Adrienn Kiss
Here is another post from Adrienn Kiss about here experiences as a young student learning to fly gliders in Hungary. Enjoy!
— the Editors
If I just close my eyes, I see every moments of the weekend, starting with Saturday: sunny, mild morning, spring-like day. I put suntan lotion, a bottle of water and sunglasses into my bag, I knew that at midday it will be warm. And don’t forget about the pilot logbook! It is the part of my official documents.
On that morning I woke up easily, I was very excited about the first day of my technical gliding course. Jerky traveling by bus, shivering with cold in the morning, other small inconveniences but I was still enthusiastic: I will fly! We will fly… At the autobus station I met with a friend and we went together to the airport. We had to walk for several minutes, and it was a memorable moment too: I remembered to a day in autumn, when I was walking there and saw the beautiful yellow glider, Góbé. And soon I will be the pilot! wow..
After the line-up in front of the hangar I searched for the time measuring book, as it was my duty to write every take-off and landing accurately. (Some people were late, they tried to arrive without any noise, but it was not successful. Be punctual, guys! ;) )
And then we started the average soaring day: two gliders, chairs and tables, desks, and the winch launch came to the runway. The grass was a little bit wet, the weather was windy so the first two days were not easy: strong gusts all day long.
Initially I was watchful and accurate, but then on Sunday in the afternoon I had a small mistake in time measuring, but I was sneaky enough to solve it. However, I became more excited when I first heard my name in the morning: I will be the second according to the abc, I will fly soon!
As I had an elbow wrench, I fumbled with boarding, but with some help everything was okay. (seat belt, pillows, rope) I felt a small adrenaline-stroke on the ground: the plexiglass was closed, my tutor was ready (and me too? :D) but it was a new feeling for me after the long winter. I did the obligatory verifying, I got permission to take off and the wings were horizontal. Speed-up, we left the ground and then steep rising – I was tooled to the seat. I looked down and saw the green fields, small trees, lakes and houses, but now I am not a passenger, I should pay attention, I will be pilot!
My hand was quite unskillful, I just messed up the movements of my tutor. Let’s do together! Later I got the chance to try it alone as the pilot trusted in me, but I made several small mistakes. He stayed calm and patient, I was very grateful, he always behaves nicely. He explained everything to me, and I looked through my notes again. I want to know in my brain what I will do in the air. The wind was embarrassing, I just hope that this weekend it will be less strong.
With the others when we were not in the air, we had a lot of fun: at midday we had lunch together, we drank a cold beverage, the more experienced told interesting stories and we laughed a lot. In the evening I stayed until 8 p.m. and we did the paper works and continued the talk.
I sat at the bus stop at 8 p.m., looking the sunset and waiting. I was tired but satisfied with the weekend. I took some pictures and now I remember delightfully. Laughing with the boys, flying above Miskolc, small accident at the buffet and just the smiles. Or my new custom: in the morning I look at the sky…what about the weather today? Is it suitable for soaring? :)
