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No Such Thing As "Un-powered" Flight..... (Read 467 times)

Jun 24^th, 2007 at 1:18am

Groundbound1 Ex Member

So there we were, my father and I, at a local airshow, hanging out, munching on hot dogs and drinkin' root beer. Strolling down the flight-line, checkin' out the pretty older gals ( B-25J's, P-51D's and quite a few "Texans" and "Harvard's" just to name a few Wink

), when we come across a sailplane, .........at an air show? "Oh well, it's a plane" I thought to myself. "It has as much right to be here as any other, I suppose." Neither of us knew what kind it was, and frankly, neither one of us cared. We were only really there to see the Blue Angles, in all thier precision and technological splendor. Not thinking much of this slow, gravity powered wonder, we kept cruisin'.
Being a gorgeous August afternoon, the place was packed. Between the planes in the sky, and the roar of the crowd, we both found ourselves having to practically yell back and forth to each other. Things like "Did you notice this or that" , or " I wonder how they....", you know, "air show" talk. And it went on like that for quite some time....This plane flew for a while, then that plane flew for a while, until finally, there was a break in the action, and with not much going on, I snuck off to handle some "business". (too much root beer! Roll Eyes

) When I returned to where we were seated ......that's when it hit me. IT WAS QUIET! No jet-fighter whine, no radial-engine rumble, no crowd....... NOTHIN'! I mean,the people were all still there, but everyone was SILENT. You could have heard a pin drop. I looked up and there it was. That "primative" machine from the flight-line, without any fanfair or big "too-do", just seemed to hang there, drifting, like a bubble on the breeze. I was completely awestruck. Not the same way the crowd seemed to be, marveling at it's graceful elegance, but rather astonished at how this motorless miracle, having only moments before, been totally reliant on it's tow plane to get it aloft, was now able to summon enough power to silence a crowd of thousands, while capturing the attention and imagination of every last person there. It brought a tear to my eye (much as it is while I'm typing this), and from that day on , I've never seen an "un-powered" glider.

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Reply #1 - Jun 24^th, 2007 at 11:07am

Flying Trucker Ex Member

Goodmorning Groundbound1... Wink

Welcome to the real world of aviation.

Gliders, sailplanes, hotair balloons, biplanes and triplanes along with tube and rag bugsmashers, flying boats and float planes all share the sky with the mighty fighters and commercial airliners and freight haulers.
Once an aviator starts flying the aluminum overcast, heavy metal or large spam cans which many of us did and still do, some, not all of us soon forget about their grassroots flying.

Many a great and good aviator earned his spurs first while in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets or a similar program offered by other countries flying gliders or sailplanes. Wink

Then they progressed on to powered flight in wonderful flying machines like the DeHavillane Tiger Moth or Chipmunk, the wonderful Fleet Canuck or Piper Cub. Many young aviators went from the tailwheel gliders to another great aircraft, the nose wheeled Cessna 150.

You all might be surprised how many military and commercial aviators still fly gliders or sailplanes, are still current, they refuse to give up that style of flying, the vibrations and the roar of the mighty engines is put aside for the peace and silence of flight, it takes them back through time when they first earned their spurs. Wink

My humble opinion is that most aviators do come back to the grassroots of flying sooner or later, they tend to miss the smell and feel of the tube and rag, the small bugsmashers, the chance to sideslip your ship onto a grass strip and then enjoy the comradeship of fellow aviators, young and old while sitting on the grass or a picnic table enjoying a refreshment. Wink

If you get a chance read the poem "High Flight" by the late Pilot Officer J.G. Magee JR. Royal Canadian Air Force, he sums it up nicely.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

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Reply #2 - Jun 24^th, 2007 at 11:22am

Aerophile Offline
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If you liked that then you'll really get a kick out of Bob Hoover...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TUVWHUR5OEI

My Flickr Photostream

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Reply #3 - Jun 26^th, 2007 at 8:17am

beaky Offline
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I had a similar reaction the first time I saw Oscar Boesch's routine. Some very impressive flying!
He always uses music, but at the end the recorded narration asks the crowd to be silent for a moment as he makes a low pass, before popping up into a barnstormer turn for a perfect landing... it made an eerie, beautiful sound as it went by.

The first time I'd ever seen a glider in flight was a few years before that- I was at a quiet campsite in the Adirondacks, and heard a strange keening noise. I looked up through a break in the forest canopy and there was a beautiful sailplane, circling above the mountain. It was singing!! Grin