Today was a great day! It was off to a rough start, though...
The sky was completely overcast when I left the house for the airport. After about 20 minutes of driving, I realized I forgot my CamelBak (need water!) and checks. Without water, I will die of thirst. Without the checks, I can't fly! I turned around and went back to the house - and hit every red light. Oh well. I eventually got to the field with everything I needed.
George, my instructor, was there waiting for me. He told me to go put my name on the tow list, and then go back to the hanger so we could do a preflight check on the plane.
Same plane as last time, and this will be the one I'll likely use for all of my training: a Schweizer 2-33A, N1186S. It was very cool doing the preflight check. We went through the Schweizer checklist, and George added a few things in here and there. We totally picked that plane apart and checked everything imaginable. I just loved being around the plane, looking at how it works (how the wings are held to the fuselage, etc). It took a while, but in the end we were satisfied that we had a plane in excellent condition for the flight.
The clouds were breaking up a bit, and what was left was a nice coverage of healthy cumulus. Should get some lift today!
We pulled the plane out and George pulled it to the staging area with his car while I walked...well...RAN...the wing. George was driving a bit fast.
Once there we went over the plan for the flight. I would take over the tow from 1,000' up and do the release this time. After that we'd find a thermal and gain a bit of altitude, perform some slips (I'll explain later), and practice thermals with proper turning and technique. After that, George was going to have my fly the approach, and he said that I would more than likely not land the plane just yet (only my second lesson!), but we'll see how I'm doing on it. Everything covered, we get pushed onto the runway and lined up while the tow plane gets into position. The rope is connected and we're ready to go. Rudders are moved left-right-left-right, and the signal is given to take off.
We take off smoothly and begin our climb to 3000'. At 1,000' AGL (above ground level - don't forget it!), I took control and once again followed the plane with ease. I hit one pocket of turbulence that kind of threw me around, but I quickly recovered and that was that. Once we got to 3000', I set up for a soft release. Well, I tried to. Wasn't as smooth as I would have liked, but I released uneventfully and George took over to find a thermal. He got one and thermaled a bit, then I took over and had my turn for a while. We had a hard time getting centered in it, but it didn't matter much. We did gain some altitude back, but we couldn't get too much higher as we are legally not allowed to get within 500' of the cloud base, and we were probably right at it. It was cool flying that close to the clouds. It's one of those things I can't describe, but it definitely adds to the feeling of flight - especially with such a great view out of the canopy (much better than a small window on an airliner!).
After thermaling a bit, George performed a slip. A slip is useful for killing some altitude without gaining speed. It is done by turning in one direction (typically the wing on the side of the plane where the wind is coming from is lowered) and the rudder is moved onto the opposite side. So...wind is coming from the right side of the plane. Turn right and use left rudder. The end result is you fly more-or-less straight, but the plane flies at an angle off of the direction of flight. This creates drag and voila! You lose altitude while not gaining airspeed (usually!). I did right and left slips. It gets noisy during those because the wind is hitting a much larger surface area. Overall, they were easy and effective.
After the slips, we tried to find a thermal, but we were getting close to our landing pattern entry altitude. Not having much luck with a thermal, I have total control of the aircraft from here until landing - or so I thought.
There is a huge white-roofed building that conveniently marks the location where the crosswind leg begins. We would be landing on runway 12 this time. I crossed over the runway at midfield, constantly watching my altitude, airspeed, location, and traffic. It is getting busy in the cockpit! So much to do! George counted 20 seconds, then we turned right onto our downwind leg. This put us a nice comfortable distance away from the runway to set up for a nice base leg. We were a bit high, so I let out about half of the dive brakes. The dive brakes create a lot of drag, so to maintain your airspeed, you have to lower your nose (which means you lose more altitude). We start getting lower and lower, down to where we should be. It is now time to turn onto base, only a few hundred feet above the ground. I perform a nice, sharp, controlled turn onto the base leg and let out full dive brakes for a little bit to lose a bit more altitude. Once we get lower, I start fiddling with the brakes a bit to control the altitude and move the nose up and down to maintain the approach airspeed (55 kts).
