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November, 1931          U.S. AIR SERVICES          27

band began watching for places, like little islands of sand in the river en route to Elmira which he expected to utilize on cross country flying -- in a glider. We arrived at Elmira all ready for the fun. 
Sunday, the opening day, the airport events were eliminations for our tests. We had to fly, remaining in the air more than a minute-a job when the air is too calm-and land within a certain distance from the spot. No matter what license we had this was required of all of us. For instance, I took a commercial license that meant I had proved I was ready for soaring and could handle the glider capably.
It was interesting to notice that this first day brought more gliders and entrants than the entire time of the last meet. The gliders lined up with their pilot or pilots, for there were more pilots per glider than gliders.
On the airport the gliders are towed by a car. Most of the gliders were Franklins or the sailplanes built by the Haller boys. The pilot, after acquiring as much altitude as his towline allows or as he deems sufficient for his flight, pulls a release which drops the tow line and from then on the pilot is gliding.

BUD STICKLER, my instructor, made his flight and landed one-half inch from the mark. Excitement ran high. My turn was next. Being over a new field is always fun. I cut at the height of my 500-foot rope, turned back for the field with a flat turn- this is called a soaring turn, and save altitude- and had my usual feeling of plenty of time to think of all the possibilities of the field beneath; the joy of the air I was in; to feel out the air; to get the spot located in relation to me. I could hear myself saying, "sweet, sweet, sweet." That is what it was. 
The gliders are built for a weight of 150 pounds. I weigh 110. This means that to avoid stalling I have to hold the nose of the ship down when a heavier person could take hands off the stick and maintain a proper flying attitude. This lets me fly hanging near a stall, which lets me get a longer ride- if I don't stall!
The requirement on this hop was to stay up a minute. Some of the heavier boys found the air too quiet for this accomplishment. I was flying slowly, but not too slowly, and felt lifts from some of the bumps in the air that the heavier pilots did not feel. I caught a puff nearer the ground than I had counted on, was in the right attitude though with wings level, so I did not slip; found I had to make an extra turn to get to the spot; made a tight hairpin turn; was so near the middle of the field that I fishtailed off some speed; and landed with my hand ready to pull the brake which I did, as the nose of the glider hung over the uprooted ground where the flag had been standing; tried to drop the nose right  on the spot; and swiveled two and one-half inches from the spot. 
Well, all I heard was shouting, and this same Lieutenant aforementioned came running up to demand "Kiss me quick."
Now that alone makes gliding worth a wife's taking up. 

FOR days we had no wind. The older, more experienced pilots decided that we fledglings should take a hop from South Mountain to the airport before we tried to soar. The landing hazards were fewer as the foot of the mountain was flanked with any number of fields in which to land. The other ridges had hazards at their bases that were enough for an experienced soaring pilot to risk. By this time Mrs. Russell Holderman has arrived. This pleased me because we could share each other's feelings as women.
One morning after days of waiting we had the proper north wind blowing against South Mountain. You can readily see that as this blew against the ridge coming up off the top of the tree-covered slope, a strata of air like a paved road was built there above the mountain top for us to fly on. On this particular day the breeze was gentle enough for our hop to the airport. This would be the first time that we students had taken off over a mountain side, a slope, since all of our gliding had been over airports. We set the glider on top the mountain, about 800 feet high. Three men pulled the shock cord and I was thereupon the bean in the bean shooter. I was emphatically and unequivocally On My Way. 
As the glider settled down to flying speed, which is much slower than the speed from launching, I mistook it in my greenness for a rapid loss of altitude. So I headed for a field close to the slope from which I was launched. I wish you could have seen that farmer and his small son. They were rooted to the center of the field I needed. 
Here I was with a lot of speed to kill, so I not only headed for them but dove at them. I finally had them convinced they were the next move. I was moving all I could without dodging. As soon as the glider came to rest they ran to me, and the farmer said, "Well I never thought when I bought this farm that I would be chased off of it by a glider- much less one flown by a woman!"

AGAIN I was ready to go. The men on the shock cord walked, then ran, and off I went. There lay Elmira ahead of me, nestled in the valley, a beautiful panorama. Soon I was gliding slowly over fields of various shades of green. 
As my altitude became less and less I instinctively steered over toward a field that a farmer was plowing. My altitude was helped by two unexpected little puffs and I knew that I could clear the high tension wires easily. As I crossed the river the kids in swimming hollered. I waved to them. Across the road, over the little corn field waving at me so gaily, past a group of pilots and my young son, George Weaver; then banked for a short turn, wishing that I had had enough altitude for a few 360's; heard my son call "Make a good landing Mom," so I did a little better and landed three feet from the spot. 
We saw Mrs. Holderman take off, make a pretty glide and land eight feet from the mark. These men will have to improve to beat us. Mrs. Holderman jumped out of her glider and I ran to her. We jumped around hugging each other for sheer glee. Gliding is just that way- it makes you exuberant. You just have to hug someone. 

MANY others received the same elimination for their "C" license that day. License "A" for a partial training, means the ability to make 180-degree turns; license "B," a commercial license, means completed training on the airport and ready to soar; license "C" means having met F.A.I. rules by staying higher than the starting point for at least five minutes, completing the flight with a good landing. Most of the