Gliding, a different kind of flying
Flying on its own is a remarkable experience. If you consider everything that has to be done right in order for you to get to your destination not only safe but at the scheduled time - it’s truly mind-boggling. Then you consider other forms of flying such as gliding and then you think my goodness, what a joy.
The Glider
During one of our visits to J’s parents, I was lucky to have the opportunity to go up in a glider with his dad. We had terrible weather last year so I wasn’t able to go up with him whenever we went to visit but this time I was lucky. The skies were clear, which is an important aspect of gliding but there wasn’t much wind. To a glider pilot, the absence or lack of sufficient wind is frustrating because they are unable to climb higher or land without using an engine.
There are two main types of takeoff or launch when you are gliding - a winch launch and aerotow. We went for the aerotow because you can get higher quicker - our aim was 3000ft. We got strapped in and J’s dad told me what all the controls did and what would happen when we got up. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel. He had just told me about a time when he took this girl up and she screamed the whole way up and couldn’t wait to get back down. I didn’t want that to be my tale so I cleared my head with any negative thoughts and waited expectedly for our turn to be towed by an aeroplane.
The takeoff was surprisingly smooth. The plane carried us up 3000ft where we then released the tug and carried on gliding. We managed to get a little lift from the air, but it wasn’t that much as it was “stale”. We circled around and I was fascinated by the bright yellow fields of rapeseed which were planted in abundance there. We flew over Market Harborough and J’s dad showed me a few things that they make sure to keep in their line of sight so that they can always make it back to the airfield.
After a few more minutes of flying, we made our descent which mimicked the smoothness of taking off, obviously, when we touched the ground it was very bumpy.
Have you ever been gliding or would you consider it? I think I might try paragliding next. We’ll see 🙂
Till next time
X