Segelflug!!
My weekends get curiouser and curiouser ;) This time I was visiting M.'s family and flew with a sail-plane! Almost everyone in M.'s family is involved in a glider club near Bremen (he himself has a glider licence!), so it was almost obligatory for me to try it at least once. Of cause not on my own, his step father flew me, but nevertheless - it was amazing.
First - I was surprised to learn how light a sail-plane is. Two men can push it along the airfield easily and some of the planes used for flying lessons were made only of tarpaulin (Persenningstoff?), stretched on a metal framework. And how small the whole thing is!
Second - apparently it is quite safe to fly a sail-plane, the legal age for a licence is 15! Or was so a few decades ago...
Third - the best part was the acceleration as the plane rose in the height! Like a run on a roller coaster but cooler. Somewhere around 2.5 g, I guess, for the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h. To get this high, we used a ground-bases winch, which is a heavy, stable rope, that is engaged to a ring on the bottom side of the plane. In about 1 km height the cable is released and the plane can start gliding and circling in thermal air.
The view was picturesque, but a bit foggy due to an almost-rainy weather.
M.'s step father in the front seat, me in the second one with M. on my side. After attaching a parachute on me (a damn heavy thing!) and reassuring me with "Don't worry about that, though, if anything happens you won’t have time to blow it anyway. You'll be flying too low." Thanks, dear!
Excited :D
Ready to go!
After landing I was a bit shaky on my feet but unharmed and happy :) Also, really proud of M.! He also flew a round with his step father and managed to land the plane despite a 11 years pause.
(He probably won't like the photo but who cares, the main point is that I do XD)
And next weekend it's already Connichi! Lately, my life was so interesting, I sometimes can't keep up with it @_@
(Dear fate, it was not a complain.)
.
First - I was surprised to learn how light a sail-plane is. Two men can push it along the airfield easily and some of the planes used for flying lessons were made only of tarpaulin (Persenningstoff?), stretched on a metal framework. And how small the whole thing is!
Second - apparently it is quite safe to fly a sail-plane, the legal age for a licence is 15! Or was so a few decades ago...
Third - the best part was the acceleration as the plane rose in the height! Like a run on a roller coaster but cooler. Somewhere around 2.5 g, I guess, for the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h. To get this high, we used a ground-bases winch, which is a heavy, stable rope, that is engaged to a ring on the bottom side of the plane. In about 1 km height the cable is released and the plane can start gliding and circling in thermal air.
The view was picturesque, but a bit foggy due to an almost-rainy weather.
M.'s step father in the front seat, me in the second one with M. on my side. After attaching a parachute on me (a damn heavy thing!) and reassuring me with "Don't worry about that, though, if anything happens you won’t have time to blow it anyway. You'll be flying too low." Thanks, dear!
Excited :D
Ready to go!
After landing I was a bit shaky on my feet but unharmed and happy :) Also, really proud of M.! He also flew a round with his step father and managed to land the plane despite a 11 years pause.
(He probably won't like the photo but who cares, the main point is that I do XD)
And next weekend it's already Connichi! Lately, my life was so interesting, I sometimes can't keep up with it @_@
(Dear fate, it was not a complain.)
.