EAA Sport Aviation - September 2011

practice for my first flight, I made up a make-believe rudder bar and a broomstick for the control stick. When the glider was about ready, I spent much time on the seat with my imagination. I thought I had it down pretty well.

My neighbor and friend, Eddie Holpher, who also went to school with me, had a Whippet automobile, and that was to be my launching powerplant. We towed the glider down to a farmer’s field with many of the neighbor kids following the parade. I don’t know if I felt proud or afraid! We hooked up the towrope to the glider and the bumper of Eddie’s car and off we went.

I learned very early in my aviation career ... in order to fly an airplane a pilot must make sure to move sufficient air over the wings so that the airplane remains airborne.

In what seemed like seconds, I was in a new element—the sky—not realizing then how many more hours and years I was to enjoy its pleasures. I must have been 50 feet in the air (I had no idea how to judge height) when I released the towrope. I quickly learned one thing: Put your nose down! My first landing was a hard one!

I made many flights in that glider, some as high as 100 feet, and I learned that you either have to pull or push the wing through the air to make it work. We made a number of mistakes during this trial and error period, and I learned something that I would never do again!

EAA Founder Paul Poberezny began flying when he was 16 years old and has logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time over more than 70 years of flying. He has piloted nearly 500 different types of aircraft, including more than 170 amateur-built airplanes. He also has designed and built more than 15 different airplanes and is currently working on a Pober Baby Ace.