Almost time for George to take over! I turn onto final and close the dive brakes - we are looking great! The wind is coming from our right at about 5 kts, so I line up the nose a bit to the right of the runway while watching my aiming point on the runway. George remains silent as we're down to 100 ft.
Looks like I'm taking this one all the way in. On my second lesson. Third flight ever in a glider. George must be impressed!
We cross the threshold of the runway getting lower and lower, and I begin my flare. I hold it up over the runway for a bit to close the distance between us and the staging area. Close enough - I set it down (not too hard, either!) and keep the center-line under our wheel. George thinks I didn't get more than 3 feet away from the line the entire time! I kept the nose off as long as I could, and then we got so slow that the elevator couldn't keep the nose up anymore and the skid made contact with the runway. We slowed down quickly and I kept the wings level until we were just about at a complete stop. I let out the brakes completely which activated the wheel brake as well. We stopped and...that was it!
It was easy! I don't know what it is. I feel so incredibly comfortable in the plane. It's second nature to me...I just knew what to do. I could have landed a bit further down the runway (still had to walk a bit back to the staging area while pulling the plane), but it was fine other than that! I wasn't nervous, I wasn't scared...I was loving every second of it.
We talked about a few things after the flight, and put the plane back in the hanger. I left having landed a plane for the first time in my life.
I LANDED A PLANE! Woohoo!
Next weekend I'll be out of town, so no lesson. I'll be studying my glider books, though!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
5/30/09 - first flight as a student pilot!
My wife and I made our way up to Frederick (FDK) to join the club and hopefully get a flight in. Turned out much better than that! I got there and met with the membership director and a few other members of the club I haven't seen before. The Chief Flight Instructor (CFI) pointed me towards another instructor, George, who would get me set up with another instructor to begin my lessons. When I met with George and talking with him for a bit, he offered to be my instructor. We talked for a while and helped other gliders get up in the air, when finally it was our turn to go up - this time I'd be going up in a Schweizer 2-33.
Sitting in this plane actually felt a bit more cramped than the Grob I flew in last week. Also need to be careful of the controls check...George pulled the stick all the way back and...well, it hurt. We'll leave it at that.
We were pushed onto the runway and were connected to the tow plane. I gave the thumbs-up and the wing was lifted off the ground. We moved our rudder right to left repeatedly, as did the tow plane. That was the signal that both aircraft were ready. The wing runner gave the signal to take off, and off we went!
We lifted off the ground quickly as we had a 10-knot headwind. The tow plane soon followed and we climbed 3,000' into the sky. The weather was a bit better today than last week - some heat with healthy looking cumulus clouds. George let me take control for about half of the tow and was really impressed, insisting that I've done this before!
As we came up to release, George began doing what he explained on the ground before we took flight. He climbed a bit above and to the right of the tow plane, and once settled there, dove down gently and to the left. This created a bit of slack in the tow rope, which is generally a bad thing to do - but it's good for release. Since there was no tension in the rope, it's a soft release. So soft that the tow pilot kept on flying straight for a few more seconds while we broke away to the right!
George tried to find a thermal, but alas - the clouds quickly retreated from the field once they saw we were coming. All around - but just out of reach. So we began our slow journey down back to FDK. I was able to take control quite a bit and maneuver to set up our approach. Because the 2-33 has a poor glide ratio, things happened pretty quickly. Once we got on downwind, George took over to turn onto base. Unfortunately we were a bit high, so he opened the brakes and performed a forward slip to runway 30. We lost the altitude quickly and landed perhaps a bit harder than George intended - it definitely wasn't the greatest approach. I was OK with that - what's the point of having everything perfect as a student? It's good to see when things don't go exactly as planned, and any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
And with that short, 12-minute flight, I have officially began my journey as a student pilot.
