Flying Sailplanes Among Raptors ~ April 11, 1982

In a direct connection with birds, I was always interested in anything to do with flight. When my back injury from the head-on accident in July 1976 kept me out of the Air Force, I thought my chances of flying airplanes were gone. Then I met Errol Wells at my job at Binney & Smith, who told me about his sailplane experiences, also known by others as gliders. I decided I'd like to see what was involved to do it, so I drove to the Kutztown Airport in May of 1980 and was totally thrilled after taking an introductory flight. A towplane tows the sailplane up to 3000 feet, the sailplane pilot pulls the knob to release the tow rope, and then does his or her best to stay airborn as long as possible. The pilot makes sure that when the plane drops to around 1000 feet, he or she is positioned over the airport to begin the final landing pattern procedure. The rental cost for the plane was $40.00 per hour and it was $25.00 for the tow.

The Kutztown Airport.

The towplane sitting in front of some sailplanes.

The towplane taking off with a sailplane in tow.

I would return every week or so to take lessons in a two-seated Schweizer SGS-233A sailplane. Learning about weather and the different cloud formations to find and use thermals, which are pockets of uplifting air, is crucial with sailplane flying since the more updrafts you can find, the longer you can stay aloft. This was a great learning experience, plus I was able to use this knowledge when hawkwatching since raptors also use this knowledge while migrating. There were several occasions when I was circling with Turkey Vultures. On one occasion in September, I was soaring with a kettle of Broad-winged Hawks, which was surreal.

A Schweizer SGS-233A two-seat trainer sailplane.

A Schweizer SGS-233A sailplane landing on its center wheel.

The most memorable flight I had was thankfully with the instructor. We were being towed by the towplane and had just cleared the end of the runway low over the cornfield when the rope broke! The instructor calmly asked me what I should do. I said I was going to do "a 180" and head back to the runway. He said, "Good, do it!" I swung around and actually still had a good amount of excess altitude when I reached the runway. I ended up having to do some "slip maneuvers" to lose the extra altitude and ended up landing safely. That got the heart rate up.

After reaching my required training hours and passing my written test, I "soloed" on October 23, 1980. I was very nervous since there would be no instructor to help me should something unexpected happen. The tow up to 3000 feet went fine. I released from the rope and was on my way. I was doing pretty well at finding some thermals here and there but eventually worked my way back to the airport by the time I dropped to 1000 feet as I had been taught. It was there that I caught a strong thermal and ended up going all they way back up to 3000 feet! I flew for about another half-hour before ending up back over the airport at 1000 feet. This time, I started the landing pattern and glided in to a nice landing, coming to a stop right where I wanted to. I remember the instructor coming over to me and he said, "I thought we were going to have to come up and get you." I laughed, he signed my license, and I drove home with a smile on my face.

In the Spring of 1982, my company's magazine, "The Rainbow Reporter", did an article on my birding and sailplane flying.

I eventually had to make a choice whether I wanted to continue putting the money into flying or towards a house. Since I couldn't live in a plane, the house won out, but it was a period of my life that I'll never forget.

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