First glider lessons

[CFR]

I'm glad you are enjoying it. On the prairies the summer has not been great for soaring with many stationary fronts bringing rain or low clouds for days.

Now you have to start looking at videos and info on how to center lift. I have used the 1, 2, 3 method and it seems to work for me.

circle 1 time to see if there is lift. If not go somewhere else likely to produce lift (Oh if that was only as easy as it sounds)
If you hit some lift circle a 2nd time to confirm where it is strongest in the circle
and then continue for 3/4's of a turn, straighten out for a second, and then resume the circle. A few times and the lift should be centered, assuming you are doing nice tight turns.

enjoy!

[sica89]

I am training with VISC at Port Alberni BC. They use a Pawnee for the aerotow.

Port Alberni!!! With the PW6! Loved flying that plane!

[Big Pistons Forever]

As of 5 hours ago, I am now Canada's newest licensed glider pilot

I am very happy with how my training went and I feel I am now fully qualified to safely lose altitude in a glider. Gaining altitude is another matter , but that will come with experience.

If any of you have been thinking about taking up gliding all I can say is I highly recommend it. It is pretty much flying distilled to its purest essence.

[iflyforpie]

I know that I am just a dumb power pilot who is dependent on the all mighty iron thermal..... but staying on top of a ridge line is pretty much guaranteed to give you lift.... regardless of sun and wind direction.

[RatherBeFlying]

staying on top of a ridge line is pretty much guaranteed to give you lift

As long as you don't allow yourself to get blown downwind of the ridge crest -- very bad place for gliders

[ahramin]

staying on top of a ridge line is pretty much guaranteed to give you lift

As long as you don't allow yourself to get blown downwind of the ridge crest -- very bad place for gliders

I've lost 2 glider pilots that way.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Looking at an ASW 20 which might be for sale. Anybody got any time in one and/or can provide an opinion on it ?

[Adam Oke]

Most guy's will hide when you are pulling it out of the trailer to rig

I like the 20. Haven't flown one, but it would be on my list of wants. Check out an LS4, too. The LS gliders are real cream puffs, and the 4 flies beautifully and is a very capable machine. Easy to rig.

[Pop n Fresh]

What are the premier fat guy dual gliders?

[Adam Oke]

What are the premier fat guy dual gliders?

How much do you want to spend? I loved the DG-1000.

[Pop n Fresh]

I'm kind of wealthy now. How does two hundred bucks sound?

[Big Pistons Forever]

Unrelated question. I am using a Soaring Society of America log book and everything in it makes sense except for the "launch method" section. You get a choice of 3 boxes to tick one marked "A" one marked "G" and one marked "S". I get that A = Aerotow, but what are the other choices ?

[Chuck Finley]

Aerotow, Ground tow ( winsh ) And Self launch.

[Adam Oke]

There is also auto tow, and bungee (rare...but the old videos are neat!). Auto tow still remains as a common launch method, particularly on the east coast.

[Meatservo]

How about the one where your feet poke out the bottom of the glider, and you launch yourself by running down the hill?

Man, I am jealous right now. Acouple of years ago there was that glider club in Quebec that had the one-week course for ATPL holders to "convert" to glider, and you camped out at the field. I had my wife all talked into letting me go, but busy-ness at work got in the way. I must do it someday.

[CFR]

Looking at an ASW 20 which might be for sale. Anybody got any time in one and/or can provide an opinion on it ?

The standing joke is to buy the best trailer you can afford and take whatever is in it!

There is a bit of truth to this, having helped nearly all the pilots in our club rig or de-rig their glider. Some trailers make the job much easier than others.

Not a glider, but one of the things that goes inside, I just purchased an Oudie 2 "personal gliding assistant". http://www.naviter.com/products/oudie-2/ It is pretty slick.

[CFR]

What are the premier fat guy dual gliders?

A Krosno will take 242 lbs in the front seat solo. The Duo Discus and other duals are similar.

[CFR]

How about the one where your feet poke out the bottom of the glider, and you launch yourself by running down the hill?

Man, I am jealous right now. Acouple of years ago there was that glider club in Quebec that had the one-week course for ATPL holders to "convert" to glider, and you camped out at the field. I had my wife all talked into letting me go, but busy-ness at work got in the way. I must do it someday.

I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I am. A very different type of flying! The mechanics are nearly identical of course, but the application is different.

[Pop n Fresh]

What are the premier fat guy dual gliders?

