why dont more people timebuild in gliders?

T

TwilightFan91

New Member
its got to be cheaper and certainly easier to get a private glider license rather than a cfi certificate.

don't most glider pilots pay per glide rather than per hour? it seems like a good deal to pay 80 bucks or whatever for a tow and log 3 or 4 hours out of it. glider time is well regarded by employers too, at least more so than two guys sharing wearing a hood in a c-172. why dont more people do it?
 
I have extremely limited knowledge about soaring, but how do you figure you are logging 3 to 4 hours per glide? Maybe if you are soaring on a good day, but at our field with heavy glider ops here in NM, many pilots are just making trips around the pattern or trying to catch some thermals and coming back in about an hour later (mostly Schweizer 2-33's). Then again what do I know, I have no glider time...
 
nosehair said:
Just ain't enough gliders around.
Click to expand...

Yup, that was what I was going to say. There is one place around here, probably an hour drive, that has a crazy buy in, and is associated in a roundabout way with an aviation college. I'd love to get into gliding, but at the cost, distance, and the people that are associated with it, I just can't do it. I've always wondered about starting a small gliding club though.
 
I advise anyone who asks me about flying to start in gliders.
That's what I did. Started in gliders, worked as a commercial glider pilot giving sight-seeing and acro rides to tourists, then got my power ratings.

Glider fields are great places for networking. During the time spent gliding I met flight instructors who were happy to work outside of the flight-school environment and airplane owners looking to make a few bucks on their planes, so I ended up getting all my power ratings super cheap.
And since you can use 150 glider hours towards the commercial power rating, well, that right there saves you 10~15K, easy.

Financial issues aside, there are serious safety benefits to starting with gliders. How many people get themselves killed every year when their engines conk out and they can't fly the plane? A glider pilot can switch the old brain over to glider mode and put that sucker on the ground somewhere, usually without too much damage (think Sully and the Hudson River).

You also develop very good stick-and-rudder skills and get very good at flying at minimum controllable airspeed — and at shooting accurate approaches (no go-arounds!).

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, soaring is a very pure form of flying.

To fly a sailplane is to know why birds sing.
 
It is very difficult to build hours in a glider. If you live in the right part of the country, you could get a lot of cheap flight time in your own glider, but the areas are limited.

I remember years ago when we hired a new F/O and we were discussing flight time. She said the reason her hours were so low (relatively) is that she had spent years as a glider instructor. I dismissed that as excuse making. Years later when I started flying gliders I often thought of that conversation and I could see exactly what she was talking about.

However, as was already stated, for improving one's skills as a pilot, glider flying is a great activity.
 
There are good days where you can stay up for hours. But even on those days most clubs have time limits or a hour or two so that you dont hog a glider all day when other people are wanting to fly. The only time building aspect I get out of soaring is flying the tow plane.
 
This is what I'm planning on doing. I already got my PPL- G out in Boulder, CO this spring. Eventually, I plan on adding my power ratings.

When it comes to the timebuilding, I feel that it really comes down to the club or operator you are flying with. My club really promotes cross country and contest flying, both great ways to build hours. Training is done in a high performance Grob 103 instead of a 2-33 for a better price in comparison with the other operator to boot! As opposed to doing pattern tows in a 2-33 (nothing wrong with that!), most people try to stay up for hours at a time and polish their skills for competition flying in the high performance ships. Most people then move up to or DG505 or one of our single place ships. A lot of club members also own their own gliders. (can you say 60:1 glide?)

The other operator on the field seems to have the other mentality, a sort of go up and come down one if you know what I mean. The price is also comparable to flying power.

From what I have seen, it really depends on the organization you are flying with and what type of glider flying they promote. But then again, the weather does have alot to do with it too!:D
 
gliderboy said:
I advise anyone who asks me about flying to start in gliders.
That's what I did. Started in gliders, worked as a commercial glider pilot giving sight-seeing and acro rides to tourists, then got my power ratings.

Glider fields are great places for networking. During the time spent gliding I met flight instructors who were happy to work outside of the flight-school environment and airplane owners looking to make a few bucks on their planes, so I ended up getting all my power ratings super cheap.
And since you can use 150 glider hours towards the commercial power rating, well, that right there saves you 10~15K, easy.

Financial issues aside, there are serious safety benefits to starting with gliders. How many people get themselves killed every year when their engines conk out and they can't fly the plane? A glider pilot can switch the old brain over to glider mode and put that sucker on the ground somewhere, usually without too much damage (think Sully and the Hudson River).

You also develop very good stick-and-rudder skills and get very good at flying at minimum controllable airspeed — and at shooting accurate approaches (no go-arounds!).

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, soaring is a very pure form of flying.

To fly a sailplane is to know why birds sing.
Click to expand...

