In April I took my 17 y/o nephew David and 15 y/o niece Laura up for
their first glider rides. David is the rough-and-tumble son of a
horseshoe-chewing, nail-spitting retired Green Beret sergeant, black
belt in Taekwondo, and already had 40 or 50 freefall skydives when I
took him up. Laura likes tea sets, baby cousins, sugar and spice and
everything nice.

Ladies first. After a demonstration off tow, Laura took the controls
and did smooth, coordinated 360 degree turns to the left and right. We
thermaled back up and enjoyed a 45-minute ride. She's a natural pilot
and can't wait to go up again.

David threw up ten seconds into the first turn off tow and asked me to
land as soon as possible. Out went the spoilers and the ride ended
three minutes later!