My wife and I were there longer than we planned, but she stuck with me and was actually having a bit of fun. She's the best, and was very excited to see me flying. She knows how much it means to me - it goes without saying I have the greatest wife in the world to have so much support in something that is so important.
I plan on flying once a weekend, and I will keep up with this and hopefully add some pictures as well in the future!
Sitting in this plane actually felt a bit more cramped than the Grob I flew in last week. Also need to be careful of the controls check...George pulled the stick all the way back and...well, it hurt. We'll leave it at that.
We were pushed onto the runway and were connected to the tow plane. I gave the thumbs-up and the wing was lifted off the ground. We moved our rudder right to left repeatedly, as did the tow plane. That was the signal that both aircraft were ready. The wing runner gave the signal to take off, and off we went!
We lifted off the ground quickly as we had a 10-knot headwind. The tow plane soon followed and we climbed 3,000' into the sky. The weather was a bit better today than last week - some heat with healthy looking cumulus clouds. George let me take control for about half of the tow and was really impressed, insisting that I've done this before!
As we came up to release, George began doing what he explained on the ground before we took flight. He climbed a bit above and to the right of the tow plane, and once settled there, dove down gently and to the left. This created a bit of slack in the tow rope, which is generally a bad thing to do - but it's good for release. Since there was no tension in the rope, it's a soft release. So soft that the tow pilot kept on flying straight for a few more seconds while we broke away to the right!
George tried to find a thermal, but alas - the clouds quickly retreated from the field once they saw we were coming. All around - but just out of reach. So we began our slow journey down back to FDK. I was able to take control quite a bit and maneuver to set up our approach. Because the 2-33 has a poor glide ratio, things happened pretty quickly. Once we got on downwind, George took over to turn onto base. Unfortunately we were a bit high, so he opened the brakes and performed a forward slip to runway 30. We lost the altitude quickly and landed perhaps a bit harder than George intended - it definitely wasn't the greatest approach. I was OK with that - what's the point of having everything perfect as a student? It's good to see when things don't go exactly as planned, and any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
And with that short, 12-minute flight, I have officially began my journey as a student pilot.
My wife and I were there longer than we planned, but she stuck with me and was actually having a bit of fun. She's the best, and was very excited to see me flying. She knows how much it means to me - it goes without saying I have the greatest wife in the world to have so much support in something that is so important.
I plan on flying once a weekend, and I will keep up with this and hopefully add some pictures as well in the future!
Friday, May 29, 2009
5/29/09 - Joining the club tomorrow!
My check for my excess financial aid came in today, so I'm going to deposit it tomorrow morning and head over to the airport and meet with the membership director. I need two instructors to sign the application - hopefully two instructors show up tomorrow! If there are, then I'm also going to try to go up for a flight as well. It's really happening! The only thing left after tomorrow is to get set up with an instructor!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
05/23/09 - first flight in a glider
I've flown in powered aircraft before - my dad used to fly Cessna 152/172 when I was younger. I wasn't really tall enough to see over the instrument panel on those flights, but it did not matter. The bug bit, and it bit hard. My dad is really into flight and would always take the family to airshows and had flight simulators as we grew up. I wanted to be a military pilot for a long time (maybe even an astronaut!), but then realized I was red-green color deficient.
I could never become a professional pilot - military or civilian.
Needless to say, I was discouraged. Regardless, I dreamed of flight every single day. There was always hope - I could someday get my Private Pilot's License. The cost of doing so is a bit extreme for powered aircraft, and I had no realistic plan to get my license anytime soon. After a bit of thought, it came to me about two years ago - gliders. I didn't know much about them - only the very basics of thermals and tow planes. I read a few personal accounts of people who have flown in gliders and watched a few videos. That did it - the soaring bug bit. Between the love of flight "bug" and the glider "bug", there was no question. My path was clear.
I purchased a realstic soaring simulator (Condor Soaring) and used it extensively. The use of it gave me some good knowledge of the concepts of flying a glider and the different types of thermals. I thought about taking a flight in a glider a few times, but never followed through. The general public is often at a disadvantage when it comes to flying in gliders - most are single-seat aircraft, and the two-seaters are often being used for instruction and they have the priority. Usually one must hang out at a club and help move planes around, etc. I just didn't have the time - I was in the middle of planning a wedding!
