On the Wind

Yesterday my wife and I visited an airport in a small town close by. A coworker of mine had mentioned that gliders fly out of there. We went to take pictures.

My ride to be

When we arrived there were several gliders sitting out on the field and the main hanger was full of gliders inside their storage pod trailers. A few more were being assembled. We took some pictures and watched a tow plane launch a glider.

As we were walking across the grass, a man joined us and began a conversation, asking our names and if we had ever been out to the airport before. He invited us over to a covered pavilion where we could sit down. There were several men there, and several young teenage boys.

They let us watch and take pictures for a while in the shade of the pavilion. Several gliders landed and launched. Then Mario took an interest in us. Mario is a very engaging fellow in his 50s I would guess. He told us that the group was part of the Central Indiana Soaring Society.

It became clear as he spoke that I just might be able to take an "instructional" introductory flight for $99. I was beginning to get a little excited.

Two years ago my wife offered a hot air balloon ride for my birthday. I declined because I wanted a little more control over my destination and landing than a balloon offers. But, here was something that really appealed to me: strap on a glider and ride the wind currents.

We checked the finances and decided that we could afford the flight. A check was made out and I was on my way.

Mario gave me a preflight introduction on what to expect during the flight; the sounds of the glider, the movement and vibrations, and what my instructor pilot will be doing. Then I was ready to go.

I walk to the glider with my instructor (on right).

My instructor, Nyal (a man in his 70s), selected a glider that had not been flow that day, so he had to do a preflight inspection. There isn't as much to a glider as a powered aircraft, but what there is can get you killed if it is not right, so I was happy to observe the preflight inspection process. The glider was a Grob 103, a two seat, high-performance, fiberglass glider.

When preflight was over, I got in the front seat and put on the safety harness. Nyal gave me a short tutorial on the gauges and controls. Nyal then hopped in the rear seat and a golf cart pulled us out to the runway with the assistance of several people to guide the tail and hold up the wings.

Rolling down the runway, tow plane in front.

We were positioned behind the tow plane and hooked up. Hand signals were exchanged indicating everything was ready. The tow plane engine took on a more serious and powerful tone and we were heading down the runway. Soon, the noise of the landing gear against the tarmac ended and we were in flight. The tow plane took us up to 3500 feet and with a loud "thunk" Nyal released the tow rope and we banked to the right as the tow plane banked to the left with the yellow tow rope streaming out behind.

Nyal steered us into some thermals, giving just enough information about what he was doing and what the glider was doing.

After a while he let me take the controls and fly a while. The main glider controls are simple: a center stick that operates the elevator (push forward for nose down, pull back to bring the nose up) , and ailerons (move right to bank right and move left to bank left). Also, there are right and left pedals to operate the rudder. I think I did well, but it was first time delight that was important here.

View of the countryside.

The view was fantastic. The horizon was a mostly invisible due to haze, but the immediate area was clear with moderate scattered clouds. Someone remarked before we got into the glider that the only way to have a better view was to fly in an F-16 fighter. I believe it.

We landed on the grass strip parallel to the paved runway. Thirty-three minutes from start of tow to final stop at the end of the runway.

I think I'll do it again.