My first time soaring/gliding

Palamedes

Palamedes

Pre-Flight
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Blairsville, GA
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Jason Ellis
So I went gliding for the first time over the weekend.. I had a blast!

The trip to altitude and tooling around back and forth along a ridge lasted about 30 minutes and since I'm getting my ppl he let do the pattern to take us in for a landing and didn't take controls back until about 5' above the runway.. I seriously thought he was going to let me take it all the way in!

Never felt in danger or any fear what so ever.. We chatted the whole time up there and it was great. I can really see how people get hooked on this.

The sailplane I went up in looks like its from the late 40's or 50's.. No clue when it was actually made but it worked great -- I will admit it it looked somewhat shady next to some of the very modern high speed sport gliders that were parked all around it though.. haha

But performance wise it worked really well and makes me wonder what the modern glider could do because we could have stayed up all day.. the ridge we were going back and forth in front of had a lot of lift and we were stuck right under the clouds the whole time forcing us to bleed off altitude occasionally.

The only thing that made us come back was the cold.. It was 32 degrees on the ground, and down right chilly at altitude. It was very overcast and cloudy day for it. The weather was supposed to clear up but didn't until much later..

Good times -- I'll be doing this again for sure.
 

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That looks like a Schweitzer 2-32 to me. It would have been built in the 60's or 70's and was a high performance glider in its day. The day to day trainer from that period was the less glamorous 2-33.

2-33-landing.jpg
 
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rbridges said:
haha. no engine heat to keep you warm. That looks like a lot of fun.
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Yep didn't even occur to me.. Next time.. thicker clothing..

FormerHangie said:
That looks like a Schweitzer 2-32 to me. It would have been built in the 60's or 70's and was a high performance glider in its day. The day to day trainer from that period was the less glamorous 2-33.

2-33-landing.jpg
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They had one of those out there too.. I saw them use it and it looked like it glided like a stone.. hah It would be towed up and darn near beat the tow plane to the ground.. =)
 

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You'll probably be in the 2-33 for training. It works. Welcome to the sunny side of flying.
 
Palamedes said:
Yep didn't even occur to me.. Next time.. thicker clothing..



They had one of those out there too.. I saw them use it and it looked like it glided like a stone.. hah It would be towed up and darn near beat the tow plane to the ground.. =)
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With a trainer, it doesn't much matter since most of your time is spent learning to set up approaches and landings anyway. The 2-33 isn't as portly as it looks, I've actually soared in one while taking a lesson.

Where did you fly?
 
Palamedes said:
Yep didn't even occur to me.. Next time.. thicker clothing..



They had one of those out there too.. I saw them use it and it looked like it glided like a stone.. hah It would be towed up and darn near beat the tow plane to the ground.. =)
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Sounds about right. It will actually climb in a thermal faster though because it has a lower wing loading.

If you fly one, put it in a slip because that is darn near the fastest you will ever come down.
 
FormerHangie said:
With a trainer, it doesn't much matter since most of your time is spent learning to set up approaches and landings anyway. The 2-33 isn't as portly as it looks, I've actually soared in one while taking a lesson.

Where did you fly?
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http://www.chilhowee.com/index.html

East TN. Great folks! Sarah the owner was very nice (that's her picture on the front page) and her husband Jason who took me up were very nice and loved to talk about this stuff..
 
I've got 0.4 hours of dual in a glider from a couple years ago. I know about that grin you've got. Way too much fun. I fully understand how folks get hooked on the sport.
 
I did my glider add-on when I got stationed in Alaska... easy and extremely fun training! Look somewhere in the FAR's... Part 61, It breaks down the hour requirements for the powered pilot. Nothing beats getting an aero-tow up to 3500ft, releasing, and staying aloft ridding thermals for hours!

Check out my youtube page, I try and post as many glider flights as I can.. enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDGhChbx0cI
 
yeah I can see myself doing a lot of this..

Is there a site for gliders like barnstormers, controller trade a plane..etc?
 
Palamedes said:
yeah I can see myself doing a lot of this..

Is there a site for gliders like barnstormers, controller trade a plane..etc?
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The soaring mag might be a better source. Its a relatively small community.

Barnstormers does have an area for gliders as well.
 
Congrats!

I haven't flown a glider in quite awhile be I'll always be a glider pilot at heart.

