Soaring the sky a glider pilot‘s Podcast

Latest Episodes:

98: Sucked Into A Thunderstorm, 20 meter Two Seater Nationals & Soaring In The Olympics? Aug 03, 2021

Show notes

Kempton Izuno is back from the 20 Meter 2 Seater Nationals in Montague California and will share his experiences flying a contest with another pilot in the cockpit. He will also share some super interesting experiences he has had in the cockpit. Like the time he actually was sucked up into a Thunderstorm and flying blind for two and a half minutes!

(52:00) Sergio The Soaring Master is back with a unique story about soaring in the Olympics?

(59:25) Christopher Stevenson, our on the road soaring reporter heads to the Soar Safari in Lone Pine California and interviews some of the pilots about their flights.

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https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2CR4benPjAXX0tDU29KNXU2emtBZzkyQlUyM3psR016SHM4/view?resourcekey=0-5sC-6t4jgMUHHuGrgDrAQg

www.soaringmaster.com

97: Reaching The Turn Point, Vegas & Crossing The Andes: Henrique Navarro 8X Brazilian Champion Jul 20, 2021

Show notes

8x Brazilian Champion Henrique Navarro, Glider competition pilot, Instructor, Aerobatic instructor and author joins us today. He also has competed several times in the World Gliding Championships in (France 2006, Argentina 2012, Finland 2014, Lithuania 2016, Czech Republic 2018) Henrique has broken 33 national records in Brazil has over 5,000 hours in gliders, over 500 in airplanes (mostly towing gliders) & has flown 64 different glider types He is also a Sales agent for Schempp-Hirth gliders.

(43:35) Sergio shares a story about a glider pilot crossing The Andes in 1964 with no working Radio in The cockpit! Join Sergio The Soaring Master as he tells this amazing true story about the first successful crossing of the Ades in a glider. All this and much more on episode 97 of Soaring The Sky!

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96: Final Glides, Pulling G's & Dolphin Flying Jul 06, 2021

Show notes

Tony Condon has recently won The Club Class Nationals in Tennessee! He will take us with him in the cockpit as we experience what it's like from start to finish and what it takes to soar all the way to the podium. Tony has competed in many National gliding competitions as well as the 13.5 Meter World Gliding Championships. When he is not competing he is teaching others how to Soar!

(44:00) What is Dolphin Flight? We find out on this episode as we head to Brazil to hear from Sergio as he explains it in our new soaring master segment titled Soaring With Sergio the Soaring Master.
(50:00) Flying Simon joins us from the Netherlands with some soaring advice about landing out and how his crew found him near a small German village enjoying a beer with the locals after one of his landouts. Hear his new segment that we like to call Simon says! All this and more now on Soaring the sky.

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95 Winglets, War Stories & Dust Devils : Dave Reilly Interview Jun 22, 2021

Show notes

Contest Flying, scary landouts, hangar stories, Waco gliders & world war II and more! Our featured guest pilot today is Dave Reilly joining us from Merlan Soaring center in Virginia.

Like many of us From the time he was a kid he wanted to fly. Dave discovered gliding in 2005 and progressed from the 2-33 to the 1-26 and on. He now enjoys flying in is very own LS8-18 Dave shares some great stories with us like the time he was not sure if he was going to make it back to the glider port but remembered he had been in this situation before in the same area during simulation flying in Condor what happens next may surprise you?

In mid May Dave did a 240 mile flight that completed the altitude and distance requirements for his Silver Badge, as well as the requirements for his Gold Distance and the Diamond Goal. On a fun note, he recently flew a 114 mile run to the North west ridges and retrieved the Boomerang plaque from the Front Royal club after they landed at Merlin and claimed it on 5/15. He will better explain the Boomerang during our chat.

Dave's only regret? he wishes he would have discovered this amazing sport earlier!

We will then head to the Netherlands for our new segment "Simon Says" as Flying Simon talks about one of his favorite soaring activities...flying contest.

Our Listener logbook is back today as we head to the Hangars in Tehachapi California and dust off the pages of some vintage glider logbooks that hold some amazing stories from World War II and more. Christopher Stevenson chats with Doug Fronius a vintage glider owner and enthusiast.

Have you ever been bored in the Cockpit while in the air? Is that even possible? Dale Masters will bring us another soaring Tale and this one is titled Stir Crazy! All that and much more now on episode 95!

