Cross-Country Adventure
It was August 1999, and I was sitting in the cockpit of a single-seat glider, a Czech-produced model called a Junior. The only sound was the murmur of a slight breeze blowing over the aircraft, and the aircraft was tipped slightly, the end of one long wing resting gently on the grass runway. The landing had gone without incident, and it was starting to get cold as the sun set. I waited patiently on the silent runway for the crew to arrive; the luxury of cell phone communication was still in the future for most of us. My destination, Enstone airfield, and many more like it littered across the British countryside, was built during World War II by the Royal Air Force in support of the bloodiest war human civilization has ever known. Today, long since decommissioned by the military, it serves a more peaceful purpose for light aircraft enthusiasts.
By the time the headlights of a car appeared, the sky was dark. As the vehicle turned a corner, a long, thin aluminum trailer followed it. I watched it snake its way around the airfield as it finally pulled up next to the glider and stopped. Derek, another glider pilot, and my father stepped out of the car and we got to work. Two people held the wings level with some upward pressure as a third, reaching into the fuselage at the wing roots, removed a thick metal “pin” that held the wings in place. One wing was then slid out carefully, rotated, and loaded lengthwise into the long trailer. The procedure was repeated with the second wing, and then the fuselage was rolled into the trailer between the two wings. We double-checked that everything was secured correctly, closed the trailer doors, and started driving back home.
I had just completed a milestone, my first solo “cross-country” flight: a straight line distance of at least 50km (31 miles) from takeoff to pre-declared destination. These early milestone flights are intended to incrementally build the confidence of a new pilot as you expand your envelope of experience and decision-making in new situations. In the case of gliding, it’s also a question of honing your ability to use your knowledge of the weather to cover a large lateral distance to an intended destination.
Tomorrow morning, I will embark on an adventure that I could not have imagined after that first cross-country flight nearly 17 years ago. A flight true to the “cross-country” designation, two of us, both instrument-rated pilots, with my father as a passenger, will fly a single engine aircraft over a distance of more than 3,750km (2,330 miles) from Ottawa Lake, MI to San Carlos, CA. Over the course of three days, the flight will take us through twelve states: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California as we make our way home.
I’m really excited to share this journey with you. You can follow our in-flight progress as we file our flight plans, and I’ll be posting updates on Facebook along the way.
