Ed Kilbourne

Here are a few select lyrics from songs about soaring and glider planes. My favorite is "The $65 LS-4"!

CHANGES IN ATITUDES, CHANGES IN ALTITUDES

I took off for a weekend last fall

Just to try and recall the whole year

All of the places and all of the races

I wondered where they all disappeared

I didn't ponder the question too long

I was hungry and went out for a bite

Ran into a chum who owned an old LS-1

And we wound up talkin' all night

'Bout those changes in atitudes

Changes in altitudes

Nothing remains quite the same

With all of our climbing

And all of our running

If we couldn't soar we would all go insane

Makin' a turnpoint at some little airport

Reminds me of the places I've been

Memories of great flights that brought so much pleasure

Make me want to go back again

If my life suddenly ended tomorrow

I could somehow adjust to my fate

All I would need is the call to "proceed"

As I'm diving through St Peter's gate

It's those changes in atitudes

Changes in altitudes

Nothing remains quite the same

With all of the high flights

And all of the relights

If we couldn't soar we would all go insane

Sometimes when I'm working I look at the sky

And part of my heart takes a tow

I connect with a cloudstreet somewhere in West Texas

Oh God, how I'm ready to go

Then somebody taps on my shoulder

And I quickly get out of my plane

When they see the grin and they aks where I've been

I don't even try to explain

'Bout those changes in atitudes

Changes in altitudes

Nothing remains quite the same

With all of our climbing

And all of our running

If we couldn't soar we would all go insane

If we weren't already crazy we would go insane

THE NEW GLIDER BLUES

Have you heard the latest news that the LS-22's will have nothing on their

panel but a screen

That will give the latest views from the satellite you chose and display

the sink in red, the lift in green.

There's no stick upon the floor, no rudders anymore, just two wires that you

plug into your brain

A computer reads your mind through a fiber-optic line and with this

information flies the plane.

Honey, I need a new glider!

The one that we have's obsolete

Soaring's no fun at just 60 to 1

I can't expect to compete

With a plane like this new 22 dear

The first ones will be here in May

I just knew you'd decide it's a matter of pride

So I ordered us one yesterday

The deutche-mark's headed down and the dollar's gaining ground, it might

get back to 1 to 1 again

So for just 200 grand you place an order with a man who promises delivery

by spring

Then three years from that date he says "Just one more wait. The factory

is quite busy now, you see.

"I know they're anxious to get through with your new LS-22, 'cause they've

just announced the LS-23!"

Honey, I need a new glider!

The one that we have's obsolete

Our investment is doomed if we don't trade it soon

Hell, we've had it for over a week!

Just look at this new 23, dear

The first ones will be here in May

I just knew you'd decide it's a matter of pride

So I ordered us one yesterday

ONE MORE CLIMB

He'd finally gotten close enough to need just one more climb

If he could top 6000 ft, he'd be on final glide

The thermal was a weak one, a half a knot at best

But the day had died and there was nothing left, there was nothing left

At 40 miles, 6000 feet is 35 to 1

And with a little luck it can easily be done

But instead of luck a headwind told him he'd need 42

But 40's all the factory says she'd do

CHORUS: One more climb, yeah, give me one more climb, and it lifts me high, yeah, circles in the sky, Lord, just let me have one more climb

At 57 hundred feet it was zero all around

He tried 2 more circles and he started loosing ground

It was less than what he needed but he turned and headed home

And looked for signs of lift but there were none, there were none

The audio was quiet, the air was smooth as glass

He'd recompute the numbers with each check point that he passed

At the river 22 miles out he was still 500 low

The time had come to call and let her know CHORUS

That morning she had kissed him just before he took his tow

And said 'I want you to remember now whenever you get low

I'll be wishing you a thermal each time you need a lift

So when all hope is gone please don't forget, please don't forget.'

