Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dick Johnson: Future Soaring Technologies


I interviewed Dick Johnson at the 2008 SSA convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he shared his thoughts on future soaring technologies. I feel very fortunate to spend a few minutes with this soaring legend. What a kind and thoughtful man. If you have Quicktime (QT) installed (or have a mac), click the picture above. If you have a PC without QT, click here Flash version to view. For best viewing, you need a DSL, cable, or faster connection. 85MB, 7:31.

2 comments:

markswf said...

Kemp, Good meeting you and the family in Boston. Must have been destiny working overtime running into each other so many times. The Dick Johnson interview was interesting and it's too bad he is no more. He was an icon alright.
The initial cost of the gliders is not the only problem. Off field landing damage was a big worry when I used to fly the club's $30,000 Grob. I flew at Minden and there is no place to land except at the airport or you are toast. Small jet engines could save an outlanding but are costly. Maybe there is a way that the new electric autos can contribute to cheap, and reliable onboard power.
All the Best, Bill Marks

Michael Reid said...

Kemp,

Thanks so much for putting together such an informative blog! I have only been soaring for a short time but have really caught the bug and your videos and instruction has really fueled my passion. I really like the blog format to discuss soaring, so much so that I started my own blog to gather input on my soaring from the local soaring community here in the Pacific Northwest competitivesoaring.blogspot.com Stop in a check it out.

Thanks again,
Michael