Soaring Over the Midwest: Experience the Ultimate Freedom of Flight with the Silvercreek Glider Club

By Carmelo Turdo

Midwest Aviation encompasses the full range of flying opportunities, including the world of gliding, or soaring pertaining to longer-distance flight. Flying gliders is the ultimate grass-roots aviation experience, launching and recovering from an actual grass runway while relying on rising air currents and stick-and-rudder flying skills to remain aloft. Advances in materials manufacturing and light-weight motors have advanced the sport significantly in recent years, allowing for self-launching and true cross-country performance from modern designs. But it still takes a motivated team to support glider operations, and this segment of aviation thrives in a social environment. And so, The Aero Experience turned to the Silvercreek Glider Club to see for ourselves how a local group of glider enthusiasts make it all happen.

The Silvercreek Glider Club is located in New Douglas, IL, about fifty miles northeast of St. Louis on the eastern side of Madison County. Along with the 4,000' x 200' grass runway, there is ample staging area for aircraft around the club house/pilot lounge and multiple hangars for aircraft, trailers and groundskeeping equipment. The club operates four gliders and a Piper Pawnee tow plane, and members contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the facility. 

Membership in the Soaring Society of America is required for all club members. Most of the flying takes place on Saturdays, along with some Sundays and occasional week-long events that take place there as well. The success of the club rests not only on its members, but also on the support given by family and friends throughout the years.  

Glider pilot ratings include Student, Private, Commercial and Certified Flight Instructor, and each has their own qualifying standards. Those with a valid powered Private Pilot Certificate may add Glider Pilot after completing at least ten solo glider flights and pass the flight exam (no written exam is needed). A student pilot may solo at a minimum age of 14 and receive their Private Pilot Certificate (Glider) at the age of 16. Many aviation youth programs, including the Civil Air Patrol, provide glider flights and training programs to their members.

Our visit happened to be on a Sunday that offered a chance to observe some ground school review before the afternoon flying session. We began our tour with a stop at the club house, where members gathered to get the latest weather briefing and plan the day's flight schedule. 

The club aircraft are kept in the adjoining hangar. Here we feature the Piper Pawnee tow plane and four gliders: Grob Twin Astir, once owned by the famous actor/aviator Cliff Robertson; Schweizer SGS 2-33A; Schweizer SGS 1-34 and Schweizer SGS 1-26E. The Pawnee and the Twin Astir were pulled out of the hangar for the day's flights, and a detailed pre-flight inspection was given to the Grob to help prepare club member Gene Mitchell for his Commercial Pilot flight exam. Mitchell will be taking the first flight shown below as well. The other members joining in this practical teaching moment include Glider Instructor Dave Dolson, tow plane pilot Alex Baldwin, Tony Jestis, Gene Franklin and club Treasurer Gary Payne.

The launch process is a team effort, with the Grob getting a slow tug to the end of the grass runway behind a four-wheeler. 

Gene Mitchell gets his first flight of the day just before 1:00 P.M. as the ceiling lifts and the clouds break up overhead. Here we include the launch and recovery of the Grob Twin Astir.

The German-manufactured Grob Twin Astir belongs to a family of gliders made of glass-reinforced plastics that are ideal for training and cross-country flights. It features a retractable center landing wheel (disabled in this aircraft), which then requires a highly reclined rear seat to accommodate the wheel well. It has a lift/drag ratio of 36:1 and cruises at about 60mph. Flights from a 3,000' tow may last 15-20 minutes provided there is no lift generated by rising thermals. The surrounding farm fields generate little lift by themselves, but thermals may be generated by heat radiated from roads and buildings or from air deflecting off tree lines or bluffs. Skilled glider pilots can remain airborne for hours and make cross-country flights by riding the thermals or ridge soaring. The high lift, slow-speed flight of modern gliders makes landing in nearly any open field a low-risk event.

The Silvercreek Glider Club provided an Introductory Flight to us during our visit, and we share that experience in the photos and video below. Our pilot, Dave Dolson, moved to the front seat, and a thumbs-up signal meant we were ready to launch. Tony Jestis waved the launch flag, and we were soon off the ground and in a high tow position behind the Pawnee. The sound of the air rushing past the canopy and the tandem cockpit design provided a unique sense of oneness with the sky. Glider pilots learn coordinated flight and energy management very early in their training, and these skills carry over well to powered aircraft as well. After the tow release, the flight was a smooth descent within view of the airfield, ending with a right pattern to landing and rollout. We do our best to illustrate the flight in the photos and video, but it can only be fully appreciated by taking the flight for yourself. 

Silvercreek Glider Club works to lower the barriers to entering aviation by growing the glider pilot community, starting with the Introductory Flights provided through their One Day Member program. It is an excellent investment, and one that may start a life-long adventure in aviation. Regular members are assessed low monthly and tow fees for their flights, and training is provided by volunteer Glider CFIs. Current certified pilots (Glider or Powered) are also encouraged to visit the club and become part of the Silvercreek Glider Club family.

The Aero Experience thanks Silvercreek Glider Club for their hospitality during our visit and for providing an unforgettable glider flight experience. We encourage anyone in the St. Louis and Metro-East IL area who has any interest in flying to visit Silvercreek Glider Club and Soar over the Midwest!