Bob Rondeau's Review of Endless Lift

Posted by B. Rondeau on 27th Aug 2009

My copy of Paul Naton's video arrived in the Friday mail and I popped it into the DVR and turned up the stereo. My plan was to just get a quick soaring fix before my wife turned on Oprah. Well, an hour later, with my face feeling wind-burned and my throwing arm throbbing I hit the rewind button and went to the fridge. The term "out-of-body experience" comes to mind.

Paul's narration starts out with the mapping out his 9 month trip around the country with his cinematographer/significant other- Aimee Krouse, a video camera, and a bunch of CR Sailplanes.

We start out with some fun footage of light-lift beach sloping off Charlie Richardson's Baha Mexico back porch. From there we head up the hill to Charlie's "real slope site" and Paul and Charlie take out their open class racers. Paul describes the wind as light but the two planes gracefully carve out a series of knife edge turns and low passes over the Baha Coast 1000 feet below.

After a stop to try a roadside rock face, we find ourselves in the bay area and my only disappointment with the trip. The wind was wrong and Paul, being antsy to get flying, heads off east. Along the way we stop to do some hand tosses in the Arizona desert and fly light lift on the Texas coast. At this point I was beginning to wonder if the title was a misnomer but just as in the classic surfing film "the Endless Summer", you don't always get the waves - part of the adventure is searching, though not always finding lift.

In Florida we watch Paul do some really great flying along a line of beach bungalows, bridges, and bushes. The majority of the flying is done with CR Climmax HLGs of various configurations. Flying on the Florida Keys, Paul discovers slope opportunities by following the lead of pelicans and buzzards.

As the weather warms our travelers head north stopping to see the sights and chuck the glider. There is some amusing footage of Paul flying at the Washington Monument and more interesting flying at Kitty Hawk. Scale buffs will drool over the full scale footage at the 15 meter open Nats at Eagle Ridge PA.

At Cape Cod, Paul finds the "endless lift" he has been seeking and we get to see what he can do with his Renegade racer. These shots are as close to "being there" as I've ever seen in an R/C video. Aimee sets the camera against sand and dune grass, elegantly framing the shot as Paul has the glider swooping along the dunes. Her camera work and innovative point of view add dimension to the flying sequences throughout the film.

After a stop in Maine to fly it's only open peak, Paul heads west again and we get to fly ice fields high in the Montana Rockies while he has a flashback of flying some spectacular 600' slopes in Kahakalua Bay, Maui. This B&W footage is a dream-like sequence. The editing throughout is first rate with smooth transitions from differing views of the flying.

First we see Paul launching from behind, then a shot from out in front with the plane going overhead - then a long flying shot following the glider keeping it in focus as it ranges out and back to a landing or a hand catch- then going down the road again.

In the northwest Paul makes the required stop at Eagle Butte. I would have liked to spend more time here but our captain could smell the Pacific and after watching Paul and some local flyers for a couple flights, off they go to the Oregon Coast where Paul breaks out his Renegade composite racer. After a stop at Crater Lake, where Paul says (for the tenth time), "I must be the first person to fly here", we find ourselves back in southern California for some nice footage of Torrey Pines.

The trip is long but the scenery is terrific. Take your shoes off and get out your transmitter. The music is plentiful and fresh and it fits the action well, although I would have liked to hear more sound of the environment layered in to round out the "virtual" experience. The idea is a natural one for this genre. Stopping the car at any good hill and throwing a glider is familiar to many of us. Paul Naton's idea of traveling across the country is a bit ambitious but it captures that restless spirit of the driven glider guy in search of Endless Lift.

So, I give the DVD two stick thumbs up. Well done Paul, Aimee and friends. This team has expanded the envelope of the soaring video. I'm anxiously awaiting "Endless Lift II, Ultimate Soaring".