I did basically the same thing and echo everything that you just said. I was very fortunate to have a CFIG father who owned two nice high performance gliders (L33 and a Genesis) who had me flying 200k cross countries as a part of my pre-solo training (when I was 12...ha) in the ASK21.

From there, I got a job working line at the glider operation which = free tows. So free tows + free gliders = a lot of free flying. I ended up flying about 8 hours a weekend (work morning training flights, then launch around noon) and even did/do contests every once in a while which are good for a big lump of hours. (hours are not AT ALL why I race though...it is just so involved and fun).

I love soaring...unfortunately between CFI work, and towing the gliders, I haven't gotten much glider time yet this season. :(

The other operator on the field seems to have the other mentality, a sort of go up and come down one if you know what I mean. The price is also comparable to flying power.

From what I have seen, it really depends on the organization you are flying with and what type of glider flying they promote. But then again, the weather does have alot to do with it too!:D
Click to expand...

unfortunately...that is very true...and my dad and I are the only ones at one of the "up and down" type operations that actually go places and stay up for 5 hours routinely - the owner doesn't really understand cross country soaring at all...but now im ranting, so that is a whole nother story. :whatever:

Anyway...good luck with your soaring!

-95T
 
Don't come to Nebraska to build glider time. I can't stay up long enough to get any real time; plus since it is a club, there is always somebody on the ground waiting for their turn.
 
Douglas said:
Don't come to Nebraska to build glider time. I can't stay up long enough to get any real time; plus since it is a club, there is always somebody on the ground waiting for their turn.
Click to expand...

If you are patient, you will end up with a lot of time in gliders, and it will end up being fairly cheap. By the time you get good enough at it that you can stay up for a few hours in weak lift, you are probably already going to be a CFI-G though.

As it has been mentioned above, most of my glider flights end because someone else wants the glider these days. And I log about as much time flying the towplane as I do in gliders.

If you look at it as a cheap way to build hours, you will lose interest. If you enjoy soaring, you will end up with a lot of hours doing it. And the networking is great - glider pilots tend to be folks with a lot of experience in aviation. And it will make you a better pilot.

Do it because you like to fly - but remember, "cheap hours" don't really exist in aviation.
 
I'm with drunk beagle on the networking. Most the guys who fly at the club I do are airline captains or corporate captains. Good guys to know when you need a reccomendation.
 
I know that gliders can glide further than airplanes, but I would like to see a glider shoot an approach and go around.
 
drunkenbeagle said:
If you are patient, you will end up with a lot of time in gliders, and it will end up being fairly cheap. By the time you get good enough at it that you can stay up for a few hours in weak lift, you are probably already going to be a CFI-G though.
Click to expand...

It is true that not all glider pilots are created equal, but here many of my flights have not plagued by weak lift but the absence of lift. Which makes the cost the same if not more than renting an airplane for one hour.

I'm not complaining though, I do it for the fun of it.
 
SFCC/UND said:
I know that gliders can glide further than airplanes, but I would like to see a glider shoot an approach and go around.
Click to expand...


Gliding makes you a better pilot. Not all reliant on that noisy thing on the front. A glider pilot learns the skills to do it right the first time and NOT have to go around. :bandit:
 
Phantom017 said:
Gliding makes you a better pilot. Not all reliant on that noisy thing on the front. A glider pilot learns the skills to do it right the first time and NOT have to go around. :bandit:
Click to expand...

You forgot the sarcasm there buddy cause that statement is rubbish.
 
SFCC/UND said:
You forgot the sarcasm there buddy cause that statement is rubbish.
Click to expand...

The sarcasm tag wasnt there because the statement is true. I have close to 200 hours in gliders and have taken powered pilots up with me that fly singles and airliners to F-15 eagles. Pilots with no glider experience get to reliant on the engine and have terrible stick and rudder skills most of the time.

I had about 25 hours of glider time when I went for my powered rating. When my CFI pulled my throttle I calmly put it into a glide and started setting up for the landing. He was surprised I didnt freak out when the engine went out like all his other private students until I explained I had glider time. His response was "oh that explains it then!"

Another example is the Gimli Glider.. the 767 that ran out of gas over Canada. Its widely believed that if the capt didnt have glider experience they wouldnt of had such a "good" flight. Since he had to do all the glide speed calculations on his own since it wasnt in the A/C manual.

Oh good ole Capt. Sullenberger is also a glider pilot who credits his training...

Dunno... sounds like gliding experience helped out these guys....

:dunno:
 
Another place your glider skills will help is on your commercial check ride when you do the power-off, accuracy landing in the complex plane.
At the end of my check ride, we shut off the engine, remove our phones and the examiner turns to me and says: "Now that's how you do a power-off accuracy landing!"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top