Fast forward to May 24, 2009. After a bit more of *almost* going to a club and flying in a glider, I finally bit the bullet and went through with it. I purchased a FAST voucher through the Soaring Society of America and went over to the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association club at Frederick, MD. I spoke with their membership director a few times and got the ball rolling a bit, but nothing was made final. Even though no firm plans were in place, I went anyway that Saturday and got there at 8AM.
8AM...about 3-4 hours too early. Luckily a glider came in at about 8:45AM and landed right in front of me. The pilot was flying out of Fairfield, PA and was on her way home. She needed a tow and was going to wait at Frederick until the powered glider came to take her the rest of the way. We spoke a bit and she showed me around her aircraft - a beautiful Schweizer 1-26.
I was very grateful for this - pilots have always been a bit intimidating to me. They have been able to do something I could not - fly. They typically have perfect vision, while I'm stuck with glasses and poor color vision. The glider pilot I spoke with was nice and just a normal person like the rest of us. She made me feel a bit more comfortable when the time came later in the day when I was surrounded by pilots!
Over the next few hours I watched the activity at the airport - there was a lot of pattern work and unique airplanes. A few home-built aircraft, a jet or two, a gyrocopter, etc. It was great! Pilots began to show up, but it took me a while to begin to introduce myself. I'm normally not an outgoing guy, and it was even more difficult because they were PILOTS! Agh! Once the first introduction was done, the rest was gravy. The ball was rolling, and I felt confident that I would get a seat on a glider that day.
With the FAST voucher, an instructor pilot must take me up. Unfortunately, the only instructor there at the time was also the tow pilot. I wasn't upset, though. I was very happy helping move planes around and talking to everyone there, and I also figured another instructor would eventually show up. Thankfully, I was right.
Paul. Paul is great, and the instructor that would eventually take me up. He's from London. He was cracking me up from the beginning, and it got even better when we went to drive back to the hanger from the staging area in his rental car. As we walked towards it, he unlocked the doors and proceeded to nearly open the door to the passenger side. I was laughing so hard - thankfully he was, too! We made our way to the hanger (now that Paul was on the correct side of the car) and found our plane for the flight - a beautiful Grob Twin Astir. The Twin Astir is a modern looking plane - very smooth lines, and a cockpit like a fighter jet. I may have drooled a bit.
Paul walked me through the very thorough pre-flight check of the aircraft - we checked every single control surface, the release, the weight and balance information, etc. Once that was complete, we opened the hanger doors and pushed the plane out to be towed by car to the staging area. The car showed up and we attached the tow line to the plane and walked the wings. Once at the staging area, it was time to wait for the tow plane to return from towing another glider up. We didn't wait long, only a few minutes. During that time I was sitting in the front seat, ready to go. I was already in heaven. The plane FELT great...I felt like I was a part of it. The small instrument panel in front of me, the controls within easy reach, and the view was great. The canopy is also much like that of a fighter - it's just a bubble over my head. I can see nearly 360 degrees around.
Before the tow plane arrives, Paul and discuss the plan for the flight, and we're ready to go. The tow plane lands and we get pushed onto the active runway. The tow rope is connected and we do another test of the release mechanism, and everything is set.
I'm going flying!!!
The signal is given to take in the slack on the rope - once it is in, the signal is given to takeoff. The tow plane pushes the throttle forward and we're off! We begin to accellerate down the runway behind the tow plane and lift off in short time. This is where things get interesting (as if they weren't already!). Gliders have very low stall speeds compared to nearly all powered aircraft. For that reason, we lift off from the ground quite a few seconds before the tow plane. The key here is to stay low to the ground so we don't lift the tail of the tow plane up and bury its nose into the runway. That would be bad. So we continue to increase our speed only a few feet above the runway, and finally the tires of the tow plane unstick, and we're off!
