The Secret Lives of Gliders

Part Three in a Three Part Series

By Quest Richlife, Manager

Hollister Soaring Center LLC

The Schweizer 2-32 with the Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz in the background. (Steve Brockman)In the March issue of In Flight USA this series began by defining what gliders and sailplanes are, and then looked at the four different types of “lift” which are used by glider pilots who engage in the challenging sport and recreation called soaring. Last month, the second part of this series looked at the often hidden aviation culture surrounding gliders and soaring. It revealed a world of excitement and variety where there really is something of enjoyment for everyone. This month, in the third and final installment in the series, we’ll see how cross-country glider flying differs from that done in powered aircraft. Then we’ll go beyond the ordinary and visit the pinnacle of innovation and evolution that gliders and soaring have achieved after more than a hundred years of steady progress by men and women of adventure and vision.

Part Three: Cross-Country Soaring, Glider Racing, and the Exotic Realms of Unpowered Flight.

Instrument panel of modern self-launched glider. Note PDA-GPS Flight Tracker in lower right corner. (Darryl Ram)A common question that we as glider pilots hear when we explain the details of our type of flying to non-pilots or even airplane pilots is: “What do you do if you can’t get back to the airport?” Well, the answer to this question becomes apparent with an understanding of cross-country flying in gliders.

Every student pilot receiving training toward their private certificate in an airplane will plan and execute short and long cross-country flights. These are usually defined as flights of at least 50 miles from the departure point. The student will first go with an instructor, and then later will make these flights solo. This is a required part of the training. However, anyone working toward a glider rating need only make a detailed plan for a cross-country glider flight, and then explain this plan to their pilot examiner. An actual cross-country glider flight is not required in order to pass the practical test for the glider rating. Why is this required when The Schweizer 1-23E glider hanging in the Hugh Bikle Aircraft Museum in Hollister. This glider broke the US altitude record in 1961 by attaining an altitude of 46,267 feet. This record was not broken until 1986. In fact, during his flight in 1961, Paul Bikle got to a low point so that his flight still holds the record for Total Altitude Gained, though the high point was topped in 1986. (Quest Richlife)flying airplanes, but not when in a glider? The answer is that cross-country flight in a glider is a difficult, challenging, specialized skill that must be worked up to gradually through experience, and is simply too demanding for a student glider pilot.

The definition of cross-country flight in an airplane is measured easily by a set number of miles, but not so in a glider. By definition, a glider is considered to be on a cross-country flight when it is no longer within gliding distance of the airport from where it departed. And this definition also requires that the pilot has planned for where he or she may need to land the glider if they cannot find lift to continue the flight. All along the route that the glider pilot has chosen, he must have a suitable airport, available airstrip, or usable field chosen in which to safely land his aircraft if he cannot find and use lift in the atmosphere. And this is what makes cross-country glider flying one of the most challenging, fun, and exciting forms of aviation there is!

When a glider pilot decides to embark upon the cross-country realm, it’s also known as “breaking the apron strings.” This is because once the glider passes a certain distance from the “home” airport, the sense of security of gliding back there to land has suddenly vanished. The pilot must rely on himself alone to determine the outcome of the flight, and this marks the maturation of the fledgling glider pilot into a soaring pilot. This is a very exciting and rewarding form of aviation! The transition is very demanding, and takes time, study, experience, and mentoring, as well as courage and a calm, conservative demeanor.  It also helps for the pilot to have access to a glider of fairly high performance meaning a glide ratio of at least 34:1, and usually constructed of fiberglass for the best overall results and enjoyment.

So the answer to the question “What do you do if you can’t get back to the airport?” is this: simply land the glider safely in one of our many pre-determined landing areas. If this is at a public airport, we may be able to get towed back into the air by a tow plane. If we’re in a farmer’s field, pasture, or crop-duster strip, we will have someone in our “crew” drive a special trailer to our location so we can disassemble the glider; put it in the trailer, and take it to our home airport for reassembly. We might need to do some diplomatic explaining to the farmer, but they’re usually friendly and even a bit curious. These types of landings are fairly rare, and are almost always uneventful.  To those who seek to soar cross country, these “land outs” are simply a part of the adventure of glider flying.

Most gliderports have a process whereby newer glider pilots can go out and “learn the ropes” of cross-country soaring from experienced local pilots.  There is a strong desire within the sport to bring new pilots into the ranks of “cross-country qualified,” so to speak. Mentorship is very common with both pilots discussing their planned route, weather, alternate landing sites, safety concerns, etc., before the flight, and then staying in radio contact and flying fairly close to each other throughout the day. After a few of these “chaperoned” flights, a pilot new at cross-country will usually feel confident enough to head out on their own.

Also available to pilots are popular “soaring camps” where pilots can go to a nice gliderport location and spend several days immersed in learning the art of soaring. These camps last for almost a week, and each one is dedicated to a specialty such as thermal, mountain wave, or cross-country soaring. Classroom lectures on weather, routes, terrain, etc., are held each morning, with flying in the afternoon and a nice social gathering at the end of the day. It’s also a great way to meet new friends!

Cross-country soaring flights of a few hours can be flown out to a distant point (called “out-and-return,”) or over a triangular course, with a return to the home airport. Sometimes informal, friendly, “racing leagues” encourage participants to come out and fly a predetermined course when conditions are good. This is also a great way to learn by observing how other pilots use the conditions to their advantage. Radio contact is used, and newer pilots are even helped out by experienced pilots telling them where the good lift is.

