Famous people in soaring

At 22:09 24 December 2014, John Firth wrote:
At 17:57 25 January 2014, Richard Brisbourne wrote:
At 17:17 25 January 2014, David Salmon wrote:
At 15:14 05 September 2012, JohnDeRosa wrote:

BTW Peter Scott the naturalist, flew in many competitions in the
UK.

Dave

And if memory serves once won League One at the UK Nationals,
flying an Olympia 419.


and I helped him rig for a relight on a day he won; does that make m
famous?

John F

Ah, the heady days of trailer racing, what memories :-)

At 17:57 25 January 2014, Richard Brisbourne wrote:
At 17:17 25 January 2014, David Salmon wrote:
At 15:14 05 September 2012, JohnDeRosa wrote:

BTW Peter Scott the naturalist, flew in many competitions in the
UK.

Dave

And if memory serves once won League One at the UK Nationals,
flying an Olympia 419.




And that Olympia 419 is still flying at Staffordshire Gliding Club
Seighford by pilot Nigel Frost and his syndicate partners. It is in Fine
fettle....

Actually, he was. If you look closely, he and his lovely wife Doris
(Russo'd up in a red wig) are visible in a head on shot, flying straight to
camera.

The canopy conundrum was because they built a mockup that reversed the
canopy hinge so that, wait for it, they could shoot Rene Russo's better
side.

Casey Jay
B3

However, Tom Knauff did fly in the re-make of the "Thomas Crown Affair"
(bu=
t wasn't on camera). Does that make Tom a famous glider pilot? ;-)


Why did the canopy open on the correct side of the Duo when they got in,
and the other side when they got out?

On Aug 31, 1:09*pm, Mike C wrote:
"Steve McQueen is shown flying a glider in the original Thomas Crown movie, didnt realize he may have actually flying it himself."

He wasn't.







Also, Wernher von Braun.






On Friday, August 31, 2012 12:34:00 PM UTC-6, Ramy wrote:
On Friday, August 31, 2012 6:45:05 AM UTC-7, Chris Nicholas wrote:

Steve McQueen.

And one who is likely to be infamous when AF447 legal cases go to court – Bonin, the FO who allegedly held the airliner into a stall all the way from FL375 to hitting the sea, 228 souls all lost.

Chris N

Steve McQueen is shown flying a glider in the original Thomas Crown movie, didnt realize he may have actually flying it himself.

I didnt see any reference before to 447 FO Bonin as a glider pilot. This is very disappointing. You would expect a glider pilot to be even more aware of how not to stall a plane...

Ramy

Correct - found this reference at http://www.german-way.com/famous-wernher-von-braun.html

In 1931, von Braun began learning to fly gliders, taking private lessons in Grunau, Silesia. He later became a skilled pilot, eventually flying everything from fighters to helicopters, but his goal of one day flying in space eluded him.

Would be interesting to know if von Braun did fly gliders in the US.

GM

On 9/16/2012 6:06 AM, wrote:
Correct - found this reference at
http://www.german-way.com/famous-wernher-von-braun.html

In 1931, von Braun began learning to fly gliders, taking private lessons
in Grunau, Silesia. He later became a skilled pilot, eventually flying
everything from fighters to helicopters, but his goal of one day flying
in space eluded him.

Would be interesting to know if von Braun did fly gliders in the US.

GM

He very definitely did, as a (guest? I don't know) member of the Cumberland
Soaring Group in (at least) the early 1970s.

As a recent college grad, during my student instruction one morning (the '73
season), there was a flurry of activity among some of the more senior club
members around an older - unfamiliar to me - man (who appeared to be anywhere
from 45-65 years of age from my distance). Fuzzy memory says he eventually was
packed into another member's Libelle for a launch. Further instruction
activities on my part precluded my maintaining further daily awareness of his
day's soaring success.

Prior to my day's instruction, I was told by the chief instructor the man was
Wernher von Braun who liked to come out "as anonymously as possible"
(presumably to enjoy both soaring and the anonymity). I was also informed he
had a daughter who also participated at some level in soaring, but I don't
recall her being there that day.

That was the only time I saw him at the field.

Bob W.

I know he did. In the summer of, I think, 1970 he was at Schweizer Soaring School where he was checked out by my father.

On Sunday, September 16, 2012 6:06:24 AM UTC-6, (unknown) wrote:
Correct - found this reference at http://www.german-way.com/famous-wernher-von-braun.html



In 1931, von Braun began learning to fly gliders, taking private lessons in Grunau, Silesia. He later became a skilled pilot, eventually flying everything from fighters to helicopters, but his goal of one day flying in space eluded him.



Would be interesting to know if von Braun did fly gliders in the US.



GM

gives a whole new meaning to his epithet " the velvet fog "


On Sunday, September 16, 2012 12:25:30 PM UTC-4, Mike C wrote:
I know he did. In the summer of, I think, 1970 he was at Schweizer Soaring School where he was checked out by my father.

On Sunday, September 16, 2012 6:06:24 AM UTC-6, (unknown) wrote:
Correct - found this reference at http://www.german-way.com/famous-wernher-von-braun.html



In 1931, von Braun began learning to fly gliders, taking private lessons in Grunau, Silesia. He later became a skilled pilot, eventually flying everything from fighters to helicopters, but his goal of one day flying in space eluded him.



Would be interesting to know if von Braun did fly gliders in the US.



GM

che guevara flew gliders