Glider License?

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Jeremy

Jeremy

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Hello

I'm not old enough to start on my Private Pilot License, so I thought I'd try flying gliders. Through my research, I've found that most instructors require around 30-35 flights before letting you fly solo (if you have minimal flight experience). Even if you are an experienced powered-aircraft pilot, you still need around 10 flights before letting you fly solo. So... Is this true?
 
That's probably a fair estimate. Of course, it all depends on the student's performance and the standards the instructor expects.
 
DPApilot said:
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Not bad, only 4 minutes off. =]25 flights is about average for your first solo in a glider. Probably twice that for a license. You are never "too young" to start either one (I started logging dual in airplanes and gliders when I was 8) But you can solo when you are 14 (as I did) and get your Private license when you are 16.I believe that it will make you a better pilot all around in the end, because of the discipline needed, the higher level of situational awareness, and you will probably have better stick and rudder skills because of it.
 
When I started glider training, I was a 950 hr Commercial pilot AS&MEL and CFI-Airplane. It took me 16 training flights over 3 days before I soloed. (12 of those flights were a single trip around the landing pattern.) An hour of landing practice in a glider is the most expensive hour of flying in my logbook. By the time you rent the glider & CFI and add ten 1000' tows at $29 each it's pretty pricey, but there's just no other way to learn it.

As a CFI I get the "How long does it take to solo" question quite often from new pilots. While it's an understandable question, it really focuses on the wrong thing. While it's interesting to know what other people generally do, realize that what an average pilot does has nothing to do with you and how much training you'll need. How often you fly has more to do with the number of flights required presolo than any other factor. If you have a run of bad weather/illness/scheduling conflicts/aircraft availability issues/etc it will increase the number of training flights you need to solo.

Instead, I suggest you look at it from an experience and budget perspective. Decide how much you can budget for flying each month, and then get the best experience you can get for that amount of money. Study before your lesson; show up rested, nourished and ready to learn; spend time after your lesson making sure you understand what your CFI was teaching you; and don't be afraid to ask questions or say that you don't understand something.

Aviation is an adventure, it's not a destination. Flight training is the first step in that adventure and it should be an enjoyable process that inspires you onward.
 
Ok, so now I understand that 30 flights doesn't necessarily mean 30 days... So how much would it cost for me (approximately) if I'm just starting off? You said 10,000 tows at $29 each (I guess I misunderstood that...), that would be $290,000... I'm a little bit confused. :whatever:

Nihon_Ni said:
When I started glider training, I was a 950 hr Commercial pilot AS&MEL and CFI-Airplane. It took me 16 training flights over 3 days before I soloed. (12 of those flights were a single trip around the landing pattern.) An hour of landing practice in a glider is the most expensive hour of flying in my logbook. By the time you rent the glider & CFI and add ten 1000' tows at $29 each it's pretty pricey, but there's just no other way to learn it.

As a CFI I get the "How long does it take to solo" question quite often from new pilots. While it's an understandable question, it really focuses on the wrong thing. While it's interesting to know what other people generally do, realize that what an average pilot does has nothing to do with you and how much training you'll need. How often you fly has more to do with the number of flights required presolo than any other factor. If you have a run of bad weather/illness/scheduling conflicts/aircraft availability issues/etc it will increase the number of training flights you need to solo.

Instead, I suggest you look at it from an experience and budget perspective. Decide how much you can budget for flying each month, and then get the best experience you can get for that amount of money. Study before your lesson; show up rested, nourished and ready to learn; spend time after your lesson making sure you understand what your CFI was teaching you; and don't be afraid to ask questions or say that you don't understand something.

Aviation is an adventure, it's not a destination. Flight training is the first step in that adventure and it should be an enjoyable process that inspires you onward.
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Jeremy said:
Ok, so now I understand that 30 flights doesn't necessarily mean 30 days... So how much would it cost for me (approximately) if I'm just starting off? You said 10,000 tows at $29 each (I guess I misunderstood that...), that would be $290,000... I'm a little bit confused. :whatever:
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10-1000' tows... Thats 10 tows to 1000 feet
 
Regardless of the particular number of flights it takes you, I think beginning with gliders is a very good way to approach your training.
 
SFCC/UND said:
Personally I would save your money until you start flying airplanes.
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Have you ever flown a glider? I have and I would give the exact OPPOSITE advice. Flying gliders makes you a better stick & rudder pilot. I thought I knew how to use a rudder until I started flying gliders. I wish I had started when I was 14 instead of 40.
 
Nihon_Ni said:
Have you ever flown a glider? I have and I would give the exact OPPOSITE advice. Flying gliders makes you a better stick & rudder pilot. I thought I knew how to use a rudder until I started flying gliders. I wish I had started when I was 14 instead of 40.
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Airplanes don't have a stick. So I don't see how this would make me a better pilot. Playing flight simulator will give you a better outcome than flying gliders personally, since we are constantly not maneuvering to find thermals. Rudders how hard is it to keep a ball in the center? Only time you really have to worry about using the rudders is if you're in a spin.
 
SFCC/UND said:
Airplanes don't have a stick. So I don't see how this would make me a better pilot. Playing flight simulator will give you a better outcome than flying gliders personally, since we are constantly not maneuvering to find thermals. Rudders how hard is it to keep a ball in the center? Only time you really have to worry about using the rudders is if you're in a spin.
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Uh, no.

Not only no, but hell no. Other than maybe ag pilots and guys who compete in aerobatics, glider pilots are some of the best flyers around.

If you honestly think paying flight sim will make you a better pilot, you're sadly deluded.
 
nosehair said:
I see you have a few hundered posts, and you are a 'senior member'. Have you 'observed' any comments about the relationship between 'stick and rudder' skills and pilot-error accidents?;)
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Look on the ntsb reports. Spins, pilot error, and icing conditions.
 
SFCC/UND said:
Airplanes don't have a stick. So I don't see how this would make me a better pilot. Playing flight simulator will give you a better outcome than flying gliders personally, since we are constantly not maneuvering to find thermals. Rudders how hard is it to keep a ball in the center? Only time you really have to worry about using the rudders is if you're in a spin.
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Haha... wow... You have no idea. Can we mark this as a FAIL?
 
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