...I came across an old picture of me, back when I was still a teenager. I am standing beside the cockpit of a sailplane, and I am smiling, my hair all mussed, wearing aviator sunglasses, and holding a barf bag. I had a good male friend who was an organist...HE PLAYED THE DAMN PIPE ORGAN...NOT ME!!!!! Anyway...We would talk about activities, and he counseled me in student politics. That was a real turning point in my life. I mean, as young people, we have to make VERY important decisions...I was lucky and blessed to have good friends, and Counselors. So...I ran for offices in student governments, and played music, and joined nice clubs...and...
...I flew airplanes that didn't have an engine...
...He was curious to see me fly, and so I drove us to the airfield, and introduced him to the Owner, and showed him the sailplanes. He sat in one small cockpit, and looked around, and asked..."Is that all you need to fly?" I gave him my best 'bewildered female look'...(I was still working on it...I was young...and was practicing a lot of expressions in the privacy of my bedroom. I figured that they would help me later, in r/t life.
They did.) I got him out, and the Owner and I pushed the plane out to the runway, and I attached the tow rope, and waved at my friend as I was hauled away. I just did a short, 20 minute flight, and landed. I offered to take him up in the two seater, but the Owner said, "No, you don't have enough hours to take up passengers."
...I taunted my friend...and he agreed to let the Owner take him up...and I smiled, and waved as they took off...
...He was puking his guts out when they landed. Flying a sailplane isn't like flying a Cessna...I mean...you don't have an engine, and you have to search for thermals and waves...and you CAN'T SEE THEM!!! Sometimes, hawks will show you where a thermal is, they are circling in a column of rising air, so you just join them, and turn your plane on it's side and circle. And, well, it isn't very comfortable at times. Sometimes, it was serene, and was a WONDERFUL experience...there you are, a few thousand feet off the ground, in a plane that doesn't have and engine, and you are RISING!!!! Other times, the plane is shaking and shuddering, and once I hit my head hard on the canopy, I hadn't tightened my straps down well, and wasn't wearing a helmet. I got out of the thermal, and flew level a while, until I was sure my head was clear, and got back to the field. There was no control tower, I would have to carefully look around for other sailplanes, and powered planes, and then make my landing. I mean...I only had ONE CHANCE TO DO IT RIGHT!
...He made me pose beside the sailplane, holding a new barf bag...I refused to hold his 'used one'...
...He showed the picture to others, and said, "If P------- invites you to fly with her, just refuse...unless she just wants to visit you at night in your room..."
