First ride in a glider yesterday outside Raleigh NC. Perfect weather. I must say it was pretty cool.

Released from tow plane at 2,000’, soared up to 4,000’, did a couple of 2g turns, dove down at about 86 knots/100 mph, and landed.

Grandson joined the Civil Air Patrol as a cadet in November and I joined as a senior member in late March.

One of the cadet activities is that they get flights in CAP aircraft. Seniors got to do it too, although not for free like the cadets.

Really cool. How long were you in the air, after they released you from the tow plane?

Pretty amazing that a plane without power can go from 2K' to 4K' all by itself.

I’ve done that a few times. Loved it and I wish I had the time to pursue and get licensed. I sail and it was very familiar - reading wind, variometer, spotting lift, etc. To me was easier to do banked coordinated turns than in the powered planes I’ve had a chance to fly in. Not a pilot (yet) but have hundreds of hours right seat in my buddies plane...

Looks very cool!

Has that smile faded any yet?

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Really cool. How long were you in the air, after they released you from the tow plane?

About 30 minutes. I'm sure the pilot could have kept us up a while longer. But, I was the last flight of the day, it was about 5:30 pm, and folks wanted to get started on the 4-5 hour drive (with meal stop) back home. We had anticipated it ending at like 4 pm.

The cadets get two 15-20 minutes rides. They go up, fly around, land, and get towed right back up.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
Pretty amazing that a plane without power can go from 2K' to 4K' all by itself.

Coincidentally, my last glider flight was in the Raleigh NC area, too. It was 1994 or thereabouts. I was working on a contract at Northern Bell Research. One of my co-workers was a glider pilot, he invited me for a flight one Saturday.

We released from the tow plane at 1,500 ft. Early release, as the tow fee was keyed to altitude, the higher the tow, the more you paid.

We spotted some hawks, pilot said that they were riding a thermal, so we headed that way and sure enough, we started to go up.

Just prior to climbing through 4,500' we departed the rising air, so as not to encroach on Raleigh's Class C airspace. Slow descent, cruising around.

Pilot pointed out a landfill, said that the exothermic reaction of decaying garbage would give us a rising column of air, so we rode that back up to not quite 4,500.

We cruised around for a couple hours, finding lift whenever we needed it to go back up. Finally decided it was beer and sandwich time, so headed back to the airport.

I always thought it would be neat to add glider to my pilot certificate, haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe when I sell the equipment rental business I'll have time to do some of the "neat" things that are on my list.

I'm not sure why I've not thought about doing this but that just went to the top of the list.

Glad you had a good time.

I've drooled over a Stemme VT10 for years. Man would I love to get my glider rating.

quote:

Originally posted by wreckdiver:
Pretty amazing that a plane without power can go from 2K' to 4K' all by itself.

It can’t. A glider stays aloft by descending at a rate high enough to give an appropriate forward velocity. Vldmax, (or velocity of maximum lift over drag) is one appropriate speed. The trick is to do your descending in a column of air that is rising faster than you are descending. The upwind side of a ridge, over a large blacktop parking lot, wherever birds are soaring are all places that glider pilots look for. Thanks to V-Tail, I’ll add garbage dumps to my list.

My Dad and I went up in one for his 70th birthday. It was fun, my Dad loved it! We did a couple of wing overs and then a roll. Plummeting to earth and then climbing straight up until gravity won was a thrill.

Flew them years ago, Blaniks and Schwitzers after taking the short route to a Glider rating from power rating. Sailplanes are by far the most fun you can have in the air.

All aircraft are gliders.

Some glide like eagles, others glide like bricks.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
All aircraft are gliders.

Some glide like eagles, others glide like bricks.

My Beechcraft has the glide ratio of a grand piano.

Very cool.

I had a chance to do that in Germany back in the 90's and it was amazing. I recall there being a tow cable that got us going from the ground though.

Where did you go? I see them pretty frequently flying around our place in Franklin County.

I rode in one when I was about 10. I remember being surprised at how loud it was. I guess I had been expecting silence.

That is a beautiful picture, serious bucket list stuff right there friend. Beautiful airplane, georgeous.

quote:

Originally posted by KDR:
Where did you go? I see them pretty frequently flying around our place in Franklin County.

I rode in one when I was about 10. I remember being surprised at how loud it was. I guess I had been expecting silence.

We were at the Triangle North Executive Airport just south of Louisburg. The Civil Air Patrol's glider is based there. Quite a busy place. All day long folks were jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft, powered aircraft landing and taking off including gyrocopters, and helicopter lessons also. All going on at the same time. There are a couple other small airports nearby as well.

quote:

Originally posted by ScreamingCockatoo:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
All aircraft are gliders.

Some glide like eagles, others glide like bricks.

My Beechcraft has the glide ratio of a grand piano.

Arguably, the F4 is not a glider. General Electric's proof that a refrigerator will fly if you put enough thrust behind it....

quote:

Originally posted by mikeyspizza:

quote:

Originally posted by KDR:
Where did you go? I see them pretty frequently flying around our place in Franklin County.

I rode in one when I was about 10. I remember being surprised at how loud it was. I guess I had been expecting silence.

We were at the Triangle North Executive Airport just south of Louisburg. The Civil Air Patrol's glider is based there. Quite a busy place. All day long folks were jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft, powered aircraft landing and taking off including gyrocopters, and helicopter lessons also. All going on at the same time. There are a couple other small airports nearby as well.

You didn't happen to fly south a little ways near a lake that's about 3 miles long? If you did, you might have seen me on the water.