103: 1st Virtual Sailplane Grand Prix Champion: Ben Fest Interview

Barbora has just returned from Australia and joins Chuck to talk about wave Camp and the Worlds in Narromine. Later in the episode we chat with Markus in Germany to talk about what happened when he got bored during Covid. He will share his soaring journey with us and what he is planning later this year to help grow the soaring community.  Sergio the Soaring Master continues his segment on the history of the PW5 part 2 titled, "Dream vs Reality".  Join us now for this exciting episode on Soaring The Sky!   www.interglide.de www.xcnav.de [email protected]   

Today we first join Barbora, The Gliding Junkie at The 37th FAI World Gliding Championships in Narromine, New South Wales Australia. Chuck will then be talking with our new guest pilot Max Fabricius in Germany as he shares his soaring journey with us as well as his very interesting day job as an Astronomer.     Later on this episode we join Sergio, The Soaring Master for a new segment about the tragic story of the world Class and the PW5. Join us now for all this and more for episode 144 here on Soaring The Sky!   

On this episode we first join Barbora, our co-host as she is in the middle of wave camp in the Czech Republic. We then head to Austria to chat with glider pilot and author Simon Lemmerer! He will be sharing his aviation journey and adventures with us as well as taking us behind the scenes of his new book , The Art of Gliding.  This book is sure to be a real treat for the soaring community! With stories from him as well as other pilots and packed with Pictures and lessons to be learned. Don't miss this exciting interview! Sergio The soaring Master returns to us on this episode as he brings us a new segment titled "Where We are Heading"  https://wingsandwheels.com/the-art-of-gliding.html [email protected] www.viento.aero www.artofgliding.com www.patreon.com/soaringthesky  

On this episode Barbora shares her story flying and competing in Spain as she joins the Worlds top glider pilots to fly and soar thousands of Kilometers in hopes to become the next world champion. Join us now as Barbora jumps in her LS8 and soars through the many task of this amazing competition. www.soaringthesky.com   

Join Chuck & Barbora as they chat with Miguel Iturmendi, one of the pilots for an update on Perlan II now in Argentina. We will Also find out how you can join them live inside and outside the cockpit as they reach for 91,000 feet and a new world record! All this and more now on episode 141 of soaring the sky! https://perlanproject.org/ www.patreon.com/soaringthesky www.soaringthesky.com  

On this episode of the podcast Barbora, aka the Gliding Junkie joins Chuck to chat about what she has been up to and welcome our new guest pilot Sara Stearns! Sara loves to soar and has been in the aviation community for years. She recently retired after flying helicopters for 46 years! She has some amazing adventures to share with us and talks about how she survived all those years in the air. Sara will also talk about her soaring journey and how helicopters and gliders have more in common then you might think.    Sergio The Soaring Master returns on this episode to discuss inflight fatigue and what we can do to fight it. Join us now for another aviation adventure here on Soaring The Sky!    www.soaringthesky.com

On this episode we first talk to Jack Jenner Hall, one of the ambassadors of Aviation for the Department for Transport. Jack was first on the podcast at the age of 14 after he become Britians youngest pilot! Now 16, he has not stopped reaching for the sky, recentley he helped put together an aerobatic training for young people.  Jack also shares with us some of his recent experiences like his first landout while soaring cross country.  Later on the podcast David McMaster gives us an update on his project to educate people more on team flying and, has some exciting news to share with us! David also has some advice on how to start the new soaring season off with saftey first! He will also talk about about his recent trip to Reno Nevada for the SSA convetion where he spoke about his trip to the Junior World's.  https://harrishillsoaring.org/ [email protected]  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSexx5Iaff4sjVvbSezoJF4mlK2LZrGa4MvCS9wmdkJ18FUSsg/viewform    

Joe Aldrian joins us first to share his adventures. Joe started his aviation journey flying Sailplanes in the Airforce. He would then go on to fly many aircraft and currently is a captain flying the 787. Joe has logged almost 20,000 hours in the air so, as you can imagine he has alot to share with us Today. Also on this episode we have a new segment from Sergio the Soaring Master and this one is titled "Hilly Terrain" Join us now for another soaring adventure!     www.patreon.com/soaringthesky  

Born on an Island in south east Alaska Michael Reid made his living as a pilot for 41 years, and retired from Alaska Airlines five years ago. After retirement, Michael decided to purchase a Stemme S12 motor glider, which he now flies out of Anchorage, Alaska. He will be sharing his aviation journey with us and will put us in the cockpit of his Stemme S12 as we soar among the highest peaks in North America. Michael has given us some great links for you below to checkout after you hear his story. Join us now as we go north to Alaska on episode 137 of Soaring The Sky.  Michael Read [email protected] Assembling a Stemme from a Cobra trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vtn-32cvY8 A short clip from a full length documentary made by an Alaska Airlines pilot about the 737-200 Combi airplanes before they were retired in 2007.  That’s me complaining about the early departure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu1x-uskA0w Soaring Safety Foundation Incident Reporting Database: http://soaringsafety.org/forms/incident.html   How Michael gets a lot of his weather briefing: https://weathercams.faa.gov/map/-162.13732,58.75623,-137.7257,65.19178 Alaska has more than 200 weather cam locations throughout the state at airports, in mountain passes, etc. The FAA is starting to spread the program to the other states. Alaska Mountain Soaring Association, a fledgling glider club in South Central Alaska: http://www.akmtnsoaring.com/    

Today we will be soaring over the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona with our friend Eric Redweik from the The Tucson Soaring club. Cross-country soaring in this area frequently offers conditions conducive to flights in excess of 500 km while reaching altitudes over 14,000 feet. With a field elevation of only 2,100 feet MSL it is common for pilots to reach altitudes of over 10,000 AGL in the vicinity of the airfield. A soaring playground for sure! Eric has been flying gliders since he was 13 and has a lot of soaring adventures to share with us as well as some saftey tips to help us all be safer and better pilots. Sergio The Soaring Master joins us after our interview with another informative segment and this one is titled, Extended Glides.  Tucson Soaring Club- www.tucsonsoaring.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/106408483308/ Instagram: @tucsonsoaringclub   Region 9- www.members.ssa.org or https://tucsonsoaring.org/2023-region-9-contest Region 9 Contest Email: [email protected]   Freedom's Wings Arizona- https://freedomswingsaz.org/