Glider pilot Philip Behnke (Member 55,797) recently surfed a cloud called the Morning Glory over Burketown, North Queensland, Australia.

The Morning Glory is an example of the rare volutus cloud, which is a long, horizontal roll of cloud that can stretch from horizon to horizon. The one in Queensland was given a name by locals, as it’s such a regular visitor, tending to arrive first thing in the morning during springtime and around the end of September and beginning of October.

Also known as a roll cloud, the Morning Glory originates up near the Cape York Peninsula, where it forms as a result of colliding sea breezes. It then travels through the night across the Gulf of Carpentaria to arrive at the coast near Burketown around daybreak. This is when glider pilots like Philip are ready and waiting to surf.

Philip describes these clouds as ‘a glider pilot’s heaven’ because they form in the middle of a travelling wave of air, which rolls along at speeds of around 35 miles an hour (55 km/h). If you can keep your glider just to the front of the rolling cloud, you can surf the smooth, consistently rising air for hours.