We just returned from a short family Spring Break trip to San Diego. Along with the usual day trips to La Jolla beach and Balboa Park. Sam and I also wanted to see what was out there for soaring. I had seen some information about Torrey Pines Gliderport in magazines and on the internet, but we really wanted to see the operation for ourselves. Before our trip, I had spoken with Steve, who is a member of the Associated Glider Clubs of Southern California (ASCSC) about making arrangements to visit Torrey Pines. I also found out that Steve's son had recently visited the TUSC operation at El Tiro.
We arrived at Torrey Pines on Thursday and toured the launch/landing area. The entire Torrey Pines operation exists on about 10 acres. Sand is the prevalent surface with chunks of broken asphalt outlining a long since used runway. The winch is normally placed on the top of a mound that overlooks the beach about 200 feet below. However, since the winds and visibility were dismal on the day of our visit, the winch was parked behind a shack located next to the parked Blanik.
With the western view consisting of an open ocean, the eastern view was more than a little crowded. The area is owned by University of California at San Diego and they are in the process of constructing a new 10 to 15 story complex at what would seem right at the end of the runway. However, a view of the landing zone revealed that the building was not aligned with the current runway and not really much of a factor. My point of contact, Steve, told me that they only land to the west on very windy days and usually land downwind from the ocean. The landing zone is actually a gulley, high on the ends and low in the middle and about 1,000 feet long. Low performance gliders do very well at Torrey, but gliders with higher landing speeds require more precision.
Even though the weather did not cooperate with us on this trip, I was told by Steve and viewed on videos on the web, that when winds are up, the flying is some the most spectacular in the country. Torrey Pines is the last shoreline operation left in North America. This site has been in operation since at least the late 1920's or early 1930s. Torrey Pines has protected status as a National Historic Site, but that is for the location and not the operation.
Steve told me that AGCSC has to make annual application for a permit to fly. This permit is good for only the months of March and April of that year, when the spring winds are most advantageous. Steve also told me that it was becoming more difficult each year to get enough pilots and crew out to Torrey Pines to run operations for the period of time to justify the permits. In a nutshell, if AGCSC doesn't show enough interest in flying at Torrey Pines, UCSD may no longer issue permits for glider operations. My immediate thought was to inquire if other clubs could help keep Torrey Pines flying? Steve's answer to me was an enthusiastic "Yes!"
With that I would like to see if an exploratory group from TUSC can be formed to plan a road trip to Torrey Pines, to see if we can help this historic glider operation keep going. This club has organized trips and camps in the past and I think that this effort would be well worth the trip. I plan to submit an article to the Thermal and will use this blog to organize this worthwhile effort. It would be sad to wake up one day and discover that another historic soaring site was lost because we weren't aware that we could help.
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