Best places for a soaring pilot to retire?

15 years ago I would have recommended Boerne Stage airport in Boerne,
TX, northwest of San Antonio, but I drove through there a couple of
weeks ago and it seems that San Antonio has grown out to engulf it.Â*
Maybe take a look at Uvalde, or TSA (Dallas/Fort Worth), Caprock, Fault
Line, etc in central Texas.

On 12/26/2017 2:05 PM, Roy B. wrote:
OK - Once I figure out a way to do that ("a meetup" at Reno) I will.

As for Ephrata, no offense, but go back and read the part of my post about snow shoveling . . .I want a place where Home Depot doesn't even have a snow blower department.

Seriously, I have kids in San Antonio & Boulder and a ladyfriend with a daughter at Arizona State. So the Southwest really makes a lot of sense to us.
ROY

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Dan, 5J

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I would welcome a CFIG / Towpilot (1958 C-182 tri-gear) at Marfa in southwest Texas, near the scenic Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. I fly year-round but it's a relaxed schedule.

Bring your sailplane and crew and soar like Moffat in "The Sun Ship Game" film.

For local info go to www.visitmarfa,com
Several nice RV parks here as well.

See you at the SSA Convention in Reno, Feb 28-March 3.
I'll be around the Soaring Safety Foundation booth and seminars.

Burt Compton
Marfa Gliders Soaring Center
www.flygliders.com

("Burton Compton" on Facebook for your amusement.)

My understanding is that there is still no regular aerotow support at Uvalde when there is no contest in session. Does anybody know differently?
ROY

On Tuesday, December 26, 2017 at 10:29:23 AM UTC-5, Roy B. wrote:
This seems like a good topic to resurrect in anticipation of a convention soon in the Southwest. I expect to retire in 2018 and would love to meet some people at Reno who could answer questions about various clubs, towplane reliability, real estate prices, and summer XC possibilities. Winter XC is not so important for me as I spend most of my winters flying in South Africa. But I am trying to find a good retirement place in the Southwest.
ROY (who is really tired of shoveling snow)

Roy, I also found Moriarty a great place to fly. As long as you carry an oxygen supply, you can fly over the mountains and view beautiful places like Santa Fe.
Bob

On Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 4:41:00 PM UTC-5, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
Looking for new Ideas for places to retire. The usual considerations apply; cost of living, health care, weather, and available soaring. Doesn't have to be the US. near water would be nice. I own a Ventus C.

Anyone live in/near Grass Valley, CA? 1 hr from Truckee and Sacramento, 1.5 hrs from Williams, 2.5 hrs from Bay area.

Thanks for any suggestions

Matt

Probably would pick Florida in the winter, no better weather in the country than Florida in that time of year. As for the summer I would pick Utah, nice place to soar. Wouldn't give you two cents for the entire state of PRK, Peoples Republic of Kalif!
Argentina would be my out of country choice for the winter, Australia for the summer.

One of the great things about Utah for soaring is, the varied terrain. A pilot is not running the same mountain range, time after time after Mother @#$%^ing time. You can even launch your glider from at least four different airports all with a different character and different flying conditions. I used to think the Owens Valley and Sierras were all I could want, but after ten days in Utah, I just scratched the surface.

For those speaking of Uvalde, Texas has some great soaring and some great people in the sport, but it is God awful hot AND humid. Sugar melts so I tend to stay in Mountainous dry climates.



On Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 1:41:00 PM UTC-8, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
Looking for new Ideas for places to retire. The usual considerations apply; cost of living, health care, weather, and available soaring. Doesn't have to be the US. near water would be nice. I own a Ventus C.

Anyone live in/near Grass Valley, CA? 1 hr from Truckee and Sacramento, 1.5 hrs from Williams, 2.5 hrs from Bay area.

Thanks for any suggestions

Matt

I am biased, but will retire in Utah. I currently fly out of Logan and plan to retire at Grassy Meadows Sky Ranch (UT47), 60 miles south of Parowon. We can fly the ridge and surrounding mountains in Hurricane in the winter and then the great basin and Colorado plateau the rest of the year. I will likely spend a month or two in Logan each summer during the monsoon season, plus it is the best mountain flying in the US and is very addictive.

You can see Bruno's videos of glider flying at all the sites.

For Hurricane seach gliders racing desert and kolob canyon. There are two airports near Hurricane. Utah offers some of the best mix for Soaring for the entire year.

I was wishing I had glider available on Christmas day as the west winds we perfect here in Hurricane to fly the ridge. When I was here in late October there we Cu along the mountains.

On Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 4:41:00 PM UTC-5, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
Looking for new Ideas for places to retire. The usual considerations apply; cost of living, health care, weather, and available soaring. Doesn't have to be the US. near water would be nice. I own a Ventus C.

Anyone live in/near Grass Valley, CA? 1 hr from Truckee and Sacramento, 1.5 hrs from Williams, 2.5 hrs from Bay area.

Thanks for any suggestions

Matt

Nobody has mentioned the upstate of SC yet. Flyable conditions nearly all year around except for a few weeks in August, where we encounter 'HHH'-conditions and a few weeks in the winter (yeah - they actually call it that way down here!). Strong conditions in April through June - see the Perry contest results. Of course it isn't Moriarty or Parowan but the climate is conducive to a lot of other outdoor activities. You can be on the Appalachian Trail in 2 hours or at the beach in 4 hours or reach the CLT or ATL metro-areas in 2 hours. Friendly club in Spartanburg offering aero-tow and winch and plenty of small airports around to minimize the risk of true off-field landings. Real Estate is still affordable and property taxes are a fraction of what you see in the NE.
Uli
'AS'