So there was I. Sitting, half-lying.
The
weather was great. The
sun was about to
set. The
wind had died down.
Turbulence was nearly non-existent. Still enough
light.
butterflies
you know where
not the kind to get a rise
there, this... it's just a kind of dare
The previous
evening had laid the
groundwork. The
insects had been romping around in my
guts then, too. But I hadn't had much
warning.
She had just plunged me into it. Silly me. Should have seen it coming.
I'd had my
fair share already, so I thought... Well, I didn't think actually. So it was
unexpected when it
did happen. Luckily I
satisfied her. Which gave me a great feeling. Strange... or maybe not.
Now I was
alone. Loving and
dreading it simultaneously. In fact, I was scared shitless, but
anticipating every
moment of
solitude I was going to get. Which, knowing the tamed down weather, was not going to
last long.
Last long... Last long... The previous one had lasted long. A bit too long for
inexperienced me. But I'd had
support that time. Managed not to completely fuck up, either. Otherwise I wouldn't be facing the
prospect of roughly seven
minutes of solitude now.
I have a tendency to shiver uncontrollably in some situations. One of those is when my brother has a gig with his band, for some strange reason. The other I know about is when I'm about to kiss the girl I love for the first time. But that's a different first time, and a different node. Or non-node. That's none of your business...
Well, I found another instance of uncontrolled shivering while half-
reclining there in
northern France. And this was just not the time to start shivering...
I got hooked up
by my friend
not long before thumbs-up
roughly eight minutes till the end
And then, everything
blurred with the
concentration I
forced upon myself. Not the time to
fuck up. Not the time to
think ahead to
rough landing. Not the time, but for the
checklist.
Yes, the
checklist.
Sigh. Look outside to see the
instructor kneeling next to the
cockpit. Questioning
look on the
face.
"
Small blue." I say.
Single-seater is
small blue. God, I'm going to go small blue for the first time! Suddenly I'm back at shivering again.
"OPEN!" I hear. Automatically I reach for the
yellow knob and pull it all the way out.
Some
noise, then, "CLOSE!". I release the knob and it springs back. Click... Hooked up.
I look around. Left, right, in front, up, and all around. All
clear, I guess.
I look left to where the instructor is
waiting.
Bring my left hand up...
make a fist...
Right hand moves to the stick...
left hand breaks the gesture as the tip of the left wing of the glider is picked up...
and grabs the yellow knob...
tunnel vision
focus on the coil, the slack of rope
that is my mission
soft landing, I hope
After a short moment I shift my
attention to the
beast parked about a
mile away, straight ahead. Then, when I
discern a
flashing yellow light, back to the coil of rope lying in front.
Nothing...
Then, a
jerk. And again nothing... Until, suddenly, with a second jerk, the coil of rope begins to
shrink into the distance ahead. Shivering is
impossible with
white knuckles. But a
heart that
jumps into your
throat is not so easily pushed back in place again. Especially if both your hands are
otherwise occupied.
The coil is
gone. The rope is
taut. The glider
nudges a
bit forwards. "TAUT!", I hear the instructor
yell.
The
scene on the
truck a mile away is
familiar and I can see it in my
minds eye.
Someone at the controls,
notices a shift from flashing
headlights to
continuous light. Slowly presses down the
accelerator until the full
power of the
big V-8 engine is brought down on the
spool wrapped with
steel cabling. Steel cabling with a glider attached to the end of it...
Ok, so here goes... The glider starts to roll and when the instructor can't keep up, the wings are
free. I'm free. But not quite. The glider rolls a bit farther on the
ground, until
speed has built up.
Then, I'm free.
Pull, you have to pull! That's what my friends told me. Different glider, different
behaviour. This one
wants you to pull. So after I'm
airborne I slowly and steadily bring back the stick. And feel the power of the V-8
hauling this glider up into the
air.
Not much to see at this
stage... The glider is
pointing up at an
angle of about 45
degrees, so the
view ahead is of the
heavens. Left and right I see the ground steadily dropping away. When I sense the altitude to be about 100 metres, I say "
hundred metres" out
loud.
Nobody there to
hear me, but
protocol is protocol. And it is
reassuring to do this like all the
previous times I've done it.
Only, this is
not like
any of the previous times I've done
it.
This time, I'm
alone!
Solo! I'm solo...
Not much time yet to
enjoy. Still have to
finish the
take-off.
The glider is at an altitude of about 300 meters, now. Not very
satisfying, but that's what you get with
tame weather.
I feel the
decrease in pull from the V-8 and
initiate the disengaging-procedure.
Now I'm free.
Adjust the airspeed to about 90
kilometres an
hour. Slow left turn, stick left and the tiniest bit back, left foot down, wait for the glider to
roll to the left, then, stick back to left of neutral, left foot a bit up.
Satisfied with the new
heading, so level out by pressing the stick right and pulling a bit back, right foot down, wait for the roll, then, just before the glider is level again, stick neutral, feet neutral.
Quick check of
height. Damn. 250 metres. Time to go on
circuit for landing...
That's another story.
North of France, spring 2000