Time for some formation flying! Paul makes it look easy. He follows the turns of the tow plane smoothly as we slowly climb to the east/northeast of the airport. Then he tells me I can take control. Ruh roh. I grip the stick tightly (mistake #1) and promptly begin to attempt to control my panic (panic = potential mistake #2). I begin to sweat - but that could just be the 80 degree sun beating down on me inside the enclosed cockpit. I'm sure the near-panic had something to do with it, though. So...following the tow plane. Easily the most difficult thing to do during the entire flight. I found it very hard to maintain position behind the tow plane. I never strayed far off, but I wasn't steady like Paul. Thankfully I did not panic, although I was very tense the entire time. Paul took over and demonstrated a few things for me. He flew through the wake (flying through the wash of the prop of the tow plane), and things got a bit bumpy. Not a good place to fly - it is extremely inefficient, and all glider pilots learn what it is like so we know to avoid it. He also shows me a few positions of "boxing the wake". Boxing the wake is like drawing a box around the wake of the tow plane. As long as you are following the lines of the box, you and the tow plane can fly safely and efficiently to altitude. Certain positions are better than others depending on if you're doing a cross-country tow, etc.
We slowly make our way up to 3000' AGL (above ground level). We release (clunk!) and the tow plane breaks to the left, and we break away to the right while keeping the tow plane in sight to make sure we seperate. All we can hear now is the rush of the wind over the glider - an interesting experience after having only experienced the roar of turboprop engines, piston engines, jet engines, and the pulsating whine of a helicopter. We are on our own up there...just us and the wind. It's amazing to think about - I am flying thousands of feet above the ground with only the wind over our wings keeping us aloft. And not only that, but we climbed quite a bit!!!
The weather that day wasn't perfect, but good enough. No clouds yet (to keep it simple: cumulus clouds = thermals, but there's more to it), but the heat is radiating off the ground and creating small bubbles of rising air. We find one and circle a bit, and find ourselves near another glider a few hundred feet above us circling in another thermal. We head over to that one and enter it, turning in the same direction of the glider above us while keeping him in sight (while watching the horizon for our flight attitude, other aircraft, and the instruments...it's quite a bit of work!). We slowly begin to climb. Without an engine. We are just like the birds now - slowly circling in a column of rising air - no need for engines or flapping wings. Mother Nature is doing the work for us.
Paul tells me I have control, so I take over and grip the stick tightly - although not as tightly this time. I'm quickly beginning to feel at home. This is where I belong. I circle a bit, and notice the controls require a bit of effort to move. Thankfully the layout of the cockpit allows me to rest my arm on my leg while moving the stick around - otherwise I'm sure my arm would have fallen off before the end of the flight. Between Paul and I circling around in thermals, we climb from 3000' AGL to 4,200' AGL. It didn't take long, either!
Once we reach our max altitude for the day, we head out of the thermal and Paul shows me stalls. The first stall he called a "mush" stall. It is a gentle pulling back of the stick until we slow down so much that the airflow over the wings isn't enough to keep us in the air. The nose gently lowers down beneath the horizon and we gain back the airspeed and recover. The next stall was a bit more aggressive. Paul pulled back and bit more rapidly this time and the nose pitched up higher. Once we stalled, the aircraft shuddered a bit, then the nose dropped quickly through the horizon. Feels just like going over a hill on a roller coaster - I loved it! I could do stalls all day! Once Paul recovered from the second stall, he let me perform both of them. WOOHOO!!! It was great doing them - it was a confident booster knowing what it is like to stall (from entrance to recovery) and just how easy it is to recovery from them in a glider.
He demonstrated a few more basic maneuvers, and let me control the aircraft for a while. We hunted out a few more thermals, but nothing wasn't really promising. We were very slowly decending, and decided to make our way back to the airport. Paul took over and we entered the pattern for a landing. We dove quickly for a bit using the speed breaks, and entered the crosswind leg. We turned onto the downwind, and then the base leg, all the while getting lower and lower. The turn onto final was impressive - a steep turn that snapped us perfectly into position for landing on the runway with a crosswind from our right. We made our way down and touched down smoothly onto the runway - a full 47 minutes after taking off. All without an engine. And remember, gliders only get one shot at landing - there is no going around!
