is your most memorable flight?

They are all memorable but I suppose the best are the ones with long fast high cruises along our powerful New Mexico cloud streets.

Billy Hill and I made a really nice 700-800 km flight this year in convergence lift to Culebra Peak, Colorado. Brian Resor later analyzed the flight and told us we had flown well over 300 miles without making a single climbing turn. We turned in OLC speeds near 100 mph that day. That was pretty cool!

The year before during a Taos event the whole bunch of us made long flights in convergence lift along the beautiful Sangre de Cristo range across the border into Colorado and back a few times. I was flying a borrowed LS-4 and I think all of us struggled to stay below 18000 feet. We still talk about that day.

Then there are the retrieves when a pilot lands away from the home airport (Howard Banks). They’re fun too!

Have you ever flown with eagles?

Yes. Majestic birds of prey, feathered warriors, and they don't seem the least bit frightened by our size. I might also consider soaring with hawks and eagles a sacred moment.

What do you like about soaring?

· The graceful freedom
· mental challenge
· the excitement
· the surge of energy in a strong thermal
· speeding along at cloud base or just above the trees along a ridge.

In a sense soaring is a spiritual experience me....the clouds are like angels guiding the way. I might be a bit of an adrenaline junky too. Traffic conditions permitting; a fast low finish can be an exciting and graceful end to a long task.

Jeremy Patton

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Jeremy Patton in the Grob at Sundance Aviation, Moriarty, New Mexico

Jeremy Patton grew up in Moriarty, New Mexico. He learned how to fly gliders while working as a line boy for Rick Kohler at Sundance Aviation. He spent the entire summer of 2007 at Sundance Aviation learning everything he possibly could about gliders and glider pilots. Presently he is taking time off to study at Central New Mexico Community College (CNM).

What got you started flying gliders?

I had been formally introduced to sailplanes when I had my interview with Rick back in March (2007). As a kid I had seen sailplanes being towed, yet never truly understood the concept of soaring until getting the job as Line Boy. So... I began flying soon after getting the job.

Have you ever flown power planes?

Yes, but only a couple times. Once with EAA Young
Eagles when I was a young lad of 11 yrs., and the other with Rick in the Maule.

Does anyone else in your family fly?

Yeah airlines here and there. I have a couple uncles who own a Piper Cherokee that's about it.

How did you find out about the job at Sundance Aviation?

One simple phone call. I was working at Buford Steakhouse waiting and bussing tables when I decided that I didn't like that job. So what did I do you ask? I looked for a new job. Now if you are familiar with Moriarty, you know that there are maybe few jobs that pay well and are actually fun. "Which ones?" you ask, well I'll leave the guessing to you to give Moriarty the benefit of the doubt, for I only know of one; working at the airport.

What did you like about working as a line boy?

Everything for the most part. I enjoy meeting new people. I enjoy listening to all the stories, tall tales,etc. ha. I loath slow days, especially when I'm moody. Gah, I need something to do, Im depressed, ugh. ha. I learned a lot of new things, met cool people, met un-cool people, and got to FLY!

You managed Sundance for a few weeks while the owner was on vacation, what was that like?

Well, it was great experience for me. Looks good on a resume.

Would you ever want to own a glider operation?

That is a difficult endeavor to pursue. I wouldn't want to own my own glider op, but would possibly go into a partnership. Maybe someday perhaps.

What is your most memorable flight?

Out of all the flights I have in gliders, which isn't saying much, the most memorable is my first flight with Jim Harkins. "Jet Jockey" as I call him, annoyed me to a degree in which made me want to jump out of the plane when flying with him. If only I had a parachute. ha. He picked on every little flaw, making me practice whatever it was until I got it right, or- "good enough". I was so frustrated I wanted to clean his clock. And of all the days I could've flown with him, that was the day I soloed. After 5 grueling flights with the motor-mouthed fighter pilot know-it-all, I soloed. June 12, 2007. He dumped cold water on me when I got back haha.

Despite all of the mean things I said about Mr. Harkins, I love the guy. I learned so much that day, and in the months that followed, I grew to appreciate his overly-analytical approach to instruction as I witnessed men come to Sundance men, and during their time with Jim turn to putty, then leave men with better habits, haha. Jim's great.

Do you plan to buy a glider one day? If so which one would you buy?

