High Flight

Our 15-year-old grandson has an interesting hobby. Or I should say, a passion. For flying. Gliders, that is. We got a glimpse of why this activity is so fascinating when we were at their house last week and stopped at TSA (Texas Soaring Association), where he was putting in his volunteer hours in order to earn flying time.

First, the setting was lovely. And peaceful. No motor noises, just the soft whisk of wind as the magnificent gliders sailed silently and gracefully like some kind of giant, white birds. The low-humidity air and the mesquite trees on the grounds transported me to the environment of my parents’ home I remembered from the many years they lived in Texas.

Chairs and tables were strewn about under a shelter for observers, and while the younger members of the family accompanied Kyle on the long walk to the hangar to view “his” glider, we chatted with one of the adult volunteer workers. Nearly all were commercial or professional pilots, many retired. “We just love to be around airplanes,” he said. “No one gets paid but the kids,” he went on.

We asked him about “thermals,” a term our grandson bandied around, and he pointed to a fluffy cloud in the sky. “When you see cumulous clouds like this, you can tell the heat is rising. Actually, they should be flat on the bottom for good thermals,” he explained. “That one is a little too round, but there are still some good thermals out there today.”

I found out that when the warm air rises, it becomes cooler, forming droplets of moisture that make up the clouds. The gliders depend on the lift and thermals for making their flight possible. Kyle eats all this information up and speaks knowledgeably about his sport. “How can you control the plane up there?” I asked, since there is no engine.

“We have lots of control,” he stated confidently, going into a lengthy explanation which was largely lost on me. I’m glad he has all this information under his belt, because yesterday he made his first solo flight! Prayers went up like the thermals when we heard he was going up. After an anxious 45 minutes or so, we got word from his father that he had safely landed!

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence I cometh, and wither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit,” John 3:8. Glider soarers depend on the listing of the wind and the thermal columns, and I’m glad our solo pilot also depends on the Holy Spirit, both in flying and his everyday walk!