Hood River Soaring opened for its first official day of operations on Sunday, May 29, 2016.  Among the student pilots who queued up for instruction that day were Nathan Fuentes, Francisco Naylor, and Cory Roeseler.  In July, Nathan became the first member of HRS to solo.  He was also the first of the youth members, quickly followed by Francisco Naylor in September.  Cory, who soloed in September, became the 2nd President of HRS.