Let it glide

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Will Johnson has been fascinated with airplanes since he was a child. The 14-year-old Wytheville resident recently flew solo in an L23 Blanick glider.
“It felt pretty good,” the George Wythe High School freshman said last week. “I was a little nervous before I took off.”
As a member of the Blue Ridge Soaring Society in New Castle, Johnson completed the required training on the ground and in the air for his solo flight earlier this month. He also received the necessary endorsements for a student license.
One of Johnson’s instructors was Gary Naber of Wytheville. Johnson knows Naber’s daughter, Kelly, who flew solo at 16.
“Will has lots of natural talent,” Gary Naber noted. “You show him once and he can do it. He’s very attentive as a student. Fourteen is the youngest age legally to fly a glider.”
Johnson began preparing to fly early last spring through a flight simulator on his computer. Eventually, he traveled once a week every weekend for several months to the New Castle airport for lessons with an instructor.
“We flew in a two-seater which has larger wings,” Johnson stated. “I had to learn the instrument panel. We flew around 52 knots.”
After passing a written test, he qualified to fly solo. Two of his instructors also had to agree Johnson was ready for the flight.
“I was up for 15 minutes on my solo flight,” he pointed out. “It was a cloudy day and there was not much of a lift. I went back up later the same day.”
Johnson noted there is no charge for the instruction. The cost, he said, is for the tow by the plane, which takes the non-motorized glider into the air.
According to him, the airport charges $30 for a tow to 2,500 feet. An extra $5 is charged for each additional foot.
“You can go to 14,000 feet,” Johnson added, “but you need oxygen then. You can stay up all day. The longest I’ve been up is one hour.”
He pointed out a glider pilot releases his plane from the tow plane at a chosen altitude. The glider pilot depends on thermals – air current – to carry the glider, Johnson stated.
The aluminum glider is equipped with long wings and speed brakes. It also has landing wheels.
“I landed in a grass field at the airport,” Johnson commented. “It’s a fairly large airport.”
He is learning to fly two other planes. Johnson plans to become an airline pilot.
Johnson hopes to attend Embry-Riddle College in Dayton Beach, Fla. He chose the college because of its professional pilot program.
“I still have a lot to learn,” Johnson said. “I think it’s fun and exciting.”
Johnson has the full support of his parents, Drs. Ted and Janet Bechtel Johnson. He has a 12-year-old sister, Katherine Johnson, a student at Scott Memorial Middle School.
“I was a little nervous watching Will on his solo flight,” his mother said. “But I knew he was well-trained and knew what to do.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .