On this episode our guest pilot is Steve Keltie. Steve's father was an engineer so, he has been around aviation since he was very young. Hanging out at the airport watching test flights and soaking up all the sights and sounds he could. Steve even had the opportunity as a kid to be around aviation royalty Bob Hoover and other well known aviators. Steve sits down with our producer Mitch and shares some stories about catching thermals above pineapple fields in Hawaii, cargo gliders invading...

On this episode we head to Las Vegas Valley Soaring where we chat with Jay McDaniel! What's it like soaring in the desert heat and monster thermals? Join us now as we hear some crazy stories and personal experiences Jay shares with us that include, Area 51, UFO's, mid air collisions and Potato Guns? Later on this episode Sergio the Soaring Master is back with another segment titled "Bounced Landings" All this and more on episode 120 of Soaring The Sky, a glider pilot's...

Today we will first head to the Czech Republic and talk with our good friend Barbora Moravcova, She is a member of the Czeck Repubulic Women's gliding team and has just finished competing in the 15 meter class of the FCC Flight Challenge competition in Slovokia, flying her LS8. Unfortunately the first day of that competition was a rough one to say the least. Barbora chose to share this with us in hopes that we all can learn from it and be better and safer pilots. She will also share with us...

Our friend Zach Yamauchi recently caught up with Gordon Boettger, Gordon has added a whole new meaning to "cross country" soaring as you are about to hear on this episode. He has been soaring pretty much his whole life. He soloed at 14 and has not looked back. Gordon holds 5 US distance Records and has Multiple crosswind and downwind flights beyond 2000 km, including flights done in a Kestrel from the 1970s.  He began his professional aviation career in the Navy, and now flies for FedEx....

Morgan Hall has just experienced an amazing uncharted soaring route flying wave in the sierras. What an adventure he had! You can open the OLC link below and follow along with us as he tells us about this crazy ride in wave. Morgans family has a deep aviation background that goes all the way back to World war II. So, its not a suprise that he was determined to start his own aviation journey. So, he traded his computer for his first aircraft, an ultralight. Soon after he discovered hang...

On this episode we chat with Rudi Schlesinger, glider pilot and airline captain. Rudi started flying gliders in 1998 and later flew competitions including the Austrian Junior Nationals in 2002, Junior Worlds In Slovakia in 2003 and later that year he was invited to a training camp with Geaorge Lee in Austria. Rudi flew his first 1000k flight in 2010. He was Austrian National Champion in 2012. He had 2 World Records in the 13.5m class in 2020. On this episode he shares some crazy stories like...

On this episode we head to Fayence France to chat with our guest pilot Christopher Fleming. Chris took the opportunity as an airline pilot to soar in as many locations as he could but, found his soaring paradise in the Alps. He decided to move there so he could fly more often. Today we chat about his many adventures and the important things he has learned along the way & what it takes to fly in that kind of tarrain with little to no landing out options. We also get into thermaling,...

Ian Brubaker started his aviation journey in 2006, first flying powered in Cessnas, then sailplanes, and then moving on to hang gliders. Hang gliding has been his primary form of aviation for the past several years and he has been teaching it since 2015, holding a basic instructor and tandem rating. Ian also holds a B.S. in Space Physics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Ian's passion and expertise is to make flying easy to understand and fun to learn by leveraging both his practical...

This episode’s guest host is glider pilot and YouTuber extraordinaire – the one and only Bruno Vassel!  Bruno joins us from Utah, and even in the small world of soaring, this will be his first time to ever connect with the legendary Stefan Langer.  Together their gliding videos already have over 85 million views, and they have inspired countless thousands of people to take up or at least try flying in a glider. In this episode, they share their journeys and the various adventures...

We are excited to have glider pilot and project manager of the AK-X flying wing, Dominic Poppe with us. Join Tom Coussens, our guest host, as he gets the full story from Dominic behind the scenes at Akaflieg Karlsruhe in Germany. What does it take to design and build such an amazing aircraft?  Later on the podcast Sergio The Soaring Master will join us to talk cross country soaring and turn points. Join us now for another soaring adventure now on episode 112 of Soaring The...

On this episode we chat with world famous aviation photographer and glider pilot Tobias Barth! Many of you have seen his incredible images taken all over the World.  Since 2019 the "Aviation Calendar", Soaring edition has exclusively used his pictures. His work has also been featured in Magazines and other media. What does it take to get all those amazing shots while flying sometimes only a wingspan apart from the other aircraft? Tobi started flying gliders at the age of 13 and never looked...

On this episode our friend Tom Coussens catches up with Zach Yamauchi who just had a 1039 Kilometer Flight in mountain wave in the Sierraas. Zach takes us along on this flight so we can see and feel what it's like to experience this amazing flight and what it takes to fly in wave. Stay tuned after Tom & Zach because we have another new segment from Sergio The Soaring Master and this one is titled "Flaps" All this and more on episode 110 of Soaring The...

