Flying a glider plane above Long Island is an uplifting experience 

Have you ever thought about flying in a glider? Watch one silently overhead and it seems surreal, so free, so, well, simple. It looks like anyone could do it.

"Anyone can, with a little bit of training, of course," says John Hoge, "and I can assure you it’s all the great things you probably think it is — and way more."

Hoge, 51, of Setauket, is vice president of the Long Island Soaring Association (L.I.S.A.), a glider club that flies out of Brookhaven Calabro Airport in Shirley. The only soaring club on Long Island, it brings together an eclectic mix of licensed glider pilots.

WHO CAN GLIDE?

Many of the club’s 70 or so members have aviation backgrounds including jet pilots, mechanics, controllers, dispatchers, flight attendants and so on, but there are entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers and business owners, too. Several are instructors in addition to being pilots.

"It really is a fun group of knowledgeable people, all of whom love being up in the air without an engine," says Hoge, who has been a club member since 1993. "Gliding is a ton of fun, and the good times are multiplied by great friendships — but be forewarned that if you take a liking to the sport it can really be addictive."

It also takes more of a team effort than you might suspect, points out Peter Flanagan, of Great Neck, who joined L.I.S.A in 1994. "There’s a fair amount of work involved in preparing for each flight."

PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF

You need to tow a 700-pound glider plane out to the grass runway and get it ready for launch.

"Someone has to run with the glider holding the wing as the it gains airspeed," says Flanagan, since the plane has no engine. "Another person needs to be the tow pilot and bring the plane up to speed and an appropriate height before release. You’ll need volunteers to help put the plane away at the end of the day as well. Once you are up and soaring, however, it’s pure magic as you glide silently seeking out warm thermal upwellings that will lift your vessel further aloft and extend the time you can stay in the air before eventually easing back down to earth."

And just how long can you stay aloft? "That depends on your skill level and ability to read the weather," Andrew Apicos, 60, says with a chuckle. He's a high school teacher who has recorded the longest times aloft for club members in five of the past six years. "I’ve cruised for up to 3 hours and 56 minutes," he says proudly.

Typical glider flights over Long Island tend to run about 30 minutes, but many club members have exceeded two-and-a-half hours.

Apicos notes that there are various glider skill elements you can earn recognition for from the Soaring Society of America (S.S.A.). "I’m shooting for a Silver Badge now," he says. "For that you need a five-hour day aloft from when you release until you land. That’s not easy to do on Long Island because Mother Nature only occasionally doles out those perfect conditions."

Hoge, gliding over Smith Point Park, once climbed to 8,800 feet and stayed up for three-and-a-half hours. "It’s all about finding the thermals," he says. Thermals are upwellings where warm, warmed by the sun, rises up into the atmospehere.

FINDING THE BEST TIME TO FLY

On a perfect day, usually in April or May, a high-altitude cold air mass slides down from the north. As the sun heats Long Island, the warm air rises and draws in moist air from the ocean. That conjuncture creates cumulus clouds, which bellow upward and contain the best updrafts.

On the best days, the clouds line up along the coast in a formation called cloud streets, and gliders can hop from one cloud to the next to stay aloft for hours. "Thermals can be found on clear days, sometimes, too," says Hoge. "If they take you high enough you see Montauk and the Manhattan skyline at the same time."

Shawn Simms, 62, of Smithtown, is a former air traffic controller who dabbled in gliding as a teenager, then joined the club to return to the sport about 15 years ago. "My perfect flight," he reveals, "is the rare occasion we get to soar with birds. The big birds of prey don’t have any airborne predators to fear, so they don’t seem to worry about us so we can share a thermal."

Ask any experienced glider pilot exactly what it is they enjoy most and the answer is likely to be fine-tuning their skills. "Mastering gliding takes a while," says Flanagan, "but you’ll really take pride in seeing them develop. I believe they’ll also make you a better pilot if you fly a jet or motorized plane."