This is an absolutely lousy time of the year to soar but sounds like you had a good experience. Though I've never flown at Chilowee (sic) I've had friends there and understand it's a great site.

Having the ridge there is big plus. With a glider ticket and your own ship, flying the ridges for long distances is some of the best fun in soaring. Can you imagine flying from TN to say PA and back with most of the flight at redline speeds (150 knots) and tree top height? The Appalachians offer some very special soaring indeed.
 
Bill Watson said:
Can you imagine flying from TN to say PA and back with most of the flight at redline speeds (150 knots) and tree top height? The Appalachians offer some very special soaring indeed.
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Wow you just basically directly quoted the pilot I was with. He said he knew several folks that did exactly that. They'd leave from PA come to TN and then go back the next day, all in a glider..

Sounds like fun and it takes this whole pilot thing beyond just "transportation". I would imagine if you had a motorglider it would make things a lot easier.
 
Always glad to hear someone's good experience with soaring.
 
Most winter "soaring" is on ridge lift. Summer comes and thermal lift is king!
 
Ghery said:
I've got 0.4 hours of dual in a glider from a couple years ago. I know about that grin you've got. Way too much fun. I fully understand how folks get hooked on the sport.
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I got my glider rating almost 20 years ago, I now have nearly a 1000 hour of glider time, I still occasionally notice my face hurting from grinning so big after about rolling into the 1st thermal of the season and climbing at 500ft or more.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
BillTIZ said:
Most winter "soaring" is on ridge lift. Summer comes and thermal lift is king!
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True, but there can be non-ridge lift at any time of year. The best flight I ever got on my hang glider was in February. The wind quit and I got flushed off of the ridge, but found a thermal and climbed to 2400 feet above launch. The only reason I stopped there was that the thermal was taking me behind the front of the ridge. I found plenty more after that and stayed up until I was too tired to fly any longer.
 
Several of the 20+ year vets out at the field were telling me that the Chilhowee site is really a great one year'round because of the ridge lift. They agreed that as a general rule the only reason to come down is because you forgot your "pee bottle".. haha
 
Chilhowee is top notch. Glad you had fun and I look forward to hearing about more.
 
I fly past 92A all the time. Always gotta be looking out for sailplanes along the ridge east of the field. I've got 7 hours in sailplanes but never did get my license. Recently been thinking about going up there and completing my training. Looks like its a nice place to train at.
 
They seem like really nice folks. They had like 20 different sailplanes around the field, but I think only 5 or 6 of them are regularly used. I'm guessing the rest are privately owned or are used for specific purposes.
 
Great reading is the training of WW2 German pilots. Why they had to fly gliders and how very good they were when strapping on say a me 109. Superbly trained and much better than the allies at the onset of the war.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
Great reading is the training of WW2 German pilots. Why they had to fly gliders and how very good they were when strapping on say a me 109. Superbly trained and much better than the allies at the onset of the war.
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The germans even had a glider school on cape cod. Rumor has it the locals didn't like the germans and got it closed.
 
Just curious, how much are you spending an hour..wet...wait, no, no engine...

How do you even name the 'rate' for a glider if it's not "wet"? o_O

Anyway, how much are you spending an hour to float around up there in a glider? A rating is on my list for some day.
 
Palamedes said:
Wow you just basically directly quoted the pilot I was with. He said he knew several folks that did exactly that. They'd leave from PA come to TN and then go back the next day, all in a glider..

Sounds like fun and it takes this whole pilot thing beyond just "transportation". I would imagine if you had a motorglider it would make things a lot easier.
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That PA to TN and return flight was a classic world record flight from the early 70s. It opened everyone's eyes to what could be done along the Apps with 'modern' sailplanes. Since then, that record has been replicated and exceeded by others while many have flown 1000km tasks along those ridges. Those flights often incorporate all 3 types of lift - thermal, ridge and wave. Imagine a flight where you hit 10,000' in perfectly smooth air while most of the miles are done a turbulent wingspan off the treetops at redline with an occasional thermal to transition from ridge to ridge or ridge to wave. Over the years the distances have grown but more impressively, the speeds have grown even more.

Yes, motorgliders make such flying more practical and accessible. More $$$ but a lot more utility... as if any of it has any utility.
 
overdrive148 said:
Just curious, how much are you spending an hour..wet...wait, no, no engine...

