Best Soaring Book

[Casey]

What is the best or most interesting soaring book you have read?

I will be choosing a new one out of these, so any recommendations?

On Quite Wings
The Art and Technique of Soaring
Cross-Country Soaring
The Joy of Soaring
Soaring Valley
America's Soaring Book
Soaring Cross Country
With Wings as Eagles
The Powerless Ones
The Soaring Pilot
Once Upon a Thermal
Glider Flying
Gliding A Handbook on Soaring Flight
New Soaring Pilot
On Being a Bird
Soar America
Winning
Advanced Soaring
Soar Sierra

[Tony]

Out of those, I would choose Once Upon a Thermal or On Being a Bird.

If you can find a copy of Soaring For Diamonds (Joe Lincoln) i highly recommend it. Same goes for Flight Without Power (Barringer) and The Art of Soaring Flight (Wolf Hirth).

Dick Johnson read The Art of Soaring Flight three times then taught himself how to fly a Primary. Then took a Bowlus Baby Albatross to Elmira for the Nationals, got a license, and placed third. Your mileage may vary.

[Martin Gregorie]

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 12:00:44 -0800, Tony wrote:

> On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 1:39:58 PM UTC-6, Casey wrote:
>> What is the best or most interesting soaring book you have read?
>>
>> I will be choosing a new one out of these, so any recommendations?
>>
>> On Quite Wings The Art and Technique of Soaring Cross-Country Soaring
>> The Joy of Soaring Soaring Valley America's Soaring Book Soaring Cross
>> Country With Wings as Eagles The Powerless Ones The Soaring Pilot Once
>> Upon a Thermal Glider Flying Gliding A Handbook on Soaring Flight New
>> Soaring Pilot On Being a Bird Soar America Winning Advanced Soaring
>> Soar Sierra
>
> Out of those, I would choose Once Upon a Thermal or On Being a Bird.
>

I'd second that.

I've just been given a copy of "Dancing With The Wind" by Jean-Marie
Clement, which deals with slope and wave soaring. So far I've only
glanced through it but it looks excellent and I expect to learn a lot
from reading it.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[ND]

Dick Johnson read The Art of Soaring Flight three times then taught himself how to fly a Primary. Then took a Bowlus Baby Albatross to Elmira for the Nationals, got a license, and placed third. Your mileage may vary.

These are the best three sentences in the history of RAS.

[uncl...@ix.netcom.com]

#1 On Being a Bird.
#2 Soaring for Diamonds by Joe Lincoln
UH

[tkn...@earthlink.net]

Youth Lost in Red Hell
By Bela Gogos

Bela flew at Ridge Soaring Gliderport for many years. Quiet, soft spoken.

His book is an amazing story of survival in a WW2 Russian prisoner of war camp in Siberia, and one of the reasons was his familiarity with glider instrumentation.

$12.95
www.eglider.org

[Casey]

Thanks. I've been given those books and I will start with On Being a Bird then Once Upon a Thermal.

[Paul Remde]

Hi Casey,

I vote for Cross-Country Soaring by Helmut Reichmann.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/books/CrossCountrySoaring/Cross-CountrySoaring.htm

I also very highly recommend Advanced Soaring Made Easy.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/books/Eckey/AdvancedSoaringMadeEasy.htm

I very much enjoyed reading Once Upon a Thermal when I first started
soaring.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com/books/Wolters/OnceUponAThermal.htm

Best Regards,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
______________________________________

"Casey" wrote in message
news:d15124b5-8721-460f...@googlegroups.com...

[son_of_flubber]

I just picked up G Dale's The Soaring Engine V1 based on the recent review in Soaring Magazine.

http://lgn1429021840.site-fusion.co.uk/

[Vsoars]

G Dale, The Soaring Engine , vol. 2
It gives meaningful information about finding, understanding and using lift. It is written by an amazing master teacher. His words and drawings help you to "see" the lift, where it is and why it's there.
Lots of people mention Cross Country Soaring. I re-read this often mentioned book and planned to write down all the practical information about the act of soaring. I filled two pages.
Buy G Dales book. After 20 years and 1600 hrs. I found it to be the best book about the act of soaring.

[Frank Whiteley]

Plenty of good reading there.

Once Upon A Thermal, read this at my local library about the time I took my first glider flight, soared for about an hour.

New Soaring Pilot, in a word, illuminating.

Most of the others followed.

