Hangar One Faces Demolition

The iconic Hangar One at Moffat Airfield, originally built to house airships, is in danger of being torn down. The Navy is currently considering its options for the hangar, which is not currently in use. The cheapest option would be to simply tear it down.

More information about the hangar, and the movement to preserve it, here.

--Johan Larson

Men-Birds Soar on Boiling Air, 1938

The article Men-Birds Soar on Boiling Air, by Frederick G. Vosburgh, originally appeared in the July 1938 issue of National Geographic Magazine. It now available online.

Back in the day the pilots would deliberately fly into clouds without gyros. Yay!
They also deliberately triggered thermal bubbles at low altitude by diving and maneuvering at about 200 feet. No wonder they died like flies.

-- Johan Larson

Gliders--Silent Weapons of the Sky, 1944

I have uploaded to the web William H. Nicholas's article "Gliders--Silent Weapons of the Sky" from the August 1944 issue of National Geographic Magazine. (link)

On the Wings of the Wind

The very latest news from 1929!

I have scanned, OCRed, and uploaded Howard Siepen's On the Wings of the Wind from the June 1929 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

-- Johan Larson

Bob Hoover Flying an F-86

I was on YouTube and found this clip from 1951 of Bob Hoover doing a routine in a Philippine air force F-86 at Clark Field.

The footage speaks for itself...

--Tony

Our Recent Visitor

Here's a photo of the plane we had a near miss with.

--Monique Weil

Wouldn't This Make an Excellent Tow Plane?

Link to Auction Site

Sorry, couldn't help dreaming...

--Tom Hail

[According to the auction site, the plane has been sitting in a hangar, unused, for a good fifty years.--JL]

Glider-Rides on Oahu

Back in January, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer had an article about The Original Glider Rides, a company running glider rides (d'uh) on Oahu.

The article doesn't mention the glider model, but from the description and the picture, I'm guessing it's an SGS 2-32.

-- Johan Larson, from a suggestion by Marianne Larson

Nature -- Raptor Force

This week's episode of PBS's perennial Nature was
about birds of prey. The episode included an extended treatment of
various type of flying, including soaring flight. The material on
dynamic soaring was particularly interesting and included footage of both radio-controlled and full-size gliders.

PBS has a site devoted to the episode, and the KQED website shows several repeat broadcasts later this week.

-- Johan Larson

Kemp at the SSA Convention

This year, the SSA annual convention was in Memphis, February 8-10. Kemp was there, and has described the experience on his blog. Mmmm, motorgliders...

--Johan Larson

West Wind Articles Available Online

Shannon has uploaded the 2006 West Wind articles to our website:

• Introduction to the NCSA
  
• NCSA History
  
• Hummingbird Haven Recollections by Kemp Izumo.
  
• The Back Seat
  
• The Other End of the Rope
  
• NCSA Core Members by Mike Schneider.
  
• NCSA Student Pilots
  
• Newly Rated PPGs
  
• Youth Member Scott Stiehr
  
• A Cautionary Tail by Jim Conger.
  
• Some Private Gliders and Their Owners
  
• Flying a Motor Glider by Buzz Graves.
  
• Thermal Camp 2006 by Dale Roberts.
  
• My 2006 Flying Season Experiences by Shannon Madsen.
  

Kemp in Wave

Kemp had a great wave flight out of Minden in January, and he has told us all about it on his blog. Click on the little pictures to see the full-sized ones. There's video, too.

-- Johan Larson