Glider Flying Advice

ILSstud

ILSstud

Well-Known Member
I have been really getting the urge to do some flying lately but money has been tighter than usual. So, I decided to schedule an intro glider flight. I have always wanted to try it, any advice or tips? What is it like with no engine? I know a few people who do it and they adore it (some I think more than powered flight).
 
ILSstud said:
I have been really getting the urge to do some flying lately but money has been tighter than usual. So, I decided to schedule an intro glider flight. I have always wanted to try it, any advice or tips? What is it like with no engine? I know a few people who do it and they adore it (some I think more than powered flight).
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Have fun using your rudders, and learning to manage energy.
Thats all it is, really. Coming short? Nose down! Getting slow? Nose down.
Little high? Slip. Little very high? Speedbrakes.
Remember - SPEEDBRAKES DESTROY LIFT, YOU WILL COME DOWN LIKE A ELEVATOR.
Common problem of Cessna and Piper Pilots is to think of them like flaps - and that has put a great number of good looking airplanes into high grass or the sticks.
Learn how to "let the airplane climb in itself" (seat of the pants)
Enjoy the tows and note how your actions affect the towplane and pilot.

:)

Keep the little cotton thingy straight up during turns, and enjoy (for many the first time) the true feeling of wind and aerodynamics working with your plane. Then add your CFI-G and make real money. :D
 
Cessna414JJB said:
Have fun using your rudders, and learning to manage energy.
Thats all it is, really. Coming short? Nose down! Getting slow? Nose down.
Little high? Slip. Little very high? Speedbrakes.
Remember - SPEEDBRAKES DESTROY LIFT, YOU WILL COME DOWN LIKE A ELEVATOR.
Common problem of Cessna and Piper Pilots is to think of them like flaps - and that has put a great number of good looking airplanes into high grass or the sticks.
Learn how to "let the airplane climb in itself" (seat of the pants)
Enjoy the tows and note how your actions affect the towplane and pilot.

:)

Keep the little cotton thingy straight up during turns, and enjoy (for many the first time) the true feeling of wind and aerodynamics working with your plane. Then add your CFI-G and make real money. :D
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

Pretty much everything that I could have said.
 
Since you mentioned the financial aspect - Once you get your glider rating it is cheaper per flight hour to fly a glider, but while training for your glider rating I'd say the cost of glider flying is about the same as airplane flying... Your most expensive lessons will be the ones just before your glider solo when you do some pattern tows.

Otherwise glider flying is a real blast.
 
woodreau said:
Since you mentioned the financial aspect - Once you get your glider rating it is cheaper per flight hour to fly a glider, but while training for your glider rating I'd say the cost of glider flying is about the same as airplane flying... Your most expensive lessons will be the ones just before your glider solo when you do some pattern tows.

Otherwise glider flying is a real blast.
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You usually just pay for the launch - the rest (less CFI) is gratis. The flight could be 5 mins. or 5 hours...
 
I took an intro ride 2 weeks ago in a glider..It was a blast..Get used to using the rudder..It only cost me $25 to get towed to 2500AGL..The instructor was only $10..good luck to ya
 
ILSstud said:
I have been really getting the urge to do some flying lately but money has been tighter than usual. So, I decided to schedule an intro glider flight. I have always wanted to try it, any advice or tips? What is it like with no engine? I know a few people who do it and they adore it (some I think more than powered flight).
Click to expand...

You will find, as others have noted, the yaw string will become a constant critic of your rudder skills.

The spoilers are incredible for controlling descent. You will use them in the pattern like a throttle but in reverse ;)

As for no engine, it is not that different from pulling the power to idle and leaving it there.. except of course for the lack of noise. And you may be surprised at the wind noise depending on what you fly in.

The constant circling for thermals may be a bit disorienting but overall.. you WILL enjoy it.
 
I'm tempted to put instrument training on hold and try soaring...something tells me I might get addicted to it...? ;)
 
If there was a single thing I could change about pilot training it would be to require people to get exposed to glider flying. So many senseless discussions and so many other bad habits people pick up could be easily avoided. I have not had a chance to fly a glider again after I turned 24 and my old instructor offered me a ride for the old times sake. This is 10+ years ago, and I still benefit from it everytime I fly.

I was very fortunate to learn what I could "ask" from a plane at a very young age (you soak stuff up, at 14-17) but some basic airmanship learned then, still carries heay weight today. I'd love to do it again, but don't have the coin to go all the way. The Commercial G and CFI-G are definite 'want to haves'. Nothing beats hearing and feeling aerodynamics.

Just got to find the logbook I misplaced some 15+ years ago, after foolishly thinking I was a "Motorized Pilot"...

I'll wait until Tlewis95 has his CFI-G and do it all right there... ;)
 
Cessna414JJB said:
If there was a single thing I could change about pilot training it would be to require people to get exposed to glider flying. So many senseless discussions and so many other bad habits people pick up could be easily avoided. I have not had a chance to fly a glider again after I turned 24 and my old instructor offered me a ride for the old times sake. This is 10+ years ago, and I still benefit from it everytime I fly.

I was very fortunate to learn what I could "ask" from a plane at a very young age (you soak stuff up, at 14-17) but some basic airmanship learned then, still carries heay weight today. I'd love to do it again, but don't have the coin to go all the way. The Commercial G and CFI-G are definite 'want to haves'. Nothing beats hearing and feeling aerodynamics.

Just got to find the logbook I misplaced some 15+ years ago, after foolishly thinking I was a "Motorized Pilot"...

I'll wait until Tlewis95 has his CFI-G and do it all right there... ;)
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:yeahthat:

It really helps with any flying that you will ever do, and it is fun, and addicting.

I will have my Commercial-G by the end of April, and the CFI-G near the end of the summer. :)
 
richarms said:
Yep. Of course if I get a little low, I still push the handle forward!:D
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My instructor was a merciless Brit with a razor sharp tongue. "Oh very nice turn, MR OA.. I enjoy a nice skid... do you SEE THE YAW STRING?? Oh very nice.. that is a very good slip.. do you walk with those feet, MR OA or just stumble along???"

A few rides and you begin to really notice it. After I got my license, I had a 6 mo check in the 737 and the instructor said after the sim, 'Well, you've either been flying sailplanes or you got some extra time in the sim. The rudder work was very nice."
 
Orange Anchor said:
'Well, you've either been flying sailplanes or you got some extra time in the sim. The rudder work was very nice."
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:yeahthat:

All of my instructors have said the same thing (I must be a glider pilot) before they even knew I flew gliders.

My tailwheel CFI could REALLY tell.
 
I just came back from my flight...I'll post some pics in the picture forum later tonight or tomorrow. It was an amazing experience; the one thing that really stuck out was the amazing view out the glass canopy. Call me crazy, but I either have to keep flying gliders or go join the military, Cessna cockpits are so less connected to the environment that you are flying in :D The yaw string kept pretty much straight for me, and the instructor said he thinks it would only take me about 10-11 flights to get my add-on. There weren't too many thermals today, so we were only up for about 30 minutes (towline cut at around 3500 feet). After I was told to "pull the big yellow handle" I watched the tow plane fly away and the most amazing sensation came over me. This was really flying. I could feel the wind going through the whole sail plane even the controls felt more "wispy" for lack of a better term. The landing process was pretty conventional save the use of some dive brakes (which I really liked because it was the same sound as in a jet....that "coming home sound" as I like to think of it). All in all this was an amazing experience. I can't wait to get my add-on when I get a spare 1500-2000 bucks!
 
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