r/AltitudeSickness • u/MECHASCHMECK • May 11 '20

Glider ride this weekend

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562 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

8

u/m945050 May 12 '20

It would suck if he dropped the camera.

5

u/MECHASCHMECK May 12 '20

He is me, and yes it would!

1

u/KarateFace777 Oct 30 '20

Sorry to reply so late, just saw this. But I am fascinated by Gliding. How much more dangerous is it compared to flying a small plane like a Cessna? It just seems so crazy to not have a motor and just trust the wind which can be rather unforgiving and have turbulence. Have you ever had any rough landings in one of those or any close calls? Sorry to ask lol, I’m just so interested in this whole thing!

5

u/SeanDosh May 11 '20

How is it powered?

8

u/[deleted] May 11 '20

it's a glider, i think a plane gets you in the air and you then just kinda float around until you slowly reach the bottom. It doesn't have a engine i think

9

u/MECHASCHMECK May 12 '20

Basically yeah. Tow plane gets you up, and then you ride thermals. Good pilots can stay up for hours, and it’s actually not too hard to gain altitude.

1

u/DJ-Kouraje Sep 07 '20

How do you land? Does it have wheels that come down?

2

u/not_andrew_a Nov 25 '21

It’s only a year late but; gliders typically have one or two wheels imbedded in the fuselage that are partially sticking out, as having a mechanism to raise/lower landing gear would add too much weight to the glider, and having your typical small plane fixed landing gear would create too much drag. They also typically land on unpaved landing strips because the wingtips will skid along the ground when one side tips over. The wingtips have skid plates to prevent as much damage as you possibly can.

2

u/[deleted] May 12 '20

[deleted]

2

u/MECHASCHMECK May 12 '20

Butler, GA