Take a moment and look at the picture above. The plane ahead of me is a tractor. If you look closely, you will see a tow rope.
The tractor pulls me to height of about 3,000 feet. The pilot ahead will wave with his wings. That is the signal that it is time let go. I pull the lever to my left and the rope detaches. I am now on my own. I have no engine. The only sound I hear is God talking to me through the wind.
We will glide for about half an hour looking for an updraft to lift the glider higher. And it happens. We bank into a turn and glide in a circle and feel the wind lift to a higher elevation. Then we move on.
Once in a while, an eagle approaches. Eagles think gliders are just birds. It gets into position and becomes my wing bird. We glide together for a bit. If we happen to be in an updraft, we will rise in unison. Then it waves goodbye and goes on its merry away.
During this flight, I am near Uppsala, Sweden. The land is pretty flat. Gliding is predictable