Riding the Wind

Soaring museum in Moriarty showcases why local weather makes the area a hotspot for the sport
Story and photos by Jim Winnerman

One of only two museums in the nation devoted entirely to the sport of soaring in a glider, the U.S. Southwest Soaring Museum in Moriarty houses a vast collection of vintage sailplanes and related displays.

Soaring is the sport of flying engineless planes, known as gliders. These planes are designed to use natural currents of rising air to maintain or gain altitude.

“The winds coming across the mountains around Moriarty provide some of the best year-round weather conditions in the nation for a glider,” museum President Bob Hudson says.

The museum, which is served by Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative, has 77 gliders in its collection. All are older than 30 years and marked with placards explaining their histories and significance. Gliders on display are made from many materials, ranging from metal to carbon fiber, fiberglass and fabric stretched over wooden frames.

One glider on display, known as the Zuni, was designed and built by late museum founder and Moriarty resident George Applebay. A respected glider pilot responsible for many varied sailplane designs, George considered the area the soaring capital of the Southwest and started the museum in 1990 out of a small hangar at Moriarty Municipal Airport. George died in 2015.

Because of George’s efforts, the soaring museum expanded into the 39,000-square-foot freestanding building it occupies today, which was built specifically for the museum.

“In February 2015, the New Mexico State Legislature named the Zuni the official state glider, making New Mexico the only state to have an official plane,” Bob says.

Also on display is a replica of the famous sailplane, Zanonia, which won numerous soaring competitions in the 1940s. The glider was named after the seed of the Zanonia plant, which has aerodynamic properties that allow it to gain height in wind.

The museum is also home to a replica of the first Wright brothers’ glider, flown in 1902. This replica was built using the brothers’ original plans.

While most gliders become airborne after being towed aloft by a propeller-driven plane, some gliders have motors that allow them to get airborne on their own. Once in the air, the engine retracts into the fuselage to reduce drag.

“We display five that have engines,” says docent Ridge Moreland, who has flown gliders since he was a teenager.

Many gliders have detachable wings to allow easy transport in trailers. This is especially useful if a pilot cannot return to an airport and requires a trailer to retrieve a glider from wherever it safely lands.

Although most gliders flying today carry one or two people, a museum exhibit explains how large gliders were used during World War II to silently deliver troops and equipment behind enemy lines. These gliders, known as “whisper ships,” could carry 20 to 40 troops and vehicles and artillery too heavy to drop by parachute.

“They were used extensively as an unconventional weapon in the D-Day invasion and other critical engagements of the war,” Bob says. “When they landed, they had to be abandoned.”

Other museum exhibits highlight the history of notable female glider pilots and how natural air currents above New Mexico are ideally suited for soaring. The museum has a library with glider books and technical manuals dating back to 1937.

“People come from throughout the country to use our library,” Bob says.

The museum averages about 7,500 visitors annually, with about half from New Mexico. The museum has had visitors from every state and from countries around the world.

“I have never had anyone say they were disappointed,” Ridge says.

The museum does not have its own runway or towplane to launch gliders and is not directly affiliated with Albuquerque Soaring Club, which operates at the nearby Moriarty Municipal Airport. But Bob, who is also the airport manager, says the facility primarily functions as a glider port.

“There are no scheduled flights at the airport, and out of the 176 planes there, 77 are gliders,” he says.

Because of the perfect glider weather conditions around Moriarty, the club hosts glider pilots from around the world who come to fly the club planes. Yearly, pilots arrive from New Zealand, Germany and Brazil to soar above Moriarty.

The club hosts an annual championship race in which pilots are judged and scored by the speed at which they complete a predetermined course. Points are earned over five days, and flight recorders verify pilots properly flew the course. The overall champion is the pilot with the highest cumulative score.

“It is a sport that requires skill, alertness and good judgment to return to the airport,” Bob says. “Pilots who cannot make it back and land away from an airport must be alert for telephone wires and fences. Above all else, you do not want to hit a cow.”

GLIDER FACTS

• Most gliders have wingspans of 50 feet, with some high-performance models having wingspans as long as 99 feet.

• New glider prices start at $35,000, but can be as much as $300,000.

• Gliders use the same movable sections of the wing and tail found on conventional planes to control the direction of flight. Ailerons on the edges of wings are controlled using a control stick between the pilot’s legs, while the tail rudder is controlled using foot pedals.

• To land, gliders typically require a landing distance of 300 to 400 feet.

• Under ideal conditions, glider pilots can remain aloft for up to eight hours and reach altitudes of 18,000 feet.

• Paper airplanes are gliders, as are most space shuttles during reentry.

IF YOU GO:

U.S. Southwest Soaring Museum
918 Historic U.S. 66
P.O. Box 3626
Moriarty, NM 87035
505-832-9222

Hours
Tuesday through Saturday,
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission
Adults: $7.50
Seniors: $6.50
Youth (7–18): $4.50
Children 6 and younger: Free