Truckee Tahoe Soaring Association

Help us Inspire Truckee - Tahoe Youth in STEM 

Through the Magic of Flight and our Youth Aviation Programs

Truckee Tahoe Soaring Association (TTSA) a 501c3 non-profit, also known as "Soar Truckee",  is a world-renowned gliderport at the Truckee Tahoe Airport in Truckee California, offering scenic glider rides, flight instruction, youth aviation programs, and services for the private glider pilot community. We generally operate from mid-May through the end of September.  

Aviation education and experiences are one of the greatest ways to stimulate youth interest in the STEM disciplines. Learning about flying gliders involves exciting, hands-on applications of math, science, technology, and engineering, but also helps develop lifelong skills early on - such as critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, and communications, skills that cannot be taught in the classroom alone and are applicable in any career.  Our youth programs are helping develop the next generation of pilots, engineers, scientists, and other STEM-related careers.  

Our Youth STEM Soaring Academy programs described below fulfill a key part of our mission and are offered free of charge or with a nominal fee. We rely on charitable donations to cover the significant expenses we incur for our youth programs including those for flight instructors, gliders, tow planes, and fuel. Donations also help us cover some of our capital and operational expenses associated with other TTSA programs including scenic rides, instruction, and other services for the glider pilot community. 

Your donation during this 2024 season of giving will help us run the following planned Youth aviation programs in 2025:

Youth Line Crew Intern and Flight School

This is a late May - September youth program for local youth ages 13 to 18. Participants receive ground operations training and flight instruction, and work on the airfield under the supervision of a certified flight instructor. 

Youth Soaring Days

This is a one-day event for up to 12 local youth ages 13-18 where they will attend a short course on the principles of flight, "fly" in our simulator, and have a glider flight with a certified flight instructor. We plan to run at least three soaring days during our 2025 season, subject to funding and other resource availability.

Youth Soaring Camp 

This is a six-day, Monday through Saturday program for local youth ages 13 through 18 designed to accelerate their path towards obtaining their glider pilot license. The camp includes glider flight instruction, visits to aviation facilities, and other educational activities.

Youth Testimonial - Preston Parrish, Truckee, California  

 I was intrigued with flying at a young age; however, my family did not have the financial means to enroll me in expensive flying lessons at the Tahoe area airports. I instead started with TTSA free Youth Line Crew/Intern + Flight School program when I was 13 years old, and over the next 6 years, I completed all glider flying ratings, and the program positioned me to obtain the esteemed certified glider flight instructor rating when I was 20! The intern program for me was more than about learning to fly;  I developed a strong work ethic, and maturity, along with critical thinking, leadership, teamwork, and communications skills. I became highly respected in the local aviation community and I’m well on my path to a commercial aviation career, currently pursuing powered flight training at Great Basin Aviation while attending UNR in a business administration program. I worked part time at TTSA again in the summer of 2024  as both an instructor and a pilot for scenic glider rides, and also a mentor to the current youth intern program participants.  Preston Parrish, Truckee, CA