National Soaring Museum in Elmira, New York

Today was due for thundershowers all day, and we need to prepare today for our move tomorrow to Toronto, so we decided to make a short visit to the National Soaring Museum in nearby Elmira, New York. The museum is located on Harris Hill, which is the site of a glider airport that has been deeply involved with soaring and sailplanes throughout their recent history.

Our tour began with two videos - one that explains the sport of soaring and what you would experience if you took a sailplane ride; and one that illustrated what it would be like to earn your glider pilot's license, by following a New Zealand teenager as she navigates the skills required to fly and land a glider.  The second video was exceptional just for its breathtaking glider's-eye-view scenery of New Zealand's South Island, which made us think of Dave's sister Lizzy and her family, who live outside Auckland.  Here is a scene from the video showing gliders as they navigate the air over a sound on the South Island:

The museum explored briefly the history of humans' attempts to fly, including Leonardo Da Vinci's and others' designs of fantastical flying machines.  But, for practical purposes, the history of soaring begins with the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and the museum displays part of the cloth covered wing of that history-making airplane:

For years, until World War II, gliders were not borne aloft by being pulled by motor-driven aircraft.  Rather, they were generally pulled by a car or truck bearing a winched towrope, which could be released once the glider reached appropriate airspeed.  Here is a truck and winch that was actually used in the 1930's:

Because land-borne motor vehicles could not manage a tow rope long enough to let the glider get very high aloft before cutting loose, a location such as Harris Hill, which is high and overlooks a flat valley that is a source of strong updrafts and thermals, was ideal for helping a glider then achieve elevation even after it has cut loose its towrope.  This is one of the reasons Harris Hill played such a big role in the sport.

Before World War II, Germany, as a result of the restrictions placed on it by the World War I armistice, could not build motor driven aircraft (that is, of course, until Hitler's regime simply decided to ignore the prohibitions and build a mighty air force).  Frustrated by the inability to build engine-propelled aircraft, Germany nevertheless actively explored the engineering and design of non-motorized aircraft, and consequently became the undisputed leader in the design, production and manufacture of gliders going into World War II.  Recognizing the need to match Germany's military advantages, Britain and the U.S. only began to develop military glider capabilities with the beginning of World War II.

Most people who know the history of D-Day are aware that many U.S. paratroopers and other soldiers and military equipment were flown into Normandy behind Germany's shore defenses, by the use of large gliders.  These were, essentially, single-use aircraft.  Their success in landing without crashing was decidedly mixed, and many lives were lost in their flights; but, on the other hand, the successes they did have were crucial in helping the Allies storm Europe.

The museum has part of one of the World War II gliders, and makes it available for visitors to step inside and experience what it might have been like to fly in the glider:

Kathy took her place dutifully on the paratrooper bench:

David opted, instead, to try out a more modern glider, just big enough for him alone:

Many people don't realize that the Space Shuttle program owes its success in no small part to the study, enhancement and development of glider technology, as the space shuttles were, on landing, without engine power and needed to fly and land safely based on glider principles.  So Kathy gives her pictorial nod to the space program's involvement in soaring by posing for the photo below:

The National Soaring Museum is one of only two significant museums in the world that exhibit the sport of soaring.  It has dozens of gliders, from historic to modern, on display in its large hangar-like space, and it exhibits models of every significant glider model ever built, describing the significance of each model, the importance of major glider designers and manufacturers, and the glory of major glider pilots.  It was a visit well worth making and left us pondering whether we might take a glider ride someday.  Kathy says she'll discuss it with her acrophobic alter ego and let David know what they decide.