We pull off the runway onto the grass by the staging area before coming to a stop, and slowly exit the aircraft. I was grinning like goofball. Everyone came over and asked me how it was. "Incredible". I didn't know how else to describe it. I was at a loss for words. It was by far the best flight of my life. I never felt such a connection to an aircraft and the sky. I may have babbled incoherently a few times. If the bug bit me before, it proceeded to chew and kick and stomp after that. There was no going back. I was going to become a glider pilot.
I hung out a bit longer and helped move a few planes onto the runway as others took flight. After a while, I called it a day and headed home after thanking everyone, promising them I would be back. The day after, I told my wife about it and told her that the club members wanted me back as a student pilot. My wife agreed with them.
If I wasn't holding firmly onto the shopping cart at the time, I do believe I would have fainted to the floor. My wife - my perfect, amazing wife - is going to let me join the club and become a student pilot. We have the money to do it now, and she's fully in support of it.
My dream - the one I've had every day since I was a little boy (I'm 26 now) - is coming true. I am going to be a pilot.
This blog will be a journal of my progress in becoming a pilot. I hope to encourage others who may be considering becoming a pilot, or perhaps throw the idea out to those who never before considered it.
And to end, thank you M-ASA, and especially Paul, for the perfect day.
I could never become a professional pilot - military or civilian.
Needless to say, I was discouraged. Regardless, I dreamed of flight every single day. There was always hope - I could someday get my Private Pilot's License. The cost of doing so is a bit extreme for powered aircraft, and I had no realistic plan to get my license anytime soon. After a bit of thought, it came to me about two years ago - gliders. I didn't know much about them - only the very basics of thermals and tow planes. I read a few personal accounts of people who have flown in gliders and watched a few videos. That did it - the soaring bug bit. Between the love of flight "bug" and the glider "bug", there was no question. My path was clear.
I purchased a realstic soaring simulator (Condor Soaring) and used it extensively. The use of it gave me some good knowledge of the concepts of flying a glider and the different types of thermals. I thought about taking a flight in a glider a few times, but never followed through. The general public is often at a disadvantage when it comes to flying in gliders - most are single-seat aircraft, and the two-seaters are often being used for instruction and they have the priority. Usually one must hang out at a club and help move planes around, etc. I just didn't have the time - I was in the middle of planning a wedding!
Fast forward to May 24, 2009. After a bit more of *almost* going to a club and flying in a glider, I finally bit the bullet and went through with it. I purchased a FAST voucher through the Soaring Society of America and went over to the Mid-Atlantic Soaring Association club at Frederick, MD. I spoke with their membership director a few times and got the ball rolling a bit, but nothing was made final. Even though no firm plans were in place, I went anyway that Saturday and got there at 8AM.
8AM...about 3-4 hours too early. Luckily a glider came in at about 8:45AM and landed right in front of me. The pilot was flying out of Fairfield, PA and was on her way home. She needed a tow and was going to wait at Frederick until the powered glider came to take her the rest of the way. We spoke a bit and she showed me around her aircraft - a beautiful Schweizer 1-26.
I was very grateful for this - pilots have always been a bit intimidating to me. They have been able to do something I could not - fly. They typically have perfect vision, while I'm stuck with glasses and poor color vision. The glider pilot I spoke with was nice and just a normal person like the rest of us. She made me feel a bit more comfortable when the time came later in the day when I was surrounded by pilots!
Over the next few hours I watched the activity at the airport - there was a lot of pattern work and unique airplanes. A few home-built aircraft, a jet or two, a gyrocopter, etc. It was great! Pilots began to show up, but it took me a while to begin to introduce myself. I'm normally not an outgoing guy, and it was even more difficult because they were PILOTS! Agh! Once the first introduction was done, the rest was gravy. The ball was rolling, and I felt confident that I would get a seat on a glider that day.
