Published Writing
You Gotta Believe– Soaring Magazine | April 2018
A seven hour adventure that took me to the limits of my soaring ability. The forecast looked perfect; a monster wave off of the Catskills. My plan was to connect with wave near Blairstown and soar my way up to Wurtsboro. But my plan fell apart and a chasm of weak ridge conditions stood between me and the Catskills. Soaring 70 miles through some of the most challenging ridge and thermals I had flown and at one point on downwind for a landout, I made it across the transition. Later, I connected with the elusive wave and clawed my way up to the Class A. At 18,000ft, I made a 70 mile final glide back to Blairstown Airport, having completed the first Diamond Climb from New Jersey.
1000km in a 1-26 – Soaring Magazine | July 2016
My most spectacular flight in Sweet Red. The 1000km was the dream. From Wally Scott saying that it is doable, followed by Ron Schwartz’s nearly making it several times, this was the frontier of 1-26 soaring. Through clever flight planning and a favorable ridge day, the dream came true on May 2016. This was the first 1000km Diploma awarded in a 1-26.
Three Diamonds in a Club 1-26– 1-26 Association Newsletter | Fall 2015
This article describes my badge journey in Sweet Red, Aero Club Albatross’ 1-26E. From struggling to stay up, through Silver Badge and the ridge running for the Distance legs. And finally the elusive altitude Diamond at Mt.Washington.
A Day Win at the Club Class Nationals– 1-26 Association Newsletter | Spring 2014
It was my second competition, the 2013 Club Class Nationals. Day One brought a strong NW ridge day. No one expected much of the red 1-26 on the grid. The pilot hooking me up was somewhat bewildered when the 19 year old kid said, “If all goes well, I’ll win this day.” The rest of the contestants were even more surprised when the kid won the day with a 120 margin on second place.
Kolstad Scholarship Application Essay– Soaring Magazine | March 2013
The most prestigious award offered to young soaring pilots is the Kolstad Scholarship. The application consists of letters of recommendation, a list of accomplishments and an application essay. The essay detailed my soaring history to date and my goals for the future
2013 1-26 Championships – The Champion’s View– 1-26 Assocation Newsletter | Fall 2013
The 1-26 Championship’s were over and these were my concluding thoughts on this spectacular competition. I won this competition, performing well by flying consistently. Several day wins, several trickier days, but no landouts. Moriarty is a magical place!
Selected Short Stories
The Race– My Last Flight in Sweet Red | A Coda
I didn’t expect to fly Sweet Red on this day. Nor did I know it at the time that this would be my last flight in this wonderful ship. On this flight, Ron Schwartz (428) and I spontaneously decided to do a 60 mile drag race back from Hawk Mountain to Millbrook. We flew to perfection, at times only yards apart, several times changing leads. When we finished, we landed back at Blairstown in formation. This flight was the coda to all my amazing experiences in this sailplane.
El Bondo is Born– A 1200km Ridge Flight
It was the 2016 Club Class Nationals at Wurtsboro NY. A riproaring cold front tore through the northeast and the day was cancelled due to excessive winds. I took an early tow and flew the farthest flight in an ACA club ship. Little did I know what Ron had in store for me when I got back home..
A Remarkably Unremarkable Ridge Day
Every once in a while, you realize what an amazing thing you’ve got going. How special it is to go soaring on the first of December, with an oddball gang of pilots called ACAers.
1000km Triangle in the Duckhawk
This flight is my farthest and fastest flight to date. The day looked spectacular and I set out in a watered up Duckhawk to get the prize: a 1000km triangle from Blairstown. I took off a bit later than I expected and attacked the ridge with the rawest aggression I had ever expressed in a sailplane. Every transition was done to perfection, not a second wasted. The result was the task completed at 80 mph, in less than 8 hours. I subsequently flew laps on the Blairstown ridge to complete a 1300km OLC flight, the farthest distance ever flown from Blairstown.
Down the Rabbit Hole– A Landout in Amish Country
After the conditions deteriorated on a light ridge day in August, I landed in a beautiful hay field far away from home. I quickly realized that I also landed back in time.
