Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

Stuck inside but wish you were in the sky?

You should check this site out Condor.



I've been flying this sailplane similator since September and can't get enough. You can fly online against pilots from all over the world. I've seen Jonny Durand, Chris Smith, and a few more pilots flying on line at the same time.

Chris, Jonny, and a few of the Canugra Boys have all flown tasks against each other and have a blast.

It cost a bit of money but I can tell you it's well worth it.

If you like competing there's on line contests that bring in virtual and real pilots from all over the world.

Here's a video that pretty much sums it up

And of course none of those 257 hours of flight time were at work, right, Jeff?

Anyone that knows me, also knows that I would never do anything like that at work. I can keep that part of my life seperate from making a living.

Generally I'm so busy at work that I could never concentrate on flying a task that normally takes at least 45 minutes to complete.

Much of my flying is done late at night when the europeans are up.

Some of the best times to fly are actually Saturday and Sunday morning. So when it's crappy here in sunny southern California, I get my airfix on line.

This similation is VERY realistic (many many RL (real life) soaring pilots are flying condor) and for me is VERY habit forming. So be careful

Great! Just what any pilot needs: another addiction, especially, one that costs MORE MONEY. What next, Chip, crystal meth?

Just say "NO!" to computer game addiction.

have you out-flown jonny?

I must confess that I too have succumbed to this Condor simulator. My last flight was a huge triangle in the Alps.

One of my turn points was Mt. Blanc. I had to thermal my way into the high ground (where cloudbase was higher), work my way through rotor and upwind to the windward face of Mt. Blanc where I was then able to ridge soar in light winds up and over the top. The problem was there was a cap cloud covering the top of the mountain.

Wanting to see if I could do a straight glide back to the finish gate without having to stop for lift, I then entered the cap cloud and thermalled my way up through the cloud while whited out (that was interesting) and finally came popping out the top... at just over 17,000. Yup, a huge time waster. But amazingly realistic. Worth the few bucks.

- Andy