Who says you shouldn’t spend your golden years with your head in the clouds?
Every year pilots, ages 55 and over, head to Seminole Lake Gliderport in Clermont, Fla, a small community between Tampa and Orlando, for the Seniors Soaring Championships. This year’s event was held on March 6-13. Jim Garrison from Charlottesville, who has participated in the event for the last two years, came in 26th place out of 40 pilots in 2010.
The Seminole Lake competition began in 1991 and attracts 50-60 top pilots from the United States and Canada.
“Florida provides excellent soaring conditions this time of the year and it is hard to resist if your plane has languished in a hanger for the winter,” Garrison said. “Each day of the competition, a course is set that varies between 100-200 miles depending on the expected weather and strength of the thermal lift.”
The glider pilots fly the course as fast as the weather and their skill allow, and their track through the air is recorded by an on board flight computer which logs their GPS position every few seconds. Competitors generally finish the race in about three hours. Gliders can average 55 to 70 miles per hour during a cross country flight, but part of their time is spent circling in lift to regain the altitude lost while gliding toward their destination. Each pilot’s flight track is analyzed by a computer program and scores are awarded for the speed averaged over the entire course. The fastest flight each day receives 1000 points; slower flights are awarded fewer points based on a percentage of the winners overall speed. At the end of the week, the pilot with the highest score (representing the most fast flights) wins the event and the trophy.
“The trick to higher speeds is to find strong thermals, climb quickly and know how much altitude to burn off to get to the next thermal. The less time you spend climbing, the faster your overall speed will be around a course” Garrison said. “Contest flying really stretches your skills and teaches you things you may not know about soaring” added Garrison, who participates in 3-4 gliding competitions a year. Another part of the fun is the camaraderie. Garrison noted that “you’re around like-minded people for the entire week. I really enjoy the companionship of the other pilots”
Garrison has been into sailplanes since he moved in Charlottesville in 1984. He thought they’d be an equivalent hobby to sailboats since he didn’t have access to a large body of water. But he soon found out the two hobbies were very different.
“Sailplanes are very exquisite machines,” he said. “It’s a lifetime sport. You build up knowledge and skills. Every flight adds something to your experience.”
Gliding has become a popular activity in Virginia. In 2009, nearly 3,000 gliders took off and landed at Eagles Nest Airport in Waynesboro alone. The Virginia Glider Association was also recently established and holds 54 members.
