What is Soaring?
Soaring is the sport of flying gliders over long distances at high speed, using only naturally occurring sources of lift to stay aloft.
Defying gravity
The words gliding and soaring are often used interchangeably. The subtle difference between the two is that gliding implies, after the glider is towed aloft, that it gently glides to the ground.
Soaring on the other hand is where the glider pilot, using their knowledge and skill, can find invisible rising air currents to defy gravity. Using the rising air efficiently to not only arrest the descent but also to climb, glider pilots can now translate this height gained into distance across the ground allowing them to travel much further.
High performance
All aircraft have a maximum "glide ratio" or best lift to drag (L/D) ratio. However gliders are purposefully designed to provide a much higher glide ratio than most other aircraft.
For example, a modern glider with an L/D ratio of 50:1 means that for every 50 km of forward travel over the ground the glider will lose 1 km of height. In comparison, most powered aircraft have an L/D ratio of about 10:1 (without engine assistance).
This extreme efficiency of the glider's design enables glider pilots to fly further without an engine. That, combined with their ability to climb in rising air, is what allows their pilots to travel great distances. In the sport, we call this going "cross-country".
Flying the nest
Cross-country soaring begins when a pilot flies the glider out of glide range from the home airport. This facet of the sport is where the real challenge begins!
Cross-country soaring is an exciting and demanding activity. It requires the pilot to put together many concepts such as the basic piloting of the glider, navigation, knowledge of the weather, the ability to predict the location of thermals, the ability to maximize the climb rate in thermals, knowledge of the terrain and crops, and knowledge of the performance characteristics of the glider. The cross-country pilot must constantly assess many of these items simultaneously to be effective.
Landing out
But, what happens if you can't climb anymore?
Glider pilots can find themselves in a position where they cannot find a thermal to climb and they are outside of glide range to their home airport. It may be that they are close to another airport and can land there. Or they may have to select a suitable field in which to safely land.
This is something glider pilots train for thoroughly. They practice how to identify landable fields from the air and how to make safe landings in a short distance. Once safely on the ground, they can contact fellow club members to bring the trailer and ferry the glider home again.
Amateur Meteorologists
To fly cross country, glider pilots must effectively become "amateur meteorologists". They learn how to read the sky and effectively predict the best flight path based on the conditions.
They also learn how to determine which cloud and more specifically, which spot under the cloud, is most likely to have a thermal. Allowing them to fly from one point to another while maximizing time spent in rising air and avoiding sinking air.
Flying with purpose
The Soaring Association of Canada and the FAI – International Gliding Commission have created a series of badges designed to help glider pilots safely stretch their wings.
The requirements for individual badges start at a relatively easy level, but they ladder up to distances as great as 750km and height gains of 5000m. A real achievement for any glider pilot.
Sailplane racing
Once pilots have learned the basics of cross country soaring, they can consider competing in a gliding contest.
Contests, quite simply, are races. Each day of the contest a specific task is assigned with designated turn-points according to the weather. It is up to pilots to decide how best to maximize their speed over the assigned task. The gliders' positions are recorded by GPS and at the end of the day the pilot who completed the course at the fastest speed wins. Contests are typically multi-day events with the National Contest lasting 10 days.
Average speeds for a competition day can vary greatly and depend largely on the weather; however, it is not uncommon to see the winner's average speed in excess of 150 km/h over courses that can range from 300 to 500 kilometers.
Record breaking flights
You may be wondering, just how far can gliders really fly?
Gliders have flown further than 3,000 km in one day, higher than 74,000 feet (that's higher than Concord flew!), and covered distances of 1000km in less than 4hrs. Canadian pilots have set national records of more than 2,000km and altitudes of over 40,000 ft.
Representing Canada
SOSA is fortunate to be home to some of Canada’s most accomplished glider pilots and regularly sees many of its pilots competing at the national and international level.
We also host National and International gliding contests right here in Rockton, Ontario.
