The Sailplane
The Blanik L13 sailplane is a wonderful and safe two-seat, all metal, training sailplane. L13 Blaniks were built by the LET factory in the Czech republic starting in 1958. Since then almost 3000 L13s have been made, and many of them are still flying all over the world. The L13 became very popular due to its durability, reliability, and ease of handling. It has a wingspan of 53.1 feet and a glide ratio of 28:1.
Overview of your First Flight in a Sailplane
First you will climb into a two-seat glider along with the sailplane pilot. You will tighten the seat and shoulder belts so that you will feel comfortably secured in the glider. Next the canopy (window) will be closed and the towplane will move into position in front of the glider. The pilot will let you know what the controls are and how they are used. You will not need to use them, but you may be curious as to what they do. The tow-line will be connected to the glider and, when the glider pilot gives the go ahead, the towplane will begin accelerating down the runway with the glider in tow.
Take-off
The glider will take-off slightly before the towplane and hold position behind the towplane. The glider pilot will keep the glider stationed directly behind the towplane for the entire tow up to 3,000 feet or higher. When the glider is at the desired release altitude and the pilot is ready, he/she will pull the handle to release the tow-line from the nose of the glider. If you would like to be the one to pull the release ask the pilot about it during the tow. He/she will most likely let you do so. The towplane will turn to the left and the glider will turn to the right to be sure that they achieve adequate separation. The towplane will then work its way down for a landing. It will land long before the glider. Now the glider is free to explore the skies looking for thermals.
Thermalling
Thermals are rising columns of air which are often found beneath puffy cumulus clouds. When lift is encountered the pilot will turn the glider and circle in the lift. The pilot uses his experience and an instrument called a variometer (which indicates the rate of climb or sink of the glider) to move the glider into the center of the thermal. The glider maintains its forward speed by always gliding down at a slight angle. When a good thermal is found the glider will climb because the air in the thermal is rising faster than the glider is sinking. There's nothing quite like the exhilaration of bumping into a strong source of thermal lift and circling gracefully up to cloudbase! It is a feeling of freedom to soar as the hawks do with your long wings silently slicing through the skies. It is also a real sense of accomplishment to seemingly defy gravity and stay up for hours in a graceful aircraft that has no need for an engine.
Landing
The pilot will keep the glider within gliding range of the airport for the entire flight. When it is time to land he/she will bring the glider into the landing pattern and use the airbrakes (they extend from the wing and are used to control glide angle) to fly the glider to a gentle landing at a precise location on the runway.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoy your ride. Most people love it! If you think you may be interested in getting into soaring, I recommend that you go out and give it a try as soon as possible. There is no need to wait until you have saved a certain amount of money to use toward your flying costs. Just get started. You won't regret it.
One way to find out more about soaring is to contact the Soaring Society of America. Their web site is at:
http://www.ssa.org and they can be reached by phone at: 505-392-1177. You may want to join the SSA right away. The $64 annual dues get you monthly issues of SOARING magazine in addition to many other benefits.