With the FAST voucher, an instructor pilot must take me up. Unfortunately, the only instructor there at the time was also the tow pilot. I wasn't upset, though. I was very happy helping move planes around and talking to everyone there, and I also figured another instructor would eventually show up. Thankfully, I was right.
Paul. Paul is great, and the instructor that would eventually take me up. He's from London. He was cracking me up from the beginning, and it got even better when we went to drive back to the hanger from the staging area in his rental car. As we walked towards it, he unlocked the doors and proceeded to nearly open the door to the passenger side. I was laughing so hard - thankfully he was, too! We made our way to the hanger (now that Paul was on the correct side of the car) and found our plane for the flight - a beautiful Grob Twin Astir. The Twin Astir is a modern looking plane - very smooth lines, and a cockpit like a fighter jet. I may have drooled a bit.
Paul walked me through the very thorough pre-flight check of the aircraft - we checked every single control surface, the release, the weight and balance information, etc. Once that was complete, we opened the hanger doors and pushed the plane out to be towed by car to the staging area. The car showed up and we attached the tow line to the plane and walked the wings. Once at the staging area, it was time to wait for the tow plane to return from towing another glider up. We didn't wait long, only a few minutes. During that time I was sitting in the front seat, ready to go. I was already in heaven. The plane FELT great...I felt like I was a part of it. The small instrument panel in front of me, the controls within easy reach, and the view was great. The canopy is also much like that of a fighter - it's just a bubble over my head. I can see nearly 360 degrees around.
Before the tow plane arrives, Paul and discuss the plan for the flight, and we're ready to go. The tow plane lands and we get pushed onto the active runway. The tow rope is connected and we do another test of the release mechanism, and everything is set.
I'm going flying!!!
The signal is given to take in the slack on the rope - once it is in, the signal is given to takeoff. The tow plane pushes the throttle forward and we're off! We begin to accellerate down the runway behind the tow plane and lift off in short time. This is where things get interesting (as if they weren't already!). Gliders have very low stall speeds compared to nearly all powered aircraft. For that reason, we lift off from the ground quite a few seconds before the tow plane. The key here is to stay low to the ground so we don't lift the tail of the tow plane up and bury its nose into the runway. That would be bad. So we continue to increase our speed only a few feet above the runway, and finally the tires of the tow plane unstick, and we're off!
Time for some formation flying! Paul makes it look easy. He follows the turns of the tow plane smoothly as we slowly climb to the east/northeast of the airport. Then he tells me I can take control. Ruh roh. I grip the stick tightly (mistake #1) and promptly begin to attempt to control my panic (panic = potential mistake #2). I begin to sweat - but that could just be the 80 degree sun beating down on me inside the enclosed cockpit. I'm sure the near-panic had something to do with it, though. So...following the tow plane. Easily the most difficult thing to do during the entire flight. I found it very hard to maintain position behind the tow plane. I never strayed far off, but I wasn't steady like Paul. Thankfully I did not panic, although I was very tense the entire time. Paul took over and demonstrated a few things for me. He flew through the wake (flying through the wash of the prop of the tow plane), and things got a bit bumpy. Not a good place to fly - it is extremely inefficient, and all glider pilots learn what it is like so we know to avoid it. He also shows me a few positions of "boxing the wake". Boxing the wake is like drawing a box around the wake of the tow plane. As long as you are following the lines of the box, you and the tow plane can fly safely and efficiently to altitude. Certain positions are better than others depending on if you're doing a cross-country tow, etc.
We slowly make our way up to 3000' AGL (above ground level). We release (clunk!) and the tow plane breaks to the left, and we break away to the right while keeping the tow plane in sight to make sure we seperate. All we can hear now is the rush of the wind over the glider - an interesting experience after having only experienced the roar of turboprop engines, piston engines, jet engines, and the pulsating whine of a helicopter. We are on our own up there...just us and the wind. It's amazing to think about - I am flying thousands of feet above the ground with only the wind over our wings keeping us aloft. And not only that, but we climbed quite a bit!!!
