Detours: Plane sailing
Soaring, sailplaning, gliding - whatever you want to call it, there's no better way to see the countryside.
About three hours' drive from Los Angeles, through beautiful rolling hills, Warner Springs airstrip sits like a saloon town for pilots in the wild west. Tumbleweed blows past my car, and I half expect to see the shadows of Apache warriors on the crest of the surrounding hills.
Lining the airstrip are white boxes containing easy-to-assemble gliders. Although gliding has been around since the Wright brothers, these graceful aircraft only took off after the second world war, when Germans were restricted to flying non-powered planes. With typical German engineering, modern gliders are built to withstand more pressure than fighter jets and have reached more than 13,800 metres, covering an amazing 2,250km.
It is said the best pilots are avid gliders, capable of feeling the wind beneath their wings. (As if to prove this, in 1989 United Airlines captain Dave Cronin credited his gliding skills with saving most passengers aboard a Boeing 747 when a cargo door and a section of the fuselage blew out; Cronin largely glided the stricken Jumbo to safety in Honolulu.) So I'm feeling confident when the small turboprop plane tows us down the runway, pulling us along on a metal wire. The pilot sits at the front, with two of us crammed in behind him. Unless you're prepared to invest US$300,000 in a state-of-the-art Stemme, most gliders are designed to thrill you with flight more than comfort.
Before the tow plane has even left the tarmac our glider has lifted gently into the air. Once we reach an altitude of 920 metres the pilot signals to me to pull a lever and the wire is cut. Inside the bubble of the cockpit I am soaring inside the eye of an albatross. Much like with hang-gliding or paragliding, pilots hunt thermals, or warm pockets of air, to gain elevation. Each pocket of warm air is a bump that takes my breath away, the glider shooting up like a roller coaster. Turbulence is to flying as bumps are to driving, so I'm happy to be safely strapped in. Air is gushing in from breathing holes on the sides, and if it's not as quiet as I expected, the thrilling sensation of soaring on air currents is undeniable.
There are two things I hate to hear when travelling. First: 'Guess what you're eating?' Second: 'Do you want to see what this baby can do?' When the pilot asks me the second question I know things are about to become challenging. He pulls the glider down hard and suddenly there's so much blood rushing to my head I think I may explode. The speed is astonishing, then we hit negative G-force and the pilot's walkie-talkie floats above our heads. Meanwhile, I'm busy screaming and trying to hold down my lunch.
It's up to you how many times you want to do this, but the pilots are always happy to demonstrate weightlessness.
Warner Springs Skysailing offers a 30-minute introductory flight for US$130 per passenger - which can be as smooth or scary as you like. The company offers a variety of flights, and training. For details go to skysailing.com.
