Summary: My first flight in a glider
I’ve often admired a row of gliders lined up along a major highway to the west of me.
For years, actually decades, I’ve remarked how much I’d love to go flying in a glider. The idea of flying without the noise and vibration of an engine has great appeal.
When I was in high school, I enjoyed sailing on the bay in front of my house.
And two years in a row I went sailing on the Baltic Sea in a twin masted schooner, which I blogged about in 2023 and 2024.
My wife heard and remembered me talking about this, so as an early anniversary present, she surprised me by purchasing a glider ride for me.
She told me only that she had something “fun” planned for me. As she drove me west, I made several guesses, which were incorrect. Then I thought, no, it couldn’t be a glider ride, could it? When I asked, she grinned and said, yes. I could hardly believe it and became as giddy as a schoolboy on his birthday.
We arrived before noon at the gilder field. About a dozen gilders with wings removed and covered up were lined up. A couple were out, uncovered with canopies glinting in the morning sun. One was on the field, preparing for takeoff.
The wheels on a gilder are only on the bottom of the central body of the craft, so someone has to stand and hold a wing to keep the gilder level and not drag a wing on the ground.
Gliders were towed into position by a golf cart while an assistant would walk holding a wingtip steady.
The glider only had room for two persons. I, the passenger, would sit in front with the pilot seated behind me. My pilot, Dave, had flown over 300 flights in a glider since he got licensed to glide in the early 2000s. He previously had obtained his pilot’s license in the late 70s.
To take flight, the glider is towed by a small private airplane. I spoke with the young airplane pilot. Detecting a German accent, I asked where he was from, and he answered, Berlin. I immediately started conversing with him in German, and we were surprised to find out we had both visited and flown from a small private airstrip outside of Berlin.
The morning was grey and there were moments of sprinkles. The glider team recommended we wait 15 or so minutes for more sky to clear up, which we did. To the south and west we saw patches of blue sky, and as we waited, those patches expanded. It was decided it was time.
The canopy was opened, and I carefully entered into the seat. In front of me was the instrument panel and the flight control stick. Several levers were along the walls beside me (for landing gear, air brakes, etc.).
The main three instruments were an air speedometer, a variometer, and an altimeter. A second variometer was located below the airspeed indicator.
From what I understand, a variometer provides more precise rate of climb and descent information than an altimeter. This information is especially important for a glider since it has no motor to help it maintain or increase altitude.
After completing our checklist, we closed and secured the canopy in preparation for takeoff. A helper held our wings steady and signaled the towplane pilot by waving a handheld sign. The tow plane taxiied forward pulling our towline taut.
Seeing an expansive wave of the signaling sign, the pilot pushed his throttle forward, and we were dragged, rolling, bumping along the field, quickly gaining speed. The glider, with ample wingspan and very light weight (approx. 1200 lbs. without passengers) started lifting off before the towplane became airborne.
Moments later, the two crafts were flying in tandem, gaining altitude, rising and circling above the airfield. Some small sprinkles of rain dotted and streaked the canopy as we took off, but shortly thereafter the precipitation had ceased, and our panoramic view was unobstructed by a dry and clear canopy.
My glider pilot told me the most technically difficult part of piloting a glider is following the towplane. It is important to keep the gilder directly behind the towplane. If the glider drifts off center, various forces can cause the glider to be drawn nearer and nearer the towplane.
I was surprised how quiet and smooth the ascent was. All I heard was the whoosh of air flowing over the wings and around the canopy of the glider. I had expected to feel some vibration from the towplane transmitted through the towline, but there was none, and the sound of the plane was faint.
We continued climbing and turning toward the south into a patch of blue sky. After reaching an altitude of 3000 feet, the towline snapped free. I felt the immediate drop in airspeed as my pilot glided our newly freed craft.
This was the moment for the one job I was responsible for: turning on our transponder. I had to turn a small knob to activate our transponder. While being towed, our towplane’s transponder was responsible for the two craft. Now free and on our own, we needed our own.
My pilot pointed out our airfield as well as two other small landing strips that we could use if needed. 6 miles to the southeast was the Hillsboro airport.
He tested the airbrakes, which are long narrow walls which pop straight up along the length of the wings about 4 or so inches. The abrupt arrest of velocity surprised me, and was the only jolt I felt during the otherwise smooth soaring flight (until we landed).
He banked us left and right, looking for any other aircraft. At one point, we saw a private airplane flying at least a thousand feet below us.
The panoramic view afforded us was spectacular. The land spread out below us in a patchwork quilt of fields, nurseries, clusters of buildings, and narrow snaking roads with tiny moving dots of vehicles. The shadows of moving clouds accentuated the relief of hills surrounding the plains beneath us. A gossamer and hazy wall of clouds surrounded our patch of blue sky, and we banked left and right to remain within our sunny pillar of clear space.
The pilot asked me if I wanted to take control, and I enthusiastically answered, “yes!” I took hold of the control stick and tried to maintain a straight path. Our airspeed started dropping, and the pilot instructed me to drop the nose to regain speed. I did so, and then the speed approached 70 knots. He told me to lift the nose and try to maintain a velocity of 60 knots.
He then suggested I make a turn to the right.
I very slowly pulled the stick to the right. The glider took 5-10 seconds to respond, but then began gently banking to the right and drawing a large circular arc through the air. It took some practice to maintain the 60 knot velocity while turning, but we eventually completed a 360 degree turn.
He had me make circles to the left and to the right, which I eventually mastered.
After several circles, he invited me to make a tighter turn. Banking more sharply, the airspeed started to fluctuate, and I had difficulty correcting and maintaining the proper airspeed while banking. After struggling a few moments to right the craft, I relinquished control back to the pilot.
To remain aloft for an extended glider flight, there must be sufficient updrafts. If so, a glider will perform tight turns spiraling in the updrafts, and is lifted like an elevator to higher altitudes. These updrafts are caused by rising air. Air is not heated directly by the sun, but instead by warm ground heated by sunlight.
Since it had been a mostly cloudy morning, there wasn’t sufficient sunlight to heat large patches of earth and create updrafts, so our 20 minute glider flight was basically a long, gradual descent.
When it came time to land, the pilot flew us on a descent path parallel to the landing field. He then executed a tight U-turn for the final approach. As the ground grew closer, we appeared to be going much faster. We lightly touched surface, bounced gently, then finally settled and bumpily rolled to a stop.
My pilot expertly brought the craft to a complete halt within feet of the target cones, prompting a colleague on the ground to smile and remark, “show off!” to my wife.
As I carefully exited the glider, I realized my smile muscles were aching from all the grinning I had been doing. It took a good half hour of consciously letting my jaw go slack before my jaw felt normal again.
My wife capped the experience by taking me to a Chinese dumpling restaurant nearby. What a perfect surprise and gift! I only wish we could have glided together.
I flew with the Willamette Valley Soaring Club (WVSC). In over 20 years, they have a 100% safety record. Gliding season comes to a close here at the end of October, so if you want to experience a glider flight here, you will have to hurry (or wait until next April).
