Rides at North Plains, OR Willamette Valley Soaring Club site

The day started with a low overcast good for only student training in take-offs and  landings.  Two women arrived for the birthday ride for one but when told it might be a two-hour wait for the sky to clear enough to get to 3500' they opted to go pick peaches!  When they returned we could indeed get towed above the broken cloud layer for a most enjoyable 84th B-day ride for Evelyn.  Here we are level with the clouds after gliding for ten minutes from our release point on top of them.  Now we have another ~20 minutes to look for some lift before preparing to land back at the grass strip that is our airport.

Evelyn didn't know beforehand that she was my first passenger at my new club!

The second ride of the day was with Jane whose slight stature required some extra ballast and when I asked if she wanted to be raised up more in the cockpit, she replied that she was comfortable there, so off we went on tow behind the Pawnee:

We experienced some subtle lift and circled like the birds trying to use it to stay aloft.  Jane liked the turns and enjoyed the maneuvering as well as the great panoramic view.

There are always smiles at the end of a nice flight:

Later in the day, a student with instructor as well as two private owners flew for ~two hours enjoying the light lift.  Afterwards the private gliders are taken apart and stored in their trailers until the next good day.

WWII glider pilot finally gets his medal!

Little known are the 6,000 World War II glider pilots who were towed into combat zones, in a one-way flight to drop off soldiers and supplies. Bob Swenson, 90, of Bellevue, finally is getting an overdue Bronze Star medal for his heroism.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021630149_gliderpilotxml.html