The Theology of Flight.

It's almost like sorcery. Only it calls for great faith, so it's more of a religious thing. Heheh.

Peter's question is so difficult I had to set aside my regular 1946 Air Age Education Book and resort to a more serious reference: The 1376 Book of Myth and Magic, Chapter 13 Conquering the Atmosphere. Here's what I learned:

There are four gods of flight. (To avoid sacrilege I will have to use their pseudonames  ):
Luftenia (Lif-te-naya) is the goddess of Uplifting.
Dragonica (pronounced like it's spelled) is the god of Cumberance.
Pullasti (again said like it's spelled) is the god of Power, is the migtiest of them all. and,
Terra (pronounce it anyway you like) is the famous god of the Earth who attracts everything to his fold.

A Dragon Ryder, that must be what they called pilots in those days, had to be learnèd in the Art of Praise to these gods in order to be able to aviate successfully. Oh yeah, needed 3 months of Dungeon Training, 10 hours of Apprenticeship with a Master, 40 hours of Extensive Dragon Riding (3 hours must be inter-Kingdom treks which range between 100 to 200 NM), and another 100 hours of Junior Masterships (20 hours of which must be inter-Kingdom), before you are ordained a Dragon Master who has the right and priveleges to demand compensation for Aviating usually in the service of His/Her Majesty.

But, that's straying away from the main course of gliding. Back to to the Question of the Week.

A Glide happens when you have offended his holliness, Pullasti, and he withdraws the priesthood of his holy order from you leaving you to the mercy of the other gods. In modern day literature it is called "ENGINE FAILURE", a strange term.

It is in these times that you then have to put all your trust in the hands of the Mighty One, Oh Luftenia. For only in thy fold will we, thy servants, the Dragon Ryders, can seek refuge from the wrath of the everlasting grip of Terra.

Oh, sacred Dragonica, pray, what extracteth thou from us today, that thou might be merciful unto this thy humble servant and ease the encumbrance thou hast laden my steed?

These are the petitions the great Dragon Ryders always say to deity when it was apparent Pullasti has abandoned them. These prayers were also always carried in a little scroll tucked in a corner of their cape readily available when things get very nasty and memory fails. I believe we call them now "CHECKLISTS".

Normally you raise the head of your steed by pulling in the reins to praise Luftenia who normally answers this by bestowing you with more uplifting and you gain altitude. But beware, do not pull in the reins too much or the dragon will protest in pain and Luftenia will be offended and withdraw all her powers and you plunge into the kingdom of Terra who will immediately swallow you into his bossom. Today we call this phenomenon "STALL", hmmm...

You do the opposite to lose height, again beware not to overindulge or you appear to be mocking the gods and your descent will approach what we now call TERMINAL VELOCITY and again you will find yourself imprisoned in the dark gulf of Terra's mighty bossom from where no escape is possible.

Without Pullasti's hand you will want to immediately return to the safety of the land. You will need to find a suitable nesting place, a relative flat terrain with no upgrowth or rocks and boulders that may cause an unpleasant transition from flight to a stand still.

To meet the earth at just the place where you intended to be you must be able to control the descent of your dragon. If you think you will go beyond the point of contact, you should slow down by raising slightly the head of the dragon a move imperceptible to Luftenia but a move that is always acknowledged by Dragonica who will pull back your steed to slow it down. This will then shorten your path and you will not overshoot. 

In modern day, aerodynamicists attribute this to increase in the Induced Drag, heheh, or the Backward Lift, thus reducing forward speed and shortening the path of flight, avoiding an overshoot. This is a very delicate maneuver because it is playing in the vicinity of stall (High Angle of Atack flight regime). This is best done by flying by the seat of your pants. Meaning apply control inputs before the effects of either the forces of nature or your control inputs become apparent. This is FBI (Fly By Instinct) and only comes from practise. Applies to both the modern day pilot or the mythical dragon ryder. 

On the other hand, if you are undershooting, you want to extend the path. You should make a sacrifice to the great Dragonica by lowering the head of your Dragon. Again not so much or Luftenia will abandon you, but just enough so Dragonica will bless you with a little more speed and thus cover more ground in the same time frame and you overcome an undershoot. 

In the aerodynamicists terms this is reducing induced drag by reducing the angle of attack. You gain a few knots while lift will not be affected so much because of the additional lift due to increased speed. The end result is an extended glide path. Again this requires a seat of your pants flying. It depends on feelings and joins the fact with the myth. It is here that pilots become dragon ryders and the dragon ryders become pilots.

So, you see, whether in myth or in true life, even simmed life, you have to be able to have faith in your abilities. And you can only have faith in your self by constant and serious practise. Isn't this faith Religious in Nature?

End of the Reading