Ahh Danny,
I'm sure many may have had some amusement, at my expense, when I was gliding, but no real stories of "derring doo" to tell really. I suspect that as a solo pilot I was always very aware that if I "cocked up" there was no one else there to save my little pink body. Therefore I tended to stay on the safe side of the envelope (as they say). Flogging around for 5+ hours in an ASK8, borrowed from a friend, to get my silver duration, was no fun at all. We had no spare parachutes as We already had them all in use on the other gliders. So our CFI said, stay local, don't crash, see you in five hours. After about two hours I would have appreciated a smoke and a walk, it was not to be. By the time I landed I, unlike the ASK8 was a wreck. But I had my goal. I stopped smoking after that, but will never forget the 5 hour silver duration flight. Incidentally, it was quite a windy day and the owner flew it after me. He allowed himself to get downwind and as it had the"penetration" of a dandelion seed ended up being rescued from a field. The aircraft was perched on a hedge, a fence pole protruding up between his legs, and he spent almost an hour using the controls to balance the thing in that state. Gliding could have its points I suppose.
Smudge
