Soaring Museum

The sky didn't look too good and the surface wind was strong in the morning, and also I was tired of a long driving yesterday, so I decided not to fly today. I went to South West Soaring Museum.

There were around 30 gliders on display in a huge hanger as well as numerous photos, story boards, and other small items. The one most interested me was Schreder HP-18. It's built in mid 1970's, but it has almost every features modern gliders have such as winglets, flaps, water ballast tank, wingroot fins, retractable gear, a canopy that extends to feet, and even sidestick control. It also has a built-in camera housing in its left winglet.

Click here to see photos of exhibitions.

Moriarty airport is home of a big soaring community. This is probably the biggest soaring community gathered in one airport I have ever seen. Unlike other public airports I have seen where glider operations is under a constant pressure from powerplane operations, here in Moriarty, glider community is the major party. There are about 70 gliders based on this airport, and glider trailers are parked everywhere in the airport. There is a club Albuquerque Soaring Club which does lessons and rentals for club members, and a FBO Sundance Aviation which does lessons, rides, rentals, and towing for privates.

There are two repair shops, one operated by Robert Mudd and the other operated by George Applebay. Robert is one of designers of Genesis glider. After designing the ship in the US, he lived in Lithuania to be involved in the manufacturing process. Once he got the ship, he traveled with it and flew it in Germany and UK before coming back to the US. Robert's hanger was full of gliders waiting for repairs, and he seemed to be pretty busy. He is leaving for Oshkosh on Wednesday. I haven't met George Applebay yet, but heard many very high reputations.