I fell in love with flying through Matt's gliding videos and was devastated when I learned that he passed away. Now he's flying high 🙏💙

Flying West I hope there's a place, way up in the sky Where pilots can go when they have to die. A place where a guy could buy a cold beer For a friend and a comrade whose memory is dear. A place where no doctor or lawyer could tread, Nor a management-type would e'ler be caught dead! Just a quaint little place, kind of dark, full of smoke, Where they like to sing loud, and love a good joke. The kind of a place that a lady could go And feel safe and secure by the men she would know. There must be a place where old pilots go, When their wings become heavy, when their airspeed gets low, Where the whiskey is old, and the women are young, And songs about flying and dying are sung. Where you'd see all the fellows who'd 'flown west' before, And they'd call out your name, as you came through the door, Who would buy you a drink, if your thirst should be bad, And relate to the others, "He was quite a good lad!" And there, through the mist, you'd spot an old guy You had not seen in years, though he'd taught you to fly. He'd nod his old head, and grin ear to ear And say, "Welcome, my Son, I'm proud that you're here! For this is the place where true flyers come When the battles are over, and the wars have been won. They've come here at last, to be safe and alone, >From the government clerk, and the management clone; Politicians and lawyers, the Feds, and the noise, Where all hours are happy, and these good ol' boys Can relax with a cool one, and a well deserved rest! This is Heaven, my Son. You've passed your last test!" - Captain Michael J. Larkin, TWA (Ret.), 'Air Line Pilot' magazine, February 1995.

RIP Balleka. We miss you. But you are with us when we fly.

Thank you for sharing the awesome vids and the inspiration Matt. So sad we wont get see more epicness but what you left behind is legendary what an outstanding pilot. R.i.p Matt my condolences to your friends and family. May you forever keep soaring dude

Thank you so much!!! Rest In Peace my fellow aviator... Rest In Peace...

Matt, it's because of you I love gliding so much. Thank you and know that you are truly missed.

Hah! This song fits so much better to ridge running gliders than to bikes!

I just stopped by this video again after a few years, and it's so much fun. I still miss waiting for a new video from Matt, whether it be a fun UK edit like this, or a mountainous epic out of La Motte du Caire. I loved whizzing down this ridge that low and this sums it up so perfectly. Thank you

Love this soo much. RIP flyboy

RIP. You were a great inspiration.

BY FAR the best adrenalizd glider flying. I absolutely love the song choice, and love the fly by with two gliders just above tourist! Simply AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

This is just a fabulous video. I think I've watched it 50 times, and it inspires me to learn how to fly a sailplane. Thanks for sharing!

Fantastic and the reason we do these kinds of things. We know it's not without risk.

BLOWING MINDS per usual. Awesome video. Thanks Balleka!

Awesome ride (never stop Matt to share with us, simply mortals!). Kudos for this sage words: Gliding is mostly about the journey...

Awesome footage, great soundtrack!

Fantastic footage Matt! This low-level formation flying looks stunningly fun, hopefully I'll be doing the same sometime in my life. Happy landings!!

Great music mix with your videos. Please keep making them!

Wow! As a glider pilot I've never flown on ridges before (only while hang gliding and paragliding). Now I want to do it soooo badly!! Phenomenal video! Please keep them coming!

Whoah! That was great. I'm not always a big fan of driving music on soaring videos, but this was wonderful. Thank you.

This is a great video. Sorry to see this guy check out. Goes to show that even experienced pilots can get themselves into an unrecoverable position. It's easy to forget that flying can be coldly final in its assessment of your skills and judgement.

Nice Vid Matt. Love the new opening credit. Very polished.

sheeeeezzz bru! Pushing it! Such a rush - thanks keep the vids coming and fair sailing to you.

You make some of the Best Glider Videos on KZfaq!!! well done sir..

just got into your videos to find out u was taken total waste of a great pilot YOUR VIDEOS ARE AMAZING R.I.P MATE 😢

I Like these videos you make and the soundtracks too !!

