Seventy years ago: March/April 1950 Before leading the Sierra Wave Project in the early 1950s, Joachim Kuettner (Hall of Fame 1981) wrote Soaring in Updraft Streets, describing the "meteorological conditions in which long crosscountry flights are possible. Many sailplanists [sic!] have spiraled when they could have simply glided downwind in an updraft street." He also noted the "possibility of breaking the international distance record in the northern latitudes … where the day is long in summer and where long updraft streets often occur." Indeed! The North Pole provides 6 months between sunrise and sunset, so even poking along at, say, 23 mph, that's over 100,000 miles!
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