‘I really don’t want to screw this up’
David MacLeod of Louisbourg first among his group to fly glider solo
Cadet Flight Sgt. David MacLeod has a tough time explaining what it’s like flying at 1,200 feet solo in a glider.
Is it exhilarating? Calming? Terrifying?
The 16-year-old from Louisbourg explains it this way: “I was sure of myself.” But even with much of the classroom training and theory under his belt, there’s always a lingering doubt.
“In the back of my head I was like, ‘I really don’t want to screw this up,’” he said in an interview Saturday.
MacLeod was the first of six cadets from across Atlantic Canada to take his first solo glider flight on Friday.
The upper level winds were strong but it was smooth sailing most of the way, he said. The tow plane dislodged MacLeod’s glider at an altitude of 2,400 feet.
Leading up to the first solo flight, all cadets fly with an instructor also at the glider controls.
He is halfway through the six-week air cadet glider pilot scholarship course at the Debert Cadet Flying Training Centre, located outside Truro.
It’s the first time MacLeod, a member of 562 Cabot Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron, has attended the cadet flying school.
He was one of 45 cadets from Atlantic Canada who was selected for the opportunity to become a licensed glider pilot this summer.
There is one other representative from Cape Breton enrolled in the training program — a cadet from Port Hawkesbury.
All cadets must study meteorology, navigation, theory of flight, and airmanship, among other courses.
MacLeod said he would have at least another 20 solo flights ahead of him, plus more course work before he becomes a licensed glider pilot.
“They want me to keep practising by myself,” he said. “We have more exams, more tests to do. By about mid-August we’ll be finished.”
The glider pilot scholarship course is one of the most senior courses for air cadets.
To be considered for the course, air cadets must have completed their Level 3 training, show outstanding academics in school, write an entrance exam and pass an interview.