Uni is starting next week. New job started for real this week. Good news coming this Friday to a hubski near you! I also started a new hobby: Gliding! Which is much more intense and fun than it sounds. Those things can do some serious acrobatics. Hopefully I can get a good amount of flights before winter kicks in.
I'm gonna break ThatFanficGuy's brain, but flying gliders was one of my most favorite things ever!! My Uncle flies them, and has taken me up flying many many times since I was a child. I quickly learned how to fly, and he'd just sit in back and enjoy the view while I - from about 12 years old, on - flew from release to landing all by myself!! That is a transformative experience... being in the air, feeling the thermals, sensing the air... man, I miss it.
Man... You should start a series: #storiesfromgoobster. I'd follow that in an instant. What you describe sounds like a fantastic experience, as well. I wanted to fly for as long as I remember myself, and I figured that the reason we enjoy sliding down a big hill on our butts is that it simulates (or provide some of the feelings as) the experience of flight. Any way you can hook me up with a glider if we are to meet someday?
Sadly, no. Haven't gotten to fly in 20 years. The "airport" we used to fly out of got turned into condominiums, and I don't know anywhere within 100 miles where you could fly sailplanes any more. And my Uncle - the actual, licensed pilot - lives on the East Coast... so I think my sailplane days are probably over. Any way you can hook me up with a glider if we are to meet someday?
The thing that shocked me the most about flying is turning. We all think about turning in 2 dimensions... turn the wheel to the right, and your car turns right. In an airplane (and especially in a sailplane), turning is falling to the side. You move the stick to the right, the right wing slows down, and you basically fall over to the right, losing altitude quickly! It's way more like skiing down a mountain, as opposed to driving... sure, you are turning and changing direction, but you are also losing altitude quickly. And in a sailplane - relying on thermals to gain altitude - this is a shocking and scary thing!
HELL YES. Enjoy that shit. I have some unforgettable memories of flying alongside hawks, catching thermals with other birds of prey... Oh man... Enjoy it, and stay safe with a hat, hydration, and sunscreen. While I was in Civil Air Patrol (CAP) I got to spend time flying planes, but my favorite memories come from a buddy off mine inviting me to go to the local gliding spot. Only complaint, which is so outweighed by the sheer experience is the heat of the cockpit, but that might just be a Florida thing. Sucks since I was phasing out my time in CAP and subsequently gliding that I never got to the level that I could do acrobatics. Another possibly just Florida thing, but are you restricted in winter because of the snow? I ask since the last I remember, our local gliding club set their cross-country gliding distance in the winter - I think one of the reasons being the thermals had more condensed air, meaning more lift. Also, Florida is rather bi-polar when it comes to weather despite the name "Sunshine State" due to it's climate: lots of cumulus patterns to pick up altitude on. From what I gather, you're Scandinavian? Trying to sort out the system your'e working with.
If you look closely in the pic, the digital panel says 'Terlet Gld'. I'm Dutch and this gliding club almost always flies at Terlet Airfield (not to be confused with this, lol). Can't tell you much about the system except that flying is very weather-dependant. I had one run of just a few minutes because we couldn't find a single thermal. They stop flying when the ground starts to freeze overnight (around October-ish), as it pretty much kills the thermals for the rest of the day. I'm looking forward to getting to control it myself for a while. Monday was more of a try-out. The heat was fine, it was like 70F outside so the little window provided more than enough fresh, cool air.
Ach. Memory recalled "Dane" rather than "Dutch". Apologies, I found it! Reads like it's been aroud for a bit. You must be in very good hands. Meant wind/weather system; made an oopsies on the short hand. Mostly with reference to cllimate and wind patterns. It's been too long for me to remember the impact per se on thermals. While you're not supposed to glide in stormy weather, if there are stormy clouds nearby, it wasn't uncommon for us to swing by for a quick pick-me-up when we couldn't find other thermals. :) Sounds like the heat was just a Florida thing after all! This would be a bit much, but it was a before smart phones. And now that I think about it, taking video in flight would be a fun bit. May have to go back to it once I'm financially independent. Very excited for you!!!