Flight Training - July 2013 - 6

RIGHT SEAT

By Ian J. Twombly
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HITCHIN’ A RIDE

WHO NEEDS A THROTTLE?

o my untrained senses, it all seemed the same. It took a
glance at the variometer to confirm what the instructor
was saying. We were climbing at 1,100 feet a minute.
With the nose pointed down. Without an engine.

The world of soaring is a bit of an
enigma to powered pilots. We see gliders
as graceful, if not limited, machines. And
although I’ve never heard a glider pilot
say it, I get the sense they look at powered
pilots like a bunch of uneducated and
sloppy lightweights. Slaves to the power.
Maybe that’s being unfair. But I wouldn’t
blame them if they did.
My instructor that day was one of the
most famous glider pilots in the world.
Tom Knauff was the first person in the
world to fly a glider more than 1,000 miles,
and he’s attained more than 50 world
records over his career. I visited him at his
Ridge Soaring Gliderport (79N) in central
Pennsylvania for a story about best glide
(“Glider Pilot for the Day,” page 36). We
went flying partially because I needed
video, but mainly because it’s not every
day you get to fly with one of the best in
the business.
He didn’t disappoint. Immediately
after breaking off from the towplane, we
found a thermal and he began to spiral up
within it, describing the bumps (entering
or exiting the lift), sounds, and sights as he
went. Most of us would panic if we lost our
engine at less than a thousand feet above
the ground, but I guess when you’re used
to not having one in the first place, panic
seems a misplaced emotion.
Soaring is an activity (sport?) that
flaunts a few major juxtapositions. One
speaks to the essence of what it means to
be a good glider pilot. Standing here on the
outside, soaring seems romantic. “Poetic,”
Knauff says. Gliders resemble eagles as
they spin up in thermals, mimicking the
great birds, and sometimes even competing for the same source of lift. But to be a
truly great glider pilot, capable of staying
aloft for hours, winning competitions, and

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completing long-distance flights, one must
be extremely technical and precise. An
engineer would feel more at home in this
world than an artist. Knauff is a perfect
example of this. He says he's the most conservative pilot he knows, and his books are
filled with graphs, tables, and equations.
The day of our flight, we were in his
two-seat Grob G 103. Actually, he claims
the glider belongs to his wife, Doris Grove,
a very successful glider pilot in her own
right. Getting off the ground takes a minimum of two other people—one to fly the
towplane and one to hook up the rope and
serve as signaler. This setup is common in
glider clubs and commercial operations
around the world, and it makes soaring
an inherently communal activity. Knauff’s
airport may be a bit unusual, but the day I
visited there were pilots from all over the
world. And this was on a normal Friday.
They have a bunkhouse, lots of comfy
chairs, and everyone tells fish stories over
dinner when the gliders are put away.
But on this Friday, Knauff and I were the
only two-place aircraft flying, if you don’t
include the towplane.
The reality is that despite the community atmosphere on the ground, top-level
soaring is a pretty solitary affair, pitting
man and machine against nature. The family can come out for a day of soaring, but
they’ll be taking turns in the glider. Some
clubs get at this on their websites when
they caution against newcomers showing
up and expecting a ride right away. It’s
a shame, too, because if they don’t stick
around they’ll miss the serene cockpit of
an airplane without an engine.
Email Editor Ian J. Twombly at ian.twombly@aopa.
org; Twitter: ijtwombly; and visit Flight Training on
Facebook.

Publisher | Craig L. Fuller
Senior VP, Media/Editor in Chief | Thomas B. Haines
Editor | Ian J. Twombly
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Managing Editor | Julie Summers Walker
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Flight Training - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - July 2013