I spent Saturday at Summerveld trying not to crash the “gentle lady” – a remote controlled glider. Luckily she’s a very forgiving model designed for newbies like myself, and the weather was very calm – a little too calm as there wasn’t much of a breeze and we battled to find useful thermals.
Summerveld Horse Riding Academy (Google Earth KMZ file, or via Google Maps) is a magical place – huge, beautiful and peaceful open spaces with nobody else for miles – perfect for flying.
These gliders are not self powered and are bungee launched – a nylon and rubber/elastic cord is pegged into the ground on one end and stretched out to well over 100m. The glider is attached to the other end via a hook on the glider’s base – a small parachute is also attached to the glider end (slows the bungee cord when it falls back to earth and helps you find it) and the glider is launched by hand into the wind.
At the top of its climb you pull the glider’s nose up briefly and the bungee cord releases – then it’s up to you to find thermals and stay up as long as possible. Magical :-)
Next step – attaching a camera to the glider.
Links: photo album from the day.
