After your ground handler connects the towline to your glider and signals the tow pilot to take up slack, he lifts your wing and walks to the tip. The Schweizer now rests on the monowheel-and a beefy metal skid in lieu of a nose wheel. With your ready signal, your wingtip holder becomes your wingtip runner after he signals your last crewmember, the tow pilot, to power up. The metal skid drags across the runway, until you wobble into balance on one wheel. The experience is as satisfying as it is brief. Then the stick comes forward to stay in ground effect. Lift the 200 feet of towline connecting your nose to the Piper Pawnee's tail, and you force down his nose. The results would be undesirable, at best. EACH DAY our training 2-33s were lined up like go-carts (left). Each had our favorites-the author liked the green one. Takeoff in a glider requires staying down in ground effect until the tow plane is airborne and climbing (top). Brandon Seltz, Jim Schmidt, and Jeff Van West wait for Joel Cutler to get back from his solo (above). The biggest danger of landing off airport: Rattlesnakes.