Nothing Comes as Expected During Quiet Flight

Glider experience offers a chance to be a beginner again, drinking from a fire hose.

Friday, October 11, 2024 at 08:52 AM ET

Verified

With gliders, FLYING contributor Ben Young (seated) discovered there is no go-around. No second shot. You are going to land one way or another. [Courtesy: Ben Younger]

Key Takeaways:

The author, a powered pilot, took a glider soaring lesson to enhance energy management skills, discovering a profoundly analog and challenging form of flight.
Under the guidance of an experienced instructor, the author learned to harness natural thermals, climbing thousands of feet and staying airborne for nearly two hours on a single tow.
The experience directly challenged many of the author's preconceived notions about flying, revealing unique aspects like engineless flight's rules, lack of headsets, and multiple gliders sharing thermals.
Despite a moment of motion sickness, the author valued the intense learning opportunity and the novelty of being a beginner in a new aviation discipline.

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Sitting in a folding chair under a weathered canopy on a warm California day in Lake Elsinore’s Skylark Airport (CA89), I listened as a group of glider pilots talked about the improving weather.

We were gathered just off of the grass Runway 29L, and everyone stared intently at the ridgeline to our west. When a solitary, tiny cloud formed a few thousand feet above the ridge, the pilots became suddenly animated.

Ben Younger

Ben Younger is a TV and film writer/director, avid motorcyclist and surfer—but it’s being a pilot that he treats as a second profession. Find him on Instagram @thisisbenyounger.