So, he started looking at Air Cadets (too many marching drills I think), then Air League (first hour of air theory was great, but second hour of games with fairly young kids seemed to be of less interest).
Zach has an air initiation flight in a Cessna 172 down at our local airport (2km from home).
He had a blast and arrived back with a big grin on his face.
Sunday 17 September 2017
However, gliding the next day was even better even if much further away (1 hour and 45 minutes from home).
On his first flight, Zach was shown how to turn the sailplane and then told to have a go. He promptly put it into a steep bank and enjoyed the thrill of the diving turn until the instructor said "OK, let's back that off a little."
Maybe those steep turns affected him because Zach blew chunks as they flew the downwind leg prior to landing.
However, Zach was not discouraged - even if the instructors were a little more wary and made sure he knew where the airsick bag was located!
In his second flight the same day, he learned how to turn to catch a thermal, and they ended up right up under a cloud and then flying into a cloud. The instructor told Zach to exit the cloud. Zach didn't hear. The instructor repeated the instruction. Zach complied by putting the glider into a dive and popped out of the bottom of the cloud doing 120kts (240k/h).
Some more instructions, more chances for Zach to have a go, and then Zach heard a chuckle from the back seat (the instructor).
"What are you laughing about?" asked Zach
"You're flying really well for someone who has never flown before."
I have been repeatedly told to brace myself: "Your son will learn a lot faster than you!"
We'll see.
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