In competition, pilots are given a course of travel called a ``task.'' The task, often 200 miles or more, is set the day of competition based on prevailing weather conditions. Yet soaring is the more contemporary label.

Because early sailplanes were capable only of gliding, that term is more traditional and popularly recognized. They stay airborne by searching for rising pockets of warm air called ``thermals'' that allow their plane to gain altitude and soar.įor purists, ``soaring'' is the act of gaining altitude and ``gliding'' is the act of gradual descent. Pilots are towed aloft by engine-powered planes and released. Ninety percent of the people flying airplanes should be flying gliders, but they don't because they never learn about it.''Ī sailplane has no motor, only the contour and composition to accept flight.

If you want to fly for fun, soaring is the way to go. ``I fly them, but they're for just in case you want to travel somewhere. ``Power planes are pretty boring,'' said Eric Mozer, a world-class soaring pilot from Clover, S.C. The activity claims 20,000 participants in the United States - 100,000 worldwide - and is in the wind to become an Olympic sport in the coming decade. Such is the basis of soaring - a sport that matches willing pilots with the most eager of airplanes. Unlike the helicopter - kept aloft by the force of engines - a powerless airplane will sail like a well-tossed paper plate if given enough altitude.

Stripped of its jets, even a ponderous 747 is predisposed to glide for miles. It's the nature of an airplane to want to fly.

Olympic ii sailplane