Bronwen Seager, April 2011
When we got there we had to wait for about ½ an hour before the other 6
Rosebank scouts arrived. Once everyone was there we put up the tents and then
went for a swim as it was about 40°. We then went and had a tour of the hangers
where we saw the gliders that we were going to be flying the next day and the
winch which would pull the gliders into the air. Once we had finished looking at
the gliders we went back to the club house and made hamburgers. We ate them
on the veranda while watching the fire on the mountain. After this we had
peaches and custard while being taught the different types of clouds. After we
had finished dessert we then wrote some of our test with the knowledge gained
from the tour of the hangers and from different posters within the clubhouse. After
this we had a swim for about 5 min and then went to bed as we had to get up at
around 5 the next morning in order to clean the gliders.
We had cereal and pancakes with syrup for breakfast and then went to the
hangars and wiped down the gliders. We then took the two gliders to the end of
the runway and the winch to the other side. It was then that the instructors started
arriving and then we got into an order for flying. Matthew was 3rd, Martin 4th and I
was 5th. The experience was unbelievable and at first I was petrified for takeoff
but strangely enough when I was in the glider I had a feeling of complete calm.
The view was magnificent and you could see for miles around. I got a chance to
fly the glider for a bit which was rather exciting but not too difficult. The instructor
then took control again and I got to enjoy the view. When we came in for landing it
looked like we were going to land on top of the tractor but we landed after it. It
was an amazing experience and I couldn’t wait for my second flight. The guy who
went on the 7th flight, however, was not as lucky as the parachute on the winch
cable, its webbing, broke and the glider was not yet high enough and so they had
to land immediately. Luckily both the instructor and passenger were safe as well
as the glider as they had managed to land with quite a bit of runway ahead of
them still.
After everyone’s
nerves were a
bit shaken
we had
hotdogs for lunch and then the second round of flights began.
For my second flight I got to sit in the front and my instructor showed me a few ‘tricks’
of what the glider could do. By ‘tricks’ I mean a sharp turn and flying up and then
done in quick succession. But WOW you could feel the G force. After this we caught
a thermal and rose 100ft higher but then we lost the thermal and then had to land
again. Once everyone had had two flights we took the gliders back to the hanger
where the instructors cleaned them off and packed them away while we returned to
the campsite to take down the two tents. While we were taking down the tents my
dad arrived and he went to go have a look at the gliders while we finished packing
the tents away. Once they were down we left, having had an amazing time and
experience. We all passed the badge and William, from Rosebank, said he will come
drop it them off one Friday.
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