Most things I do, both good and bad, are the result of a few too many beers and Google. Last week’s good idea was to fly a helicopter. Today’s good idea was to learn to fly a glider. I will be starting work next week, and I fully expect to be worked to near death. This last week of free time I consider to be a golden opportunity: to experience some of the amazing, adrenaline pumping activities that are out there. Once I’ve started working, I don’t want to fill my free time with videogames and Netflix. Now that I’ve done this, I will be willing to make the effort to get out and do it again.
Glider1

The gliderport is a simple grass strip about an hour and a half from downtown Charlotte NC, well outside the crowded airspace around where I live, thankfully I had my GPS, because it truly is in the middle of nowhere. The facilities are nice, with a number of new and old sailplanes.

Glider2
My first impression upon sitting down into the glider is how basic the controls and instruments are. A glider is a much simpler aircraft than the Cessna 172 airplane I earned my private pilot rating in, and far simpler than the Schweizer 300CB helicopter I recently started training in. In fact, there is no radio, and very few of the gauges I’ve used in the past. There are no navigation instruments, aside from a simple magnetic compass, and no electric switches.

Cockpit

Taking off from the airstrip felt a little unusual, mostly because the thing getting me airborne wasn’t an engine but a piece of rope attached to a crop duster. At this point, it feels about like flying an airplane. The realization came when I pulled the knob to release the tow cable. The crop duster pulls away, and there’s silence. I don’t hear the sound of an engine, only the sound of air around the cockpit. It was at this point I realized:

“There’s no engine here… I’m going to be on the ground one way or another… I would really prefer if I end up on the ground alive.”

GliderTow

Getting over the initial shock, I found that the sailplane handles much like an airplane. The controls are simple, but very responsive. I made a few turns, flew over a few farms and got a feel for the aircraft. Unfortunately, there were few clouds and the air was fairly stable, so there was no way to gain some lift and fly for more than a half hour. I turned back to the airstrip, and the thought of ending up on the ground in a pile of twisted aluminum returned. Fortunately, the flight instructor handled this first landing, after I lined up to the runway and got within 50 feet from the ground. One satisfying thud, the main wheel hit the grass, and we quickly slowed to a stop, alive.

I had a great time today, I will definitely do it again soon.

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