If you should find yourself some sunny morning in an area such as Bald Eagle Ridge, within the Ridge and Valley province, take a moment to look up to the sky. Only the breeze whispering over the fields and through the trees disrupts the silence. However, this silence is deceptive. What you may not realize is that above you the elements of sun and wind are playing upon the topography of the Ridge and Valley, coming together to create the ideal environment for soaring.

As you gaze skyward, it is likely that you will see hawks or other raptors, wings spread to their full extent but motionless, with their outermost wing feathers moving ever so slightly to adjust for speed and direction—floating through the air, rising with what appears to be little or no effort. It is also possible that within this same air space you will see a sailplane, also known as a glider, floating silently through the air in harmony with the pattern of the hawks, its pilot striving to replicate the effect of the raptors wings and feathers, by making subtle, almost imperceptible adjustments to the sailplane controls. What you are seeing is the elegant and complex act of soaring. And what you will notice, more than anything else is the silence with which this act is performed. Had you not looked up, the scene would have passed by unnoticed. Soaring is the process of using rising currents of air to enable flight. For a sailplane this refers to flying without the aid of an engine. For birds, particularly larger birds such as raptors, the act of soaring is performed primarily in an effort to conserve energy during migration or extend the distance and duration of a flight. Sailplanes use these same rising currents of air to achieve altitude and then glide downward for long distances.