It was a beautiful day Saturday so I took a cruise out to Richmond Field near Gregory, MI, the home of the Sandhill glider club. I ended up chatting with Fred who was getting ready for a flight. It turns out he has been doing this for 22 years and he is now 89 years old!!! He has crewed at Elmira, NY, home of the glider museum and also has flown out west in the mountains. Amazing guy! (The second picture will rotate if you click to enlarge. Don't know how to fix it.)


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I grew up in Elmira and have been up in Gliders

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fixed your picture

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That's not a glider.
That's a Sailplane!
(my dad was the US importer for Shempp-Hirth in the 1960s and '70s)

I think the names are interchangeable. The Sandhill club page talks about gliders. I did some training there years ago but chose to buy a sailboat so the whole family could enjoy it.

I went up in one with my wife many years ago and it was super cool. Experiencing the sights and g-forces of a plane but with no sound except the rushing wind is quite surreal.

Well, not really.
All sailplanes are gliders, but all gliders are not sailplanes.

(my earlier comment was fully tongue in cheek, )

It's on my list to get some Sailplane time. If you want to learn how to manage energy, that's how I've been told.

Cool pictures!

914s must love gliders! This is Santa Ynez Airport in California Click to view attachment

Ever wonder what the WW2 gliders used on D-Day looked like? Well you are in luck. This is one at the Elmira Soaring Museum (minus wing of course).

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I assembled this model of an Olympia for my dad's 90th birthday in 2019, celebrated at the Bradley Air Museum

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Except for the Wright Flyer, he's owned all of those aircraft and more. (I couldn't find any SHK or Standard Cirrus models to build.)

Looks like you have a PT-19 trainer, a V-Tail Bonanza (aka doctor killer) and a Bellanca Viking on there (I could be wrong on the Viking... I need a more detailed picture).

Cool planes!

not far off - Ryan STA, Bonanza, Piper Archer.
I think he owned 3 different Bonanzas, including one he wrecked after landing on a windy day.
He never flew the Ryan - it still isn't finished in the hands of the new owner.
In addition to the Archer he had an Arrow a long time ago. There's more.

Olympia gliders were supposed to be used in Olympics competition - until WWII started

I got my complex and high performance certifications in a Cherokee Arrow with the hershey bar wing. Fun plane.

The tail on the model looked like a Viking and not a Archer.