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Comment by decafninja | Hacker News Reader

Those gliders with huge wingspans and no awkward propeller on the nose look incredibly elegant. There's a gliderport not too far from me and I've always wanted to give flying one a stab. But it's really hard (and nerve wracking, lol!) to conceptualize how they stay in the air using thermals. Especially in staying in control when coming in for a landing.

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As others have said, go try it out with an experienced pilot/instructor! It's very accessible.

You might be more comfortable in a motor glider - they have enough thrust to conduct their own takeoff and get you out of trouble but are still light enough to glide effectively.

I think you should just go for it - many gliding clubs have introductory or passenger flight options. I flew gliders for a few years and it's really wonderful - it's very quiet and the view is fantastic. Landing is suprisingly easy most of the time - when people fly "cross-country" (long distances, away from airfields) it's actually common procedure to "land out". Which is basically the same as an emergency landing (e.g. in a farmer's field) but much less stressful because gliders are actually designed to fly well without a functioning engine.

From what I understand, most glider clubs are always looking for new members. Maintenance of the winch, gliders and landing strip is expensive and more members means sharing the costs. One in my province has "introduction days" where you can sit in a two-person glider, in front of an instructor, for a small price or even free.

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