Gliding is meeting up with a bunch of friends and fellow aviation enthusiasts at an airfield, having a coffe, reading a magazine and talking for a bit. Then pulling out the gliders, doing the daily checks and you’re all set. Yes, quite a bit of pushing aircraft around – that can’t be avoided. But working a bit outdoors never killed nobody. Spending a bit of lazy time relaxing in the sun by the strip, reading and talking waiting for your turn to fly.

Then getting pulled up, releasing the aerotow as you ride over an invisible speedbump in the air and hearing the sunsoaked world go silent as the tow aircraft turns off.

Then hours of joyful playing among the clouds. Riding silent elevators up to the cloudbase. Constant manoeuvering, always flying, always acting as a pilot. None of that tedious straight line stuff spam can operators do a lot of (hoping to provoke one of them to throw an E6 at me here, I need one! Getting a bit of straight line flying every now and then as well).

Sunday I caught a thermal at 770m QFE, ten minutes to 1200 where it wore off so on to the next one. Solid 5+ m/s climb, in a 45 degree bank, straight up to the cloud base. Pulling airbrake not to get sucked in as I exited. Next one was a solid 4+, bumped my head into the airspace ceiling at 1800 QNH (field elev 205 m). Again had to pull airbrake to avoid climbing. Coming down was harder than going up!

Found myself at the top of a string of four gliders in the same thermal later on, beautiful sight.

A few evening tows, with no real hope of finding thermals but practising landings. All alone in the sunset, allowing myself the luxury to tow above the scattered 500 m QFE cumulus. A rainbow on the eastern horizon, the world below painted red by the sun. Playing my own brief game of hide and seek among the clouds before landing, finding the evening BBQ underway when the aircraft is tied down.

You get the best flying available in civvie world, with the possible exception of powered aerobatics. You get fresh air, time with mates and end up with a healthy tan. Yes, it is time consuming. If your flying is time limited, you will have to pay more to buy yourself out of the helping out at the club part and you will miss out on the above benefits.

To sum it up: It is what you make of it. If you want to have a good time at the strip as well as in the air, you will (in most clubs). If you think about the time spent at the strip as a tedious and unavoidable chore stopping you from doing what you came for, that is what it will become.

Cheers,
Fred