- [Narrator] This is Fox.

His favorite thing in the world is to fly gliders.

- No promises, this may not fly.

(laughs) - [Narrator] So maybe Fox isn't so successful in flying his homemade gliders.

- [Fox] My final attempt.

It might fly a little better.

Slightly better.

- [Narrator] But Fox hasn't invited us to Hood River just to watch him crash his homemade gliders in his backyard.

Fox flies real gliders over his larger backyard, the Columbia River Gorge.

(motor whirring) - [Fox] Okay.

- [Narrator] And today he'll earn his wings by soloing for the first time.

- Altimeter, set.

- [Narrator] And I should probably mention Fox is only 15, not even old enough for his driver's license.

- He's been flying here for over a year.

He's had many practice flights.

He's fully prepared, so I'm gonna go relax.

His mother over here is probably not.

- I wouldn't say it's the most relaxed I've ever been, no.

- [Pilot] Glider in tow, runway 2-5, clear.

- Dive brakes and canopies closed and locked.

Ready for takeoff.

(motor whirring) - [Pilot] Glider, you getting ready to take off, let it go.

- [Fox] Wind direction, calm.

Trim, set.

- [Narrator] The glider is towed by a plane, higher and higher.

Fox watches his altimeter.

As he reaches about 3000 feet above Hood River the familiar landmarks of his house and high school, and even the farm fields and orchards, appear tiny far below.

Fox checks to make sure he's in completely clear airspace.

- He's clear.

I'm clear.

- [Narrator] Fox pulls the release and disconnects the towrope.

He banks the glider and is now truly flying on his own.

Because a glider has no engine it is now essentially in a controlled fall, being pulled back to the earth by gravity.

- What powers a glider?

One word.

Gravity.

However, when the sun hits the earth and it warms up the air, it gets less dense and it starts to rise.

That air, if it is rising faster than the glider is coming down, will actually have the glider rising significantly.

- [Narrator] Pilots call rising air lift.

And the skies over Hood River have a lot of lift.

Besides the rising pockets of air known as thermals, there is ridge lift from the nearby ridge lines in a phenomenon called mountain wave.

- The Cascade Range being here, and especially Mount Hood and Mount Adams, when a substantial wind hits those it skips up often as high as 20, 25,000 feet.

And if they can catch it right it looks like a vacuum cleaner taking them up.

- I've had a flight once where I gained 5,000 feet, but that was just in 15 minutes.

And obviously I had to stop there 'cause I started getting worried about oxygen.

- [Narrator] If he flies too high, there's no supplemental oxygen in the unpressurized cockpit.

But if he doesn't find lift, the glider will begin to fall.

And if he's not close enough to the airport, he'll have to make an emergency landing.

And bailing out isn't an option, there's no parachute.

The only way Fox can stay in the air is to find another pocket of lift.

- Birds, they're often looking for lift too.

So we often follow birds.

We imitate birds because we know that they can find a lot more lift than we can.

And there are some magical days where just the whole valley is lit up with lift.

- [Narrator] Fox is part of the Hood River Soaring Club.

The youth program teaches students how to fly.

They start as ground crew and then graduate up to instructed flights.

And then, eventually, to take their first solo.

- The ground crew is the youth, but they're all in training.

They're doing the glider launches of all their comrades here in flying.

- [Narrator] The students can start as young as 12, and the older ones are just 15 and 16.

Today, Anastasia and Jonathan are helping out as the ground crew.

- Sharing the interest with gliding, flying gliders, and being in the group of kids at the same time, you just.

I don't know, I find it really fun.

- You just, you gotta remember a lot of things.

It teaches you responsibility, I think.

- Air's gonna be warmer than the surrounding air.

So this is what you call conditionally unstable air.

- [Narrator] The students learn one-on-one from experienced pilots.

Many of the mentors have had long careers in aviation and are now passing down their knowledge.

- [Instructor] It's pointed this way.

Put on the brake, it's gonna go this way.

- [Anastasia] All right.

- [Narrator] Flying is not inexpensive.

It would be inaccessible for a lot of kids, like Fox.

- When somebody mentioned to me the club, I was, I can't afford to send my child to glider club.

- [Fox] My dad died when I was young.

My mom's a single parent.

But sometimes she'll work extra shifts to help help me fly.

- So some days it's kind of like the sacrifice of I'm gonna be going to work at the hospital for an extra shift, but that's gonna get you X amount of glider rides.

- Okay, you ready?

- I'm ready.

- I'll work, I'll try to apply for scholarships, and I'll do yard work like mow lawns and stuff.

- He's always been smart and interested in the world around him.

Always open to learning new things.

It's part of his education and so if I work a little harder it's worth it.

- [Fox] Okay, turning final.

- [Mom] Happy to see him coming down for a safe landing.

- [Narrator] As Fox approaches for his landing, his mom has brought something special for him to commemorate his first solo.

- This, it's a watch that was his dad's, so I was saving it for today to give it to him after his first solo flight.

- [Narrator] The winds that make Hood River famous make it an especially challenging place to land a glider.

Touching down on the runway may be the most critical test of Fox's preparation.

- [Fox] There's almost always a crosswind in Hood River.

- If you're coming straight down the runway, the wind will just blow you off.

So they have to aim a different direction than they're moving in order to get to the runway.

- Looked good to us, Fox.

- Thanks.

- How did it feel?

- Good.

I was shaking a little.

- [Narrator] Safely on the ground now, there is one more tradition of a student's first solo.

- Tail of the shirt.

I don't know, it goes back probably to the Wright brothers or something like that.

I don't know, whatever.

The first solo, this shirttail comes off.

There you go.

- [Mom] This was your dad's watch.

- Oh cool, yeah!

- I've held onto it for a long time.

And I think if he could've seen you today he would've been very amazed at what you've accomplished.

- Thank you!

This is amazing, thank you.

- Give me a hug.

Glad you're back on the ground though.

- [Narrator] Fox plans to continue his training and eventually become a professional pilot.

- It has made me mature.

It gave me, it feels like, almost a purpose.

(motor whirring) I'll never stop flying gliders.

I will move on to getting a powered plane license, but it's not the same as gliding.

And so yeah, I'll always keep gliding.

- Getting inspiration for your next adventure.

It's kind of why you're here, right?

Well, you can support more of what we do on Oregon Field Guide and everything else you see on OPB by going to opb.org/video and becoming a sustaining member.