Open Discussion; Creating XC pilots

Hi Bob,

My experience has been that there's no training for cross country or
wave soaring other than at a few well known locations. I and most of my
soaring buddies learned simply by doing. We read books, asked
questions, tagged along with a more experienced glider pilot and picked
up the skills along the way. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding to
land after another major (for me) accomplishment.

A self launch sailplane can be great if you're in an area without club
or commercial gliding, but they are very expensive by comparison to
other gliders. They can also get you home when you might otherwise have
landed out. They can also fail you when least expected!

You didn't mention your location so I can only suggest checking out
gliding locations on the SSA.org website. Go to a commercial operation
and take a ride. Ask about cross country rentals and have a ball!

Oh yeah - if you're near Moriarty, NM, we're in the beginning of wave
season. There's no formal wave training, but we can routinely thermal
into wave or enter the wave from a 3,000' tow within a couple of miles
from the airport. Be advised, however, that the winds are pretty strong
this time of the year (hell, most of the year!). I'll be happy to fly
with you.

Good luck,
Dan

On 12/23/2014 8:09 AM, Bob Pasker wrote:
I'm a newly minted CPL-G, who also hold ASEL, ASES, heli, and instrument/airplane, who has a lot of XC experience in powered flight.

I have searched in vain for a place to start training for XC, and it has been very difficult because most glider clubs and commercial operation websites focus on club member activities, PPL-G training, and sightseeing rides (commercial). Also, I'm not by nature a "joiner," and the club process (go to some meetings, join up, fly with some people, etc) doesn't fit my Type A personality. My messages to club info email addresses info@blahblah go unanswered, or the people who've responded are like, yeah, sure, come to a meeting, which I didn't feel was very inviting.

My experience with finding a place to learn wave has been similar.

So my current plan is to buy a used SLMG and start flying.

Any thoughts or ideas please let me know.

--bob

--
Dan Marotta

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 10:09:10 AM UTC-5, Bob Pasker wrote:
I'm a newly minted CPL-G, who also hold ASEL, ASES, heli, and instrument/airplane, who has a lot of XC experience in powered flight.

I have searched in vain for a place to start training for XC, and it has been very difficult because most glider clubs and commercial operation websites focus on club member activities, PPL-G training, and sightseeing rides (commercial). Also, I'm not by nature a "joiner," and the club process (go to some meetings, join up, fly with some people, etc) doesn't fit my Type A personality. My messages to club info email addresses info@blahblah go unanswered, or the people who've responded are like, yeah, sure, come to a meeting, which I didn't feel was very inviting.

My experience with finding a place to learn wave has been similar.

So my current plan is to buy a used SLMG and start flying.

Any thoughts or ideas please let me know.

--bob

@bobpasker: As a start, join the SSA. SOARING magazine has great articles, and in particular, articles on Condor - the Soaring Simulator. Scott Manley writes a column on it. It is a reasonable way to become familiar with cross-country techniques, which translate well into the aircraft, after your physical skills are learned; in the long winter (depending on your location) you can fly online with (or against) other pilots and communicate (via Teamspeak) or not; Frank Paynter's book "Cross-country soaring with Condor" is inexpensive and a good introduction (available on Amazon and in e-book format). You probably have a joystick and rudder pedals already, and Condor is relatively cheap (makes a nice Xmas gift).

Commercial operations that may cater to your situation are Ridge Soaring, Williams Soaring and Soar Nevada, among others. Your geographic location may make one a better choice than the others.

Clubs by necessity concentrate on focusing their limited energy on their members, and select their members carefully. They are a great way to make friends, and continue learning in cross-country, or aerobatics, or instruction, or giving rides, building a homebuilt, or towing. If you want to come/fly/go, they probably are not for you.

Though you are experienced at powered XC, safely learning to fly a glider XC is a whole other thing, and I'd urge you to get instruction rather than buying a self-launcher and starting flying it XC.

On Tuesday, December 23, 2014 10:33:25 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:

My experience has been that there's no training for cross country or wave soaring other than at a few well known locations.*

That said, the difficulties of finding 1)wave conditions 2)willing CFI-G 3)high quality two place glider and 4)my own availability to fly at that right time and place does not make it impossible.

I completed my BFR with my favorite CFI-G in 'wet wave' conditions last October at a commercial/club operation. I knew that my favorite CFI-G worked on Thursday and Friday. At the beginning of September, I told him of my interest in doing my BFR on a 'wave day', and then I started watching the weather forecast closely. Eight weeks later, it happened. Wow... best flight ever. Rainbows on tow, spin training, diving through a closing blue hole etc. etc..

Soaring is inherently opportunistic and pilots need to create their own training opportunities. Putting yourself in the right place at the right time is a fundamental and inherent part of the sport and this is especially true for wave flying.