Sunday, July 1, 2012

Landing in Formation

Among my father's writing I found this essay, written sometime between the late '70s and the early to mid '90s, when my parents lived in Brewster, Mass. 

My dad trained as a glider pilot during WWII. He didn't see any action. He was sent to Germany right as the war was ending. This essay is a vivid portrait of what it was like to fly a glider during a training exercise. I'm not familiar with all the terms, but there are some beautiful passages. He really puts you in the glider with him and his co-pilot. 

I've scanned his typed pages. To enlarge for easier reading, right-click each page and select Open Link in New Window. In the new window, click the image to enlarge. You may need to scroll down the page as you read.



3 comments:

Robin said...

Dell -- This is a wonderful find! Dad's writing is so vivid, I felt I was in the glider with him. Please keep these coming.

Dell Smith said...

Liz's Mom emailed me her comment. Here it is: "How great that you found this among your father's papers. He writes a good description of the way these gliders were operated, and conveys very well the sense of peril in even routine flights. I had no idea how big these gliders were or how they were flown. Interesting indeed!"
Thanks Liz's mom!

Cynthia Sherrick said...

This is very cool, Dell. Thanks for sharing. :)