Flying is the only way to get close enough to a cloud to milk it or to visit your secret sky family. Break free from earthly bonds with this Groupon.
Choose Between Two Options
- $109 for a 30-minute Fantastic Journey glider flight for one or two (a $220 value)
- $139 for a 40-minute Mile High glider flight for one or two (a $280 value)
Up to two passengers sit side by side behind the pilot as the rare Schweizer 232 glider embarks on flights over local landscapes. Gliders release from an altitude of 4,000 feet at the start of the Fantastic Journey flight and soar toward the hulking shapes of the Sutter Buttes, Mount Lassen, and Snow Mountain. During the Mile High flight, which releases at 5,280 feet, passengers can catch glimpses of Mount Shasta and the High Sierra. Pilots can fly in the direction of the customer's choice on either trip, charting a leisurely course or putting the plane through sharp banks and turns to shake off any pursuing helium balloons.
Williams Soaring Center
Rex and Noelle Mayes have piloting in their blood. Rex's father was an Air Force doctor and glider pilot, and Noelle's parents and grandparents also took to the skies as their profession. The Mayes family carries on these traditions at Williams Soaring Center, where sons Ben and Nick are also in training to become private glider pilots. Rex and Noelle lead a team of instructors, many certified in single-engine landing (SEL) and as Certified Flight Instructors-Glider (CFIG), who train students in private glider flight, sending them soaring up to a mile above Northern California landscapes.
The instructors command a fleet of modern, fiberglass gliders—including Schweizer, Schleicher, and Schempp-Hirth models—that they regularly check and refurbish inside an onsite maintenance hangar. During private-pilot training, they eschew formal ground school in favor of practical experience. These hands-on sessions teach students how to safely operate their motor-less machines while honing a situational awareness of weather conditions, aerodynamics, and thermals.
The pair also takes customers up in two- or three-seat gliders on guided flights. These can soar up to 10 miles from the airport in any direction the customer wishes, except directly into the UFO traffic jams around the sun. Pilots may chart a leisurely course toward views of the Sierras, Mount Shasta, and Mount Lassen or put the plane through sharp banks and turns during a shorter flight.