Soaring Dad

In case you could not figure it out from my name, I am into soaring. I have a few questions about the soaring there at the USAFA.

(1) Do you get a chance to really soar (fly thermals, wave, etc.) as part of the training during your 3rd class year, or do you just get to where you might solo?

(2) What are the conditions like? I could see a few lenticular clouds one of the days we were there for orientation. Has any one of the cadets flown wave there?

(3) What type of altitude do you get in thermals (average day and booming day)?

(4) Do any of the sailplanes have oxygen systems?

(5) Is there a commercial soaring site currently in operation near the USAFA?

Finally, I was visiting Moriarty, NM (Sundance Soaring) last summer to do some flying. They had really great things to say about the cadets that have been down there to fly.

Thanks!

Stealth_81

Here is a link to the page that I found about the soaring program. I found the page when I was looking for info because my son will be doing soaring this summer. The page gives a lot of information on the programs, and the links to the kinds of planes in the program's inventory give specific information on which ones are set up for wave, cross-country, and oxygen.

Soaring at USAFA

raimius

1) AM 251 doesn't get into soaring techniques too much. Solos during the summer are more common than during the ac year (because of weather).

2) There is always some wind (usually off the mountains). Thermals are pretty common, but vary in intensity (same with sink).

3) I never spent too long in any thermals (couple hundred feet), but that was because we had a tight schedule to stick to. One guy made it to 12,500MSL (released at 8500), then had to do 13 spiral dives to make it back to normal altitude. (The tower was angry, because he took more than an hour, and AM 251 flights are supposed to take roughly 20 minutes. He killed the schedule for that day.)

4) The cross-country gliders (TG-10A's) can be equipped with O2, but the normal soaring gliders (TG-10B's) are not normally equipped. I'm not sure about the aerobatic gliders (TG-10C's).

5)Probably, but I've never looked into it.