AOPA PILOT "In Praise of Soaring"

On Thursday, 1 December 2016 09:46:10 UTC-5, Charlie Papa wrote:
The current issue of AOPA PILOT features an article I wrote about flying at Omarama New Zealand titled IN PRAISE OF SOARING. I think it can be accessed by non-AOPA members at https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/...ise-of-soaring .

I wrote it for an audience of power pilots who often show an attitude of condescension to gliders. So I chose to use one of my fellow mountain flying course students, - Marty, and relate his remarkable tale of bailing out of an F-104 with a dead engine. Marty is arguably a pilot's pilot, with 2000 hours in fighters, and his current mount, a Turbine Legend (if you are not familiar with this one, start with the fact that it has an appetite for Jet A that consumes 52 gph).

Marty's third flight in a real glider, - if you discount the 104 ride, was after two conversion flights in a Grob 103, and was with the boss, Gavin Wills.

Marty's verdict: the best flight of his life!

So I hope it will give Power pilots cause to rethink their attitude to gliding, and even to get an add-on rating. I hope you enjoy it too.

Marty flew with Gavin, and before that had two flights in a G 103. I flew with G.

And for the piece in AOPA PILOT, I included a sidebar on conversion under the add-on rating, with a link to the SSA interactive map for a reader to find a club or FBO locally.