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94: Mastering Gliding In Brazil : Sergio Lousada Jun 08, 2021

Show notes

On this episode we head to Brazil to chat with Sergio Lousada, he is 35 years old and is a Soaring Pilot, Cross country Coach, and Flight Test Engineer. Sergio has been flying sailplanes since 2007, but for as long as he can remember he has been addicted to aviation. Interesting enough, soaring made it possible to fulfill his dreams.
As his gliding activity was decisive when he was selected to become a flight test engineer of military aircraft and he got to fly a good number of them! What he learned in the flight test environment he found to be very useful to soaring. And What is the Soaring Master Project? we will soon find out!
Sergio has flown in many parts of the world (Andes, Alps, and Brazil and since 2018 has been acting as coach for the Brazilian AF soaring team! So many great stories like the time he depended on his motor glider engine to start while he was getting dangerously low!

(52:40) Dale Masters Brings us another Soaring Tales With Dale, and this one is titled A Half Second Later Is A Second Too Late!

(55:40) We are excited to bring you a new segment on this episode called Simon says. One of our previous gust Flying Simon has a brand new story and some very important advice from a flight he experienced early in his soaring journey. All that and more now on Soaring The sky!

https://www.soaringmaster.com/

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93: Monkeys, Coconuts, Field Fires & John Denver: An Interview With Don Ingraham May 25, 2021

Show notes

Don Ingraham was living in Minneapolis when he was bitten by the soaring bug in 1993 at age 39. Thanks to the tutelage of Bob Wander, by age 40 he had soloed, earned a PPG certificate and purchased a Jantar Standard.
Over the next couple of years he flew the Jantar to more than a dozen MN State Soaring records and kept busy during the winters refinishing it in gelcoat (with much phone advice from George Applebay). Don started flying contests in it in 1996 and moved up to a Discus in 1999. His wife, Kathy, was always willing to track him down, trailer in tow, when he couldn’t make it home from a XC flight. He won the Hilton Cup in 1999 and got to make a dream come true - meeting top pilots and flying different gliders from the Hilton Ranch for ten days straight.

A few years later, in 2003, he asked Kathy what she thought about the idea of going into business running a commercial glider operation. He explained the six-figure salary would be gone and there was a very steep and potentially perilous learning curve. And it would take a big chunk of money. And he had no idea how to do it. And they had two toddlers, Chase (2) and Ali (4). Kathy paused for a moment, then asked how he would feel, years from now, looking back,
if he went back to the stable-yet-now-soul-crushing computer world and never tried to start his own business. Don said he’d feel like a frumpy cowardly wimpy loser. Kathy said she didn’t want to be married to that guy, so game on! Don and Kathy built a website, bought a tow plane (Socata Rallye 235E) and a glider (Grob 103 Twin II) and opened the doors of Cross Country Soaring in Faribault Minnesota in 2004. They now operate a second Grob 103 and a have a winch. He is beginning his 17th year in operation. Check it out crosscountrysoaring.com

Bob Wander was a key factor in Don’s success in pursuit of life in the sky and they have remained good friends. Bob asked Don to write a book based on a talk he delivered at the Sport’s Aviation Conference in Minneapolis in 1996.
That book is now available at bobwander.com for a song! It is called, “The Final Four Minutes - Landing Out”. Bob wrote the second half.

(57:02) Soaring Tales With Dale, Dale Masters brings us another soaring Adventure and this one is titled "Totemic Polemic"

crosscountrysoaring.com

bobwander.com

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92: Soaring On Mars Club Class Nationals & The Perlan Project May 11, 2021

Show notes

On this episode we first talk with Miguel Iturmendi, one of the pilots from the Perlan project as he answers your questions and shares his adventures flying super high altitudes and what it's like soaring in the only pressurized glider in the world. Is it possible to fly the Perlan Ship on Mars? You may be surprised when you hear the answer. Miguel is also a test pilot and will also tell us about a very famous solar motor glider he has been flying most recently.

(52:52) Dale Masters is back and has another Soaring Tales With Dale and this one is titled Eagle Eyes.

(56:58) Contestants David Hart and Daniel Sazhin chat with us on location at Chilhowee Gliderport in Benton Tennessee as they get ready to compete with others in the Club Class Nationals! What is it like flying a contest? How is the course? All this and more now on episode 92 of Soaring The Sky!

perlanproject.org

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91: Open Cockpits & Vintage Flying Machines: An Interview with Flying Simon Apr 27, 2021

Show notes

Flying Simon is a glider pilot joining us from the Netherlands and a few years ago he started his YouTube channel 'Flying Simon'. He has captured some of his amazing flights. Simons goal is to share the excitement and the wonderful perspective of gliding and this year he hopes to share adventures all over Europe from flights in new gliders to the Junior European Championships in Lithuania! Simon chats with us today on the podcast and shares some of his aviation adventures including the story about one of his YouTube adventures in an open canopy Vintage glider!