Heck yes! When I'm wealthy enough to purchase one. I would like an ASW-20. better yet an ASW-27. That's the ultimate for me. I like the old school Labelles as well. oooh, You want to know what I really want though? That's right, an F4U supercorsair. * drool*

If you want to learn more about flying gliders contact Sundance Aviation
http://www.soarsundance.com/

Richard Kohler

Rick Kohler, President of Sundance Aviation, Moriarty, New Mexico

Rick Kohler grew up in an aviation family. His Uncle Ray was a captain for American Airlines and both his Aunt Emmy and Uncle Charles were a private pilots. Rick’s father was also an aviation enthusiast and took him to several air shows. As a child Rick would drive his mother crazy by running around all the time with models and toy airplanes. Rick was introduced to gliders by Tom Holloran, friend of Rick’s father who was a glider pilot. Tom owned a farm with an airstrip and provided Rick with several rides.

Rick took his first flying lesson at age 16. An injury and afterwards college forced him to take a break from his aviation activities. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1974 in English Literature. Then went back in 1975 – 77 and studied voice and Opera at the University of Cincinnati College conservatory of music. During his music career Rick performed with the Cincinnati Opera chorus.

Today Rick runs a successful glider operation in Moriarty, New Mexico. He owns a Schweitzer 2-33, two Grobs, an LS-4, a Pawnee and a Callair. He also shares a Maule with his girlfriend Aimee. Aimee and Rick take their vacations in the Maule and recently went to Michigan to obtain their seaplane ratings.

Hours: Total time in power planes, 2,500 hours. Gliders, over 10,000 hours.

You are both a power pilot and a glider pilot. What did you fly first?

I started with power planes. My first lesson was in a Citabria. I soloed in a Piper-Cub. I went on to get my glider rating in 1980 and my instructor rating in 1986. I started flying gliders at Caesar Creek Soaring Club in Waynesville, OH.

What made you decide to become a full time glider instructor?

In 1982 I went to work as an aircraft tech. Did that for a year. Then took a sales job for four years, 1983 – 88. I hated sales. I had been doing gratis instruction for the soaring club. Then I answered an ad as an instructor for Estrella sailport in Maricopa, AZ. I was there for a year then I went to Bolder, Colorado for five years and worked for Cloud Base Soaring Inc. From there I came to Moriarty and started Sundance Aviation in April 1994.

Have you ever flown with difficult students?

I had one guy in Arizona who was a licensed glider pilot and he wanted fly a high performance glider. I don’t think he was in full possession of his marbles. In fact, I don’t think he had enough marbles to play jacks. He was disoriented and was obviously confused. Who ever signed him off on his check ride did the aviation community a huge disservice. I had to keep taking over the controls, he got disoriented and couldn't find the runway.

He was flying a ridiculously long downwind and I told him to make a right turn, we were a mile and a half out at 500 or 600 feet above the ground. He opened the air brakes all the way at which point I said, "I am taking the controls." He replied, "No Rick, I am making this landing." He was a pretty big guy and would not let go of the controls. I asked him for the controls three times and three times he refused. Every time I tried to take the controls he would push the nose down more and open the dive brakes more.

Finally I told him, "If you don’t kill us on this landing I am going to kill you when we get on the ground." At which point he relinquished the controls. I dove it into ground effect to get it over the fence and we just barely made the runway, rolled out and stopped a little bit short. After we got out of the glider, he said, "Wow, I am really glad you took it I really learned a lot." My response was, "I don’t care if you learned anything I will never fly with you again. Do yourself and everyone a favor and find another hobby."

Another time I had a Japanese student with whom I was practicing stalls. He became terrified. He held the stick close to his chest and wouldn't let go. I ended up having to tap him on the back of his head to get him to release. He threw up his hands and started yelling stuff in Japanese. He was so scared he never came back.

What was your most memorable flight?

My very first flight as an employee with the chief pilot at Estrella. It was a really good soaring day. There was great lift. We got as high as 12,000 feet at one point. We were soaring over the Estrella ridge and after a couple of stalls and what not my instructor said. "OK, show me some spins. So I did a spin entry to the left and recovered after about half a turn. Then I did the same thing to the right.

