Photos by Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Jay Pokorski, a Virginia Tech professor and doctoral student, wipes down his sail before launch. Pokorski is competing in the 15-meter class of the Blue Ridge Soaring Society's Regional 4 South Contest.

A tow plane pulls a two-seat glider owned by the Blue Ridge Soaring Society over the mountains of Craig County. When not holding formal competitions and space and weather permitting, the group offers rides to residents.

Inside a glider cockpit, the pilot is seated snugly with legs extended to reach the two pedals connected to the rudder, with space on both sides to rest one's arms.

Jay Pokorski's sail plane touches down after a three-hour flight that took him over the New River Valley. Pokorski said that he learned about sail planes while in the Air Force and that he has been in love with the sport ever since.

Sail planes circle in a thermal, or a stream of rising hot air, under cumulus clouds before the start of Regional 4 South Contest.

NEW CASTLE -- Residents of the New River Valley might look overhead today and see a number of planes in flight -- though they might not hear them.

Sail planes, also called "gliders," are engineless aircraft that require the pilot to use weather conditions, terrain and navigational skills to operate.

Since Monday, the New Castle-based Blue Ridge Soaring Society has been holding its annual Regional 4 South Contest in which 34 pilots are participating. The contest involves glider pilots in three classes -- standard, 15 meter and 18 meter -- navigating a minimum three-hour course that starts and ends at the New Castle International Gliderport. Along the way, pilots must fly within a five-mile radium of targeted locations. Points are awarded based on the distance traveled and returning close to the time limit without going under the minimum time limit.

The event ends today.

The BRSS is a nonprofit club in Region 4 of the Soaring Society of America, an organization that promotes the sport. The SSA has about 11,500 members nationwide.

"This is really one of the neatest sports around," said Dianne Black-Nixon, chairwoman of the society's board of directors.

Gliders can fly thousands of feet above the ground. The state record for altitude, set in 1969, is 23,500 feet, according to the BRSS Web site.

The glider is taken into the air by a tow plane to which it is attached by a nylon or polypropylene rope. Once reaching the desired altitude, the glider pilot can detach the rope and fly free.

Pilots then rely on thermals, or streams of rising hot air, to provide lift. The best indicators of thermals are cumulus clouds and circling birds, who also fly in thermals, said Gary Naber, a BRSS member and flight instructor.

Pilots also check the terrain for signs of thermals, seeking objects that heat quickly, such as large bodies of rocks and parking lots. It is desirable for a pilot to find a "cloud street," or a row of cumulus clouds, which will allow them to continually elevate. With each of these elements, however, the sun is key, said Jay Pokorski, a Virginia Tech professor and doctoral student competing in the 15-meter class.

"This is truly solar-powered flight," he said.

Pokorski picked up sail planes as a hobby after enlisting in the Air Force and getting his pilot's license, and said he has been in love with the sport ever since. Piloting a motorized aircraft is similar to soaring, Pokorski said, but he enjoys the challenge of relying solely on the elements and his piloting skills that gliders present.

The similarities are "actually pretty close, but with gliders you learn more about flying the plane as opposed to controlling an engine," Pokorski said.

Dirk Elber of Christiansburg, a Virginia Tech alumnus also competing in the 15-meter class, has been soaring for 27 years and was introduced to the sport by his parents.

"I love the freedom of being up in the air," Elber said.

Since weather conditions are an integral part of the sport, the tasks of the competition are designed around them. Thursday's competition began about 12:30 p.m. and faced delays waiting for conditions to improve. The task for the day, in order, included flying from New Castle to Covington to Blacksburg to Clifton Forge to Union, W.Va., to Riverwood and back to New Castle.

If the atmosphere is unfavorable for competition or if pilots make a bad decision, they are encouraged to find a safe location to make a landing. For this competition, carrying parachutes and Emergency Locator Transmitters, many of which are equipped with Global Positioning System capabilities, is mandatory. In the event that pilots "land out," or make a landing off-course, they can then radio back to the gliderport with their location to be picked up.

Toward the end of Thursday's competition, as thermals began to wane, one of the pilots "landed out" at Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive Airport.

Flying in a glider is similar to sitting in a recliner. The passenger or pilot is seated snugly with legs extended to reach the two pedals connected to the rudder, with space on both sides to rest one's arms.

"This really is the best way to fly," Naber said.

Naber said it's possible to learn how to fly a glider in a few months if would-be pilots attend lessons every weekend.

Since BRSS is a nonprofit organization, its members don't charge for lessons or flights. Visitors are required to pay for towing expenses, which usually costs about $30, Naber said.

Members are charged $30 a month in dues, along with expenses incurred for towing and storing planes in trailers at the gliderport.

Upon returning from flying his course, Pokorski said he had an enjoyable flight -- even though the weather conditions made his flight difficult at times and bird sightings, a personal highlight during his trips, were few and far between.

"Better than a day at the office," he joked.

Pokorski said the thermals became weak near the end of his task, and he was glad that he was able to land back at the gliderport. He wasn't surprised to hear that a fellow pilot had "landed out."

After returning to the gliderport, pilots have an hour to turn in their flight logs, which are tracked on the computer system in their gliders. The records of distance and time are then calculated, which dictates how points will be awarded. Whoever earns the most points wins.

In essence, pilots are racing the clock, not one another, Pokorski said.

Pokorski said he feels as if he's "on top of the world," when soaring and enjoys being alone with his thoughts thousands of feet above the ground, taking in the scenery.

"If you get a chance to see an eagle in flight up close in person," he said, "you know it's a special day."