My name is Vince Miller."Victor Mike" (VM) is my call sign. I live in Washington State in the small suburb town of Bonney Lake. It is located in the South Puget Sound area south of Seattle and east of Tacoma. I live with my beautiful wife, Rhonda, my 14 year old daughter, Tara and 11 year old son, Evan. I do most of my "we(s)t side" flying with Puget Sound Soaring Association which is located "about" 16 1/2 minutes from my house at the foothills of the Cascade's Mountains west slopes. For major cross country and hot weather soaring, I fly in the summer with the Seattle Glider Council which operates a site in the Eastern Washington town of Ephrata.

I haven't always been a Pacific Northwest citizen, but I beat most of the people that have recently moved to the Seattle area. I was born in 1956 (I'll make you do your own math) in Minot, ND, and grew up in Sioux Falls, SD and Cherokee, Iowa. I was number 5 of a family of 11 children...one short of the "cheaper by the dozen" idea! My Father was a newspaperman turned Iowa State Congressman (retired) and my Mother, well, she was just plain busy.Our entire family had the joy of celebrating our parents 50th Anniversary a couple of years ago. I schooled in Printing Management at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS. One year after graduation I moved to the Northwest. I'm not sure exactly what drew me here. I kept looking at a map and my finger kept pointing here. So, in '79, I packed the car and headed west. The next year I met my sweetheart, Rhonda, and soon got married. A year later I started my own screenprinting business.

I always remember wanting to fly. By '84, I made enough to get my power ticket. Shortly thereafter when driving on I-90, east of Seattle, I saw a sailplane fly over my head on approach for the now closed Issaquah Skyport. It wasn't long before I was hooked. Shortly I had another notch on my newly aquired license and in a few of months bought an ASW-15B. After a few years I had to sell my plane and drop out of soaring while rebuilding my business. I also was very busy after the arrival of my second child. In 1991, a client of mine mentioned he had a sailplane that he imported but never flew. I had never heard of a Cobra 15, nor had any of my soaring friends. I worked out a deal, licensed it, and was back! The Cobra was a very fun ship to fly, and I had many good flights in it. In the fall of '95, I had the luck of buying a Pegasus with 15 hours on it for a very nice price. I didn't have much time in it, but I enjoyed the performance. I sold it locally to again devote more time to my business, with hopes to get back flying soon.So I eventually sold the business!A local pilot friend and business neighbor ended up with my old Cobra after it went through a few hands.
Finally, he gets bored with the whole towplane thing and buys a motorglider...next thing I know, I own a Cobra 15 again!

I have kept myself involved with the Seattle Glider Council by serving on the Board in the past, and had been editor of the newsletter "Towline". A couple of years ago I got hooked on this HTML web stuff, so I started hosting a web site for the SGC, began making sites for myself, business aquaintences, and family. I have been privileged to have a few of my photos published in Soaring Magazine and some of their annual calendars. Photography has always been something I've enjoyed but unfortunately I never had enough drive, time or money to invest in it.

Drop me a line sometime. I enjoy getting e-mail. soarhead@aol.com

I hope you enjoyed the "eye candy".
Happy Soaring!