Some time ago, I wrote the story of my late friend, Sabrina “Sib” Jackintell on another blog. Sib was a legend in her own time. At one time or another, she held every record possible in a glider. She also held the land speed record for women for a time, being the first woman to drive a land vehicle more than three hundred miles an hour. One of her records is yet to be broken; the absolute glider altitude record for women.. She flew a motorless glider to an altitude of 41,070 feet on Valentine’s Day, 1979. I posted her story on Daily Kos, but before that I posted it to another blog. I won’t link to that one for several reasons.
One of the comments stunned me. Some woman made a comment that flying gliders was a total waste of time. Total waste of time? Really? It would be interesting, I suppose, to find out what she considers not wasting time.
This morning, I found an article in my Google Plus feed that most of us might find of interest:
NEUROSCIENCE - The Science Of Why You Should Spend Your Money On Experiences, Not Things. You don’t have infinite money. Spend it on stuff that research says makes you happy.
I have been asked many times what it is that I get out of flying gliders. You can’t really go anywhere in one. I mean, you don’t load up the suitcase and take off to see the grandkids. Gliders are not useful for commuting, dropping water on forest fires, or rescuing injured people. So, what ARE they good for, anyway.
The two videos below, with music, may explain just a bit. The pilot in both of these is Manfred Radius, originally from Hamburg, Germany. For the scientific minded, Manfred’s glider is towed aloft by a towplane (often a re-purposed cropduster) to about 4,000 feet. The energy of being towed to altitude is stored up in the glider. The secret of this aerobatic routine, and any other glider flight for that matter, is energy management. The trick is to run out of stored energy just as you come in for a landing. Too much leftover energy and you overshoot the runway. Not enough, and you end up in tall weeds or cornstalks short of the runway.
Flying gliders at night is not allowed, except with special FAA dispensation for airshow performers. This is special.
A total waste of time, indeed! I am still steaming over that one.
I hope this gives our morning crew just a tiny bit of understanding for why flying on silent wings speaks to me. Total waste of time….hmmmppfff!!
Come in and sit a spell. You may need to excuse me while I get some tissues. Just allergies, I am sure. Carry on with whatever gossip you have to share.