Glider Flight

I used to think that you'd have to be pretty ballsy to want to fly an aircraft without a power plant. So many questions come to mind when I think about it. What if you lose spacial awareness for a fraction of a second? That could be enough to fly out of range of a runway. And what if you're coming in too high and aren't able to side-slip to a lower altitude? It's an all or nothing thing in a glider and I can't imagine an effect go-around procedure without endangering the aircraft.

Despite all the questions I used to have, when I see videos like the one below I can't help but be captivated like I was when I was a boy. After all, my favorite plane is the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, which is pretty much a high powered aircraft that becomes a glider. Wanting to fly one of those though is like being a JV High School football player and wanting to be in the NFL Hall of Fame.

I can only imagine how quiet it is up there with no engine and just how much the silence enhances the experience. At some point I want to get a glider rating. Of course, this is after I get the VFR rating, haha. In my infinite excitement I tend to coast over the fact that all things happen in steps, especially true for aviation.

"Gliders, sailplanes, they are wonderful flying machines. It's the closest you can come to being a bird." - Neil Armstrong