Then in a fairly thick Hungarian accent he said, "Now I will show you how to make the glider really spin." And he did, except that after about ¾ of the first turn the glider went completely flat. We were not wearing parachutes. The first thing he did was to use all the standard spin recovery techniques. Rudder opposite the rotation and full forward stick, nothing. Then he tried opening the dive breaks which in the Grob have a nose down pitching tendency, nothing. Then he removed his shoulder straps and leaned his body forward, nothing, and then he said release your belts and come forward. I was ahead of him and was already on my way into the front cockpit, nothing. It stayed flat for about another 4 or 5 turns. We had lost about 4,000 feet at this point.

Finally he put everything into the spin, stick all the way forward and to the left and full left rudder. At that point the nose began to pitch down and come back up again. With each rotation you heard a big swish. After about two rotations of pitching up and down again we recovered. He was a very skilled pilot, he got us in and he got us out.

Upon landing and walking back into the operations office he made the following authoritative announcement, "We will no longer spin the Grobs!" That was the most scared I have every been in an airplane.

What is your most memorable land-out?

It was July 7th, 1992 when I made my first attempt at the 500 K diamond distance flight. The route was from Boulder to Eleven Mile Reservoir (which is just west of Colorado Springs) then on to Laramie and back to Boulder. It was a good flight but I just didn't make it.

What happened during that first attempt?

I had turned Laramie and was on my way back to Boulder. It was around 6:30pm. I was at about 15,000 feet MSL when I left Laramie and the cloud base was about 20,000 feet. There were plenty of clouds and I was about 20 miles from the mountains. However, I did not find one thermal between Laramie and the mountains. I ended up landing in a cow pasture at between 8,500 and 9,000 feet about five miles NE of Red Feather, CO.

How was the landing?

I ended up coming in too fast and touched down about 1/3 of the way into the cow pasture which was about 800 to 1000 feet long. I got on the brake, which lived up to it's reputation of being a suggestion of stopping rather than an actual device used to stop the glider. I went through the field, bounced across the county road on the only point on that road for 100 feet on either side that the shoulder was shallow enough not to damage the glider. I ended up rolling 20 feet up an embankment. I was amazed that the glider actually stopped and didn't roll back down the embankment. None of this was skill but pure dumb luck. I got out, walked to the top of the embankment and saw a 600 foot shear drop which really got my knees shaking. At that time I didn't know where I was. I went back to look at the chart and saw that the town of Red Feather was about five miles away.

Were there any people around to help?

I saw some dust coming down a country road, it was an older man, his wife and his 10 year old grandson in a Ford pick-up truck. The old man said, "You look like you could use a cold one." I replied, "That would be nice but what I really need is a telephone." He said, "Phone, what’s that?" Then with a chuckle he handed me a very modern cell phone (this was back in 1992 when not that many people owned cell-phones.)

I contacted my crew who started the long drive to this remote location. After calling my crew I found out that the old man owned the entire top of the mountain. He had a well house and a beautifully manicured campsite. I spent the time waiting for my crew riding around in ATV’s and doing target practice with his grandson. He fed me copiously. When my crew arrived he provided light for the de-rigging of my glider and then fed my crew copiously. I ended up mailing the family certificates for glider rides.

My crew did mention on the way up that he noticed there was nothing but trees, rocks and winding roads through many hills. He couldn't believe I found any place to land.

Three weeks later I made the same flight but I was at 16,500 ft over the cow pasture with final glide back to Boulder.

For Lessons or Glider Rides contact Rick at Sundance Aviation, 505-832-2222 or you can visit their website at: http://www.soarsundance.com/

Bob Hudson

Photos of Bob in his DG-100 on the runway at Moriarty, New Mexico.

Bob Hudson is a retired Air Force Colonel. He started his Air Force pilot training in 1970 at Big Spring, TX. Then he served in Vietnam in 1972. He served in the Air Force for 28 years and had flown everything from B2 bombers to F-16s. He started flying gliders 4 years ago. Bob has been the president of the Albuquerque Soaring Club for the past three years. He also works for UNITECH, a company that does exercises and training for the government.

How did you get started flying?

I was an airport bum at age 15. Hanging out at the airport and begging flights. I would see someone starting to take off with an empty seat and suggest someone should be in the seat. Then in college I joined ROTC. They paid for my flying lessons in a Cessna 150. I got my license from them, but it wasn't exactly free, I was going into the Air Force.

Tell me about Vietnam.

I was over there flying B-52s out of Guam, then I moved to Uptao, Thailand. I was flying out of Thailand, on 26th Dec. 1972 and was shot down over Hanoi. I was prisoner of war for 93 days. I was in two prisons, the Hanoi Hilton and a prison they called the Zoo.

