How to survive sticky situations By: Steve Liddell Posted: February 13 2002
I've been a pilot for about seven months now having received my qualifications last summer at the Central Region Gliding School and I have already had a few nerve racking situations even in my short flying career.
One comes to mind. Last fall I was at a gliding centre in central Ontario and it was a fairly calm day. About mid morning a relatively small storm cell came into the area and since it was only producing light rains, nil wind and still suitable visability it was deemed safe to fly in by the centre commanders.
I had already completed a flight earlier that morning and conditions had been decent. Upon releasing from the tow aircraft I noticed that the ceiling had dropped rather rapidly and that visibility was decreasing. What happend was that I had hit a pocket of cloud that was well below the lower limit of the rest of the storm.
Not long after the two aircraft had departed I relalized that I was dealing with nil visibility and knowing that there were two other gliders in the area I naturally got a little
uptight. I followed proper procedure and called up the tower to get assistance in locateing the other gliders and sure enough I did and was able to steer clear of their path. Once I got over the inital shock of being in a very foreign situation I was able to regain composer and maintain excellent control of the aircraft keeping flight safety at the forefront of my concern.
When flying gliders there is always the possibility of running into a situation where you think you are in trouble. When your instincts tell you "that's it, it's all over now". The important thing to remember is quite simply to remain calm and focus on making an awkward situation into to successful flight. As a pilot you have instincts that the common person does not and it is up to you to use these instincts to be in complete control of the air craft at all times. Use your vast knowledge of the air and don't be afraid to communicate your problem with other air craft or groud control. Your life is worth a great deal more than your pride.
