{"id":11,"date":"2019-03-25T17:22:46","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2021-07-03T09:17:12","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T13:17:12","slug":"about-us","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"About Us"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p>Most of us are Glider pilots, but we come from a lot of different backgrounds. We all feel we can improve the sport thru better software, documentation, and tutorials.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>You&#8217;re welcome to join us.\u00a0 We&#8217;re happy to host and promote your software\/tutorials, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/being-a-contributor\/\">check here for contributor info<\/a>. \u00a0 Current contributors in alphabetical order:<\/p>\r\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Nick Bonniere &#8211; Lives in Ontario (CANADA).\u00a0 Has his own ship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/s_NickB.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-251\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/s_NickB-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>and 4900 hours, 3 diamonds, and spends about 50 hours each winter flying Condor.\u00a0 He&#8217;s done a lot of work on a landscape tool called Condor_tiles.\u00a0 It provides a lot of help in photo-realistic scenery creation.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Ji\u0159\u00ed Bro\u017eek <strong class=\"text-strong\">\u2013 <\/strong>Lives near Prague (CZECH REPUBLIC). Flightsimmer since 1995, provided the Z-226MS tow plane models for both Condor 1 and 2, the L-13 Blan\u00edk glider model for Condor 2, author of the Condor Landscape Guide and multiple utilities for Condor scenery development (UTMtools, WaterAlpha, AirportMaker&#8230;). <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/jbr.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/jbr-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Apart from Condor also provides minor help to the development of the Boeing 737-800 ZiboMOD for X-Plane.<br \/><br \/>Started gliding in the real life in 2004. Inactive for few years now, but luckily manages to enjoy at least some dual-seat gliding with instructor every once in a while<strong class=\"text-strong\">.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Allen Cherry &#8211; Lives near Essex (UNITED KINGDOM). I had my first flight in a glider at the age of 8, and the memory of that flight has never faded. So, when I retired at the age of 65, I looked around for gliding clubs and found &#8216;Essex Gliding Club&#8217; were giving a &#8216;Fixed Price to Solo&#8217; offer, so I paid the money, and bought my glider even before I had actually &#8216;gone solo&#8217;. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Marianne.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-238\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Marianne-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><br \/><br \/>My two-seater &#8216;Marianne&#8217; (Centrair C201A) is now well used by Essex Gliding Club for cross-country training, and gives me a lot of enjoyment. I have been using my 40+ years of electronics, programming and engineering experience to help the club with many projects &#8211; the simulator being just one. Happy to help anyone else, so you can learn from my mistakes!\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Philippe Duclos &#8211; Lives in Paris (FRANCE).\u00a0 Contributed two programs<a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/philippe1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-183 size-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/philippe1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>,\u00a0 Condor Check &amp; Condor Scenery Check.\u00a0 He&#8217;s a Senior Project Manager for a large corporation and has worked as a Unix Systems Engineer, QA Manager, and production manager.\u00a0 Flew gliders until the mid 80s, now enjoys flying simulators.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Alistair Green &#8211; Lives in Nottingham (UNITED KINGDOM). I had my first flight in 2003 with the Oxford <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alistair_green-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-331\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/alistair_green-1-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>University Gliding Club, and ended up graduating with a BGA Gliding Certificate in addition to a Master of Chemistry degree. I then moved on to the University of Nottingham, where I earned both a PhD in Physical Chemistry and a BGA Bronze Badge. <br \/><br \/>In 2011 I entered the &#8220;real world&#8221; as a software engineer, and I have carried on flying at various gliding clubs since then. Bored in a hotel room one night during a business trip, and frustrated at not having any program to read an IGC logger trace, I decided to try creating my own. The result was JSIGC.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>John Murtari &#8211; Lives in Lyons, NY (USA). A former USAF T-37 jet instructor pilot.\u00a0 B.S. in Astronautical Engineering from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Unknown-051119-Murtari.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-157\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Unknown-051119-Murtari-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> the USAF Academy and a M.S. in Computer Science from Syracuse University.\u00a0 Worked as a software engineer. His military experience allowed him to earn Commercial, Instrument, and CFII certificates.\u00a0 He recently earned his glider Commercial and CFI-G ratings.\u00a0 Works on the website and FLY software package.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>Joe Somers &#8211; Lives near Rochester, NY (USA). Former United States Navy jet engine mechanic.\u00a0 B.S. Mechanical Engineering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Ruskauff-082716-Joe-Somers.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-156\" src=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Ruskauff-082716-Joe-Somers-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Ruskauff-082716-Joe-Somers-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Ruskauff-082716-Joe-Somers-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Ruskauff-082716-Joe-Somers-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/David-Ruskauff-082716-Joe-Somers.jpg 903w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>from the Rochester Institute of\u00a0 Technology.\u00a0\u00a0 Worked as an engineer at Eastman Kodak.\u00a0 Joe has a lot of background in CAD\/CAM and had his own business. Currently has a private glider.\u00a0 He works on airport setup\/surface structures after a scenery is created.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"width: 100%;\">\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Most of us are Glider pilots, but we come from a lot of different backgrounds. We all feel we can improve the sport thru better software, documentation, and tutorials. You&#8217;re welcome to join us.\u00a0 We&#8217;re happy to host and promote your software\/tutorials, check here for contributor info. \u00a0 Current contributors <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/about-us\/\" title=\"About Us\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.soaringtools.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}