Staying on the theme of vintage gliders we will join Bob Armstrong for our Tips & Techniques segment in his hanger where he keeps a 1946 Schweitzer SGU 1-19 that has been flown over Oshkosh! Dale Masters brings us another soaring Tales with Dale and this one is titled "Feathered Avatars" We will bring another Soaring Safety Segment as well as our Brand new Listener logbook Segment where you get to share your soaring stories! Click The link below now to record your soaring story and hear it on an upcoming episode! All this and more now on episode 91 of Soaring The Sky, a glider pilot's podcast.

https://www.soaringthesky.com/contact/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9EBe57bs62VdCq1Lntalog

https://www.instagram.com/flying.simon/

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90: Tow Planes Gliders & Birds Of Prey Apr 13, 2021

Show notes

Today our featured guest flies out of southern California. Casey Scholz is a 650 hour commercial pilot flying in airplanes and gliders. His ratings include, multi-engine land, single engine sea and land, instrument rating, as well as AGI/IGI ratings. He is currently Working towards his CFI-A and CFI-G. He has approximately 200 hours in tow planes and has about 1,000 tows in the Tow-plane. Casey shares some great stories and also some lessons he has learned flying both ends of the rope that have helped him to become a better and safer powered and glider pilot.

(1:10:30) We then head to the Czech Republic For our Soaring Safety Segment and catch up with Barbora Moravcova. You may know her as the Gliding Junkie on Instagram. She currently flies with The Czech National gliding Team. She will bring us some great safety tips and talk about what she has been up to since we last spoke to her. She also has some pretty cool stories she will share with us.
(1:43) Dale Masters, author and glider pilot will be bringing us another Soaring Tale with dale and this one is Titled "We Hadn't The Foggiest"

(1:44:45) We are then going to head over to Blairstown NJ to catch up with Daniel Sazhin, He brings us our Tips & technics segment on this episode. He has been up in the air and most recently had some super interesting flights with Bald and Golden Eagles. You can click on the link in the show notes to his blog to check out some awesome shots his girlfriend took from the glider. He will share that story from that flight with us as well.

This is our first episode with our brand new segment where we hear from you the soaring community! Chris Stevenson shares one of his soaring adventures about landing out. To share your soaring adventure just click the link below and click on the microphone near the bottom of the page. We want to share your soaring adventure on the next Soaring The Sky, a glider pilot's podcast.

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soaringeconomist.com

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89: Soaring In The Philippines with Rolf Dunder Mar 30, 2021

Show notes

On this episode of the podcast we first head to the Philippines and talk with Rolf Dunder, He originally learned to fly in Hamm-Lippewiesen Germany but is currently the only glider pilot soaring in the Philippines. Rolf started soaring in 1979, soloed in 1980 at the age of 15. He received his PPL in gliders in 1982 and his CFIG in 1989. In 2000 he picked up his Ultralight rating and in 2001 his Paraglider as well as his single engine in 2002. In 2008 he moved to the Philippines where he started glider operations Nampicuan and now Tuy. Rolf has flown many gliders including the
ASK-13, Ka-8, Ka-6, K-7, Twin III, ASK-21, DG-505, ASW-15b, ASW-19b, LS-4, Standard Libelle, IS-28,
Schweitzer 2-33, Puchatek, Duo Discus, SZD-55, and the Nimbus 4DM.

Rolf has also experienced soaring all over the world and will share some of those exciting adventures with us. He has flown in Japan, France, Australia, Italy, Spain, The United sates and even had the pleasure to be a guest on a 985 km triangle flight in a Nimbus 4DM in Kuruman South Africa. Ralf has logged over 900 hours in gliders that includes over 2,500
flights. He also has over 100 hours in Single engine aircraft with 300 hours in ultralights and 100
hours in paragliding.

(45:45) Also on this episode we will hear another exciting soaring adventure from Dale Masters on Soaring Tales With dale and this one is titled "Go Fly A Kite"

(49:45) For our Soaring safety segment CFIG Ben Mayes joins us from Williams Soaring Center in Williams California for some great advice and some interesting soaring stories.

(1:15) Our Tips and technics segment Monette Beers joins us to share her experience attending the recent Seniors Soaring Championship in Seminole Lake Florida.

All this and more now on episode 89 of Soaring The Sky

https://youtu.be/aD5VRhUdyeA

rolfdunder@hotmail.com

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