Glider Across
My name is Riley Speidel and I recently
turned 14. This allowed me to solo in a motorglider and then a week later I flew solo across the country from California, where we currently live, to Maine, where we used to live. This trip took over 18 months of preparation to be able to have the skill to complete it safely. I trained in aero tow gliders and single engine airplanes as well as the motorglider. My Dad is my CFI-G (glider CFI) and he taught me how to fly the Pipistrel Sinus that we own. Once we had the idea for this trip we decided that we would have to start flying a lot more in order to be prepared for my solo and journey. This lead me to get 140 hours in this glider from January to June! Part of the training we did was go on a cross-country in April that was the first half of our trip over the mountains. We would fly most days after school for a few hours. We are based at Marina airport (OAR) in northern California. There always seems to be a strong crosswind there which leads to lots of strong crosswind pattern work and landings. Getting used to landing all the time in strong crosswinds was helpful on my trip across the USA. We choose the Sinus because it is one of the best touring motorgliders available. It cruises at 110 knots and has negative flaps to allow it to be that fast without damaging the wing from all the generated lift. It has a Rotax 912 engine with 80 hp. The wings are 49 feet long making the glide ratio 27:1 with the prop feathered. It also has air brakes for landing. Finally, it has a ballistic parachute if needed.
26 www.avinationusa.com
On my 14th birthday I left school at noon to go to the airport and solo. It was cloudy so we waited two hours for it to lift high enough for me to solo. It didn’t so me and my Dad got in the glider and flew together to a nearby airport and did some warm up landings while my family drove out. Dad got out and I did three solo landings! The glider behaved very differently without the weight of my Dad by taking off really soon and floating a lot on landing. I added the amount of airbrake I used and was able to adjust to this new performance. Once Dad cut my shirt tail, the clouds in Marina had gotten way worse so Dad and I flew into an airport slightly inland of Marina and picked up the glider the next day. We had planned to do the trip in ten days, but thanks to some great tailwinds I arrived in Maine after only nine days. Besides my glider, we had two more airplanes on the trip; a 1981 Piper Tomahawk and a 1968 Beechcraft Baron. My dad flew the Baron with my Mom, Brother and another friend. The Tomahawk was flown by my Dad’s friend (Trent) and his wife. We mostly flew early every morning when the air was smooth leaving near sunrise. The Tomahawk would take-off 20 minutes before us so he could report turbulence and weather back to us and also be at the destination airport first to find out where we should park the glider and its 49 foot wing. My Dad was usually behind me in the Baron and would do a race-track pattern so he wouldn’t pass me. He would have to do a turn every ten minutes or so to stay behind me. It was fun with all three of us talking on an air-to-air frequency while on the trip.
