Harris Hill History

In 1934, Chemung County acquired the land from several local farmers that was to become Harris Hill, Elmira’s permanent soaring site.  Later that year the 5th National Soaring Contest was held at Harris Hill.  Harris Hill has continued to serve in this role, hosting soaring contests to the present day.  It also provides an excellent location for our local soaring club to operate.  Formed in 1937 as the Elmira Area Soaring Corporation, it later became the Harris Hill Soaring Corporation as we know it today.

Soaring was outgrowing shock cord launches by 1933. The opening of Harris Hill the following year brought major advances to soaring at Elmira.  This location provided a runway length of 1700 feet, which enabled the use of auto tows, winch launches, and ultimately, airplane towing.  The 8th National Soaring contest in 1937 marked the beginning of the use of tow planes on Harris Hill.  Today, this is the standard method of launching sailplanes in the United States.

Beginning in 1936, Chemung County enlisted the aid of the Works Progress Administration to begin construction of an official glider field, which quickly became known as Harris Hill.  The original infrastructure consisted of 2 hangers, 8 cabins, 2 bath houses, an Administration Building and a caretaker’s house.  This was the first glider flying site in America to have such an elaborate facility.  Because of this, Elmira was named The Soaring Capital of America – a title that stands to this day.