David's World

August 12, 2006

Gliding, the real solo

At Inter-University Task Week 2006, glider pilots have been competing, going to defined places as fast as they can. Yes, you can fly that far in gliders, catching lift in various places to get as high as 20,000 feet (occasionally). (Photo by Rat Bates, risking his (its) life. Flying by Giant Ling.)

I managed to score some points for our team by converting to our club's single-seater "Snoopy", an ASK-8. For the first time, I managed to break a cable during the winch launch (a typical launch emergency for gliders).
In the late afternoon, it got a bit sunny and, to my surprise, I caught a nice thermal (rising air) which took me about 2,000 feet higher. This 34-minute flight felt, in a way, much more like an "achievement", or at least, like a more satisfying experience than my first solo flight a while ago. (Staying up in hill lift at my home site Portmoak seems easy - I had little experience with thermals...)

By the way... Edinburgh University Gliding Club won the competition. Nottingham came in a close second, followed by six other teams.