Conquering the Hill– A Trip up to Elmira and Back
A reasonable soaring day brewed up in July and I decided to fly up to Harris Hill to say hello to my buddies Noah and Phil. I flew back to Blairstown on the same day. The flights were exciting, flown in challenging conditions and terrain.
The forecast looked promising for wave. Sure enough, a group of us climbed up to 12,000ft right over Blairstown airport. Looking ahead, I saw an extraordinary sight; a primary wave set up from the Pocono plateau. Connecting with this wave took me to the highest altitude anyone had soared from Blairstown Airport.
Ridge Soaring Expedition– An Out and Return to Mountain Grove, VA
It was winter and quite cold. Operations were shut down at Blairstown and I was getting cabin fever. The solution was to haul the club LS4 out to Tom Knauff’s gliderport near State College PA. The subsequent day a group of us had great ridge flights and I had the joy of flying down to Mountain Grove in challenging soaring conditions.
Soaring the SE Ridge to the Susquehanna River
Making it around the pinnacle on the SE side was one of the few genuinely euphoric moments I had experienced in a sailplane. This was my farthest 1-26 flight on the “back side” of the ridge and the only time to date a 1-26 from Blairstown has made it to the Susquehanna River and back in these conditions.
The 2017 Junior Worlds were over. A month later, I took a flight in the club LS3 and set out to fly the Governor’s Cup. My thoughts drifted back to Lithuania and my teammates, Noah and JP. They joined me in spirit in this flight.
A Dynamic Soaring Day– Ridge, Thermals, and Wave!
It was a tricky spring day in the club LS4. The lift was generally weak, but it was there if you could find it. Ridge early, then weak wave near Tremont to the Susquehanna River, followed by hopping wave bars upwind toward State College. A short period of rocking thermals, followed by floating home as the day started decaying. An exhilarating day and one of my most well earned 500km flights.
All Pilot Reports
- 07-16-11 Silver Endurance/Climb
- 08-12-11 Silver Distance
- 01-15-12 Kolstad Century I Badge
- 03-02-12 Gold Distance/ Century III Badge
- 04-07-12 Diamond Goal/Distance and Century II
- 01-14-13 Fun Winter Soaring 1-26 Record
- 03-12-13 Day Win at the Nationals
- 08-09-13 First Flight in the Duckhawk
- 10-13-14 SE Ridge To Susquehanna River in a 1-26
- 04-24-15 1000km Triangle in the Duckhawk
- 09-15-15 Ridge + Thermal Flying Blairstown
- 09-19-15 SE Ridge Day
2016 Soaring Season
- 03-21-16 1000km Out and Return Duckhawk
- 05-08-16 1000km in a 1-26
- 06-12-16 El Bondo is Born
- 07-20-16 Out and Return to Hunter Mountain
- 09-11-16 LS4 Triangle
- 10-23-16 Blairstown Wave to 17,913ft!
- 10-28-16 The Race
2017 Soaring Season
- 02-04-17 Wave Soaring
- 03-04-17 Ridge Soaring Expedition
- 03-29-17 LS4 Awesome Soaring Day
- 04-08-17 1000km in LS4
- 04-14-17 Convergence Soaring
- 04-28-17 G-Cup + Convergence Day
- 05-04-17 SE Ridge to the Potomac and Return
- 05-15-17 1200km Duckhawk Ridge Flight
- 09-10-17 G-Cup Team Flying
- 09-30/10-01-17 Ridge Soaring Weekend
- 10-07-17 SE Ridge Running
- 10-13-17 Bears and Bald Eagles SE Ridge
- 12-01-17 A Remarkably Unremarkable Ridge Day
2017-2018 | Winter Wave Exploration
- 11-17-17 You Gotta Believe!
- 11-26-17 Daniel, Dan, and Danny Go Soaring!
- 1-26-18 The Art and Science of Soaring: Exploring the Catskill Wave
- 02-05-18 Getting High
2018 Soaring Season
- 04-08-18 Is It Spring Yet?
