I'm visiting my mom this weekend. It is a five-hour drive to get to her place or a 1hr, 40 minute flight into a brisk headwind (slowed me down by 30 mph) plus an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the airport, preflight the plane and then tie it down at the other airport, so you can guess which I chose.
One thing about older airplanes is that they have a heating system that is as efficient as a 1950s VW, which is to say, "you freeze your ass off." I had on an insulated mechanic's jump suit, gloves, a watch cap and a lap blanket wrapped around my legs and it was fucking freezing at 5,500'. No photos from this flight, it was too bloody cold to even think of opening the window.
Soon it will be too cold to even contemplate such a flight, so I got this visit in as late as I'd want to.
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48 minutes ago
5 comments:
Try soaring to FL350 in the Pikes Peak Wave sometime. Not even a make-believe heater...just snowmobile suit, electric socks, pressure-demand mask and a scraper to get the frost off the canopy.
Marvelous fun...
Insulated coveralls are a gift from on high when you are outside in the winter, or flying an airplane with a piss poor heater.
I may get another set this winter.
I'm sitting here trying REALLY hard not to be jealous.
And failing.
Hope it was a great flight.
Don't you have to be on an IFR flight plan to fly a glider that high? ("Clim and maintain FL 350...")
It was a great flight. The return later today may be shorter, I might have a decent tailwind!
No, you operate in a high-altitude window that is established in wave-producing areas (like just east of Pikes Peak) by a Letter of Agreement with the FAA. ATC will route IFR traffic around the window and open it to gliders, on request, for some designated number of hours per month.
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