Williams Soaring Center

Had the boys up for a flight today. Everyone here is extremely professional, I did a tandem flight with my wife last year and thought the kids would love this as well.
Lots of fun, we will be back again, thanks for the awesome memories

This was a birthday gift to myself and was an awesome adventure and a ton of fun! If taking a glider ride is on your bucket list, Williams Soaring Center, is the place to do it. From booking to gliding, everything was smooth and organized.

My brother and I initially planned for a two person mile high glide but when that didn't work out (we didn't fit!) I ended up going on a 7,000 foot glide with Pablo. Pablo was the best! He has a ton of experience, clearly loves gliding and was enthusiastic in sharing stories, answering questions and listening to my chatter. Pilots tailor the ride to the passenger - starting mellow and adding more maneuvers if you wish. Pablo did every trick we legally could do and it was well beyond a blast! I didn't have any concerns about safety but I think it would be comfortable even for those who do.

I would definitely highly recommend it and happily go again!

Had a great time for my birthday thank you especially Ben our pilot he made it a great flight with some 90 side turns and nose dives. We will be back :)

My husband bought us a glider ride for two at Williams Soaring Center, and it was amazing! All of the employees were super friendly and accommodating, even though my very forgetful but very cute hubby got us there 30 minutes late. Ben piloted our glider and he was fantastic! Very knowledgeable and made sure we were comfortable every step of the way. I was nervous going into it, but the ride was super smooth and peaceful--and then thrilling, once hubs and I decided we were ready for some acrobatics! I'd recommend the glider flight at Williams Soaring Center to everyone I know!

A world-class aviation/gliding/soaring operation in Northern California.
Learn to fly, soar silently over our beautiful California landscape or blow your mind twisting wildly in an aerobatic soaring adventure.
Williams Soaring is the best place to go to learn to fly sailplanes or just go for a ride. More than 30+ years in the aviation business, Williams is the place to begin your soaring adventures.
Surrounding the Mayes family is an enormous community of soaring enthusiasts who will welcome you into their "flying family".

The place to fly in Northern California for beginning soaring pilots, and experienced cross country pilots. For new pilots, Williams provides an all glass fleet with ships up to Open Class performance for rent. Instructors has deep experience, and the best is the social side, with the Valley Soaring Association (valleysoaring.net) holding seminars, racing series and evening dinners. For rides, the gliders are clean and safe. For boys, this is the place to learn about handling airplanes and the basics of flying. See pics on some of the cloudscapes.

What an amazing experience! I had recently read about this place in Frommer's California travel book and decided to give it a try with a friend (booked the Shared Magic glider ride). The receptionist was so friendly and our pilot, Ben, took great care of us! He asked us if we wanted a more relaxed or adventurous ride and we were feeling more on the adventurous side. It was so much fun! I would HIGHLY recommend this to everyone.

Highly recommend! Did this randomly with a friend just to try something different and all the staff were very friendly, no problems with scheduling, paying, or getting an appointment on the exact day we wanted. Smooth experience all the way through. Our pilot Marty was great and told us we could have a smooth ride or make it more adventurous and he catered it to what we wanted & also told us about his background and asked about us. It was super fun and totally worth it! :)

WOW! What a great experience this was. I went up to Williams last week for a glider ride and it was amazing. It was only a 40 minute drive from Sacramento and well worth it. I did the 30 minute glider ride but it felt like so much longer. Once I got over the initial butterflies, I was able to relax and enjoy the views of Sutter Buttes and Mt Lassen. My pilot, Ed, was very informative and shared stories about the history of gliders, you could tell he is very passionate about his craft. I highly recommend trying this out, it won't disappoint!

The customer service was fantastic. Everyone who worked there was warm and helpful. Crazy Ed was our pilot, he took us up in the air and gave a little bit of information on the history of the surrounding area and what we were looking at. The ride itself fun too. It was a bit loud because of the wind shooting through the glider, but it was a great experience. The only negative things were the scenery (there wasn't much to look at other than rice fields) and my husband and I weren't used to being so high in an enclosed space (we got a little sick). The customer service made everything great though.