Different subject from politics.Daughter got me a birthday present a flight in a Glider.
I am more of a water person but I am still looking forward to see what it's like gliding in the sky.
Had a look on you tube there are not many controls.Anybody on here had some experience?
|
|
I did a powered glider flight last year as a birthday present. Fantastic. Twin seater (side by side) - had a go...it was great...take a camera, I did ! I'd sorted where I wanted to go including over some practice WW1 Trenches.....unforgettable. (Now protected from development thanks to an EU grant !)
|
|
I've done about 20 hrs in gliders and motorgliders. Go for it its very relaxing floating about in the sky.
|
Yes, I used to fly them. You'll love it.
The only controls that will matter to you will be the stick for your hands and the pedals for your feet.
It is quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. You have great visibility. It is best to wait for the right weather, both because you can see more and because your flight can be longer.
They pretty much never fly in the rain anyway because they don't glide well when wet. What you don't want is cold or low cloud.
|
|
Though you perhaps you will find the gauges interesting. Any idea what type you'll be going up in?
|
|
I would have thought weather like we had a few weeks ago (hot) would be ideal to have the thermals for gliding. I bet you could stay up all day if skilled.
|
Venture Motorglider -G-BTRW
That was my ride.
|
I've been doing some flying on a bike today. Great fun, but some of the landings were a bit iffy...
;-)
|
I did a week's gliding "holiday" when there was a gliding club at North Weald airfield in Essex. I'd never been in any kind of aircraft before then, although I'd "flown" an F16 on a BBC micro. That experience was really useful, because flying a glider is a pushover in comparison, especially landing.
All of the launches were winch tows, using a 7.5 litre american pickup truck. It was a shock to find that winch launches get you up very high, very fast, at about 40 degrees - until then, I'd only seen gliders being towed into the air by light planes. When I eventually flew in an airliner, the acceleration on take-off felt pretty pathetic. I got quite long flights, possibly because I only weighed a bit over 11 stones at the time.
The instructor told me I was a natural, but he would, wouldn't he? I didn't pursue it, however. I loved every minute of the flying, but there was an awful lot of hanging around on a windy airfield. Also, the glider was towed to and from the hanger behind the truck with a couple of people walking alongside, holding the wing and tail to keep the glider on it's single undercarriage wheel. That made my bad leg really painful, but I couldn't bring myself to say to the driver "Slow down, will you!" As you can tell, I'm a real wimp.
|
Thanks for the nice replys.Yes I am excited and a bit scared.>:)
Daughter gave me the flight voucher today.Two seater training glider it can do difficult manoeuvres I believe.What mak I don't know FRM Iam a total novice.
|
It was always going to be a two-seater Dutchie, they weren't sending you up there alone.
Relax and enjoy it. Who knows whether or not you will want to do it again, but for sure you will find it exciting, bit scary, and definitely something to talk about in the pub afterwards.
Enjoy it and look forward to it.
Just make sure you ask every question you want to, and if you fancy a go at something yourself, then ask. They can only say no. OK, sometimes "God, no!!" but still only no.
|
|
By the way, take a camera, even if only your phone. You *will* want to take pictures out of the cockpit both on the ground and most certainly in the air.
|
I would second that.
I even vidoed mine but it was a bit hard to video and fly the glider at the same time.
|
>> Daughter gave me the flight fright voucher today.
Corrected it for you ;)
|
|
You don't change Runfer.But I like you he says.
|
You are not a wimp John Boy it takes courage to own up to fears.We used to have a trainer in the Fire Station on of the first SAS men to land on the continent in WW2.
One of the mildest laid back person I have come across.
|
Talking of wimps - a 90-year old man came on one of the days I was there. He wanted the instructor to take him for a flight where they looped the loop (which he did). The man had just been on a tour of WWII battlefields in Europe.
