Garret Willat's Recommended Reading List
My winter selection for reading is a mix of learning and entertainment to get me into the racing spirit. Right now we are fully into the racing spirit at Narromine Australia, at the Junior World Gliding Championships. www.jwgc2015.com But for those shoveling snow here you go:
See Ya' at the Airport is possibly one of the most enjoyable reads about soaring. With all of the fame and glory of contest flying, Charlie is the most internationally well-known name in US sailplane racing. Charlie tells his stories of the races, the pilots, the locations, in only a way Charlie could.
The Soaring Engine project has started. The first volume is a primer on the most common forms of soaring: ridge, thermal, flatland and mountain flying. Understanding how the air moves, what it will do next and why it is moving around is very important. G Dale has an amazing way of explaining things so they are easy to understand. Quite possibly it is the thousands of hours he has in the back of the Duo-Discus slapping XC students around the South Island of New Zealand.
Whiskey Alpha WA the Life of Soaring Legend Wally Scott, when the men were real men and wore spurs. I don’t know if he wore spurs but it seems fitting. With 36 years of Soaring he gained a vast amount of experience, records and amazing flights. The book is more than just his long distance flights, straight outs, there are stories of flying in the service and growing up with a family run movie theater. If you are looking for an inspiration to have some straight out adventures or long flights, this is your book.
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Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.