A Krosno will take 242 lbs in the front seat solo. The Duo Discus and other duals are similar.

So basically I have shed some pounds just to be over weight for gliders. I was at 245 for a while, though it was possible my scale was wrong.

I wonder if those rice cakes would help?

[CFR]

What are the premier fat guy dual gliders?

A Krosno will take 242 lbs in the front seat solo. The Duo Discus and other duals are similar.

So basically I have shed some pounds just to be over weight for gliders. I was at 245 for a while, though it was possible my scale was wrong.

I wonder if those rice cakes would help?

It has been good incentive for me to shed pounds! Our Clubs next level glider is a PW5 which is also restricted to 242 (hum this must be a certification number) including a parachute. So basically I have to lose the weight of a parachute over the winter!

I think you might enjoy gliding. It is interesting in that the more you fly the cheaper it becomes (the costs of membership divided by flights). And the longer you stay up, the cheaper each flight is. An aerotow to 3000 AGL is 44.00, so if you only get a 20 minute flight, that's 132.00 an hour. If thermals are good and you get off tow at 2000 AGL (35.00 tow) and stay up for over 3 hours the cost becomes 11 and change/hour. That is of course quick and dirty math, clubs usually have a glider rental fee that varies wildly from place to place but is pretty cheap over all. Ours is 25 bucks an hour, but once you have flown 10 hours (not hard to do) the fee stops.

The downside is getting there. You have a PPL so there is no written testing or formal ground school required. The minimum then is 10 hours dual (this is not a hard number, really proficient pilots can solo in less) and 20 hours solo to get your license. I was pretty close to those numbers, but of course it varies from pilot to pilot. So getting to the point where you have your license and can then do what you want can be a bit of a sting in the wallet if you try and do it in a hurry.

All in all though soaring over the countryside for a couple of hours in quiet flight is not a bad way to spend a warm summer, or cool autumn day!

[Legacy14]

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[Chris M]

What are the premier fat guy dual gliders?

The Super Blanik can haul 242 lbs solo. I flew a 2-33 with a 240+ lb kid in the front seat once - easiest tow ever, hardly any forward pressure needed. Came back down pretty quick though.

[Big Pistons Forever]

The downside is getting there. You have a PPL so there is no written testing or formal ground school required. The minimum then is 10 hours dual (this is not a hard number, really proficient pilots can solo in less) and 20 hours solo to get your license. I was pretty close to those numbers, but of course it varies from pilot to pilot. So getting to the point where you have your license and can then do what you want can be a bit of a sting in the wallet if you try and do it in a hurry.

The minimums for someone with a PPL are 1 hr dual, 2 hrs solo which must include at least 20 solo flights. I think it is practically impossible to do it in those times but your times are also I think a bit overstated.

I did the conversion in 28 flights. 7 Dual, 20 solo, and a final dual check flight for the sign off (there is no flight test like a powered aircraft, your instructor grants you the license). Times were 3:58 dual and 5:51 solo and total cost was about $2000.

[CFR]

The downside is getting there. You have a PPL so there is no written testing or formal ground school required. The minimum then is 10 hours dual (this is not a hard number, really proficient pilots can solo in less) and 20 hours solo to get your license. I was pretty close to those numbers, but of course it varies from pilot to pilot. So getting to the point where you have your license and can then do what you want can be a bit of a sting in the wallet if you try and do it in a hurry.

The minimums for someone with a PPL are 1 hr dual, 2 hrs solo which must include at least 20 solo flights. I think it is practically impossible to do it in those times but your times are also I think a bit overstated.

I did the conversion in 28 flights. 7 Dual, 20 solo, and a final dual check flight for the sign off (there is no flight test like a powered aircraft, your instructor grants you the license). Times were 3:58 dual and 5:51 solo and total cost was about $2000.

Sorry middle of the night typing, you're correct of course, it's number of flights not hours! I did it 10 dual 20 solo - I found staying behind the towplane challenging at first - funny - now its second nature and I can look around on tow! Dual for me was 6:07, only because the first 3 flights were each over an hour!

[AirFrame]

Unrelated question. I am using a Soaring Society of America log book and everything in it makes sense except for the "launch method" section. You get a choice of 3 boxes to tick one marked "A" one marked "G" and one marked "S". I get that A = Aerotow, but what are the other choices ?

A for tow behind an automobile, G for tow behind a GA aircraft, S for supplementary takeoff power (JATO).