Well, of course I have a bias, but captain Sully would agree with me hehe.
In my previous post I quickly went over how sailplane fly, and why they have so much in common with soaring birds. Sailplanes are indeed like big soaring birds of prey made out of aluminum or fiberglass. They have long wings resembling that of birds, and are very efficient aircraft. We don't have, or need, the use of engines, because nature provides us with the power to soar through the sky just using thermals! Thermals are currents of hot air, emanating from the ground by the uneven heating of earth's surface from solar radiation.
This is the fuel sailplane pilots use to stay airborne on a hot summer day.
This is one of our clubs sailplane. It's a Blanik L23. A two tandem seater plane. An almost all aluminum piece of machinery that looks amazing in the sky, as well as from the ground! Seating in it it's like being in a military's jet cockpit! All gliders boast of massive canopies that allow outward views that would be impossible with regular general aviation planes, or airline jets.