On this episode we bring you several short soaring stories from glider pilots all over the globe & celebrate another exciting year here on the podcast. From Crash landing in the Frence Alps to bailing out after a mid air collision. These are just some of the stories you will hear now on this episode of Soaring the sky.    www.soaringthesky.com  

On this episode we bring you a guest host and a guest pilot! Barbora, AKA The Gliding Junkie on Instagram is a member of the Czech National Gliding Team, Flight Instructor and comes from a family of Aviators with both her parents being pilots. Any free time she has you will find her in the cockpit of her LS8. Barbora chats with our producer Mitch about her recent adventures flying at Wave Camp and other interesting flights she has had. We will also bring you a fun new segment where we chat...

Hello Soaring community and welcome back to the podcast! This is our second bonus episode from some of our most played interviews and this time we bring you our chat with Stefan Langer! So grab your favorite beverage and enjoy our chat with Stefan.  www.soaringthesky.com www.patreon.com/soaringthesky https://www.youtube.com/c/StefanLangerVideoBlog  

Our guest today is Zach Yamauchi a 23 year old glider pilot and Aerospace Engineer currently  working for a company foccused on unmanned aircraft. Zach learned how to fly gliders while attending Cal Poly. He also had the oppertunity to work on the Nixus project, The first general aviation project using a 28 meter wingspan glider using fly-by-wire technology. Zach will share with us more on this project as well as other soaring adventures he has had. (01:11) Listener logbook. Christopher...

Miguel Iturmendi, one of the pilots from the Perlan project as he answers your questions and shares his adventures flying super high altitudes and what it’s like soaring in the only pressurized glider in the world. Is it possible to fly the Perlan Ship on Mars? You may be surprised when you hear the answer. Miguel is also a test pilot and will also tell us about a very famous solar motor glider he has been flying most recently. ...

Gavin McClurg is an, author, adventurer, public speaker and host of the podcast Cloudbase Mayhem. He has flown in Alaska being the first person to traverse the full length of the Alaska range by foot and paraglider. He became the first American to complete the toughest adventure race on earth the X-Alps. Gavin shares his amazing journey with us now. Later Sergio The Soaring Master joins us for another segment about cloud flying. All this and more now on episode 106 of Soaring the...

    Our episode today includes stories about getting caught in dust devils, low saves and Space X? Our guest Tom Coussens has experienced all that and more! Tom's aviation journey starts when his Dad spots a P-51 Mustang back in the mid 50's and then learns to fly so he can buy one! After his first solo in a Citabria at 16 Tom received his private powered license at 18. He later starts a career as an aerospace engineer and ends up working with Space X.  (17:43) In 1986 Tom finds his way...

On this episode of the podcast we head just outside of L.A and join our Co Producer Mitch! He is going to share with you his interview with Glider Pilot Howie Bohl, Howie comes from a long line of aviators starting with his great grandfather who started flying in the 1920s with the Army ROTC and eventually flying for United Airlines. His Grandfather was also an Airline pilot as well as his father. Howie started flying at age 13 in gliders and soloed on his 14th Birthday. He then started...

We are honored and happy to bring you our Interview with German pilot Ben Fest! He has made history by becoming the first ever World Champion of an eSport contest in any aeronautical discipline! Ben joins us to share his adventures and journey not only in virtual soaring but in real gliders that he loves to fly as well. He started flying gliders in the real world when he was just 13 years old but had already been flying Condor a year before that. When Ben's schedule does not allow him to get...

Today on this episode we head to the 36th World gliding Championship in Montlucon France as Chuck interviews one of the Pilots who competed in this years event. All eyes were on France since the Worlds in Germany was canceled. Our guest Daniel Sazhin shares his journey that starts in New Jersey as he heads across the Atlantic to fly in one of the biggest contest of his souring career and what it's like flying with the best in the World!  Flying Simon also returns for another segment as he...

Today on this episode we have a guest host and guest pilot! Chuck hands the microphone over to Clemens Ceipek as he interviews glider pilot Tim Bromhead of the famous youtube channel Pure Glide! Tim is an active contest pilot and Flies out of Piako Gliding Club in the north island of New Zealand.  The site is also close to the famous Hobbiton where Lord Of The Rings was filmed. How did Tim got hooked on gliders?  What is it like flying in one of the most amazing soaring sites on the planet?...

Join us now for our 100th episode celebration! Bruno Vassel helps Chuck & The Team Celebrate this podcast milestone! We will have some laughs, hear some great stories and even hear from some of our previous guest pilots from all over the globe.  (56:30) Our Listener Logbook returns with a story from the famous Harris Hill about a young passenger who accidently releases the tow rope way too early.  (01:02) Sergio The Soaring Master is back to give us some advice on buying a...

On this epidsode we had the priviledge to catch up with Clemens Ceipek, Competition Glider Pilot, Blogger & Youtuber to chat about his recent experience competing at the 18 Meter Nationals in Nephi! He talked about the crazy terrain transitions & strong thermals and dealing with a wild fire in the area during  the contest. Nephi is a majestic place to fly. So Get ready for big thermals, big sink and some tough competition!  (58:35) Also in this episode Sergio The Soaring Master is...