My first exposure to sailplanes was in January of 1967 when I first read a fantastic article in National Geographic magazine. I was 14 years old and I had always been interested in aviation but at this point I knew a sailplane (or glider) was what I really wanted to fly.
Ten years later, in 1977, I had the time and the money so I found our local glider operation, began taking lessons, and I've been consumed by the sport ever since. Ive been the President of our local club several times and in the early 90s I convinced our small club that we could sponsor the Soaring Society of America (SSA) National Convention, which we did in 1998. I got my Commercial Glider Rating in 1990 and my Instructors Rating (CFIG) in 2002. I have over 2000 hours in gliders and started my own commercial soaring operation in Hood River, OR in 2003.
After many successful years in Hood River, I moved my operation to what was Turf Soaring School, and now I'm at the Buckeye Municipal Airport, Arizona.
-Gary Boggs, CFIG