Earning certificates in a glider?!

DeuceOfAces

DeuceOfAces

Well-Known Member
REALLY???

I just found out that I can save myself LOADS of cash by getting the PPL and CPL in a glider. AND, 100 hours of it can count towards the airplane category!

Have any of you done this before? What would be required to add on the Airplane PPL, INST, and CPL afterword???
 
From what I understand, it's just an add on ride. Like a commercial multi land is just an add on to the existing commercial single land. Or the CFII is an add on to the initial CFI. And looking back on it, I probably would have done a few things differently. But to each his own.
 
The checkrides will be the exact same as if you just flew airplanes the whole time. The only thing it does is cut down the total hours you need in an airplane. I will tell you though. Building time in gliders can be a long process. Where I fly gliders you can only stay up for a hour at a time if someone else is waiting for that glider. And if theres no thermals your just going up and coming right back down. Some flights can end up only .3 hours. I did it the other way around. I got my comm glider after my comm airplane. And I will be getting my CFI glider in spring to teach in them. But I am flying gliders because its different and its really fun!
 
Jbroz04 said:
The checkrides will be the exact same as if you just flew airplanes the whole time. The only thing it does is cut down the total hours you need in an airplane. I will tell you though. Building time in gliders can be a long process. Where I fly gliders you can only stay up for a hour at a time if someone else is waiting for that glider. And if theres no thermals your just going up and coming right back down. Some flights can end up only .3 hours. I did it the other way around. I got my comm glider after my comm airplane. And I will be getting my CFI glider in spring to teach in them. But I am flying gliders because its different and its really fun!
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Yeah, I figured that even though the glider time is practically F-R-E-E, it would take forever to train. But, since I'm not about to take out a mega-loan for flight training, this definitely sounds like a great money-saving idea. Maybe I'll just get my PPL this way and get the rest done in a C172. Thankfully, no one is gonna care 10 years down the road how or where I get my tickets. Might as well save some dough!
 
I wouldn't say that gliding is free. At the club that I fly at and will be soon instructing, the buy in is $600, annual dues at $500, and tows range between $18-$25 depending on altitude. Figure once you get your lincese if you fly on good thermal day you should be able to stay up on average a hour per flight depending on restriction the place you fly at has. You could easily fly longer but most places have a one hour rule if other members are waiting. So just figure that your average will be one hour per tow to altitude. So say that you fly 100 hours a year in a glider. Thats 100 tows. And lets just say those 100 tows are to the lowest altitude which cost $18 dollars a tow so your talking $1800 in tow fees. Plus your $500 in annual dues your looking at $2300 for the year. Or $23 a flight hour. Thats just to give you a idea. It is cheaper than flying but you still end up spending a decent amount of money. They to lowering the cost is to fly on days that no one else is. I don't know how your club works but ours is only open regularly three days a week. But if you can get a tow pilot to come out and tow you up you can fly anytime you want. So the key is to make a deal with other tow pilots to come out and tow you on days its closed. Like if my case I can fly the tow plane to so I just say hey you tow me up and i'll stay up for a few hours (if the thermals allow) and you go eat lunch come back and I will tow you up.
 
Jbroz04 said:
I wouldn't say that gliding is free. At the club that I fly at and will be soon instructing, the buy in is $600, annual dues at $500, and tows range between $18-$25 depending on altitude.
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$400 buy in at our club, and $40/mo. But you can go inactive as well, so the dues only kick in when you are actually flying. Half price for students.

It isn't free, but it is way cheaper than training in a Cessna. It may take longer, but if you just want fast, go to a 141 school. About $25/hour is what it has worked out to for me - the 172 I rent is $150/hour.

An important thing to keep in mind is that once you have your commercial or CFI-G, you won't be paying to fly anymore. A commercial glider ticket is pretty easy to get (200TT or 100 glider flights). Of those 100 glider flights, a good chunk will be $15 sled rides. We always have students waiting for a CFI-G to go up with, or guests for intro flights. You can conceivably have your CFI-G at less than 50 hours TT.

Most non-pilots I know describe a soaring ride as one of the best experiences of their lives. While it won't make you rich, it can be very rewarding introducing people to aviation in its purest form. We usually have more people waiting for intro rides than we have commercial pilots to do them.

Our CFI-G's are so busy that most haven't been up on pleasure flights in years. Most clubs either give free instruction or close to it ($20/hour at ours). Bad soaring days are ironically the busiest for the towplane, as they are good instruction days :)

Some other points if you do the glider ratings first:

  • You will probably do your PPL ASEL at the bare minimums if you already have your commercial glider. On average, that's going to save you around $3,000.
  • Your stick and rudder flying will probably be as good as your airplane CFI's.
  • You will never hear your CFI say "step on the ball."
  • Engine-out emergencies won't scare you (as much).
  • Volunteer tow pilots are always needed at most clubs (more "free" time if you want it).
  • There is a good deal of camaraderie at glider operations. 2 hours in the logbook is an all-day thing. Getting gliders in the air is a team effort - staging, wing-running, etc. BBQ and beers at the end of the day is the norm - it isn't like and FBO where you show up, fly, and leave.
  • Anyone with a checkbook can X/C an airplane 300 miles. 300 X/C in a glider takes good ADM, a good stick, and a lot of knowledge. i.e., The Right Stuff...
  • It'll make you a better pilot.
 