No, he had not forgotten but her idea made him laugh

Her love was always with him and he believed in that

But wishes will not get you home when what you need is height

Then something nudged his wing and said "Turn right" CHORUS

He can't swear that he heard a voice but he knows the bump was real

And as he rolled the glider round he got that solid feel

2 kts to 3000 ft with just 10 miles to go

He called her up and said "I'm coming home, I'm comin' home"

He was 1 of 2 to finish on the task they called that day

He couldn't wait to thank her, he knew she'd be amazed

When he told her how her thermal had saved him from defeat

He found her in the trailer, fast asleep. CHORUS

He gently shook her shoulder and she smiled a sleepy smile

He said "Wake up dear, I made it! Have you been asleep awhile?"

She said "Only for an hour but I had the strangest dream

Do you have any idea what this means, what this means?"

"I dreamt I found a tiny bird dragging its left wing

I lifted up its feathers and the bird began to sing

It sang a tune I'd heard you singing earlier today

And then to my surprise it flew away!"

He said, "The dream is strange alright, as strange as strange can be"

And when he told her of his flight, she certainly agreed

I guess when someone loves you, no matter what you do

From time to time you'll have a dream come true. CHORUS & Repeats

THE $65 LS-4

This morning while reading my copy of the latest Sailplane Racing News

The classified had a most curious ad for a glider brand new never used

I read with suspicious amusement what seemed like a wild stroke of luck

"LS-4A" it said, "Must sell" the ad read, "Total package, 65 bucks."

Well I was use to this newsletter's typos but I called up that number

straightway

"What response have you had to your classified ad?" she said, "None, your

the first call today."

I said "There's been a mistake in my copy, they've printed your price wrong

somehow"

"No, no" replied she, "They checked that with me" I said, "Don't sell that

plane, I'm leaving now.

She lived in a part of the city, that folks like me only pass through

Airline captains, bank presidents, and doctors are the residents and the

houses are massive and new

As I turned up her half mile long driveway, there in the heat of the day

In the bright sunlight gleamed the plane of my dreams, just 65 dollars away

The cockpit was lined in white sheepskin, the instruments carefully placed

A computer you read on a tiny TV and the 10-function program worked great

A small fridge in the front of the trailer dispensed either water or wine

Draft beer or ice tea, but what was boggling to me was for 65 bucks it was

mine!

I thought that the woman must be crazy to be selling this plane at that price

But as she walked down the lane she seemed perfectly sane, she was charming

and really quite nice

She smiled with complete satisfaction as she handed me the title and the keys

I said, "I've just got to know, why you've let this thing go. What's wrong

with the plane, tell me please!"

She said "I'll be fifty next Tuesday. I've lived here with my husband Earl.

After thirty years wed, without a word said, he left me for a young teenage

girl.

But with his credit cards here on the table, I knew she'd be hard to maintain

Last night from Florida he, sent a wire to me, said 'I need money, dear, sell

the plane'!"

CLOUDBASE

There's a ghost town called Cloudbase way up in the sky

The streets run forever 10,000 feet high

It's a place where old dust devils go when they die

To rest at the end of the day.

One day on a flight west of old San Antone

I was low in South Texas and a long way from home

I was telling my crew they should stand by the phones

When a voice on my radio said.

"Is that you, 46?" and I clicked my mike twice

"Long time no see, you're new ship sure looks nice

I've got ten knots behind you, if you're rolling the dice

Turn around and join me for the ride."

It's against all the rules but when I turned around

I saw a big dust devil rise from the ground

And as I sang that old hymn 'once was lost, now I'm found'

It lifted my burden away.

Now if you don't believe me, I'll understand why

Because when I reached cloudbase 10,000 feet high

Old Xray Tango came in along side

Rocked his wings, waved his hand and flew on.

We dove through the shadows and sped towards the sun

I got him in the climb, he got me on the run

When I heard him exclaim "Now we're having fun!"

I turned around and his glider was gone.

I've lost friends on the highway, lost friends to the sea,

But like this ghost in the sky they are all part of me

And since life is a task toward the same mystery

We will all meet again later on.

In a place they call Cloudbase way up in the sky

The streets run forever 10,000 feet high

It's a place where old dust devils go when they die

To rest at the end of the day.

We'll all rest at the end of the day.