Portland, Oregon · AMA Chartered · EST. 1972

Portland Area Soaring 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.

Two PASS pilots watching a perfect landing at St. Paul field — Oregon hills behind them

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.

No experience required — everyone starts somewhere

Thermal fields in the Willamette Valley and dramatic Pacific coast cliff soaring

National & international competition pathways

AMA chartered — FAA compliant — FRIA registered

200+

Years Combined Experience

10+

Flying Sites Across the PNW

50+

Active Members

Top

One of the Most Active R/C Soaring Clubs in the US

For Educators & Students

A Living STEM Curriculum

Every flight session is a hands-on lesson. The kind that sticks because it's real.

Aerodynamics

Lift, drag, and glide ratios become real when you're trimming a sailplane for a 10-minute flight on a single launch.

L = ½ρv²C_LS

Lift Equation

Meteorology

Reading thermals and wind gradients isn't optional — it's how you stay up. Real atmospheric science, every session.

☀️ Surface Heat → Rising Air → Lift

↑ ↑ ↑

Thermal Column

Systems Engineering

Radio systems, servos, composite airframes, control surfaces — a sailplane is a miniature aerospace system.

          WINGSPAN   : 2,400 mm

          ASPECT RATIO: 24 : 1

          ALL-UP WEIGHT: 310 g

          MATERIAL   : Carbon / Kevlar

Math & Strategy

Flight window optimization, scoring, trajectory decisions — applied mathematics under real competitive pressure.

Last
Flight

2× 3min
Flights

All-Up
Last

Poker
Ladder

Students holding sailplanes at the St. Paul field day

For Educators

Bring Your Class to the Field

Request a Field Day AMA STEM Workshops →

What's Coming Up

Events & Contests

Sanctioned competitions throughout the year — open to all AMA members. Come watch before you fly. Spectators always welcome. PASS competes regionally through the Northwest Soaring Society (NWSS), connecting clubs across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Canada.

Add to Google Calendar · All times Pacific

In Action