So it's my day to be tow pilot at the glider club. The club had been hosting a regional contest for 13 meter gliders and the national championship for Schweizer 1-26s. The 1-26 is a 1960s, single seat glider that can't get out of its own way, dirt cheap (8 grand with trailer, the trailer may be worth than the glider) and barely a 20 to 1 glide ratio. 1-26 races are the Formula V of the glider world.

I get down there late morning and the regular cast of characters is there plus a 1-26 that's not local. Turns out there was a team entry (two pilots take turns flying the same ship) and they were going to hop and skip their glider home. Get a tow, fly off in the general direction of home and when they land trailer the glider to another field where they can get a tow and keep going.

First thing to keep in mind - we're south of Dallas. Home for these folks is New Jersey. You're lucky to average 40 knots in a 1-26. They said they had two weeks and they were just going to have fun. I talked to the pilot while the tow rope was being hooked up - "I figure you want to go east and into lift, right?" He said that would be a good plan, I took him up 2000 feet and under a nice CU, he released and went on his way.

Heard him a couple times checking in with his chase crew east of Dallas. After about 3 hours he was running out of lift and had lost his chase crew. We were able to relay from a glider over head to our clubhouse and called the chase crew and told them where he was going to land.

He'd made it 90 miles in a bit over 3 hours. The real kicker, the pilot was 18 years old.