Well… I did it.
I soloed a glider again for the first time in over 40 years.
I flew gliders as an Air Cadet, and was a staff pilot flying familiarization flights for junior cadets in 1980 and 81… then I joined the air force, found out that they weren’t going to let me fly, and never flew a glider again.
I had thought about it – nearly joined a soaring club in California when I was down there in the late nineties post-air force. Nearly joined a club in Calgary in the early 2000s. But time and finances got in the way. But this year I took the plunge, and joined the Central Alberta Glider Club in Innisfail and started back.
Some things came easy… some things much more difficult. But over a period of months, and with the help of great instructors (thanks John, and especially Drew) I knocked the rust off and made it back into the air on <DATE>
CAGC has a couple of two-seat trainers: a Pezetel SZD 50-3 “Puchacz” (aka “The Pooch”), C-GCTE (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PZL_Bielsko_SZD-50_Puchacz ) , and a Let L23 “Super Blanik” C-GISP (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LET_L-23_Super_Blaník ).
Through my training I was fortunate to fly both – although most of my time was in the Pooch… including my solo.
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“Puchacz” is Polish for “Eagle Owl” – it’s a fun airplane to fly, aerobatic, with really good performance. I found out later that it has a bit of a reputation for killing students in stall/spin accidents – but apparently that’s because it does what it’s told, even if you tell it to do something stupid. Once I heard about it’s reputation, I became pretty cognizant of speed and bank angle in the circuit, because, you know, dying sucks. That being said, I never found it to be anything but well-behaved. I did spin it in training a few times (at altitude), and it was predictable and easily recoverable.
Gliding has reintroduced me to aviation – my first love – and has also reinforced some of the key things I’ve internalized over the years: doing things right means doing things safe; smooth is good (same lesson for motorcycles); precision and attention to the details lead to better overall performance; and don’t forget it’s supposed to be fun.
Feeling pretty good – looking forward to many more flights, and more learning.