In the war he had survived being buried alive in a shell crater and, because of this, the conversation at lunchtime took a very macho direction which I didn't like very much. I decided to try and divert it by talking about a trip to Holland where I'd visited the Kroller Muller Museum and was reduced to tears by two Van Gogh paintings in a room full of work by other famous artists. He really surprised me by saying that he'd visited the same Gallery on his battlefields trip and had exactly the same reaction to the paintings.
|
You would love it Dutchie.
Me and the wife tried an experience flight a couple of years ago.
Loved the winch tow. as other posters have said. it moves very quick and gets up to 1,500 feet very quickly.
Being towed by a plane to release height is boring in comparison.
Regarding my misses, She hates flying and heights.
I was expecting her to back out of the experience but to her credit she done it.
She hated the winch but actually really enjoyed the flying.
We both got time to take the controls and fly the glider and really liked it.
My misses got longer time to fly it compared to me (I wonder if the pilots do that for phobic flyers) and she flew it and aligned it on to approach.
Really good experience and would do it again in a heart beat.
Last edited by: diddy1234 on Sun 19 Jun 16 at 20:16
|
I've only ever been up on an aerotow. Like being behind the loudest and fastest grass cutting machine ever, with stones and all hitting the cockpit.
At least in a glider you don't have to worry about engine failure.
|
I went up in a glider once with York Glider Club, based at Rufforth. I was very nervous initially, but thoroughly enjoyed it after about 15 seconds. Cannot remember if it was a tug or a winch, but I seem to recall the price I paid was dependent upon the altitude. I would love to do it again.
S'funny, but I used to do a lot of rock climbing, then after two broken wrists stuck with technical snow climbing ( front pointing up snowy slopes wearing crampons) even some dodgy caving.
But going up in the glider I was really nervous. Unlike my first balloon trip last year ( a tiny basket with just 3 of us) when I had no qualms.
I don't think I've got the bottle To do a tandem sky dive. Call me a wimp if you must....
Last edited by: legacylad on Sun 19 Jun 16 at 20:31
|
Done some mad things in my time.
Rode motorbikes for many years, but don't now because of the SMIDSY brigade and besides, I don't bounce as well as I used to.
Did a bit of hang gliding in its early days, but found I couldn't afford the weekends, when, depending on the wind direction you were either off to the West coast or East. A heavy landing finally decided me.
Did one solo parachute jump. The plane ascended through cloud and us novices weren't allowed to jump through that fluffy stuff and the plane wasn't allowed to land with us on board, so they chucked me out away from the drop zone. I avoided the bungalow and its greenhouse, but managed to hit a damn great rock with my foot, shattering the ankle.
That decided me never to trust my safety to someone else, so I'll never go up in a hot-air balloon, but I have been up in a modern blimp.
|
|
This is just in case no one else says it, Dutchie. If it's a winch launch, it may feel as if you're going up vertically, which can be quite scary. You can take the edge off that by looking sideways at the horizon.
|
Must try another fight.
My only flight was about 60 years ago near Newhaven IIRC with The Southdowns Glider Club.
A free winch launch in I think a Slingsby glider.
A different experience from modern gliders as it had an open cockpit.
Flying into the wind was noisy but when it was turned round it was so so quiet the dogs barking on the ground could he heard.
No funds for flights for many years but less excuse now.
|
There are lots of YouTube videos about gliding, but most of them make the mistake of having overlaid music which destroys the unique beauty of the natural sounds. I find a lot of this one a bit silly, especially the fry-up sequences, but the part from 1m 29s to 2m 19s expresses perfectly what it was like for me:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsPhuwif4wo
|
A useful tip:
If you are at all liable to motion sickness take a plastic bag with you. I went up for a demonstration a few years ago and we lucky to find a thermal and the pilot was clearly enjoying himself. Up and up we spiralled in very tight turns and their was quite a lot of air turbulence.
