By Sarah Light and Tim Engstrom, staff writers

Look up in the skies over Albert Lea this coming week, and, if the clouds stay away, you&8217;ll likely see some of the highest performing gliders in the world flown by some of the best glider pilots.

It&8217;s only the largest glider contest in Minnesota ever. Yes, ever.

Events will kick off May 26 and go through June 6 with the 2007 U.S. Open Class Nationals Championship, including high-performance gliders, the 18-Meter Class Nationals Championship and the Region 7 Competition. The competitions should bring in about 100 gliders.

&8220;Some of the new ones are worth $200,000,&8221; said contest manager Paul Remde of Cumulus Soaring.

Albert Lea Municipal Airport Manager Jim Hanson said Albert Lea can have spectacular flying in the spring and said many speed and distance records have been set at the airport in the past.

The airport has been hosting glider competitions now for more than a dozen years, he said. The events are open to anyone who would like to come and watch.

&8220;We love Albert Lea. It&8217;s a very friendly community,&8221; Remde said.

He said the airport is large, making it good for the contests, and he said Hanson is a glider pilot, too.

April, May and June are the best time of the year for gliders because of cold nights and warm days, making nice thermals on which the gliders soar, Remde said. In addition, if a pilot has to land in a field, the crops aren&8217;t grown, he said.

Remde said there will be about 60 to 65 gliders. They will be pulled to the runway at 10 to 11 every day and towed into the skies about noon or 1 p.m. Saturday will be for setting up the event. Sunday is a practice day. There is a regional contest happening within the national contest. The national contests start Tuesday. The regional competition starts on Memorial Day.

Perhaps the gliders will soar silently overhead as Freeborn County and Gov. Tim Pawlenty dedicate a veterans memorial on the lawn of its courthouse in downtown Albert Lea that Monday afternoon.

Remde said areas near hangars at the airport will be cordoned off for spectators. He said he expects to have nine of the 10 best glider pilots in the country competing.

Also at the airport this summer will be the Cloverleaf and LakeView Lion&8217;s Flight Breakfast on June 10 from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Hanson said he expects around 800 or 900 people to come out for the event, during which airplanes will be brought in for the day and breakfast will be served.

The third-annual Wings & Wheels promotion fundraiser is scheduled for Aug. 12. The event includes a car and airplane show, hosted by the Albert Lea Elks Club and the Old Car Company.

Later in the fall will be the North Central Aerobatic Contest. A specific date has not yet been set for that event, Hanson said.

The Albert Lea Municipal Airport is in the north part of the city, along Bridge Avenue, close to Northbridge Mall and the surrounding commercial area. The existing airfield consists of two bituminous surfaced runways: One northwest-southeast runway (Runway 16-34), and one southwest-northeast runway (Runway 4-22).

Runway 16-34 is 4,500 feet long by 100 feet wide, and Runway 4-22 is 2,900 feet long by 75 feet wide.