Ian Cunningham said:
I'm not sure if you are recommending gliding or not from that post
Is it something that takes a long time to get the hang of, or is it pretty easy?
It was something i'd always wanted to do and i really enjoyed it, but there were some who decided they hated it and left early. I suppose that's why I'm not 'recommending' it, but at the same time i don't think it would be time wasted. It's one of the experience things that unless you try it you'll never know what you missed, but if you do try it you might decide it's not what you expected.
As an example, take off is real good fun, and very exhilirating. landing can be nerve-racking, but great when you've completed it safely. The bit in the middle - flying - can be great on a good day with plenty of thermals to allow you to gain height and stay airborne longer, or it can be frustratingly quick. Some days you can't fly at all because the weather just won't let you.
One thing worth remembering is that perception of speed is all based on how close you are to a stationary object. The higher you go,the slower everything gets and it can seem a bit dull. If another glider suddenly passes you though, you'll get a sense of real speed and it can be very exciting.
It's well worth having a go at, but to do it as a longer-terrm hobby, you really need to get into a syndicate of say 4 people who can drop everything to go gliding with you, can afford to share the cost of your own glider and afford the very high insurance costs etc.
Why four people? One on each wing to stabilise at take off, another to signal to the winch operator and one to fly of course.
Winch-launched gliding involves retrieving the glider (towing it back from its landing point using a tractor) waiting your turn behind other gliders, and also helping drag the winch cables back to the launch point. Expect early mornings to service the tractors and lots of waiting around for good weather conditions too.
Is it easy? Yup, if you can drive a car then learning to glide is technically as simple. Learning how to read the land and detect thermals etc, is more involved. When i did it, there was an American jet fighter pilot who had thousands of flying hours but had never glided - I've never seen someone as excited as he was when he solo'd and phoned his wife. I asked him how come he was so giddy when he was an experienced pilot and he said that many pilots reckon gliding (unpowered flight with minimal safety etc, and relying on senses and knowledge of the land to stay airborne) was the closest he would ever come to being a bird. Yanks eh...don't you just love 'em?
It looks like great fun!