By the time we landed 45 minutes later I was very near to throwing up, something which is to be avoided in a glider cockpit as here is very little room and the glider owner won't thank you for it!
|
>> A useful tip:
>>
>> If you are at all liable to motion sickness take a plastic bag with you.
>>
Agree, I found that the first time I went up although I had a second flight a couple of hours later in an open cockpit Slingsby and was OK on that one.
I have flown again on two separate occasions and been OK.
Very enjoyable experience although I would have no confidence in piloting a gliser rather than being a passenger.
Older son (Cub Leader if anyone remembers) however, did a glider scholarship when he was in ATC and soloed a power glider before he passed his driving test.
|
>> I had a second flight a couple of hours later in an open cockpit Slingsby
Something like this? ;>) : www.rcawsey.co.uk/bga3488.jpg
|
Bit naughty to put a novice in there and then do manoeuvres that makes feel sick. They should have done what you wanted to make you feel comfortable and enjoy it. After all its meant to be an experience to enjoy not endured.
If you are feeling a bit quesy a bit of fresh air helps. There will be, in most of them anyway, a little hatch in the canopy to allow some fresh air in.
|
>> Bit naughty to put a novice in there and then do manoeuvres that makes feel
>> sick.
>>
I got the impression from what the guy said that it was not uncommon if you were unused to it to feel that way the first time.
Certainly, for me, it was the first time I had been as aware of 3 dimensional travel and vision. As I said I have not had the problem on any glider flight since.
|
No complaints with the pilot. I want d to see what a modern glider was like and he showed me. When I was 17 I went on a couple of gliding courses in the old Slingsby T30s and I wanted to see how things had changed in the last 50 years.
As I have said on here before I am very prone to motion sickness. The trouble is I do like the idea of things like sailing and gliding, whale watching etc but they usually end up in me being ill. A trip in a coach for more than 20 miles is a guaranteed way of making me vomit. I even avoid being a passenger in a car especially in the back.
|
I have been sea sick plenty of times.Out the New Waterway the Hook in a small 150 ton Coaster.My old man used to laugh at me cruel so and so.>:)
|
|
Funny enough so did my Dad. He was in the navy on minesweepers during the war and used to find it really funny that I could be ill on the cross channel ferry
|
Minesweepers where only small more under water than above in rough weather.
We had similar dads Norwich hardy breed.
When the war started my old man tried to get out of the Hook.I believe he was first mate then.Ship got picked up by the German Navy.I know the old man spoke perfect German there must have been a reason.He never talked about it.>:)
|
>> We had similar dads Norwich hardy breed.
>>
Nelson reputedly suffered from seasickness - he came from Norfolk and grew up in small boats.
|
If you've got one or can beg one from a friend, take a GoPro camera with you and a sucky mount to stick it to the canopy. That way you can spend time flying and not worry about taking photos.
If you're anywhere near Aylesbury I've got one you can borrow.
|
|
Thanks Fursty for the offer.The flight will be near York I am really looking forward to it.I like to get hold of the controls see what it' like to fly like a bird.I won't be taken any photos if I like the flight I will be going again.If not I let you know..:)
|
|
I glidered from Rufforth ( York Gliding Club)
|
Yes Pocklington Fullchat.Gliders look very modern and up to date.
|
I was given a gift flight once and was very disappointed. We were towed up, released and promptly landed in a very short time.
Maybe I was just unlucky but others who went up before me landed back well after me.
We live not far from an airpark so gift vouchers were quite popular some time ago.
I'll stick to helicopters -I loved that introduction lesson, even better than doing a loop in a Sopwith Camel.
|
|
I hope we have at least 30 minutes in the plane.Maybe it depends also on the weather and wind direction.They are going to give me a ring a day before the flight if it goes ahead.
|
|
Certainly weather dependant Duchy. Looking on FR24, few if any up today with no sun or thermals.
|
>> Looking on FR24, few if any up today with no sun or thermals.
Unlike today, sky's full of them.
|
Flying in a Glider. - R.P.