Just awesome !! Thanks

You know you're flying low when you can make eye contact with people on the ground. Awesome vid

Great Clip ! one of your Best!!

Keep it coming Matt :D Awesome stuff!

Awesome... what a rush!! Great video with great sound! I need to get myself into this. You should try mounting a camera on the dash-board turned your way... you must be "pulling" some hilarious faces in these soaring sessions. Great flying Balleka!

Great footage. Cool music. Thanks for posting. Just bought a Grob...

Know the place from the ground, waiting to start glider pilot licence... Thanks for the videos.

Awesome as usual!

Awsome ! Wonder if I can go that fast with the Ka6...LOL

Really really nice video!

an amazing ride ! ...perhaps, if you go soaring the coastline again, would be cool, if you could film it with this brilliant camera equipment ! ツ

Keep them coming!

Super cool !

Wow, great video.

Great Fantastic.

Great clip!

RIP mate you are a bloody awesome Pilot!!

Just two words........FUCKING AWESOME!!!!! W.T: Faster!!!

awesome !

Awesome !!!!!!!!

Beautiful and great!, ... so, where's the place?

Great work Matt, top location straight onto the ridge. I wish I had something like that close by to fly my Cobra 15 on here in Australia, I'm yet to experience a ridge.

good flyin

This is soo perfect!!

True story: this low-pass has been the reason for which I started flying!

Another great Video........Play Full screen and turn up the Volume !

It just gets better everyone you download,

gran bel video

Hot.

whow. disimetric flight

I would so love to go for a ride with you. Keep up the videos

Great vid. Very different than the ridge soaring in Southern California. We're on to booming thermal season now. What kind of plane are you flying?

Great video and music - where was this Wales ? - Looks like a suitable spot for a high speed run on a Mountain Bike - I have used this track on my downhill blast on the Cam High Road in Wensleydale - Have you even flown up there ??

when I started flying gliders at the Auckland gliding club in 1980 we whwent from wood to glass,,,, the single astir was the dogs bollex and I flew the ass of it loops spins 20000 ft and low level runs like never before.... the old skool instuctors would swarm around me and say what do you fly like that ? I said becase we can now wooohoooo :)

life is sad, I used to do this, it was my life... now I hardly leave the house ... old age sux!

Great videos, no mistake, please keep them coming. The views and by watching the instruments, the insight you give is second to none IMHO. Maybe you could talk aspiring glider pilots (me included) through it with a little more detail ? Watching this one as a 1500+ hour PPL on powered aircraft, I was a little concerned by the amount of vertical stabilizer shudder that is shown in a lot of the tail fin camera shots. Is that normal ? I would have thought it was very inefficient, especially for a glider to have that amount of shudder on a major control surface ?

I read most everyone's posts. They used up all of my adjectives. Some said there was music with your video. I really did not hear the music because I was flying with you, intently. Wow. Really great ridge soaring that just took my breath away. I watched twice. Now, I have to watch once more and hope to hear the music this time. Ha-Ha. I have to fly that ridge in my Diamant-18. I enjoyed flying with another glider too. I am house bound for the moment. I am going entirely through my Diamant for the third time in 30-years and I still have to annual my Skyhawk 172C. Even my Harley is outside getting washed and there is a storm going overhead right now. So, no riding until tomorrow. Please tell me the name of the ridge and glider port so I can look them up with Google Maps. Thanks for the thrill.

Interesting landscape - where is it?

Fantastic, where is it ?

A bit od tense moments when ground clearance was tight. I have about 300 hours in Grob G102...

Just curious what is the screen instrument in the center of the panel?

Well you see videos like this makes me mad... for not having my license yet. Hope I will be able to get mine this summer.

Love the low pass at the end. How fast do you think you were you going?

What type of gilder is it?

Who is flying his plane with both hands? ;)

nice video but the colors seem bit oversaturated

a glide ratio is the glider and weighs How many? I want to buy ultra-light unpowered glider 115 kg which has a 36: 1 glide ratio, whether to buy a glider or pay attention to the more expensive gliders 15m -18m?