On Mon, 11 Jan 2021 13:51:27 -0800, Piotr Mis wrote:

Yes, I see your point, but the reality of clubs in my country (Poland)
probably differ quite much. To be honest I am sick and tired of queueing
for a club glider, being at the mercy of whimsical instructors and
wasting time when I am not lucky enough to "deserve" a glider. I am by
no means an experienced pilot, but with near 600 take-offs/landings in
powered planes/ultralights/gliders I guess I am not completely
ignorant?...

What control do the Chief Instructor and/or the club management committee
have over members who want to buy private gliders in Poland?

My experience when a low time pilot suggests that completing all three
legs of your Silver C in a Junior would be a good thing to do before
buying your own glider. Would declaring that aim get you better access to
a Junior? They may be slow, but they climb very well and I've heard that
Polish pilots have flown 300km triangles in them.

Visiting other clubs and flying any gliders they have that your club
doesn't is useful experience too. Sitting in them helps too: for
instance, sitting in almost anything else shows you how little you can
see behind you from a Junior, and that is very important to know when
sharing a thermal with more than 5 or 6 other gliders.

Just doing that got me my first flights in an ASK-13, Grob Astir G.102,
DG-300, PW-5, ASK-23 (the German Junior) and Standard Libelle. It also
showed me that the Libelle is by far the nicest of all these for comfort,
handling and all-round visibility - and also has the weakest airbrakes!


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Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org