* Note: I will participate in out-of-town events marked with an asterisk, so we will be not be flying at Marfa these dates. My availability may change on short notice.
Email me at marfagliders@aol.com to confirm my schedule.
2011
* October 21 - 24 2011: Kitty Hawk, NC SOARING 100 Celebration
The History: On Oct. 24, 1911, Orville Wright returned to Kitty Hawk and Jockey's Ridge with the goal of soaring without a motor along with improving the aerodynamic stability and control of their aircraft.
The Celebration: In 2011 the event will mark the 100th anniversary of Orville Wright's record 9-minute, 45-second soaring flight in 1911. The record stood for ten years, and the flights were the Wright's last trip to the dunes of the Outer Banks. Soaring 100 will be held October 21-24, 2011, at the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills and Jockey’s Ridge State Park near Nags Head, North Carolina. Details at www.soaring100.com
www.vintagesailplaneassociation.org and www.soaringmuseum.org
(The fall SSA Directors meeting will be held during this event.)
Meet me there at the Ramada Plaza Beach Hotel - Nags Head, NC.
* November 8 - 16, 2011: Miami, FL Annual trip to visit hometown friends and to participate in the "Fernstock" musicians' reunion. www.fernstock.us for details.
I am usually available to fly over the Christmas - New Year's Holidays.
2012
* January 31 - February 5, 2012: Reno, Nevada. The Soaring Society of America Convention (Atlantis Resort). I will attend our SSA Convention, the SSA Directors and the Soaring Safety Foundation Trustees meetings. If you are interested in flying gliders (at any level), then the convention is your chance to attend seminars, see the latest sailplanes from Europe on display, view restored vintage gliders, talk with the vendors of soaring equipment and meet the legends of soaring! More info at www.ssa.org
* June 30 - July 7, 2012: The International Vintage Sailplane Meet (IVSM) on historic Harris Hill near Elmira, in the scenic Fingerlakes Region of New York state. Hosted by our National Soaring Museum and the Vintage Sailplane Association. A wonderful gathering of vintage sailplane enthusiasts from around the world, AND their beautiful sailplanes! Don't miss this event - it is held in the USA once every three years! More info at www.soaringmuseum.org and vintagesailplaneassociation.org
* September, 2012: (Exact dates to be determined.) Find me in Germany! Every year I go soaring in Germany, and to visit friends at the historic birthplace of soaring at the Wasserkuppe hill near Fulda, northeast of Frankfurt. Then I plan to fly at the Koenigsdorf Soaring Center south of Munich, a scenic soaring site just north of the Bavarian Alps and Switzerland. Rendezvous with me in Germany! (No flying at Marfa while I'm away.)
2013
* Summer 2013 and 2014: SOARING SAFARI ? ( Dates to be determined.)
I'm considering organizing a "follow the sun" soaring expedition starting in Marfa and flying north or wherever the good soaring weather / Dr. Jack takes us, much like the 1960's "Endless Summer" surfing movie. I will provide my towplane and a towpilot for the group. I'll fly my DG-1000T, and perhaps 10 or so pilots and crews will join us. Not a training camp, nor a competition, just a chance to fly OLC straight-out XC's to destinations north of Marfa - perhaps into the midwest or along the front range of the Rockies. Let me know if you are interested in participating as a pilot (or a crew to drive the trailers, and crew members will rotate into an extra seat in a DG-1000 or Duo Discus.) Who knows where we will land -- and who cares? We'll be ambassadors for soaring across the USA!