Everyone has heard of the Hanoi, Hilton and how horrible it was…

Yes it was.

Why did they call the other prison the zoo?

Just, of course they had real Vietnamese names, we Americans nicknamed the prisons. This prison had, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens. Other prisons were called briarpatch, dogpatch, the plantation…

Did you get to eat the animals at the prison?

No, they didn't feed us. I lost 53 lbs in those days.

What happened after you got out of prison?

After prison I came back to the states and was a patient in a hospital in Dayton, Ohio for four months. Then they sent me to Omaha, where I flew T-39s.

Did you get to fly during your entire military career?

Some assignments were not flying assignments but I flew most of the time.

What kind of planes did you fly while you were in the Air Force?

First the B52-H then the B52-D, they sound like the same airplane but they are two totally different airplanes. If you walked up the them you would say they look alike. The H at one time was the fastest airplane in the world, the D model was old and worn out, but it could carry a lot of bombs. I was flying the B52-D when I got shot down.

Then the T-39, which is a small passenger business jet. I flew VIPs, everything from four star generals, senators, congressmen, I flew the director of the CIA, Mr. Casey once, Claire Booth Luce, she was a gabby lady, a nice lady and George Will, the newspaper editorialist.

After the T-39 I flew the FB-111 it was the first fly-by wire electronic flight controlled airplane, the wings moved. The faster you went the wings swept back then the slower they would swept forward. It was rated at Mach 2.2 but you could actually get it going a little faster than that. I went almost 900 miles per hour at 100 feet above ground.

Next I flew the EC-135, it was the airborne command post. It’s code name was Looking Glass. The mission was to be the command post for WWIII until we could establish control on the ground again. It flew continuously for 25 years 24 hours a day. We had 13 of them, one would take off and fly an 8 hour shift, then the next one takes off, we just kept rotating them. I was on the EC-135 on the 25th anniversary. We were sent congratulations messages from all over the world. I give lectures on that mission.

One of the reasons we never had WWIII is because we had this plane. The Russians knew that we could retaliate even if they struck first. We could actually launch the missiles from the plane. I got to launch a minute man missile in 1989, of course it had dummy war head. I launched it out of Vandenberg, CA and it landed in the pacific.

I flew the EC-135 for two years. Then I had a couple of desk jobs where I didn’t fly very much. Then I had the opportunity to command two Air Force bases, one was Brooks Air Force base in San Antonio, TX, the other was classified.

I was the last Air Force pilot to fly the F-100 then I flew the F-16. The mission was fun, I did mostly test work. Most of it was chasing classified packages or missiles. You get about half way out and they launch the missile then 3 or 4 of us try to chase it so that we can film it.

How did you get into flying Gliders?

Unfortunately I lost my medical in 1996. I had an artery close up when I was in Saudi, Arabia. It was from an injury I got when I was shot down in Vietnam. I had a lot of damage to my chest, the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was damaged. It finally caught up with me. I had to come back to the States and have surgery. I couldn’t fly power planes anymore, but since you don’t need a medical for gliders I started to fly them.

What was your first glider?

My first glider was a DG-100, I bought it from my ex-boss. I hadn’t seen him in 20 some years. I had dinner with him and he invited me to fly gliders. He died very suddenly about a year later of pancreatic cancer. I bought the glider from his wife.

What was your most challenging flight in a glider?

One day when the stick broke in my hand. I was on tow in my DG-100 when the glider started to pitch up. I kept pushing down and the glider kept pitching up. The tow rope pulled out because of the angle. Then I realized that the reason I couldn't put the nose down was that I was holding the stick in my hand, it wasn't attached. I took the little bit of stick left and did a loop and landed on runway 8. I was scared to death.

Do you still own the DG-100?

I sold the DG-100 and have been flying club airplanes. I am going to buy Al Santilli's glider. He had a Libelle.

You have been president of the glider club for 3 years now, do you like this position?

Yes, I enjoy it but there is a lot more work then I realized. Some days I don’t get to fly because I have so much administrative stuff to do. But I love it, I like the people and just love being around the flying. Its just like being in the Air Force but you don’t have the uniforms and people talk back to you.

You can find out more about Albuquerque’s Soaring Club at their website. This site gives information about joining the club and offers links to other sites regarding flying, weather, and glider contests.

http://www.abqsoaring.org/