haha

I fly gliders from time to time (Money is expensive :P) so I haven't had the money or time really. I have flown a Cessna (Can't remember what model) but I've only got a couple flight hours or so.

No way would i ever fly a glider, that seems to me like a REAL engine failure all the time, i dont like NOT having a "go around" option:(

Well for the fact that I've never actually flown a glider that had an engine, I'll agree that its a engine failure, but the "go around" option is there, you just have to know when :P

You sir are more brave than I, the closest I have come to a glider is a Simulated Engine failure over some freshly harvested corn fields. My FAA examiner was a real old school guy, i was scared to death because from stories saying hes made students touch the pavement on roads in the country before saying he takes controls. I however got about 5-10ft, low enough to see clumps of dirt and holes before he takes the controls to recover. There isnt anything close to the feeling of passing your Check ride and the FAA examiner handing you that white paper. I had to ask him "So, am I a real pilot now?" he responds with a smile "Your not any more of a pilot today then you were yesterday, its just now the government knows"

They make some self-powered gliders now, but I have never seen one physically. Been flying for 17 years, since I was just 12, since 17 legally, but that's irrelevant, and I have never ever ever ever even touched a glider. They say that they're pretty easy on the controls but the idea of not being under power scares the holy hell out of me. It's not like you can go around in a glider. So I am asking, exactly what do you do in a blown landing when you are in a glider? Do you just ride it on down? Also, I heard from a CFI that you have to do a cross-country in a glider to get your chicken papers from the FAA, how do you go cross-country in a plane, and I use the term loosely, that can't power around the countryside? It's nothing against gliders or their pilots, it's just a science I don't understand and don't have the grapes for I guess, but it's a fascinating concept. What can I say? I don't know everything, I'm not Jesus!

You just have to follow the head winds etc. I mean not everywhere you go, can you fly around in a glider. If I went to like Nebraska or some other flat state, I probably wouldn't last very long unless I was towed by another plane (Since I don't fly engine powered gliders. And yes, that is what the engine is for, so you can stay in the air long.) But if I took off from say Heber City, Utah. Actually not a bad place to fly gliders, then I just get towed up high enough, that I could catch a good breeze, and follow that breeze. Usually there are more than one breezes going different paths, so going from city to city isn't bad. I actually did fly from Heber City, Utah to somewhere in Idaho, and it was like a 14 hr flight. I think I was lucky on that flight actually because there were reports that day of some really strong head winds and that a possible storm was coming through my flight path, but somehow I beat the strong head winds, and didn't even see a storm. Even though several hours later when I watched the news, there was a storm coming through my previous flight path. :P
And I've never heard of having to fly cross-country to get chicken papers. If you talk with him/her again, ask if its a non-stop flight or what because I don't see how unless for some reason the earth begins to get several jet streams in the northern hemisphere, a glider not powered by an engine could go cross-country??

But really, they aren't bad to fly if you want just something to be quiet and think. If your in a good enough flight, you can take your hands off the controls, and just sit back. I've done that several times, and it's really is fun.