Description: League of Silent Flight is an organization of individuals who fly remote control sailplanes. The LSF is now the SIG (special interest group) to the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) for Soaring
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A slim, graceful, long-winged craft arcs upward smoothly and steeply into the summer sky, accompanied by the faint whistle of air accelerating past its gleaming surfaces. All eyes are on the machine as it dwindles with each passing second, a surging aerial trout playing out yards of taut singing line. A tiny parachute blossoms gently and returns the shining nylon filament to earth. Someone hurries to pluck the blossom before it touches the ground and soon other sailplanes are on their way in a quest to find
Along comes technology. Perhaps some of those sailplanes, accompanied by the quiet whirr of an electrically driven propeller, will leave the launchers hand bound for a predetermined altitude, at which time the motor will stop and the propeller will fold snugly against the fuselage, and where the pilots to will join the hunt for elusive lift.
After the launch, little sound or movement is evident among the small group of pilots who's gazes pierce the sky. Yet there is tension amongst them and knees tremble in anticipation, all are alert for the subtle lift of a wing that signals a bubble of warm, rising air. Now, a turn begins, and then a tightening of the turn and a sweep into the lift, the pilot curves his obedient ship upward, betraying his or her satisfaction by just a smile or noticeable relaxation. Minutes, or perhaps hours later, the sailp