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Burt Compton

Rock and roll veteran glides high in Texas

Once a rocker, always a rocker: Burt Compton arrives at his gliderport at Marfa Municipal Airport in Marfa, Texas, wearing black from head to toe. A Ludwig drum kit sits at the ready in his hangar, and he’s been known to bust out a drum solo for visitors.

Glider pilot Burt Compton has introduced scores of sailplane pilots to general aviation flying from his school at Marfa Municipal Airport in the Big Bend area of Texas, December 20, 2021. Photo by David Tulis
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Glider pilot Burt Compton has introduced scores of sailplane pilots to general aviation flying from his school at Marfa Municipal Airport in the Big Bend area of Texas, December 20, 2021. Photo by David Tulis

But, after a 36-year professional career during which the Burt Compton Band opened for Led Zeppelin, Compton now plays mainly for his own enjoyment. He has owned and operated Marfa Gliders flight school (flygliders.com) since 2003. He said Marfa has some of the most interesting soaring conditions you’ll find, thanks to its location on a high, grassy plateau surrounded by mountains in West Texas.

Compton’s father, Fritz Compton, was an airline pilot whose hobby was flying sailplanes. The elder Compton opened a gliderport in south Florida, and young Burt grew up in the family business. “I have a lot of old-school knowledge from my father,” he said.

Compton is an FAA designated pilot examiner for all levels of glider flying.

“A lot of people are a little nervous when they go for their checkride and I try to have a demeanor that I’m not the mean old examiner,” Compton said. “Yet I don’t cut anybody any slack. This is a risk management activity. When it comes to the checkride, I really coach [applicants’] instructors to get them ready for this. Don’t be casual about it.”

He’ll travel for checkrides and also by invitation to perform a free site survey—an evaluation of a glider club’s operational practices.

Compton said he loves the challenge of soaring: “There’s no two landings alike and no stabilized approach in a glider. You’re a slow-moving, lightly loaded aircraft moving through a very dynamic atmosphere of ups and downs, even in the pattern. You’re thinking all the time. There’s no autopilot.” He loves vintage gliders and the people who restore and fly them. “It’s a wonderful group, much like people who restore cars or musical instruments,” he said. Compton hosts classic and vintage sailplane gatherings at Marfa each spring and fall, and he will obtain FAA clearance to open a wave window up to 28,000 feet if weather conditions are favorable.

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Jill W. Tallman
Jill W. Tallman
AOPA Technical Editor
AOPA Technical Editor Jill W. Tallman is an instrument-rated private pilot who is part-owner of a Cessna 182Q.

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