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Texas Wing Cadet Soars as a Diver and Glider Pilot

July 28, 2022

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For some people, soaring is a natural state.

C/Capt Colin Agor of SWR-TX-428 is one of them. In the span of 10 days in July, the springboard diver and glider pilot won AAU Boys 16 national diving championships on both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards and successfully completed a checkride to earn a private pilot glider license.

Agor, who resides in Mansfield, Texas, has been a member of Civil Air Patrol since 2018 and is
a representative to the Texas Wing Cadet Advisory Council, vice-chair of the Group III Cadet
Advisory Council, and the squadron’s Alpha flight commander and cadet aerospace education
officer.

He began diving at age six and, in addition to his success at AAU Nationals this year, is a four- time USA Diving junior national championship qualifier, finishing 10 th on the 1-meter board and 17th on the 3-meter board in his age group in 2021.

“Diving is fun because it’s challenging. It’s a unique sport because of how difficult it is to reach the top echelon of competitors. There’s no second chance – you get a certain number of dives in a meet and if you miss one, it’s very difficult to make up for that mistake,” said Agor.

Agor has long been a fan of aviation and took advantage of CAP orientation flights in both
powered aircraft and gliders. He became a student pilot at Texas Soaring Association in June
2020 and soloed three months later. He attended the CAP Northeast Region glider academy in
2021 to gain experience in different aircraft and soaring conditions. He has also flown in gliders with a former Navy Top Gun pilot in Colorado and with CAP’s Los Alamitos (Calif.) Glider
Training Squadron 41 over spring break this year.

Adding to his repertoire, Agor began powered flight training in December and soloed in a Cessna 152 on his 16th birthday in June. He hopes to earn his powered pilot’s license on his 17th birthday and add a tailwheel endorsement so he can eventually become a tow pilot at his glider club.

“Gliders are fun because they’re hard. It’s not easy to do longer-duration flights. You have to understand energy management and be able to locate the conditions that lead to thermals to keep you in the air,” Agor said. “Powered aircraft are fun to fly because you can go from point to point, land and stretch your legs, then take off and finish your flight. My experience in gliders has definitely made me a better powered pilot.”

Agor hopes to continue his diving career in college while studying aerospace engineering, with a goal of someday becoming a test pilot and designing gliders for a major glider company. Finding a college with a diving team and an aerospace engineering program is tough, but he has another requirement: a nearby glider port so he can soar whenever possible.

“Soaring is a great way to get away from my everyday stresses. It takes your mind off of everything that’s going on and you can take some time to relax,” Agor said.

Tagged As: Cadet Cadet Programs CAP.news glider Press Releases

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Author, 1LT Jeremy Agor, SWR-TX-428

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