The Pure Magnificence of Soaring

The most beautiful thing a man can do.
Enjoy these shots of Czech and Slovakian pilots soaring in the skies over Malá Fatra and Tatra mountains, Slovakia.
Shot during gliding camp of czech aeroclub Brno - Medlánky at Prievidza airfield (LZPE), Slovakia.

Česky:
Nejnádhernější činnost, kterou člověk může dělat.
Užijte si záběry českých a slovenských pilotů plachtících nad Malou Fatrou a Tatrami.
Natočeno během soustředění Aeroklubu Brno - Medlánky na letišti ve slovenské Prievidzi (LZPE).

Music/hudba:
Oskar Schuster - Sneeuwland

[lw]

Beautiful filming - great views

I took my 1st glider ride yesterday . Yes, it was a fantastic view. In
our plane the rider sits in front and the pilot in the back. So you ride
on the very front of the plane with no wings over your head to block
the view and you can't even see the wings behind you unless you turn
your head. Its like being a bird.
And you can't see any landing gear because the landing wheels are underneath the plane and don't stick out.

When the plane banks left or right you are looking straight down at the ground.
That will be very enjoyable or slightly scary depending on you.

Our runway was grass - more bumpy than a paved strip.
And I was surprised at how fast we accelerated while being towed, even on the grass strip - and we were in the air in just a few hundred feet.

It was really surprising what it was like being that close to another plane while in the air, just 200 feet behind the tow plane. It seemed much closer. I don't know how those pilots in airshows can fly so close together the way the wind bumps you around.

It was a hot day and lots of clouds with thermal updrafts around.
After letting go of the tow rope at 3, 000 feet we climbed to 4, 000 feet by circling around thermals. It was really strange watching the altimeter climbing when we had no engine. Most climbing was done with the meter at 2. The pilot said that was average and 4 would be good. Later we hit 4 and then 6 for a while.
I think that means we were climbing at 600 feet per minute - and that is amazing to me. That is as fast as a small plane with an engine !
I'm thinking - how can a 600 pound sailplane with 2 guys that weigh about 155 each (total over 900 pounds) and no engine be climbing that fast just from the wind !
We flew one thermal all the way to cloud base and then turned out. That was fun.

I had wondered if I would "feel it" when we were going up - but I could not -
I could tell by watching the instruments - and after several hundred feet of climb I could tell we were farther from the ground by looking down. My pilot was really good at finding and circling to stay in thermals.
This morning I saw a buzzard riding the air currents - I said to myself, been there done that !

The pilot let me pull the control to detach from the tow plane. I could definitely feel us slow down and start to descend once I did that.

He let me fly and I did well at maintaining 50 knots by using my elevators.
And starting turns with the ailerons was easy.
I had trouble coordinating my turns with the rudder and keeping the "string" from being too far left or right. For some reason the rudders seemed hard to get my feet on and hard to push. I kept over adjusting.
I did pretty good at keeping the field in sight. I made a deliberate effort to do that in case my pilot became incapacitated and I had to make my first glider landing while taking my first glider ride !

[richardweil]

Magnificent, and a bit more to the landscape than we have while toddling in thermals over flat Minnesota. Though on a beautiful day with cumuli and green farm fields to the horizon it is still heart stopping to be up there. (I think of it like floating around the painted ceiling of a baroque church.) Davinci was right, "'Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you will always long to return."

[ABSScott]

Awesome job. I love soaring central Tennessee from Eagleville, TN.

[FlyingFitMe]

sehr schöner übergang bei 1:00 - 1:04 so kleine details machen echt ein gutes video aus! Daumen+abo verdient!

[rmay]

Awesome video! I don't want it to stop :D Please keep up the great work.

[svensubunitnillson]

how did you ever get from the gound as kid to beeing this, looks aswesome!!

[ipearx]

Well done with the stability of the cameras. Normally the biggest issue with gliding vids