Aeronautics: Wings of the Wind

Germany boasts 10,000 licensed glider pilots, Russia 30,000. In all the U. S. there are less than 200. Last week most of them were gathered on a high ridge in Elmira, N. Y., for the fifth annual gliding contest of the Soaring Society of America. For two days unfavorable winds kept the impatient birdmen on the ground, but on the third day conditions were ideal. Over the flat top of Henry Harris Ridge, newly cleared at a cost of $10,000, floated fleecy cumulus clouds with their promise of thermal currents. Beyond the...

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