Each year we escape the NY winter with a trip to Bermuda High Soaring in sunny South Carolina. This year we did 104 flights, 2 check rides, a 2+ hour flight, several personal best altitude gains, and lots of thermalling/gaggle experience. Congratulations to Scott Ashcraft and Sandra Ryder for getting new ratings at Bermuda High! Scott earned his private pilot glider license, and Sandra Ryder earned her commercial rating! A huge thanks to CFIG Patrick Read more…
2024 marked the 8th International Vintage Sailplane Meet (IVSM) and the Vintage Sailplane Association’s 50th anniversary. The IVSM is the premier vintage sailplane meet in the United States. Since 1995 it has featured the largest number of vintage sailplanes on display and flying at one spot on the North American continent. This year over 2 dozen vintage gliders made it to Harris Hill for the event. Several of them were trailered in from the west coast. Some Read more…
2024 was another eventful year at Harris Hill, and our members came together time and again to celebrate our shared passion for flight. Here is a visual recap of the year. We started the year in February with a group trip to Bermuda High Soaring in South Carolina to get an early start on training before the flying season at HH. There was lots of learning and lots of fun! March is the beginning of Read more…
How far can you fly in a glider from Harris Hill? How about 1033km 641 miles!On Friday 3/29, with strong winds out of the NW, Harris Hill member Noah Reitter set off on a task that would take him down to the Maryland border twice!After a 60 mile leg to the south via thermals he connected with the Appalachian ridges in central Pa. near Williamsport. Running the ridges to Cumberland Maryland and back to Williamsport Read more…
One of our missions is education about soaring and aviation. This weekend (March 30-31) we will be at the Sciencenter in Ithaca to show kids and grown-ups how to fly like birds! You can sit in the cockpit of a real sailplane, try out the controls, and learn about the instruments. Fly a sailplane simulator! You can create paper gliders and test them in a wind tunnel to learn how flying works. We’ll be at Read more…
On March 16 and 23, Harris Hill members prepped our gliders for the coming flying season. Gliders were buffed, waxed, and inspected to be ready to fly all summer. We will start public rides on April 6, flying weekends until late October. We will also fly weekdays from June 10, 2024 through Labor Day. Rides are $140. All rides are weather permitting and on a first-come, first-served basis.
When you have had a dream for as long as Dan O’Brien has sometimes it seems like it will never come true. But on the afternoon of July 6 Dan’s lifelong dream of becoming a glider tow pilot did just that. At first those who were at Harris Hill that day did not know exactly what was happening. Dan had been on at the airfield all day quietly helping where he could as he usually Read more…
In the February depths of a damp gray New York, 12 hardy members of the Harris Hill Soaring Club of Elmira NY, loaded trucks and trailers with gear and glider to follow the sun to Bermuda High Soaring for some intensive mid-winter instruction. The effort paid significant dividends to those who made the trip and a combined 150 flights. The following milestones reached by club members and much exercise of flight muscle memory by all. Read more…
Summer is almost here! We are now flying seven days a week from 10am – 6pm (weather permitting). This is a perfect time to take a glider ride or learn how to fly!
Our public flying season starts this Saturday, April 2nd! We will fly glider rides Saturdays and Sundays from 10am – 5pm (weather permitting). It’s a great way to see Chemung County from the air and experience the joys of flying like a bird. This video will give you an idea of what to expect on a glider ride.