Where to live with soaring in mind?

I would appreciates some suggestions…..I am looking for the ideal place to live in the US – for soaring (I have not told my wife how massively weighted this particular criterion is!). I am overseas now and more than likely we will return to the US this summer. I have spent hours on the net researching places to live which have the best combination of access to good flying, good schools (3 elem school age kids), a critical mass of interesting people and culture and good weather. One thing I do not want to do is drive anything more that about 15 – 20 min to a glider field and I intend to buy a self launching glider if some sort so I could presumably fly from a small, welcoming GA airport. I am open to virtually any region. I’ve been gone for 14 yrs so I’m dealing with a blank slate. What places should I consider? Why?

Ex Pat

My daughter and son in law just settled in Redding, CA after looking
all over western US.
Wx
9 months of modest temp summer.
3 months of mild winter with rain and everything turns green
Population about 75K with most/all you need for comfortable living.
4+ hours from Sacremento & San Fran if want anything from big City.
Local airport has a training school teaching Foreign pilots for
Foreign Airlines. Lots of "student" type activity.
No idea if any glider activity but mountains not to far distant to
east. I'd guess it self launched not to distant from mountain soaring?
I'll ask my SIL if any soaring but may take a few days for answer.

You may get some comments on Redding and lots of other locations
from group.

Welcome back to the big PX even with Washington spending ur money like
a drunken sailor.

Big John.

************************************************** **********************


On Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:22:49 +0000, tienshanman
wrote:


I would appreciates some suggestions…..I am looking for the ideal place
to live in the US – for soaring (I have not told my wife how massively
weighted this particular criterion is!). I am overseas now and more
than likely we will return to the US this summer. I have spent hours on
the net researching places to live which have the best combination of
access to good flying, good schools (3 elem school age kids), a
critical mass of interesting people and culture and good weather. One
thing I do not want to do is drive anything more that about 15 – 20 min
to a glider field and I intend to buy a self launching glider if some
sort so I could presumably fly from a small, welcoming GA airport. I am
open to virtually any region. I’ve been gone for 14 yrs so I’m dealing
with a blank slate. What places should I consider? Why?

Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. I moved here 4 years ago for the soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place to
live. Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. Write if there are any questions I can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email = flasor AT frognet.net

On Feb 14, 2:22*am, tienshanman tienshanman.
wrote:
snip ...places to live which have the best combination of
access to good flying, good schools (3 elem school age kids), a
critical mass of interesting people and culture and good weather. One
thing I do not want to do is drive anything more that about 15 – 20 min
to a glider field and I intend to buy a self launching glider if some
sort so I could presumably fly from a small, welcoming GA airport.

Sounds like odds of finding a job in your chosen field isn't a major
criterion - congratulations!

You can soar pretty much anywhere in the US so you need to decide on
your minimum threshold for strength of conditions and soarable months
out of the year. If you want nearly year-round cross-country soaring
you are almost certainly talking about the desert southwest. My
experience is that some of the best soaring locations are more remote
and are far less developed/diverse in terms of cultural offerings and
public school systems - again this is a threshold question (as well as
personal taste - if you like rodeos you are in luck!). One way to
counter the trend for schools is to find University towns such as
Boulder, CO, Austin, TX and Tucson, AZ. I haven't spent much time in
Albuquerque, NM but there is some awesome soaring and I know great
people who fly there. There is a regional contest in Logan, UT near
Salt Lake City this summer that could put that city more on the
soaring map. Dallas, TX appears to have an active soaring community.
If you are okay with winter hibernation it opens up possibilities in
more northern states.

The 20-minute requirement could put serious constraints on your
housing choices in many locations unless you don't care about being at
an airport with an established soaring operation - this is an issue
for me because I prefer flying with friends. Even without a glider
operation finding an airport that close will require a tradeoff in
most places. When I lived in Tucson my home was on the outskirts of
town closest to the El Tiro glider field and it was still a 30-minute
drive.

Best of luck,

9B

If you want to stay married never, ever disclose access to soaring as
a consideration.

On Feb 14, 8:49*am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. *I moved here 4 years ago for the soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. *Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place to
live. *Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. * Write if there are any questions I can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email = flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)

On Feb 14, 8:50*am, wrote:

I was considering a move to a community that I was told had the best
schools in the state about 5 years ago (not Minden - I have no idea
about the schools in Nevada). My kids shadowed classes and found the
local kids were more than a year behind them in many classes (at 5th
grade!). I couldn't figure it out until I discovered that the whole
state ranked pretty low nationally. Of course if your kids can't get
into college there'll be more funds available for that new
sailplane. ;-)

Caveat emptor.

On Feb 14, 9:01*am, wrote:

If you want to get a survey of soaring conditions year-round, check
out OLC. It'll give you a decent sense for what's possible month-by-
month as well as an idea about where the more active sites are - at
least in terms of cross-country flying.

9B

redding, sandwiched between a high fire hazard zone and a flood plain

http://www.ci.redding.ca.us/devserv/gis/download.html



desert southwest - dry, lifeless air not good for soaring








At 16:52 14 February 2009, wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:49=A0am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. =A0I moved here 4 years ago for the soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. =A0Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place
to
live. =A0Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. =A0 Write if there are any questions I
can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email =3D flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)

Move to the Mid-west. Housing is cheap. Thermals don't go very high
(5000agl on the best days) so retrieves are cheap. Fly only seven months
of the year, so the entire bill is cheap. Lots of hangar flying in the
winter, and that's cheap.

At 17:30 14 February 2009, Jp Mobo wrote:



redding, sandwiched between a high fire hazard zone and a flood plain

http://www.ci.redding.ca.us/devserv/gis/download.html



desert southwest - dry, lifeless air not good for soaring








At 16:52 14 February 2009, wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:49=A0am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. =A0I moved here 4 years ago for the
soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. =A0Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place
to
live. =A0Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. =A0 Write if there are any questions I
can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email =3D flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)

Move to the Mid-west. Housing is cheap. Thermals don't go very high
(5000agl on the best days) so retrieves are cheap. Fly only seven months
of the year, so the entire bill is cheap. Lots of hangar flying in the
winter, and that's cheap.

At 17:30 14 February 2009, Jp Mobo wrote:



redding, sandwiched between a high fire hazard zone and a flood plain

http://www.ci.redding.ca.us/devserv/gis/download.html



desert southwest - dry, lifeless air not good for soaring








At 16:52 14 February 2009, wrote:
On Feb 14, 8:49=A0am, wrote:
Tienshanman:

I'm a big Minden booster. =A0I moved here 4 years ago for the
soaring
and love the mountains, outdoor activities, and -- best of all -- the
soaring. =A0Schools in Douglas County are the best in the state,
population growth is not explosive the way it is in other nice parts
of the US, people are friendly and it's generally a very nice place
to
live. =A0Reno is a 40 minute drive, San Francisco 4 hours, and did I
mention the soaring is the best in the world? Oh, and we don't have
California's tax situation. =A0 Write if there are any questions I
can
answer specifically.

Fred LaSor
email =3D flasor AT frognet.net

Redding is about 100 miles from Montague, CA, lots of soaring
activity, also about 100 miles from Williams, CA Commercial operation
with lots of active pilots.

Turf Soaring and Estrella near Phoenix if you can stand the heat have
incredibly inexpensive housing prices right now (Phoenix Area)