Welcome

The Las Vegas Valley Soaring Association is a non-profit sport glider club dedicated to furthering the sport of soaring.

The Club has been in existence since 1988 and includes members from all walks of life and all levels of flight experience. In order to keep costs low, the club is operated entirely by the club members, who donate their time to ensure the smooth operation of all the club functions. The LVVSA is a Chapter of the Soaring Society of America, and membership in the SSA is required of all LVVSA members.



Members are expected to become involved in the complete operation of the club, from running the flight operations to maintaining the equipment. Each member, after a short familiarization period, will be assigned a duty dependent upon his or her skills and abilities. Flight duties such as flight instructors and tow pilots are assigned only after strict requirements are met to ensure that we have the best available.

The club currently owns a two-place Schweizer 2-33A and a single place Schweizer 1-26D for basic training, a two-place Grob 103 Twin II for sport flying and advanced training, a Schempp-Hirth Janus C for advanced cross country training, and an LS-4 for advanced and cross country soaring. We also own a Piper Pawnee tow plane. There are also another 12 or so gliders that are privately owned by our members and the fleet continues to grow.

The Southern Nevada area provides some of the best soaring conditions in the Southwest, and the club operates 52 weekends a year plus many mid-week days. The soaring experience at Jean varies with the season, and has good ridge soaring and near-wave flying in the winter months with strong thermal action from February to November and long cross-countries from May to September. Many of the members have made cross-country trips exceeding 350 miles.

About Us

The Las Vegas Valley Soaring Association is supported in three ways:

1. Member dues
2. Tow fees
3. Glider rentals

Member Dues: Dues are currently set at $30 per month, with credit of up to 50% for work done at the Club. While there is no initiation fee, the first 12 months dues and the annual SSA dues must be prepaid at the time of application and are paid on an annual basis thereafter.

Tow Charges: Tows are currently set at $25 for the first 2000 ft and 50 cents per hundred after that.

Glider Rentals: The 2-33 and 1-26 rent for $12 an hour. The Grob, Janus and LS-4 are currently available for LVVSA full members only.

Introductory flights are available for prospective members at a charge of $100. Your flight in the Schweizer 2-33 will begin with a tow to 3000 ft above the ground followed by a flight of 20-30 minutes duration. During the flight, the instructor will demonstrate the characteristics of the glider and the maneuvers used in soaring. If within 2 months from your introductory flight, you choose to join the club, $50 will be credited towards your first years dues. To arrange for an introductory flight, just contact us.

Flight Training

The Club has several FAA Certified flight instructors. Arrangements may be made with them, on an individual basis, to receive flight instruction from basic training to transition from power. There is also an FAA Certified Flight Examiner with the club to provide licensing check rides. A soaring library is maintained to enable the student to prepare for the FAA written exam and to provide many hours of enjoyable reading.

If you have little or no flying experience, you can probably expect to fly solo in 20-30 flights. If you are a power-transition pilot, it may take as few as five flights.

To become a licensed glider pilot, you must take a written exam administered by the FAA. Also required is an oral exam and a practical flight test administered by the FAA Flight Examiner.

We are a club dedicated to furthering the sport of soaring and welcome all who share our interest or would like to learn in a cooperative club environment where the work and fun is shared by all.