The weather that day wasn't perfect, but good enough. No clouds yet (to keep it simple: cumulus clouds = thermals, but there's more to it), but the heat is radiating off the ground and creating small bubbles of rising air. We find one and circle a bit, and find ourselves near another glider a few hundred feet above us circling in another thermal. We head over to that one and enter it, turning in the same direction of the glider above us while keeping him in sight (while watching the horizon for our flight attitude, other aircraft, and the instruments...it's quite a bit of work!). We slowly begin to climb. Without an engine. We are just like the birds now - slowly circling in a column of rising air - no need for engines or flapping wings. Mother Nature is doing the work for us.
Paul tells me I have control, so I take over and grip the stick tightly - although not as tightly this time. I'm quickly beginning to feel at home. This is where I belong. I circle a bit, and notice the controls require a bit of effort to move. Thankfully the layout of the cockpit allows me to rest my arm on my leg while moving the stick around - otherwise I'm sure my arm would have fallen off before the end of the flight. Between Paul and I circling around in thermals, we climb from 3000' AGL to 4,200' AGL. It didn't take long, either!
Once we reach our max altitude for the day, we head out of the thermal and Paul shows me stalls. The first stall he called a "mush" stall. It is a gentle pulling back of the stick until we slow down so much that the airflow over the wings isn't enough to keep us in the air. The nose gently lowers down beneath the horizon and we gain back the airspeed and recover. The next stall was a bit more aggressive. Paul pulled back and bit more rapidly this time and the nose pitched up higher. Once we stalled, the aircraft shuddered a bit, then the nose dropped quickly through the horizon. Feels just like going over a hill on a roller coaster - I loved it! I could do stalls all day! Once Paul recovered from the second stall, he let me perform both of them. WOOHOO!!! It was great doing them - it was a confident booster knowing what it is like to stall (from entrance to recovery) and just how easy it is to recovery from them in a glider.
He demonstrated a few more basic maneuvers, and let me control the aircraft for a while. We hunted out a few more thermals, but nothing wasn't really promising. We were very slowly decending, and decided to make our way back to the airport. Paul took over and we entered the pattern for a landing. We dove quickly for a bit using the speed breaks, and entered the crosswind leg. We turned onto the downwind, and then the base leg, all the while getting lower and lower. The turn onto final was impressive - a steep turn that snapped us perfectly into position for landing on the runway with a crosswind from our right. We made our way down and touched down smoothly onto the runway - a full 47 minutes after taking off. All without an engine. And remember, gliders only get one shot at landing - there is no going around!
We pull off the runway onto the grass by the staging area before coming to a stop, and slowly exit the aircraft. I was grinning like goofball. Everyone came over and asked me how it was. "Incredible". I didn't know how else to describe it. I was at a loss for words. It was by far the best flight of my life. I never felt such a connection to an aircraft and the sky. I may have babbled incoherently a few times. If the bug bit me before, it proceeded to chew and kick and stomp after that. There was no going back. I was going to become a glider pilot.
I hung out a bit longer and helped move a few planes onto the runway as others took flight. After a while, I called it a day and headed home after thanking everyone, promising them I would be back. The day after, I told my wife about it and told her that the club members wanted me back as a student pilot. My wife agreed with them.
If I wasn't holding firmly onto the shopping cart at the time, I do believe I would have fainted to the floor. My wife - my perfect, amazing wife - is going to let me join the club and become a student pilot. We have the money to do it now, and she's fully in support of it.
My dream - the one I've had every day since I was a little boy (I'm 26 now) - is coming true. I am going to be a pilot.
This blog will be a journal of my progress in becoming a pilot. I hope to encourage others who may be considering becoming a pilot, or perhaps throw the idea out to those who never before considered it.
And to end, thank you M-ASA, and especially Paul, for the perfect day.
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