Have you ever flown in a glider? I have, and I can tell you that it is a remarkable experience, and if you ever get the chance you should take it as I did when I went away one August bank holiday weekend to Perranporth on the north coast of beautiful Cornwall.
On the second day in the afternoon the sun had come out after a misty start and the temperature had risen to a very comfortable level and I had seen a poster advertising glider flights at Perranporth Aerodrome, so I decided to go along and see what it was all about. On arrival at the aerodrome I could see some tin sheds that turned out to be aircraft hangers containing some gliders and a small propeller aero plane that was used to tow the gliders up to height of 3000 feet, I made some enquiries and was delighted to learn that there was some flights available soon so I promptly booked my ticket.
The glider that was pushed out from the hanger looked good in bright yellow and had two seats in the cockpit; I was told that I would be sitting in the front seat with the very experienced instructor sitting right behind me. I was getting a bit nervous as I helped to push the glider in to position and watched as the crew attached the towing line from the tow aircraft to front of the glider, I climbed in to the cockpit, followed by the instructor and the glass canopy was shut and the instructor talked me through the pre flight checks and showed me exactly what each control was for and what it did, he pointed out to me a piece of red wool about 10 inches long that was attached to the outside of the cockpit by a strip of sellotape directly in front of me, he said as long as that was pointing straight I would be doing fine and to ignore the proper instruments that were on the panel in front of me. Just then I heard the all clear on the radio and the tow plane started to make lots of noise and was moving along the airstrip, the slack in the tow rope was taken up with a jerk and we were off down the runway at what seemed like a very fast speed, it was very bumpy until we left the ground. We were towed up to 3000 feet before the instructor released the tow rope and now I was gliding along just like a paper dart through the air.
All I could hear was the wind noise rushing over the cockpit as we hurtled through the air at approximately 55 mph, I took control of the joystick and performed a left and right turn as we flew over the main beach, and I was able to take photo’s while the glider was in control of the instructor, we flew over the cliff edge above the sea, and the instructor told me we were at 600 feet and then said we were going to land on the grass next to the airstrip and in the next second we were bumping along on the ground as we had landed. We came to a stop and cockpit was opened, I got out and shook the instructors hand and thanked him for getting me back to the ground safely. I would do this again if I ever got a chance as it is truly an amazing experience, later, I was awarded a certificate to prove that I had flown in a glider.

Simon
20 Sept 2003

Source: http://simon-b.org/glider-flight.php

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