Dad & Cousin-in-law Kevin watch the planes in the pattern
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Me, Dad & Kevin
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Dad & I walk out to the gliders
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Dad talks to the ground crew
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Climbing aboard. His pilot had a Santa Hat, and 18,000 flights in gliders... Yes, 18,000.
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Climbing in and strapping in
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Seatbelts...
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You can fly from either seat, but there is only one instrument panel.
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My glider. Yellow is cooler... ;-)
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Us both strapped in and waiting for the tow plane
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Off he goes!
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The canopy was EXTREMELY claustrophobic, so I started to get jittery & opened it up again. Once the tow plane showed up, it was no problem.
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My instrument panel. L-R: Altimiter, Airspeed, release knob (red) and climb/dive meter. Very basic. Besides this there was a trim lever by my left knee. Stick & rudder pedals. Also a lever for the dive brakes that also brakes the main wheel. That's it.
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Our tow plane, a Piper Crop Duster from 40 years ago. About 250 horsepower.
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Off we go!
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Us in flight
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Banking with the tow plane, He pulled us up to 4,000 ft above ground level (AGL)
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I aimed us over Lake Pleasant for a while
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A very pleasant lake.
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I practiced some 360 and 180 degree turns, and learned the feel of the plane. They turn with ailerons on the long wings, which cause drag on the lowered wing, requiring a lot of rudder to keep the yaw under control. Go early and go a lot on the pedals!
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Dad comes in for a landing. He took it from IP to final nearly to the ground before the instructor pilot took over for the actual landing.
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Rolling to a stop, standing it on the skid to slow down, with full dive brakes.
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Bringing it in. Landing speed is 60 mph
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Happy in the cockpit after my first 30 minutes in a sail plane.
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Climbing out
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With my IP
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Our log books
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