- Get a realistic point of view of the sport.
- Allay fears and worries.
- Get out the annoying newb questions so as not to overly bother instructors and pilots with annoying newb questions (too late? ).
Safety concerns me a lot in this sport. As I was lurking on the forum I was reading the amazing flights section. One of the posts caught my eye and as I began to read it almost seemed too fantastic a flight. It was Stebbin's post "Over 100 Miles, but not in Hurricane". Reading along he reports of being at 15,000 feet and having the ability to go higher if it wasn't for having no O2. Thoughts raced through my mind as to how it would feel to be at 15,000 feet in a glider for the first time solo. Fear, uncertainty, doubt and finally anticipation. The fear comes to mind with the question, what would I do if something (God forbid) happens at that altitude? Deploy the chute right away, ride it down and pray that I don't hit anything (like powerlines)? I remember one extreme case where I saw on YouTube a glider that had a major wing failure and the pilot pinwheeled down to the ground despite throwing his chute and firing off a balistic chute when that failed. I would expect that it would be pretty normal to wonder and worry about these things when you're new and inexperienced.
On a side note I had a great time at Dockweiler. Thank you Paul for answering questions and letting me sit in on a class and generally putting up with me. If any of the students read this it was nice meeting you and see you soon as a fellow student.
I also had a fun time being an LZ rat at the Sylmar air park on Sunday and Monday. I got to meet a lot of new faces and hope to see you all again as a fellow pilot. Thank you for answering my questions you're all a credit to the sport. It shows how much you care about the image of the association and the sport itself. Oh and thanks for showing me how to take down and pack up a glider and for sharing a beer with me.
Thanks,
Jamie