Portland, Oregon · AMA Chartered · EST. 1976
Portland Area Sailplane Society
— PASS —
"The purest form of flight."
What is R/C Soaring?
More Than a Model Plane. A Flying Laboratory.
Ask a PASS member why they drive 45 minutes to a grass field on a Saturday morning and they'll struggle to explain it. Then a plane catches a thermal and climbs silently to 500 feet, and you understand immediately.
RC gliders fly without engines, riding the same atmospheric forces that carry hawks and eagles aloft. To fly well, you have to understand the sky: thermals, ridge lift, wind gradients. Many of our members went on to aeronautical engineering, commercial aviation, and aerospace careers. It starts here.
School Visits
Bringing PASS to Local Schools
PASS members love to share their hobby and skills. We have hosted students at our club site and visited classrooms in person.
STEM for Educators & Students
What Students Learn at the Field
Aerodynamics
Lift, drag, and glide ratios become real when you're trimming a sailplane for a 10-minute flight on a single launch.
Meteorology
Pilots stay up by finding rising air. Students learn to spot where thermals form over a sunny field.
Engineering
A competition glider is a small aircraft: a carbon airframe, a radio, and servos that have to be trimmed to fly as one.
WINGSPAN : 1,500 mm
WEIGHT : ~220 g
LAUNCH : ~150 ft, by hand
Math & Strategy
Contest tasks are timed to the second, and pilots choose when to launch. Try it: a 30:1 glider launched to 150 ft can glide about 4,500 ft.
Flight
Flights
Launch
(call your time)
Free from the AMA
Classroom follow-ups for teachers
The Academy of Model Aeronautics publishes free lesson plans and curriculum at amaflightschool.org. The ones that pair best with a field visit:
- AMA ALPHA: a hand-launch, rubber-powered model students build and fly, with free lesson plans.
- AMA Arconic K-12 curriculum: teacher notes, standards alignment, slides, and videos.
- Quick Projects: short activities for pre-K through adult learners.
- Introductory Pilot Program: for adults and families who want to fly next. Find an AMA Intro Pilot instructor near you; lessons are free and include 90 days of AMA membership benefits.
What's Coming Up
Events & Contests
Sanctioned competitions throughout the year, open to all AMA members. PASS competes regionally through NWSS, spanning Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.
Add to Google Calendar · All times Pacific
St. Paul Field — Live Conditions
Where We Fly
World-Class Flying Sites
From Willamette Valley thermals to Pacific coast cliffs, some of the finest soaring in North America.
No Experience Needed
Come Watch Us Fly
Stand on the field while a sailplane thermals overhead. Spectators always welcome.
Club Leadership
Meet the Board
The volunteers who keep PASS running. Reach out anytime.
