EP178 - Flying Silent: No Engine. No Seat Cushion.

Ted soloed a glider this weekend. He went up at 3,500 feet and came back down at 9,500. Then eventually came back down from that too, but only because his butt hurt. One tow rope, zero engines, four and a half hours, and a metal ballast brick he was apparently sitting on the entire time. Silver badge? Almost. Cushion? Negative.

We get into what gliding actually feels like when you come from powered aircraft — the tow, the release, the moment the tow plane rocks its wings and suddenly everything is very real, and the variometer beeping in your ear like an Atari game while you chase thermals over rural Oregon. Ben joins the conversation too as we dig into the physics, the philosophy, and the surprisingly affordable math of staying airborne for half a workday on a single tow.

Also: Brian had a weekend. We'll just say that.

Plus listener feedback, community wins including a freshly minted instrument pilot or two, and a closing thought that pretty much nails why we all do this in the first place. No engine required.

Mentioned on the show:

* M91 - Springfield Kentucky: http://www.airnav.com/airport/M91

* 9A0 - Lumpkin County/Wimpy's Field, Dahlonega Georgia, Ben's nemesis: https://www.airnav.com/airport/9A0

* Ted's glider club: https://www.wvsc.org/

* LET L-23 Super Blanik: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LET_L-23_Super_Blan%C3%ADk

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Jaksot(203)

EP204 - What Is Landings?

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27 Loka 1h 4min

EP203 - Pause Not Included

Last week's emergency deserves a sequel about the thing you reach for in the later phases of one: the checklist. Enter returning special friend of the show Checkmate Barry, two years to the day (Octob...

20 Loka 54min

EP202 - Declared Mercy

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13 Loka 1h 2min

EP201 - The Last Five Seconds of a Landing

The Discord kept circling one subject, and it happens to be printed on our favorite t-shirt: I forget how to land (or have never learned in the first place). So this one's all landings: the plateau, t...

6 Loka 1h 2min

EP200 - It Took You Long Enough

Two hundred episodes, and this one comes with a studio audience: live from a hangar at McCollum Field, at a non-event event. "Come if you want, come as you are," and people came anyway, some from very...

29 Syys 54min

EP199 - No Longer Sport Pilot Extraordinaire

Eleven minutes of "we're keeping it a mystery," and then out with it: our friend Timestamp Tedder went and passed his private pilot checkride. "No longer sport pilot extraordinaire." Theoretically he ...

22 Syys 1h 1min

EP198 - How Dare You Try to Minimize My Suffering

Ted has a private pilot checkride on the calendar, so naturally the crew dedicated the evening to helping him prepare. And by helping, we mean: "You may not be nervous at all for the checkride. But yo...

15 Syys 1h 6min

EP197 - I Just Passed My PPL at 1,005 Hours

A listener comment set the agenda this week: as the hosts stack ratings and turbine job offers, do the 20-to-200-hour faithful still see themselves in the show?Ben answered by wearing his Nobody Cares...

8 Syys 1h 1min