First Soaring Experience

Jay, how often do you really use your Cherokee for something useful
(utility) and how often do you usually go fly just because you like to
fly.

We fly for "purpose" far more than we fly for "fun" -- which is rare, I
know.

We like to *go* places, and have wracked up an incredible amount of
x-country time this year...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Trent,

Was that at SPA ??

Come on out and get your PGL !
We'll be happy to have you.

Doug

I always thought it was great fun taking my professional pilot friends
up in a glider for the first time. They find out their feet are used
for more than going back and taking a leak.

I fly power for transportation and gliders to really experience
flying. Nothing like circling in a thermal with a gaggle of hawks.
Once you get it in your mind that in most cases you can find some
place to safely land, you'll relax and have a ball. Realizing that
many glass ships have a glide ratio in the range of 35:1 to 53:1,
finding a landing place from 1000 AGL in most parts of the country is
not especially hard.

Get the rating -you'll be a better pilot for the effort.

Don Hammer wrote:

Once you get it in your mind that in most cases you can find some
place to safely land, you'll relax and have a ball.

You're scaring me. A glider pilot knows *always* where he will safely
land should the lift disappear. (And safely means with the glider
intact.) This is basic cross country tactics and essential for a long
life. Easy in some areas, some planning required in others.

Stefan

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 16:04:05 GMT, Maule Driver
wrote in
: :

Larry Dighera wrote:
T o d d P a t t i s t
there's nothing like the
feeling you get when flying a sailplane XC

You can say that again. The feeling parallels what one might feel
swimming under water through a tunnel; you hope your breath holds out
until you reach the far opening.

Ha! That's good!

Actually you get past that after awhile. 3000'+ is like breathing air
(eastern US)


I've got a little sailplane XC story for ya.

In the early '70s, shortly after passing my glider checkride, I spent
a few days soaring at El Mirage airport in Adalanto/Landcaster, CA.
One day I took the club (SCSA) 1-26 up, and although I was
inexperienced, I wanted to try a bit of XC. To the east I spotted
some rising smoke over the town of Victorville, and thought: Ah!
Rising air. So although I was only about 6,000' AGL, I headed across
the desert toward the smoke, figuring that I could work the weak lift
en route, and would likely arrive over the smoke with adequate
altitude to circle in it, and gain sufficient altitude to make it at
least half of the way back to El Mirage Airport.

On the way out, the lift began to diminish further, and half way to
Victorville the lift became virtually unusable. Rather than turning
back, I chose to continue on to Victorville confident that that smoke
would get me back. Upon arriving over Victorville, I spotted the
source of the "smoke". It was rising DUST from a cement plant! I was
nearly 1,000' AGL now, and settling.

I turned back toward home with my heart in my throat scratching for
lift, and working every little bubble I could find. I was managing to
almost sustain my altitude, but it was work, and I was starting to get
low enough to pick a place to land.

The black runways of George AFB were ahead; I thought although I
didn't have a radio, it was still the best/safest place to set down in
what had become a bit of an emergency situation. As I arrived over
the runway threshold at about 500' AGL, there were signs of lift.
Hallelujah! The black runway surface was apparently generating a
little thermal lift.

Within the AFB airspace without benefit of ATC clearance, I continued
to circle over the approach end of the runway inching ever higher. I
knew this was not a good situation, but it seemed better than landing
at the time. As I continued to circle over the runway, a flight of
two F-111's passed under me on final approach! Yeoow!

I never saw any light-gun signals, and I don't know if the tower or
fighters had seen me, but I was very uncomfortable to say the least.
Finally, at about 1,500' AGL I headed back on course to El Mirage, and
thankfully the lift got stronger the closer I got to home.

I never forgot the lessons I learned on that flight.

Larry Dighera wrote:
On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 02:44:45 -0000, wrote in
::

Tell the CFI you are studying for your CFI...
you can practice incipient spins...

Why would Jay need to lie about that.

Jay would not be lying. Jay has far too much integrigy to lie. As
Jay will see the light, soon, he WILL get a CFI-Glider. All truth,
and someday verifiable!

What's to prevent him from
requesting the CFIG demonstrate a full spin in an L-13* or a loop for
that matter?

No problem there, either... lets review the FARS... oh, ya, full spins
and loops are intentional aerobatic maneuvers, and parachutes are
required.

Notice, I said "incipient spins". As these can be practiced and
taught as required maneuvers, because they are required for a rating,
parachutes need not be used.

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard

--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jer'at'frii.com WEB http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider, FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot, BM218 HAM N0FZD, 233 Young Eagles!

Wooooo! Great story. Hard to forget any of that. I don't know about
you, but that kind of experience makes my seat pan tingle

The F-111s probably thought you were a particularly ugly buzzard.

Larry Dighera wrote:
T o d d P a t t i s t
there's nothing like the
feeling you get when flying a sailplane XC

You can say that again. The feeling parallels what one might feel
swimming under water through a tunnel; you hope your breath holds out
until you reach the far opening.

Ha! That's good!

Actually you get past that after awhile. 3000'+ is like breathing air
(eastern US)

I've got a little sailplane XC story for ya....

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:17:42 -0000, wrote in
::

No problem there, either... lets review the FARS... oh, ya, full spins
and loops are intentional aerobatic maneuvers, and parachutes are
required.

As thermaling often requires steep banks to center lift, parachutes
are the norm. I've never been aloft in a glider without one.

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 22:22:09 GMT, Maule Driver
wrote in
::

Wooooo! Great story.

Thanks. I've got another that occurred before that one; I almost got
sucked up into a thunderstorm:
http://groups.google.dk/group/rec.av...67ab2a6?hl=en&

Hard to forget any of that. I don't know about
you, but that kind of experience makes my seat pan tingle

Wait till you read the one at the link above. :-)

The F-111s probably thought you were a particularly ugly buzzard.

Well, they'd be right. :-)

yep, about $600/year. I really don't even need a hanger. The wings come
off and I put the glider in a trailer (takes about 20 minutes to
disassble or assemble the glider) and I put the trailer in the hanger.
We can put 3 or 4 trailers in a normal T-hanger. Or in my case I rent
the L hanger left over at the end of all the T's. Even at that we do
have some really good hanger rates.

Brian