This should make most power pilots have kittens...

Gliders just fly and go nowhere.

About 20 years ago, Karl Striedick flew a sailplane from Williamsport,
PA (IPT) to the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, and back, NONSTOP.

Since then, at least two others, including one woman, have done the
same.

"Pilot" means 'navigator'. If you want to navigate you need power.

You can't get from IPT to Nashville and back without doing some
navigating.

vince norris

In article ,
says...


Gliders just fly and go nowhere.

About 20 years ago, Karl Striedick flew a sailplane from Williamsport,
PA (IPT) to the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, and back, NONSTOP.


But that was so exceptional you still remember it 20 years on!;-)
Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the beauty of that, and they would be
justified in feeling a great sense of accomplishment - I'm just saying
that for me, if I always had to land in the same place I took off I would
have given up aviation fairly early on.

GF

On 2005-11-16, G Farris wrote:
justified in feeling a great sense of accomplishment - I'm just saying
that for me, if I always had to land in the same place I took off I would
have given up aviation fairly early on.

You don't have to. Even though I'm an inexperienced glider pilot (only
about 50 hours in gliders), I've flown from one airport to another
airport in a glider. Any glider pilot who gets their basic 'Silver'
(that means virtually every glider pilot in Britain with any experience)
has flown from one place and landed at another in a glider.

--
Dylan Smith, Port St Mary, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net

But that was so exceptional you still remember it 20 years on!;-)

I remember it because it set a new distance record, because I happened
to know the pilot, who lives near me, and because it was written up in
National Geographic. But since then, longer flights have become, if
not "commonplace," at least more common.

It's like the fact that most (older) people can remember the names of
at least most of the first seven astronauts, but few can remember any
of the many astronauts' names since then.

I never meant to suggest a glider is the ideal way to go from Portland
Maine to San Diego (although it might be the most fun, if you have the
time); I was just pointing out the error in your statement.

vince norris