First time I soared from Crystal to Big Bear, the outbound leg went so quickly I never bothered to look down, so on the way home I stopped, determined to go no further until identifying Hesperia airport. I loitered over the wide city bleeding altitude, scanning everywhere left and right more than once, and could find no open spaces even big enough for an airport.
Read MoreOne November evening I was standing out front of the empty lodge on the flat below those cliffs and heard a sudden boom that sounded like a shotgun..
Read MoreTibor flew from our field for several years and always displayed the most abysmal judgment, consistently landing his Cessna like a glider, but his glider like a Cessna. He once stalled in so high and so short that his tailwheel fell off from the impact….
Read MoreOn a rare solo cross-country, I was soaring the well-known shearline north from Mojave up the Sierras. Lift that day was consistent but not high enough to form clouds, so I straddled every ridge, gathering energy from both sides of the crest, with few stops to climb.
Read MoreIt’s the end of a long day and being a passenger has rocked me nearly to sleep, but as he turns final it occurs to me I should wake up and at least observe, just on principle. First thing I see is the shadow of an airplane at one o’clock moving parallel with us, and instantly I slam the stick left.
Read MoreWhen I took primary glider training 47 years ago we discussed emergency procedures once, briefly, but that was it. From there forward, while occasionally wondering what might really happen when ‘it’ hit the fan, I never did get around to procuring more dual…
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