[sciencewriter86]

The idea of learning to fly gliders really paid off for Germany's Luftwaffe pilots during and before WWII.

After WWI Germany wasn't allowed to have an air force, and the development of aircraft was severely limited.

But, being Germans, they thought well outside the box. They formed glider clubs, which most young males really loved to fly with.

One serious glider pilot was Erich Hartman who shot down over 500, (mostly Soviet) aircraft. Another was Adolph Galland who shot down somewhere near 200 allied aircraft before he was assigned to administrative duty by Hitler.

This summer I hope to do some glider riding and hopefully dual flying.

Your remarks about the value of flying gliders are very well said.

[noiseman]

Yep, the Germans were smart. They used the development of gliders between the wars to develop laminar flow airfoils, which gave them a tremendous advantage early in WWII. By comparison, when the war began we were still training pilots in biplanes, and we didn’t really catch up until the advent of the P-51. Every time we have ended a war, we have gotten complacent, which led to us being unprepared the next time a major war occurred.

Good luck with your introduction to soaring. There’s nothing else like it. I got my glider rating at 16, a few weeks before I got my driver’s license. My parents had to drive me to my check ride. I’ve flown the Schweizer 2-33, the 2-32, the 1-26, and the Grob G-103 Twin II. I’m waaaaaaaaay older now, but I keep thinking about getting back into it, and would love to get maybe an LS-4 (though my dream glider is an ASW-27). If you want to see some exceptional, and incredibly educational soaring videos on YouTube, search for “Bruno Vassel.” He flies an ASW-27, and he’s like a flying college professor. His videos are incredibly interesting and informative.