ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (AP) — I arrived at the Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport on a cool Saturday in early April at the invitation of the White Sands Soaring Association. The group, formed in 1959 to share the art, science, fellowship and fun of flying gliders — small engineless aircrafts with long, thin wings that use atmospheric conditions and pockets of rising air to stay aloft. Club members wanted to show me what it felt like to ride in a glider, also called a sailplane, and how it can offer a new and different perspective of the world.

The WSSA consists of about 40 members from around N...