I join the Scottish Gliding Club, part 1
Just over 3 years ago, on my 13th Wedding Anniversary, instead of whispering sweet nothings to my beloved, I was nearly a thousand kilometers away, getting thoroughly lost and having a grand old time in what turned out to be my best, and last flight in a glider.
The problem you see, is that we had decided to emigrate to Scotland. It turns out that moving halfway across the world is expensive and disruptive. Still, I'm the eternal optimist and on leaving the old country I filled my suitcase with my Dad's flying books (which he'd kindly given to me). cathellisen made me pack some clothes too, but I was able to squeeze them in around the books.
Now, nearly 3 years later, I finally got to go flying again. I joined the Scottish Gliding Centre based at Portmoak on the Bonnie Banks of Loch Leven. I bought a "Learn to Glide" package for £250 which gives me 3 month's membership and £220 towards my flying account. I had joined the mailing list and had noticed that there was going to be a "Welcome new pilots" thing on Saturday morning, 9 March, and so decided that that would be a good time to go see if I could get my first flights in.
Arriving at the airfield (only a 25 minute drive!) I went in search of the flying list to add my name. It had been taken to the start wagon by Kate, so off I went in hot pursuit, introduced myself, and put my name on the list. Then it was back to the clubhouse to get to the introductory meeting (which was in a classroom which is clearly set up for lectures). It's quite weird hearing your name called and realising that people are already starting to recognise me (no doubt I'm described as the "bloke with long hair"), I mean, I'd been there all of 20 minutes! There were two other new pilots there, both called Ian.
Gerry introduced himself as the guy who's taken on the task of growing the membership. As part of that he set up the introductory meeting to welcome us to the club, help us get oriented, and answer any questions that we might have. He explained how to use the progress cards we've got, how to get on the flying list, a bit about the history of the club, and most importantly, pointed us to important things to read, like the airfield manual, and the manuals for the K21, etc. He also mentioned name cards... they've been trying to get people to wear name tags, but no one does. He encouraged us to wear name tags (but without too much hope). Ironically, about the only person I noticed with a name tag was Kate, who didn't really need one as she's easy to spot, since she's a woman. I asked him a few questions about the airfield and the running of the club, and everything sounds pretty similar to what I'm used to which makes sense given that the Old Country's gliding practices are based on the British ones. At the end of the meeting, to my surprise and delight, he gave us each a book on the history of the Scottish Gliding Union.
I decided that I would add it to my "Read as soon as possible" list. These days I'm trying a system for reading. In the mornings when I wake up I read a portion of the Bible, Using a chronological schedule app on my phone. Then I read a chapter of "Meteorology for Glider Pilots", which will change into one of the other gliding books I own once I've finished it. Then I leave the house to go make money to spend on flying. Once home I read the "Read as soon as possible" book on the list (which is this one right now). Have supper, and do some exercise. When I go to sleep I read a chapter of a fiction book on my Kindle (although, often I fall asleep before I've gotten through a chapter).
I'm really enjoying this book, it's really interesting but also funny, as it quotes extensively from the archives of various publications of the Scottish Gliding Union, for example when they're talking about the move to Portmoak and they say, "A visitor and potential member drove past the site three times last Sunday but didn't come in because he thought it was a display of agricultural machinery. But when he saw naked bodies grovelling in the mud, he realised it was the gliding club."