PandA Povenmire & Associates Aviation Safety Consultants Training Design, Evaluation and Instruction

Glider Ride (Pilot's point of view)

words and music by King Povenmire.
I wrote this song because I enjoy giving glider rides. 
I enjoy them even more after writing it.

Sittin' in the glider as the tow-plane taxies by.
I hold up my three fingers, look the pilot in the eye,
Say "Hello" to Mrs. Sherman as the lineman helps her in.
I take a sip of water, feel the sun upon my skin. 

I ask her where she's from and if she's ever flown before.
As the tow-plane takes up slack I tell her what we have in store.
"We'll fly behind that tow-plane 'til three-thousand feet or so.
Then disconnect the rope and figure out where we should go. 

A wiggle of the rudder and the tow-plane starts his run.
I lift a few feet off and wait for him to join the fun.
She quickly looks out both sides of the ship to verify
That we are really flying and committed to the sky. 

Once we safely clear the trees point out something there,
from memory or from folklore that she might see from the air.
I concentrate awhile on staying right behind the tow,
And tell her of the hist'ry of the valley there below. 

I tell her to release the rope and start a right hand turn.
We haven't found a nibble or a bump from which to learn.
This ride will be a smooth one, and that's just the way it looked.
This is the first flight of the day and thermals haven't cooked. 

She gazed out on horizons far beyond what she had seen.
She marveled at the whisper and the grandeur of the scene.
The magic of the sky made mellow everything at hand.
We sailed around awhile and slowly settled down to land.

She sat a second when we stopped and heaved a happy sigh.
Then she got out and Jim got in, the tow-plane taxied by.
"Hello Jim, How 'ya doing?" as I hold three fingers up.
Another sip of water and I put away the cup. 

Today before the sun goes down we'll do this twenty times.
And floating over fields and streams I'll think up other rhymes.
Then Jim and Mrs. Sherman, Jenny, Jane and John and Dwight
All someday may remember what we shared upon their flight.