First Time's Ride By: Tom Coussens Posted: February 5 2004
"Hey", I said, "you want to go soaring with me next week while the others are golfing?"
"Sure", she said, "I love light planes".
"This one doesn't have an engine".
“Oh?”, she said, a little bug-eyed. Nonetheless, the next week came and she was ready to go. It was a pretty weak day in Florida; cold fronts were pummeling the north and we were feeling some of the effects. It looked like slide and glide, but we'd make the most of it. Got her belted in, demonstrated the harness quick release, showed how to open the canopy and then settled in for the tow.
Hooked up and ready. I love every aspect of soaring including the tow, especially the first few seconds when precision is required to fly low enough to not lift the tail of the towplane. So here we are, flying along at two feet AGL, the towplane kicking up grass over the canopy, and I hear from the back seat, “This is so COOL!!”. I knew then, that it was going to be a great flight.
We release at 3000 and start noodling around in zero-sink, staying out of the big sink, finding a knot or two here and there, but nothing really organized. We’re happy just to gain 50ft here and there in the midst of a fairly steady glide. She’s letting out little whoops when we make a few tight turns, getting to know momentary light G-loads. Finally we’re down to 1000ft and it’s time to get to set up for a landing.
Moments from the IP, we hit a 6kt bubble and I just rack it around and off we go! “Hot dang, we’re in real lift!” “Whoo whoo!” is the reply.
We make it back to 2000 and realize we’ve been up for awhile and need to land for the next passengers. I hate deliberately killing off altitude after working so hard to get there; it’s like giving interest back to the bank. So to make the best of it I ask if she’d like to try a wingover.
“I hate roller-coasters. Does it last as long?”
“It’s definitely like a roller-coaster, but not as long or tortuous.”
“OK, let’s try one.” Nose down to 80kts, pull up and bank right. About a 90 deg bank and light in the seat at the top then swoop down and repeat, banking left. Naturally, we were back to 2000 ft.
“Wow!”
“Wanna do some more?”
“Yeah!”
“Here we go!” We do a couple more and I notice a Discus doing the same, except he’s really honking it around! “Look, Denise, he’s gonna do a loop!” And sure enough, he does. Well, I have to cavort some more in return, so I do a couple more wingovers. It’s finally time to land. The touch down is smooth on this green billiard table of an airfield, a far cry from the lumps and bumps of our strip in the California desert.
