Soaring has always been a myth for a lot of people – for example most of them don’t know how winch works or the details of aerotow are unknown.The biggest mystery is that a glider can fly a few hours without engine and even without strong wind!
Naturally it’s hard to make a sweeping statement but it’s more typical that people don’t know much about soaring. When we say the word: “flying” most people think of passenger planes because they fly it more often when they are on a holiday or on a business travel.

A modern myth

Once an old lady came to the airport with her family and surprisingly she wasn’t frightened. After the flight she told that there’s no air at the height of 400 meters. Well, I don’t believe it cause she wouldn’t be on the the ground if there’s no air in the glider.

Young ladies come to the airport oft-times and they don’t think much about flying in advance. They usually wear mini skirt which is not ideal when you sit into a glider. And when the pilot wants to show that he is super cool the ladies start to scream. (the movement of the roller coaster) We have heard these screaming a few times on the ground too!

And I should add that the husbands or boyfriends of these women are usually afraid of soaring. They say that: “I am not interested in small planes. Real planes are bigger…I prefer flying real planes.”

Most people try only this form of flying

An other interesting story happened yesterday when we met a photographer (who was an investigator) and he was surprised that for the winch we need a 800 meter long airfield. (I didn’t tell him that the ideal would be 1500 meters)
This man also mentioned UFOs when we spoke about flying – he believes that flying saucers usually visit our planet. What a crazy world…

Children and flying is an other interesting topic. A child whose father (and sadly not mother) is a pilot is usually familiar with gliders. However, if a child doesn’t know much about this strange world he or she would definitely be afraid of flying and only wants to fly with his/her parents. After the first flight children see that it is not very dangerous so they tell us that „I was the pilot in the air. I controlled the plane.”

One of my friends told me an other story related to children. The mother of a little boy flew with a hang-glider and the boy stayed on the ground. He asked one of the pilots there: “And anyway, do pilots love their life? Do they love living?”

And finally I heard a very extreme story about a passenger which happened a long time ago: a very experienced pilot (and he was also a psychologist) flew with one of his friends. So the passenger was a strong and plump lady and she thought that now or never again: he asked the pilot if he would marry her or not. If he says no, they would die together. (The woman pushed the stick very strongly) Luckily the pilot could persuade her to finish the drama. And he didn’t marry the lady.

So as we can see, there are several types of passengers. Elders, youngsters, children and every kind of women are interested in flying. Most of them just fly once but there are some exceptions who will enjoy soaring for a lifetime. For example, me. Yes, I was one of the passengers two years ago.

The child of a pilot