Last Thursday Ivy and I drove to Bermuda High Soaring in Lancaster, SC for my birthday present. She got me a mile high instructional flight in a glider. I had a total blast.
We got towed up to about a mile over the ground and then Robin, the instructor, pulled the toggle that released the tow line. There was a pretty loud bang, then there was just the sound of the air moving over the glider (it was a Schweizer SGS_2-33).
He led me through a little bit of straight line speed control, some gentle turns, and some keeping the plane on a steady heading. It was both easier and harder than I expected. In all it was great fun. After about twenty minutes of instruction, Robin took over and found a little lift in the clear sky. It was really amazing to see that a gentle summer morning updraft could lift the glider higher in the sky.
Finally, Robin turned us into the landing pattern at the glider field and brought us back down safely. I was thrilled by the whole experience. Hmm – now that house reconstruction is done I'll have more free time. I might just have to try to squeeze more flying in there between the judo and climbing…
GroupWBench 
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