First lesson - Tips?

I'm curious- are you a CFI?
Nope.
The pilot log book and associated check off lists are a record of the required training.
UH

This is my experience as part of a small club with several instructors. If there was an "associated check off list" our club did not use them and I don't see any in the SSA logbook.

I do agree that having fun is highly important. Start thermalling as soon as your instructor will allow you to. Maximize your solo time when you are cleared.

The pilot log book and associated check off lists are a record of the required training. Assuming a student is not flying with a new instructor all the time, there should not be much of a need for the student to brief the instructor on what he has accomplished.

Skyline Soaring Club in Virginia has a training syllabus that is free for any other club to use.
http://skylinesoaring.org/TRAINING/Syllabus/

In our club, you are pretty much guaranteed that you'll fly with (at least) 5 different instructors from first flight to solo. For us, having everything documented for 61.87 requirements in a centrally-located place is absolutely essential to make sure everything is covered.

If you are receiving flight training from an organization that doesn't have something like this, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have the instructor who is signing you off go through it with you.

On Wednesday, July 17, 2013 1:36:21 PM UTC-4, Soartech wrote:
Take a look at several training syllabuses available on the web. Pick one you like and try to get your instructor(s) to follow it (unless they have one). Many do not.

Based solely on my experience as a student pilot with several different instructors, I concur with Soartech suggestion to push for a legible printed checklist style syllabus. CFI-Gs always wrote something in my log book, but they rarely if ever reviewed the entries and I doubt that they could read the handwriting.

Nicholas,

Unlike many activities, flying is a new, 3 dimensional experience, in a new environment. What you Don't know can hurt you. Knowledge is extremely important.

Here is an interesting article: http://www.eglider.org/NewsArticles/standardization.htm

Enjoy

Tom

On Mon, 15 Jul 2013 20:21:28 -0700 (PDT), Nicholas Giese
wrote:

Well, after years of being an armchair pilot in Condor, I've finally booked my first-ever soaring lesson for this weekend. If anyone has any general tips they'd like to pass along, I'll gladly listen! I'm sure the first flight will be very memorable.

Sun hat, soft, no button on top.