It was a great feeling!

Two other participants and a mother were already there. We were led to the classroom. There, the instructor handed out handouts on gliding. The fourth participant arrived, and with that, our group was complete. We were then given a registration form. While we were filling it out, the flight instructor told us that in gliding, everyone is on a first-name basis. This was followed by a brief round of introductions, during which everyone explained why they were taking the introductory course. The flight instructor introduced himself as well. His name is Hansjürg. He then showed us some impressive aerial photographs. Seeing such beautiful landscapes and experiencing the tranquility in the glider is what makes flying so fascinating, he told us. He went on to explain that if you land somewhere in a field, you sometimes have to wait a few hours until someone picks you up by car, since you can’t take off in a glider without help. These are very peaceful hours, he said.

He led us to the hangar, where we could look at the various airplanes. There were two-seaters and single-seaters. We would be taking our flight in an ASK 21, an airplane designed for training. We peeked into a few cockpits, but they didn’t look very comfortable. By mutual agreement, we decided to take a coffee break, since it was quite hot and we were all thirsty. After we’d had something to eat and drink, we went back to the classroom, where we covered the history of gliding and learned why an airplane flies. Next, he explained to us how to fly an airplane. I tried my best to remember everything so that I’d still know it during the flight. There aren’t many instruments in a cockpit, since gliding is done by visual navigation. You steer the glider with foot pedals and a control stick. It made me a little nervous, since I’m not very good at coordination. Then the flight instructor mentioned something about getting sick during the flight. He said he wouldn’t make too many turns, so I shouldn’t get sick, he said. I hoped I wouldn’t get sick, since that would be very embarrassing. We had to go back outside into the heat because a photo of us was to be—

taken together with the flight instructor in front of our training aircraft. We were able to pick up the photos that evening. It was time for lunch. The participant who arrived last is a paraglider pilot and told us about his experiences while we were eating.

Once we’d all had enough to eat, we went to inspect the plane that would soon carry the first of us into the air. Then we taxied the plane together to the other side of the runway. The paraglider pilot was the first to go on a flight. He was taxied onto the runway while seated in the plane, and the tow rope was hooked up. They took off. Now there was nothing else to do but

than to wait. After 50 minutes, they returned and landed safely. The paraglider pilot said it had been really beautiful. I signed up for the next flight. I was now very nervous. I walked to the plane, where the first thing I had to do was strap on a reserve parachute. I felt a little queasy as I realized there was a real risk of crashing. The instructor explained how to open the canopy in an emergency. “First, you have to unbuckle your seat belts, then jettison the canopy, climb out, grab the handle that deploys the reserve parachute, let yourself fall, and then wait two seconds before opening the parachute,” he explained to me. The whole thing

It scared me a little, but I focused on what he was saying and stopped thinking about it. I was now allowed to take my seat in the plane. It was very comfortable because I was in an almost reclined position. However, I was sitting too low and couldn’t see past the instruments. The instructor went to look for pillows, and I waited. The sun was shining into the cockpit, and it was very hot. I started to feel sleepy from lying down and the heat. After what seemed like an eternity to me, he returned with pillows. He stuffed as many pillows in as it took to make it relatively comfortable and ensure I was sitting high enough. Then he strapped on his parachute, and they taxied the plane onto the runway. My anticipation grew, and I got really excited. He got into the plane and ran through the preflight checks; in the meantime,

the rope was hooked in. The flight instructor then closed the canopy, and I closed mine right after. The tow pilot accelerated his plane, and we picked up speed until we took off. It was an amazing feeling. However, a strong wind was blowing from the side, which pushed the glider to one side. It wasn’t very pleasant, but he reassured me and said that once we were higher up, it wouldn’t be as strong. I quickly recovered from that little scare. But now it got quite turbulent, and we would sometimes drop or suddenly climb. This didn’t worry me much, since I’d already experienced a few turbulent flights on commercial airliners. He was now flying in formation behind the tow plane. The air became increasingly turbulent in the direction we were heading, so he decided to change course

. In the new direction, it was now much calmer. Once we had reached a good altitude, I was allowed to disengage. Now we were flying on our own. It was an exhilarating feeling, as flying felt so carefree and easy. A mountain was visible below us, as well as a lake. The instructor pointed out that this was Lake Walen. The view was breathtaking, and there wasn’t even a single cloud in the sky. We flew over the edge of the lake and then turned toward Lake Zurich. Now it was my turn. I was supposed to try to steer toward Lake Greifensee while keeping the plane stable. At first I felt very unsure, but it got better as time went on. He helped me a little by taking over the foot pedals. It was exhausting because the sun was beating down into the cockpit and I had to concentrate. Fortunately,

the temperature in the cockpit was pleasant and the air was fresh. I still had time, though, to look around at the scenery. When we were near Lake Zurich, he initiated a turn, and I had to maintain it. That was much easier than flying straight ahead. The turn ended, and then I had to fly one myself. Operating the foot pedals gave me a bit of trouble, but the rest went pretty well. After a few turns, we were flying straight again, and I had to maintain the course once more. “There’s the Rigi!” I exclaimed. “Yes, and right behind it you can see Mount Pilatus,” he replied. The variometer—an instrument that indicates rising and falling air currents—was now beeping in all sorts of tones, and the instructor decided to go in search of an updraft. After a while, he found the updraft he was looking for. There were other gliders there as well, and one of them was on

at the same altitude as us. I felt a little uneasy because it was pretty close. But the other plane descended, and I relaxed again. We climbed to over 1,500 meters, and I got to fly a few more turns, during which I already felt much more confident and was able to enjoy it to the fullest. Shortly afterward, the instructor decided to head back, but that wasn’t so easy, since we’d found good updrafts that made it difficult to descend. It also got more turbulent again, and you could tell from the wind socks at the airfield that there were stronger winds on the ground as well. He increased the speed, since

we moved through the turbulence more quickly. To maintain a steady rate of descent, he flew a few circles and, after a while, deployed the air brakes to sink even faster. We were shaken up pretty badly. The runway was close now, and he banked the plane slightly for a brief moment to lose even more speed. It was a strange feeling because flying that way defied my senses. I braced myself for a bumpy landing, but it went quite well. He veered to the left to clear the runway, and then we were able to get out. As I stepped out, I felt as if I could float, and I was glad that

a strong wind was blowing, since I was sweaty. I was also pretty thirsty. My father met us, and together we walked back to the others. Hansjürg suggested that those who hadn’t flown yet could fly the next day, since the turbulence made it impossible to really fly on your own—you could really only watch him fly. They agreed to this suggestion. Afterward, we cleaned the airplane’s wings and went back to the restaurant for a short while. There we sat together comfortably for a little while longer and then said our goodbyes. Hours later, I was still—

It's such a great feeling to fly, and I'd love to do it again.

Stefanie Jucker (16), a high school student, took part in a gliding trial day in Schänis.