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Quite a large proportion of people
taking a glider ride for the first time have one flight and are totally
put off soaring for good. How often have you heard the words "Yes
I have tried it once, Bob took me up just after he got his licence and
I was sick". If you ask how that came about, it is not unusual to
hear that they were shown stalls or even aerobatics by their enthusiastic
pilots.
Unfortunately, even by the time most students go solo they have forgotten
their own experiences on their first flight. They won't remember the very
worrying sensations when the glider was banked over to make a turn and
when at some moments it felt as though the glider was dropping out of
control. If it made them feel sick it is unlikely that they would have
taken it up as a sport.
A flight in good soaring conditions with powerful, rough thermals is
the worst possible introduction for an inexperienced flyer. Pilots forget
this when the weather is good and when there is the opportunity to show
their friends the thrills and excitements of soaring and how they can
climb thousands of feet. It is a different story to taking a power pilot
up for a first glider flight because they are familiar with flying in
small aircraft.
In my experience, introductory flights rarely, if ever, result in people
being recruited as trainees unless they are given an opportunity to try
flying the glider. Otherwise they go away having perhaps enjoyed their
flight but without realising it is actually quite simple to fly a glider
and that they could probably learn to do it. A pure passenger flight seldom
encourages anyone to consider learning to glide.
Every passenger should have the opportunity to try out the controls and
fly the glider, and pilots who are going to do introductory flights for
a club or commercial operation need training so that they do not put off
potential recruits from flying.
If you are serious about encouraging someone to learn to fly gliders,
you must get them to do some of the flying themselves so they realise
they could learn to do it
Don't get talked into taking beginners if the weather is turbulent. Remember
that if they are sick, they will probably never be happy in a small aircraft
or glider again. You will have put them off for life.
Disorientating for a beginner
Choose an early morning or evening, or a fairly stable day when the conditions
are smooth, and remember that continuous circling for more than a few
turns can be very disorientating for a beginner. Usually this can be avoided
by making runs through the lift to gain height and so lengthen the flight,
and show how the variometer and altimeter respond when you are in lift
and gaining height. Even a first flight of twenty minutes can be too lon |
