This week-end I did something new: retrieving a glider from a farmer’s field.

When I got a call on my cell phone from a pilot that I had towed earlier in the day, I knew I was in for a retrieve. What he then suggested surprised me though: He had landed in a freshly mowed field that was as long and flat as an airfield and was lined up with the wind. Since he is a tow pilot, too, I asked him to walk the length of the field and to turn his glider 90 degrees out of direction if he thought I shouldn’t land for whatever reason by the time I arrived by air – it was 30 miles from home…

I took a quick glance at the map, the fuel tank and off I went with the trusty 260hp Pawnee – armed with my new Android phone as camera, video camera, GPS and phone of course 🙂

I cruised at 100mph, sipping 12 gal/hr gas – not exactly your Toyota Prius… But it beats towing a trailer by car and carrying the pieces of the glider over a fence in 102F heat (38C). Instead of being stuck for the rest of the day, we were both back within exactly an hour!

Below is a photo from the arrival at the field (tiny glider in extension of the middle blue stripe) and from the preparations for the launch (above) and the view down the “runway”. I could guess which field he’d chosen from 10 miles out!

I also shot an awesome youtube video with the camera out of the tow plane cockpit while flying, so please excuse the up side down format and and shakyness – it’s 480p nevertheless!: http://youtu.be/bqP3ukkwa4Y