Glider pilots will sometimes try to see just how far they can get from their home airport by doing a flight called a “straight out,” with the exact final landing spot unknown until later that day. These flights may last from five to seven hours or longer, and are sometimes so grueling that it should be considered as a possible type of athletic competition in the Olympics! The pilot is sitting still in one position for many hours and there is no auto-pilot. Oxygen is used for the entire flight which may take place between 8,000 feet and 18,000 feet, and may involve intense heat and sunshine, or temperatures below freezing. Food and water must be consumed, and liquid elimination must be accommodated. Fatigue, dehydration, and hypoxia are ever present threats.

Preflight planning must be precise, but the pilot must also be able to “read” the sky during the flight to see how the sky and weather change and go through cycles during the day. A “ground crew” must be enlisted to drive the glider trailer along the general route of flight so the glider can be disassembled upon landing. (This is where non-pilots can share some of the fun and excitement of being a part of the soaring community). These types of flights are soaring at its most intense, with super-competitive pilots pushing the limits ever farther than before. For example, the farthest straight-out flight from Hollister, California was around 150 statute miles in the late 1990s. In 2009, a new record was set of 489 statute miles which took the pilot all the way to Yuma, Arizona, and to altitudes of almost 18,000 feet! So, if you want excitement and physical challenge in a sport, look no further than cross-country soaring in gliders!

Glider Racing

For those glider pilots who have mastered the art of cross-country flying, and are by their nature very competitive, the next available challenge is to get involved in glider racing.

Glider races are another aspect of the “hidden” nature of gliders in general because they aren’t like races in many other sports. Even such a well-known event as the Reno Air Races has the aircraft within a relatively small area that is viewable by the spectators in attendance. But glider racing is conducted over quite a large geographic area, and is therefore not conducive to being a spectator sport.  Usually races will be held each day for almost two weeks, giving each participant many days in which to prove their mettle. A course is selected each morning, and then the dozens of gliders all launch in a fairly narrow time span. Gliders stage by circling in a thermal, and then speed through a starting line or “gate” where their start time is recorded by a GPS unit onboard. Then it’s on to the course, and a finish several hours later back at the start (hopefully!). It’s not unusual for gliders to “land out” during a race, and their crew will find them and bring the trailer by use of a satellite tracking device. For those that make it back, the GPS “logger” is removed and the flight is downloaded for scoring. Software even exists that allows a 3D view of the entire flight.

Races are held annually at many different locations within most states throughout the U.S., and there are also regional and national competitions each year. And being that gliders and soaring are even more popular outside of the U.S., there are lots of competitions all over Europe, as well as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and dozens of other countries. If ever there was a sport with an International Community of participants, glider racing is it. And once every two years the World Gliding Championships are held, with the host country changing each time. Upcoming locations are in Texas, and then Argentina.

The Exotic Realms of Unpowered Flight

From the humble beginnings of the Wright Brothers and their desire to master controlled flight to the Space Shuttle Orbiter, gliders and sailplanes have mirrored the world in which they were created. As technology moves on, it’s incorporated into the world of soaring just as in other fields. Many sailplane pilots now use PDA-type devices, GPS trackers/recorders, and glide computers in the cockpit during their flights. Flat-panel displays are now available for gliders. Computerized anti-collision devices called “Flarm” for “Flight Alarm” have been selling by the thousands in the past year. Self-launched “motor-gliders” are now being offered with battery-operated electric motors, and even gliders with a retractable turbo-jet are available. (Yes, it is a JET powered glider!)

Highly sophisticated computer models developed by Dr. Jack Glendening actually let glider pilots “see” thermal and wave lift predictions in daily color-coded charts called Regional Atmospheric Soaring Predictions. These predictive tools are used all over the world by pilots who want to see what soaring conditions are predicted to be like on a given day.

Even as the U.S. Space Shuttle system is coming to the end of its operational life, others are pressing onward with new aviation goals and systems using gliders. Einar Enevoldson is leading the Perlan Project to make a pressurized glider that it’s hoped will ride mountain lee waves to over 90,000 feet over South America. There is even talk of circumnavigating the globe in a glider using only the vertical wave motions within the atmosphere! And certainly the most exotic glider project of them all is the SpaceShipTwo (SST) project. Designed by Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites and funded by Virgin Group Chairman Sir Richard Branson, it will allow paying customers to rocket into space and then enjoy the ride back down as the SST vehicle glides through the air to a normal landing like a miniature Space Shuttle Orbiter.

So just as in the past, the future will see cutting-edge designs and technology applied to gliders and soaring, just as they have been to all other aspects of our lives.

The Secret Lives of Gliders: Epilogue

For most glider pilots, there is a place somewhere in between a student circling in their first thermal and the mind-bending intensity of cross-country glider racing. It is a middle ground of simply taking a sailplane up for an enjoyable, relaxing, local soaring flight of an hour or two.  For many pilots, this type of soaring has an appeal similar to an afternoon of fishing. Glider pilots even speak of “hooking a thermal,” like hooking a salmon or large mouth bass. The excitement one feels when getting into the core of a thermal is very similar to the thrill of the strike to a lure in big game fishing.  It’s very addicting, almost like a drug, and once you’ve felt it, your experience of flight will never be the same.

So, fly safe; hook a good thermal; and happy soaring!

For more information, or to find a glider club or operation in your area, contact the Soaring Society of America at: www.ssa.org.

Comments

[Gabriel Flores Saiffe]

Great article... very enjoyable , hopefully we can see more glider pilots in our communities.