Mutual flying

My friend Janine gained her full Sailplane Pilot’s License this summer, and is now a qualified pilot. Congratulations Janine! This means that for the first time we could take a two-seater glider and go flying together, termed “mutual flying”.

The key thing when mutual flying is to be absolutely clear who is the pilot-in-command (P1).  We decided that it would be me for the first flight, and Janine for the second.

After a briefing from one of the instructors, we were off!

For the first flight we took an aerotow with me as P1. Chris, our tug pilot, took us up to about 3000 feet, high enough to be above some wispy little clouds. The flight went great – we had a lovely time flying around. We took it in turns to fly (and take photos), handing over control to each other with the “I have control” “You have control” handshake.

(that triangle on the end of the wing is an aerobatics measuring thingy left in place by the previous user of this glider, nothing to do with us!)

There were a few fluffy looking clouds in the distance, but none near the airfield. We tried poking around under the wispy ones to see if they’d give us any lift — and, sort of! Instead of sinking at a steady 2 knots, we managed to descend at about 1 knot for a bit.

Although there wasn’t much in the way of lift to play with, it was fun to go flying together.

Janine was then P1 for the second flight. We took a winch launch this time and got to about 1300 feet, meaning there was much less time for flying around. We found enough lift to keep us at the same altitude for a couple of minutes. In a higher performance glider, we might even have gone up!

One of the mutual flying rules is that the P1 has to have control below 1000 ft, so Janine took control for a perfect approach and landing.

So, scores on the doors:

First flight: fun but not much lift. OK landing.

Second flight: fun and slightly more lift. Perfect landing.

We're really looking forward to going flying again in the spring when thermals are stronger.