Frank Whiteley

[Burt Compton - Marfa Gliders, west Texas]

Many great books out there as mentioned in this thread. However my top two are:

1. "The Art of Soaring Flight" by my Dad's friend, Wolf Hirth (1938.)

2. "Kronfeld On Gliding and Soaring"
subtitled "The Story of Motorless Human Flight" by Robert Kronfeld (1933.)

I'm told that only 500 copies of Robert Kronfeld's book were translated into english. I have two extra copies to sell someday, perhaps at the International Vintage Sailplane Meet (IVSM) on Harris Hill near Elmira, NY, July 9 - 16, 2016. I need to thin out my huge collection of vintage books and memorabilia. I'll probably publish an inventory sometime this year before auctioning on eBay.

There is something unique about the "old school" books. Soaring pilot-authors of the 1929-1969 era seemed in touch with the sky and very much one with the sailplane. They understood and shared the magic of soaring flight and how to read the sky. Indeed, the "Art" of soaring.

Later, pellet variometers and the "Memphis" rate of climb instrument were among the best available. One of those and a road map got you soaring cross-country. If you ever get a chance, smell a wooden sailplane and you will sense the magic. As one of the "soaring kids" of the 1960's I'm so glad that I saw the final decade of that era.

[xcnick]

I see Wolf Hirth's The Art of Soaring Flight mentioned a number of times. If you are reading it in English it was translated by a Naomi Heron-Maxwell. It is a bit different from the German because of her input and Doc Slater. The book about her flying is called Naomi the Aviatrix. More chick flick than how to soar so if you don't like it, re-gift it to the wife! https://sites.google.com/site/naomitheaviatrix/

[gk...@jocombs.org]

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 12:39:58 PM UTC-7, Casey wrote:

Soaring for Diamonds would be a favorite and the book by Old dog Walters, can't remember the name of it, but it was fun

[Kevin Brooker]

In addition to those already mentioned, here are a few I've enjoyed:

Sierra Sierra by John Joss
Exploring the Monster by Robert F. Whelan
Soaring Beyond the Clouds by Bertha Ryan
Soaring by Peter Dixon
Stalking the Mountain Wave by Ursula Weis

Another which was extremely educational and I cannot remember the title
or find it on my shelf is the anthology of the Soaring Symposium
lectures.




--
Kevin Brooker

[Tango Eight]

On Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 8:43:03 AM UTC-5, Kevin Brooker wrote:

> Another which was extremely educational and I cannot remember the title
> or find it on my shelf is the anthology of the Soaring Symposium
> lectures.

That's 'cause you loaned it to a buddy a couple years ago who still has it. You can have it back after I read it again :-).

-T8

[Ryan Wubben]

There are PDF's available of some of these books from the UK based
Lakes Gliding Club website:

http://www.lakesgc.co.uk

Click on "archive" on the left

Then click on "Old Gliding Books"

Wolf Hirth's book is there, you can download the PDF onto your
computer. They also have quite a few PDF's of "Sailplane & Gliding"
and the VGC News there as well under the "Old Gliding Mags" tab.

Enjoy...!

Ryan

At 05:56 23 January 2016, xcnick wrote:
>I see Wolf Hirth's The Art of Soaring Flight mentioned a number of
times.

>I=

>f you are reading it in English it was translated by a Naomi

>Heron-Maxwell.=

> It is a bit different from the German because of her input and Doc

>Slater.=

> The book about her flying is called Naomi the Aviatrix. More chick
flick

>t=

>han how to soar so if you don't like it, re-gift it to the wife!

>https://si=
>tes.google.com/site/naomitheaviatrix/
>

[Paul T]

http://www.lakesgc.co.uk/

Click on old gliding books - you'll find a few to keep you going.

[xcnick]

On Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 7:18:14 AM UTC-8, Paul T wrote:
> http://www.lakesgc.co.uk/
>
> Click on old gliding books - you'll find a few to keep you going.

Kronfeld's are there too. These books are just one of Wally Kahn's many legacies.

[Casey]

I also have the '69-'72 Proceedings of the Soaring Symposia, and the Soaring Cross Country, all printed.

http://www.betsybyars.com/guy/soaring_symposia/

At the rate I read I will be busy for awhile.