Jbroz04 said:
The checkrides will be the exact same as if you just flew airplanes the whole time. The only thing it does is cut down the total hours you need in an airplane. I will tell you though. Building time in gliders can be a long process. Where I fly gliders you can only stay up for a hour at a time if someone else is waiting for that glider. And if theres no thermals your just going up and coming right back down. Some flights can end up only .3 hours. I did it the other way around. I got my comm glider after my comm airplane. And I will be getting my CFI glider in spring to teach in them. But I am flying gliders because its different and its really fun!
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I disagree, both of my airplane (pvt/com) were just under 1.5 because I did the private and commercial glider tickets first, so there were several areas of the PTS that we did not have to cover in the oral.

I did pretty much exactly this (well, kind of unintentionally, I still had 250hrs in airplanes for the commercial, with 180ish in gliders). I got to do a lot of it for free as well, my dad owns a few sailplanes, and being a line guy at the gliderport once in a while ment free tows/rental.

It is really only effective if you can keep it in the air for a few hours at a time. haha. As it turns out, glider races are a great way too build total time as well. I did 50 hours in 9 days last year at a race. :insane:
 
tlewis95 said:
It is really only effective if you can keep it in the air for a few hours at a time. haha.
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Yeah, it was a quick 0.2 hour sled ride for me this weekend. I did identify the where the worst sink was for everyone else though :)

Question - what varios do you recommend?
 
Hey tlewis do you know anyone who does acro in gliders? I do acro in airplanes and i want to do the same in gliders but no one at my club does it
 
I have been considering getting into gliding for a change of pace.

I looked into the pricing locally in FL and it was somewhere near 1500 just for an initial PPL! If I'm going to do it, I might as well get my CPL/CFI in it!
 
bLizZuE said:
I looked into the pricing locally in FL and it was somewhere near 1500 just for an initial PPL! If I'm going to do it, I might as well get my CPL/CFI in it!
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1500 is a pretty good deal for a new rating in my book. Ever look at what adding a PPL rotorcraft would cost you?

A CPL in gliders won't cost much more than the PPL, you just need an extra 10 PIC flights. It makes very little sense in my mind not to do the Comm Glider if you already have enough fixed wing time.
 
I'll ask around for you when I'm at the field tomorrow
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Thanx. A couple of our gliders here are capable of aerobatics so I want to learn to do it my self then introduce it to our club members. Your not to far away I could always fly my cherokee down there and fly for a weekend with your club if there is someone there who can teach it to me.
 
Jbroz04 said:
Thanx. A couple of our gliders here are capable of aerobatics so I want to learn to do it my self then introduce it to our club members. Your not to far away I could always fly my cherokee down there and fly for a weekend with your club if there is someone there who can teach it to me.
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[FONT=Monospace,Courier]KTPA 251253Z 01006KT 1/8SM FG OVC001 21/20 A2998 RMK AO2 SFC VIS 1/2 SLP152 T02060200 $

Doesn't look like I'll be making it out there today. No ILS at KZPH, I don't think I'd have a prayer of getting in there, not like there would be any soaring anyway.

There actually two glider operations here, the club at KZPH, and a commercial operation Seminole Lakes. You would honestly be better of at Seminole Lakes, trying to learn anything on a schedule at a club is near impossible.

PM me if you are interested, I can send you contact info there.
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Thanks for all the info guys, I'm becomming interested in gliding(especially working towards 135 and ATP mins, but also looks like loads of fun), and reading all this awnsered a lot of questions I had.
 
ChasenSFO said:
Thanks for all the info guys, I'm becomming interested in gliding(especially working towards 135 and ATP mins, but also looks like loads of fun), and reading all this awnsered a lot of questions I had.
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It is definitely fun, that would be the reason to do it. It takes different skills, dedication, and some patience for the weather. That said, it saved flying for me.

The experience is even more valuable than the total time.

Sadly, I think the Hollister Airport is really the only option you have around the Bay Area, and it looks kind of pricey. There used to be a lot of soaring around Napa Valley, but no longer. I'd talk to them, if you are willing to tow or instruct there, you might get a discount on training (i did).

We just had the annual meeting at our club. It was pointed out that if we don't start training some younger pilots, there isn't really much future for this sport. Almost every member at my club under 50 is ex USAF. The other problem my club has is a lack of CFI-G's.
 
Yeah, the 3 hour round trip drive to Hollister plus the fact its more expensive than any of school I found in my research makes me want to look elsewhere. I can always nonrev out somewhere and do Glider flying, I wonder if any of the smaller cities Skywest flies to on the West Coast have gliding clubs. Maybe up by CIC or RDD perhaps. I'll check it out.
 
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