That's an interesting theme. Neatly plays off public ignorance of what we
do/have done.
Here follow some surprising thoughts that spring to mind easily (a mainly
USA perspective).
For more, see my blogs at:
www.soarcsa.org/ssa/ssay/soarfaq.htm
www.soarcsa.org/ssa/ssay/sailyth.htm
www.greeleynet.com/~jhpc/FAQ.doc
www.greeleynet.com/~jhpc/Interview.doc


Records:
- The first human soaring flight of 1 minute was in 1903 (USA)
- " " 1 hour was in
1922 (Germany)
- " " 1 km up was in 1926
(Germany)
- " " 100 km across was
in 1929 (Germany)
- " " 1,000 km across was in
1964 (USA)

Natu
- About half of all animals (and most insects) fly. Of those animals that
fly, most soar.
- The larger and heavier the animal, the more flapping flight gives way to
soaring.
- The scale of atmospheric convection is about 5:1 cell width to height,
which means that entities
with glide ratios well above that can soar all summer day with reasonable
probability.
- The scale of low level winds is such that upwind progress can easily be
made.
- Conjectu the sailplane (1930s on) is better tuned to take full
advantage of the
atmosphere than later devices (Hang-gliders 1970s, paragliders 1990s) that
make
concessions to cost, portability, launchability, physicality, and "being
in the wind".

Science:
- Many Aerodynamics stars (Von Karman...) worked in the fields of sailplanes
and soaring.
- Many Atmospheric scientists (Kuettner...) soar, forecast for pilots, or
gather data from them.
- Soaring is mainly Galilean relativity: gliding downwards through air
moving upwards.
- Soaring is solar-powered from convection and advection, the power source
is external.
- A 40:1 L/D sailplane weighing 900 lb, moving 60 mph, requires only 3 kW (4
HP) to fly level.
- A typical thermal entrains tons of air with MW of power 4 times faster
than the sailplane sinks.

Engineering:
- The modern sailplane, with lift/drag (glide) ratios near 70 is the most
efficient aircraft ever.
- A 30m wingpspan, 1 m wide and 10cm thick is a structural, let alone aero-
engineer's dream.
- fiberglass aircraft were common in the early 1960s as sailplanes, carbon
fiber in the1980s.
- Natural laminar flow airfoils (NACA for WWII military) are "natural" on
sailplanes (1960s on).
- Engineers famous in academics (MIT, Illinois...), industry (Boeing,
Lockheed...), government (NASA, JPL) have done much in or with soaring:
Paul Bikle, John McMasters, Burt Rutan...
- The much-heralded Paul MacCready, Jr. was World Soaring Champion in 1956.

Celebrities:
- Aviation: 1930s figures took up soaring or at least cooperated in
publicizing glider flying as an avenue into aviation for youth: Charles
Lindbergh, Frank Hawks, Amelia Earhart...
- Space-flight. Some astronauts are or have been sailplane pilots and/or
owners: Alan Shepard, Neil Armstrong, Pete Conrad, Story Musgrave...
- A few media stars have been glider pilots: Christopher Reeve, Cliff
Robertson, Hugh Downs...

History:
- With the public news of the Wright Brothers and the first airshows, glider
building and flying became a fad among youth and University students ca
1909-1913, but soaring was limited.
- Soaring grew by leaps and bounds in the 1920s in Germany, as a flying
outlet under post WWI restrictions for air-minded pilots, engineers,
scientists, and students. Despite a desperate and scary start, it worked so
well it quickly came to be thought of as sport and education.
- Between WWI and WWII (the peace decades of roughly 1920-1940), all the
modern elements fell into place -- sailplanes developed from hang-gliders,
the full variety of launch menthods, two-seat trainers, durations in days,
altitudes in kms, distances in 100s of km. A rare case, some might say, of
aviation progress not being spurred by war.
- WWII saw the use of gliders as delivery means for troops and materiel,
first by the Germans, then by the Allies. The D-day invasion required
training hundreds of combat glider pilots, for which all USA civilian
gliders were requisitioned and hundreds more gliders purpose-built.
- The Soaring Society of America was founded in 1932 and grew to a
membership of 16,000 in the mid 1980s. SSA sanctions Regional and National
competitions in several classes.

--JHC