How do you even name the 'rate' for a glider if it's not "wet"? o_O

Anyway, how much are you spending an hour to float around up there in a glider? A rating is on my list for some day.
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If I take my annual expenses, Tows, Annual, Insurance and Storage/tiedowns. divided by about 75 hrs of flying per year my soaring costs about $35/hr.

Brian
 
I was fortunate enough ride with Jason at Chilhowee this past spring. What a ride chased thermals and rode the ridge for over an hour. This was supposed to to be a thirty minute ride, but we both were having so much fun we didn't want to land. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a fun flying adventure.
Gerry
Steinhatchee, fl/Blairsville, ga
 
overdrive148 said:
Just curious, how much are you spending an hour..wet...wait, no, no engine...

How do you even name the 'rate' for a glider if it's not "wet"? o_O

Anyway, how much are you spending an hour to float around up there in a glider? A rating is on my list for some day.
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Typically you rent the glider by the hour, then pay a tow fee that varies based on release altitude. These rates vary, but might be in the range of $35/hr + $25.

What adds up is training. You can't do touch and goes, so to get your takeoff/landing reps you might get 6 tows in one hour (6*$25 + $35). Club rates might include the CFI. It all depends.
 
overdrive148 said:
Just curious, how much are you spending an hour..wet...wait, no, no engine...

How do you even name the 'rate' for a glider if it's not "wet"? o_O

Anyway, how much are you spending an hour to float around up there in a glider? A rating is on my list for some day.
Click to expand...

It all depends on the club or commercial operation. Remember a commercial operation is trying to feed his family, a club pays for equipment and insurance, etc.

Club dues, or join up fees. Tow rate, aircraft rental, some have a minimum per flight, others are prorated by the hour.

Tow fee, club, typical $30 to 2K AGL, plus additional altitude fees. Commercial about $50 for the same altitude. Glider rates vary by club, some dues include free gliders, other dues are lower and there may be a per hour rate for the glider.

Every place is different.
 
Jason is indeed a good guy.. You can tell he really loved what he does.

As to pricing, I have to think as others said the expensive part is getting trained.. once you get trained it's extremely cheap.

They have their prices listed on their website ( http://www.chilhowee.com/rates.html ) but I get the impression they fudge those prices down a bit.. I know we went well over 20 minutes and he only charged me for the 20 minute ride.

One of the guys at the field who had been flying there for years and I'm sure was getting the "friend" rate rented one of their nice sailplanes for (I believe he said) $25, and paid an additional $25 to be towed up.. He soared around for 4 hours before he had to come down to go to the bathroom.

It was cold so he was kinda done at that point but seriously, a 4 hour trip of just tooling around the sky with a big ass grin on your face for $50..

Frankly, this seems like one of the most zen-like therapeutic activities one could undertake. It's very peaceful and just awesome..

You can get into a good glider for $10k to $20k easily
 
Palamedes said:
Jason is indeed a good guy.. You can tell he really loved what he does.

As to pricing, I have to think as others said the expensive part is getting trained.. once you get trained it's extremely cheap.

They have their prices listed on their website ( http://www.chilhowee.com/rates.html ) but I get the impression they fudge those prices down a bit.. I know we went well over 20 minutes and he only charged me for the 20 minute ride.

One of the guys at the field who had been flying there for years and I'm sure was getting the "friend" rate rented one of their nice sailplanes for (I believe he said) $25, and paid an additional $25 to be towed up.. He soared around for 4 hours before he had to come down to go to the bathroom.

It was cold so he was kinda done at that point but seriously, a 4 hour trip of just tooling around the sky with a big ass grin on your face for $50..

Frankly, this seems like one of the most zen-like therapeutic activities one could undertake. It's very peaceful and just awesome..

You can get into a good glider for $10k to $20k easily
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If that's too expensive, try hang gliding. Lessons to the H2 level will be $1200-$1500 depending on the method, and you could buy all new equipment for less than $7000, or half that for used. After that, if you fly foot launch, you'll pay around $100 per year for a club membership, or if you aerotow, it's $25-$30 per tow.
 
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I'm not sure why but hang gliding has never interested me.. but paragliding looks fun.. *shrug*
 
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