We’ve been trying to fly a glider for years! As the best glider pilots are told to be those in Poland, we wanted to fly above the lands of our beautiful country. Yet, somehow we haven’t managed to synchronize the weather with our busy schedules back home. How excited we were when it turned out that we would be able to glide above New Zealand!
I’m not an expert about gliding but I’ve learnt a bit about it from Bruce, our Wellington host and the first pilot who took us exploring the airspace in a plane without an engine. Yes, the glide has no engine but it’s easy to steer despite of that. Ok, ok. I know you know it, but have you ever really thought about it? This plane can fly thanks to the wind and pure physics only! Like an albatross! And this is simply amazing!
The plane we flew in - a DG1000s "Club" - was designed to take only two people on board: the pilot and one passenger. Its wings are 18 m long, it weights 400 kilograms and it can reach a speed of 270 km/h. To take off you need a tow plane (this one has an engine), a rope using which you connect the two aircrafts, and a few hundred meters of a flat, grass-covered ground for a runway. After reaching the required altitude the pilot releases the rope and… there we are in the air flying with the wind only.
I thought that it would be quiet up there in the glider but surprisingly it’s not. With the speed exceeding 100 km/h the glider cuts the air with quite a whiz. However, the fact that you don’t hear any motor around makes the experience unique. And the views are simply beautiful. We flew over the west coast of the Northern Island not too far from Wellington, which is a great place to fly. And our pilot Bruce was simply the best! Thanks again for enabling us to experience this kind of flying!
