Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler I got the fly today!

drool. How much wind noise do you get in those things?

Interesting... I hadn't ever thought of gliders but I bet thats pretty interesting.

There really isnt much wind noise at all except when it gets hot and you open this little triangle vent towards the front of the canopy.
My second flight was supposed to be only about 30 minutes but because it was such a good thermaling day, we stayed up for almost 3 hours. It was FANTASTIC! If it hadnt been so hot we would have stayed up longer.


BTW: If you do it right you can get your sailplane pilots license for a little more than the cost of M80/500 system.
Also we get towed to altitude by a plane probably very similar to what BrotherBob flys.

Bray you probably was towed by a Piper Pawnee, an airplane I haven't flown in years and I don't know of any operator that uses them anymore. We have the much larger and turboprop powered (750 & 1,100 shp) Air Tractor AT-502s and AT-602s with GPS swathing and guidance systems. The 260 hp Pawnee would be straining with 150 gallons in the hopper where we'll carry 500 and 600 gallons with the 502s and 602s, which is why most all of the Pawnees are retired to towing banners and gliders.

It's been years but I remember the Pawnee being a kick in the pants, as long as it wasn't carrying a load.

I've always wanted to learn to fly also, since I was a kid it was one of my dreams, never seemed to have enough time though.

As I mentioned to Inane over an instant messenger... I've only ever flown a Katana... engine by Ski-Doo (Bombardier, seriously!), airframe by those guys that made those little styrofoam gliders I had as a kid...



This is how I got over my fear of flying. You WILL notice I'm chainsmoking and cradling my Zippo in my hands.

Bren R.

Way to go Bren! Man how in the heck did you ever fit your tall self into that Katana? I haven't flown any of the newer trainers but am told that the Diamond Aircraft and very dependable Rotax engines makes for a very good and economical trainer.

Nice shorts.

hi bray,

I was taking sailplane lessons (Schweitzer) before I moved to the US. I never resumed them but got into RC electric models, which I still enjoy. Interesting how this interest in aviation and high-quality sound seem to dovetail.

When I first met Ian Colquhoun back in the '80s, he had just gotten his license for float planes (a Cessna, I think) and he was flying a twin-engine (don't recall the name) when I joined Axiom.

I recently read where Morgan Freeman just learned to fly and bought his own plane. He's the same age as I am, so it's never too late. Then I read an FAA report that pilots over the age of 50 account for a disproportionate number of accidents in civil aviation and had second thoughts. . .

Regards,

That's because the older you get, the more pressing the apparent need to join the mile-high club.