Submitted by ltt_moderator on Sun, 08/10/2008 - 21:08.
A Ride and a Glide
Soundlessly soaring, circling effortlessly as an eagle, motorless flight in a sailplane is especially spectacular in Tahoe.
Doug Lent, manager of Soar Truckee, a full-service glider operation based out of the Truckee Tahoe Airport, attributes these superior flights to the area's warm days and cool nights, which, combined with the prevailing westerly flow from the Sacramento Valley, create the many thermals that allow the slender sailplanes to soar.
Passengers climb into the front seat and pop on a pair of headphones to keep in touch with the pilot, who sits in back. A Plexiglas canopy is closed snug over both. A towplane tugs the craft down the runway and into the air in a game of follow-the-leader. At the right altitude for the conditions, the glider drops the towline.
"We ask, 'Do you want it mild or wild?'" Lent says. "If someone wants a calm ride, we go in the morning. You release from the towplane and glide your way back to the airport. It's scenic, but it's all downhill so to say." Those who choose "wild," need only to wait. "By noon the thermals are going good," Lent says. "When the thermals are popping, the air is less stable and it's a bit bumpier."
A Ride and a Glide
Soundlessly soaring, circling effortlessly as an eagle, motorless flight in a sailplane is especially spectacular in Tahoe.
Doug Lent, manager of Soar Truckee, a full-service glider operation based out of the Truckee Tahoe Airport, attributes these superior flights to the area's warm days and cool nights, which, combined with the prevailing westerly flow from the Sacramento Valley, create the many thermals that allow the slender sailplanes to soar.
Passengers climb into the front seat and pop on a pair of headphones to keep in touch with the pilot, who sits in back. A Plexiglas canopy is closed snug over both. A towplane tugs the craft down the runway and into the air in a game of follow-the-leader. At the right altitude for the conditions, the glider drops the towline.
"We ask, 'Do you want it mild or wild?'" Lent says. "If someone wants a calm ride, we go in the morning. You release from the towplane and glide your way back to the airport. It's scenic, but it's all downhill so to say." Those who choose "wild," need only to wait. "By noon the thermals are going good," Lent says. "When the thermals are popping, the air is less stable and it's a bit bumpier."