The life of a glider pilot

Speed, Adrenaline, Fun, Concentration, Frighten, Relax,
Competition, Decision, Adapt, Overcome, Punctual,
Smile, Live the moment

   Theese are the best words I could think of when describing what

happens in a glider pilot mind when he is in flight. He gets these mixed
up emotions even in a 30 minute flight, going from having fun and
feeling relaxed to max concentration and split second decision
only to remain up in the air and conquer the skies.

  You recognise a glider pilot from 100miles because all he speaks

about is flying.
And you can never see him happy in a sunny day if he is not in a glider ready
for takeoff.
I didn't know about gliders and soaring flying until 2013 when I went to the
Romanian Airclub to get me a pilot licence. They have 3 categories of pilot licence
you can choose from that are free of charge until you are 23 years old.
I could choose to become a skidiver, ultralight pilot or a glider pilot and my mind was
only to see the skies and all of my country's beautifull lines from a plane with a big
engine in front that could get me anywhere I want. So I wanted to choose the ultralight
flying but the instructor that was presenting me what to choose told me that I am in a
time crisis because I was 22 years old and the ultralight pilot licence is hard to get in
one year. He convinced me to choose the soaring route of aeronautical sports.So I did!

  It's been 4 years now since I have a glider pilot licence,

over 150 hours of flight and I can tell you that flying gliders is the
best thing that happened to me ever.
I have also got the ultralight pilot licence last year and even when
I fly a plane I think about gliders and soaring.
I thank the instructor that led me to choose gliding from all my heart!
We've become friends now and see each other every day at the air field.
Soaring is the closest you get to a natural flyer, the bird! You can only
hear the wind blowing on the wings, you can see the majestic clouds
forming and dissapearing and you are so close to them you can even
smell them.

  A glider pilot gives 100% of his time to flying and the learning

process never stops.
He eats it, smells it, dreams it and loves it! There is no way you can become a
good glider pilot if you don't love it and how could you not?!
Competitions are tough but joyfull because there are 120 gliders
taking off in less than 1 hour.
You can imagine how crowded can the sky get? It's now like in the bad hours
of the day when you have to take care not to hit the car in front and on the sides
and stay for hours in slow moving trafic...they are everywere, in the front, the back,
on top or under, on the sides and always at speed.
The speed of a glider is from 60km/h up to 300km/h or more!
And if that is not enough if the first glider finds the part of air that rises (thermals)
and starts spinning in it they all go in that spot and from the ground
you will see a large tube made of gliders that are spiraling to the clouds...

  But you always feel the emotions and you always smile when all

goes well, either if you win or lose because the day was
great and you get to fly in the biggest
"flock of gliders" and beside the best pilots.
The glider pilot knows that victory is when you land on the airfield, safe and
smooth but it's not always like that. There is a day in every glider pilot career when
they can't get home due to weather conditions or a poorly taken decision so they
have to land on a field far away from home and friends, alone and hopefully unharmed.
In my airclub the intructors tell every pilot that when you reach a height of 500m
above ground level and not climbing you have to look down for more than one good
field to land. At 300m you have to stop searching for lift and concentrate on landing
on one of the fields.

After a good landing, the pilot will stay with his "bird" untill the "rescuers" come.
Every morning before flight he prepares the glider and himself with all things
needed for outlanding like water, food, clothes, flashlight, rope, a small knife
and lots of mental preparation! The "rescue team" comes with a car and a big
trailer specially made for glider transportation and will get you home safe
hopefully untill the next morning.

  I had two outlandings untill now and I got lucky!

Every time on the same field as me came at least one more glider
to land and didn't stay alone until our crew came.
It's very nice to see that pilots that you never met come to you
and talk like they know you for a lifetime.
It doesn't matter the experience, age or gender, we treat
ourselves equally and brotherly.
Soaring is not just a sport,a hobby, it's a way of life, a part of your soul and
the glider is a part of your body.

  Hope you like my little description of a pilot's lifestyle and also...

my lifestyle :D

  Want to find out more about soaring? will post hopefully every day :D
  Ask me a question and I will try to answer quickly

(if I'm not in flight) :D
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