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National Soaring Museum – Elmira NY – Staycation Destinations

The Soaring Museum is an interesting placed to visit any time, but the week ahead (July 6-13) has a unique event while comes to our listening area only once every four years.

 

Some two dozen motorless aircraft “descend” on Elmira, New York for the International Vintage Sailplane Meet. The event is free and open to the public.

Sailplanes are more than “gliders”. Gliders are towed into the air and remain aloft only as long as they can resist gravity. Sailplanes though are specially engineered to catch the updrafts and wind currents so they can stay aloft much longer.

Local aviation historian Traff Doherty is our guest for this week’s “Staycation Destinations”. He provides:

• details about the experiences for spectators of the Sailplane Meet
• history of how the unpowered planes were used, especially in wartime
• why Harris Hill and Elmira became the center of the national Sailplane community
• more about the National Soaring Museum, for anyone who wants to visit — during the Meet, or beyond those eight days

 

For further information:

This month’s Sailplane Meet:  details about July 6-13

National Soaring Museum:  guest information (the museum is open year-round, Wednesdays through Sundays)

America’s “Soaring Capital”:  the history of how motorless aviation developed in the Elmira region

The U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame:  the people & their stories