The BMW Car Club of America New Mexico Chapter had an interesting and informative visit to the US Southwest Soaring Museum in Moriarty, NM on December 18, 2021. The adventure started with a meetup at the Smith’s on Central and Tramway near the mouth of Tijeras Canyon in southeast Albuquerque. Participants gathered to catch up with one another and ‘kick tires” on the various BMWs present. It was particularly good to see long time BMW CCA member James Cave after a two year absence and member Jim Storch with his BMW 1M from Alamogordo, NM. Jim had attended Wheels and Coffee at Sandia BMW with other BMW CCA members earlier in the morning and had picked up BMW parts he had ordered.
The troupe then caravanned 37 miles on the historic Route 66 National Scenic Byway to Moriarty and the Southwest Soaring Museum. The museum tour was led by knowledgeable docents who were also highly experienced glider pilots, with incredible first-hand knowledge of not only the gliders but the personalities behind them. The museum collection was quite large and varied from a 1930 Franklin PS-2 and WWII Schweizer glider trainers to modern composite gliders from the US and Europe and included several motor gliders. There was also a full-sized replica of the original 1902 Wright Flyer.
After the museum tour, the group had a tasty lunch at Shorty’s Bar-Be-Cue in Moriarity. Following lunch, some members went “antiquing” and made a beer run to the nearby Sierra Blanca Brewing Company brewery.
Photos by Phil Undercuffler