Casey

[Paul T]

At 16:56 23 January 2016, son_of_flubber wrote:
>On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 11:10:35 PM UTC-5, Burt Compton -
Marfa
>Glid=

>ers, west Texas wrote:
>
>> 1. "The Art of Soaring Flight" by my Dad's friend, Wolf Hirth

(1938.)=20
>>=20
>> 2. "Kronfeld On Gliding and Soaring"=20

>> subtitled "The Story of Motorless Human Flight" by Robert
Kronfeld

>=
>(1933.)
>>=20

>> I'm told that only 500 copies of Robert Kronfeld's book were
translated

>i=

>nto english. I have two extra copies to sell someday, perhaps at the

>Inter=

>national Vintage Sailplane Meet (IVSM) on Harris Hill near Elmira, NY,

>July=

> 9 - 16, 2016. I need to thin out my huge collection of vintage books
and

>=

>memorabilia. I'll probably publish an inventory sometime this year
before

>=
>auctioning on eBay.
>
>Since the copyright is expired on these books, what would you think
about
>s=
>canning them and putting the .pdf on the Soaring Museum's website? Or
>they=
> could sit unread and moldering in private collections.
>

pdf files exist on Lakes GC site -

[sisu1a]

Your list is missing all of Gren Siebel's books, which IMO are some of the best soaring books I've read.

Gaggle of One
Pilot's Choice
After All
Turnpoints

[Casey]

These books were giving to me and to be honest, I did not find them very interesting. In fact, out dated and stopped reading after a few pages then went to the next. All seemed to start the same way..."ever since the beginning of time man has looked to the sky and dreamt of flying like a bird"

The most interesting were Bob Wander pamphlets, but these are also outdated. Yes the science of wx and thermals has not changed but using barographs and cameras for turn points is a little out of date. One of the most updated books I have read is the FAA Glider Handbook.

Where are the updated books about modern competitions, the change in design throughout the years, the use of all the new glide software and instruments?

I guess I may have to purchase the ones you suggest and give them a try.

[Casey]

I just ran across a biography by Joe Volmar, "I Learned to Fly For Hitler".

http://www.abebooks.com/9780967138909/Learned-Fly-Hitler-Volmar-Joe-0967138906/plp

Has anyone read it, and how many stars?

[Martin Gregorie]

I've got it and enjoyed reading it. It gives a very unusual view of life
during WW2 from the viewpoint of an American Boy Scout whose family moved
to Germany in 1940 where he discovered gliding and got his Silver C. I
also think he was lucky the war ended when it did: those who flew the
Me.163 Komet tended not to live long.

[Bob Whelan]

An excellent, and well-written, book for anyone with the slightest interest in
either history in general or gliding/soaring in particular. As with all
"field-of-battle" memoirs (read the book!), it leaves all insightful readers
with a powerful sense of how huge a factor in survival is fortune. In Volmar's
case, "simply" escaping the (front lines, no less!) meat-grinder of the
Russian front in 1945 with his life is perhaps the most obvious example.

Bob W.

[Tango Eight]

On Thursday, February 25, 2016 at 4:47:48 AM UTC-5, Casey wrote:

> Where are the updated books about modern competitions, the change in design throughout the years, the use of all the new glide software and instruments?

Sounds like you want George Moffat's "Winning II", the Brigliadoris' "Competing in Gliders", some of John Cochrane's articles Soaring starting with "Just a Little Faster, Please".

Evan Ludeman / T8

[herbk...@gmail.com]

Casey, my most valued training manual for flying is still "Stick and Rudder" by Langewiesche, written ca. 1935. I guess you'd call that completely outdated. Modern software, computers and contest rules don't help you diddly squat in flying x-country. Basic airmanship and experience do. Get your butt in your glider and fly to some challenging turn-points. Then think about how you did and go do it again. Oh, and in between it doesn't hurt reading Reichmann and many of the other good books listed here.

[Stephen Michalik]

I like/read those posted. I suggest including "Crosswind" by Patricia Valdata. Not only is a great read, but the younger generation might enjoy an observation of how to get started in soaring!
Cheers Ms Valdata.

[agca...@gmail.com]

Some great books listed above, specially joe lincolns Soaring for Diamonds. A more obscure but wonderfull read is "Real Men Land Out". For all the higher performance glass drivers, this book is the saga of a great little 1-26 driver with some funny tails of adventure and misadventure on the lower end of the l/d spectum.
Dan #225

[Kevin Brooker]

It is almost shameful I forgot to include "The Platypus Papers" by
Michael Bird, in my earlier post. Great book and laugh out loud funny.
TINFOS, the best advice about improving soaring performances.




--
Kevin Brooker