The glider spun around and around its axis while Flight Sergeant Dow stared helplessly from the tiny aircraft’s window, the ground coming into sharper focus with each spin.
Sgt. Dow remembers acutely his ‘scariest moment’ in a glider, but shrugs it off. “Our flight instructor was just demonstrating what it looks like, so that we can identify the problem and recover from it.”
The 16-year-old air cadet has been soaring in the tiny planes since the age of 12 and says he knew from day one he belonged among the birds.
“My first word was ‘airplane, ” he said with a laugh. “Right from the beginning I knew I wanted to be a pilot… and I knew nothing was going to stop me.”