- 07-11-18 Conquering The Hill
- 08-23-18 Down the Rabbit Hole
- 11-07-18 A Finicky Wave
- 12-07-18 A 1-26 Fix
2019 Soaring Season
- 03-30-19 Making Miles and Positive Waves
- 05-16-19 | By the Skin of My Teeth- A 500km Thermal Triangle
- 05-21-19 | Celebration Day | 500km Triangle
- 06-03-19 | Dancing With The Devil
Training with Noah Reitter | Ridge Soaring | Harris Hill
- 06-21-19 | Ridge Soaring with Noah
- 06-22-19 | Slogging Upwind
- 06-23-19 | How’s A Little Blue For Ya?
- 06-24-19 | Rest Day
- 06-25-19 | Flying a Duo
- 06-26-19 | Thunderbolts and Lightning… Very, Very Frightening!
- 06-27-19 | A Fine Summer Soaring Day
- 06-30-19 | Just Hang in There!
2019 | Junior World Gliding Championship | Szeged, Hungary
- 07-20-19 | Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
- 07-22-19 | Cruising Along
- 07-23-19 | And We’re Flying!
- 07-24-19 | Practice We Did!
- 07-25-19 | Getting Pulled Over
- 07-26-19 | And We’re Ready to Race!
- 07-27-19 | Opening Ceremony
- 07-28-19 | First Day Cancelled; A Day Trip to Budapest
- 07-29-19 | Another Cancelled Day; Day Trip into Romania
- 07-30-19 | Day One- Flying Hot and Fast!
- 07-31-19 | Day Two- Playing with the Tisza River
- 08-01-19 | Day Three- Chasing the Germans! | International Night
- 08-02-19 | Day Four- It Looked Impossible
- 08-04-19 | Day Five- As Ned Kelly Said…
- 08-05-19 | Day Six- A Thermal Too Far
- 08-06-19 | Day Seven- Train wreck
- 08-07-19 | Day Eight- A Little Taste of Heaven
- 08-08-19 | Day Nine- Low, Weak, and Blue
- 08-09-19 | Day Ten- And the Gaggle Goes Round and Round
- 08-10-19 | Day Eleven- Blaze of Glory
October 2019 –> 2020
- 10-06-19 | Exploring New Ridges
- 10-12-19 | Mt. Washington Wave Camp | Putting Lipstick on a Pig
- 10-13-19 | Pigs on the Wing | A Golden Sled Ride
- 12-07-19 | Catapulting the Cow
- 12-20-19 | Winter Wonderland | Soaring with Eagles
- 01-20-20 | Temptations and Eagles
- 08-22-20 | A Tale of Two Airmasses
- 10-31-20 | Trick or Treat?
- 11-14-20 | Trouble with the Troopers
- 12-13-20 | The Early Bird Catches the Worm
2021 Soaring Season
- 03-28-21 | The Masters of the Sky
- 05-03-21 | Bizarro World
- 05-04-21 | Several Rainy Days | Singing the Chatanooga Choo-Choo
- 05-05-21 | A Manic Depressive No-Contest Day
- 05-06-21 | Cu, Blue, and Where Are You?
- 05-07-21 | Excuse Me, I Have A Gaggle to Catch
- 05-10-21 | Stupid, Stupid, Stupid
- 05-11-21 | It’s Raining Gliders in Chilhowee!
2021 | World Gliding Championship | Montlucon, France
- 08-07-21 | Stop, Take a Breath and Enjoy the Show!
- 08-08-21 | Day One – Singing In the Rain!
- 08-09-21 | Day Two- Chasing Down the Gaggle
- 08-10-21 | Day Three- A Scratchy Blue Day
- 08-11-21 | Day Four – A Banquet Task?
- 08-12-21 | Day Five- We Tried!
- 08-13-21 | Day Six- Driving Into the Dirt
- 08-14-21 | Day Seven- Ce La Vie
- 08-16-21 | Day Eight- Terrorizing the French Fields | International Night!
- 08-18-21 | Day Nine- Fly It Like You Stole It!
- 08-19-21 | Day Ten- Better Than Expected!
- 08-20-21 | Day Eleven- A Final Field Foray
- 08-21-21 | Closing Ceremony and Concluding Remarks
Soaring Economist 