Sport of Soaring is Alive!
Editors Note: Over the last year Mitch has organized eleven authors to write these newsletters providing entertainment and education on soaring topics. Wings & Wheels sends thanks to all the authors and Mitch! We intend to keep these articles coming regularly every Thursday. W&W is seeking new content for the newsletter, it could be you! Contact us at [email protected].
Mitch's Last Article
This is my last Wings & Wheels article on a regular basis, as well as the consortium I formed to keep the articles flowing this year. I believe all of us will be doing the occasional article in the future, but not on a regular basis. I wanted to take a second to recap the year in writing and give you a behind-the-scenes view. All of us really enjoyed our year doing this, and what better year than 2020 to write a weekly article! I feel this weekly article does a real service to the soaring community, on top of helping bring light to some great glider products. I have purchased products from Wings & Wheels for thirty years now and it was an honor to be able to help out.
This Sport is Alive!
There is one thing I would like you to take note of for the articles in general: It is that I am by far the oldest author at the age of 44. Almost everyone else ranged from 19 years old to their late 30’s, and I think this is worth mentioning. This was the heart of my soaring world that you heard from. You read articles from CFI’s, DPE’s, Tow Pilots, Mechanics, experienced glider racers, and in general the heart of soaring in the United States right now. All of us have learned from the greats. We have all watched Sun Ship Games and Running on Empty 50+ times. Most of us flew for Spratt and Charlie Lite in our early days and we love this sport almost more than anything else in our lives. It, and all of the readers of this article mean the world to us. If you are more experienced than us, know that we wouldn't be here without you. Thank you for your lessons, and for building us up. If you are less experienced than us, call any one of us any time with questions. Our numbers are in the SSA directory. We will do our best to help.
Our Goals
We have tried to make these articles educational based on our experiences. We tried to tell stories and impart what we know so far. We realize there is always so much more to learn for each of us and we look forward to that. That is the beauty of aviation. There is so much to know, and so much to master, that no one person can do everything. It always takes a team. Just like soaring in general.
Signing Off (For now)
For me personally, these people are my friends. We all stay in touch almost daily and share ideas, triumphs, and tribulations of this crazy life. Without soaring drawing us together, we would all be just a little more lost. We invite you to join us on the ramps at Hobbs, or around the beer cooler at our local clubs after a good soaring day. We invite you to come experience these things with us. From the land outs, and broken airplanes to the 10 knot climbs to 17,999 and the 1000k flight, we want you with us. If you are reading this article, each and every one of you cares about this sport enough to keep it going. We look forward to more in the future and thank Sean Franke of Wings & Wheels for this opportunity.
See ya at the airport!
-Mitch
Mitch Hudson has been avidly flying gliders since he was 14 years old. He is a retired Air Force Navigator who also has hobbies of exercising his ATP rating to fly regional jets around the country and using his A&P rating to keep all matter of flying machines in the air. Mitch has flown more regional and national soaring contests than he cares to count and has crewed at two World Gliding Championships. He and his wife live in Colorado, keep a hangar in Moriarty, New Mexico, and flies happily with whichever club will put up with him.
