Light Sport pilot glider (add on)

I've just had a second light sport pilot airplane, ask me about
getting the endorsement for light sport pilot glider.

What's the deal here?

Has anybody actually done this? Are there any glider instructors out
there who would do this sign off...any instructors who would do the
check ride?

Any commercial operators who whould rent gliders to a LSA glider
pilot?

How about insurance?

Do gliders even qualify as LSA?

Any clubs which allow members to fly on light sport pilot glider
certificate??

Cookie

That is a lot of questions to for a single post. So I'll start out here
with the basic LSA definitions.
http://www.aerofiles.com/LSA.html

The 120 kt Vne limit requirement is the disqualifying factor for most
gliders. The flight altitude limit of 10,000 msl is the tall pole in the
tent for pilots who fly "out West."

As for insurance, there doesn't seem to be a problem getting insurance for
powered LSA so I don't see why it would be a problem for gliders.

The FAA prescribes who and what training is required. Here is a list of
people who should be able to answer most of the training and endorsement
questions.
http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certific...r_examiner.pdf

Wayne
http://tinyurl.com/N990-6F


wrote in message
...
I've just had a second light sport pilot airplane, ask me about
getting the endorsement for light sport pilot glider.

What's the deal here?

Has anybody actually done this? Are there any glider instructors out
there who would do this sign off...any instructors who would do the
check ride?

Any commercial operators who whould rent gliders to a LSA glider
pilot?

How about insurance?

Do gliders even qualify as LSA?

Any clubs which allow members to fly on light sport pilot glider
certificate??

Cookie

Hi
The LSA rules for a glider are absurd. The VNE rating of 120knots?
Where did they come up with that? But as with most ridiculous things
there are ways around the nonsense. If you wish to register a glider
as a LSA just have the manufacturer redefine the VNE as 120knots in
the manual, placards etc. My new Phoenix motorglider is placarded at
120knots VNE irrespective of what its reasonable VNE should be. On the
question of max altitude. If you have a regular glider license there
is no altitude limit when flying a LSA glider. If you only have a LSA
glider ticket the limitation is 10,000 feet msl or 2,000 feet agl
enough to get you over all high passes. My biggest gripe with all this
nonsense is that is we had an effective SSA we wouldn't have this
silliness but as you all know a few years ago the SSA was run by a
load of crooks who stole funds and had no interest in such things as
rules and regs and consequently things like the LSA glider rules were
put together by the FAA without feedback from glider pilots.
Grr.......!
Dave

Meh. The LSA glider rules could be better, could be worse. All they
do is make it slightly cheaper for SP transition pilots. SP
transitions will either dabble happily in sailplanes under SP or
easily convert up to PP for a few hundred bucks. End result another
glider pilot, all good in my book. Does the Phoenix have the high
speed polar to go anywhere at 120 knots?
On Apr 18, 11:56*am, kd6veb wrote:
Hi
* The LSA rules for a glider are absurd. The VNE rating of 120knots?
Where did they come up with that? But as with most ridiculous things
there are ways around the nonsense. If you wish to register a glider
as a LSA just have the manufacturer redefine the VNE as 120knots in
the manual, placards etc. My new Phoenix motorglider is placarded at
120knots VNE irrespective of what its reasonable VNE should be. On the
question of max altitude. If you have a regular glider license there
is no altitude limit when flying a LSA glider. If you only have a LSA
glider ticket the limitation is 10,000 feet msl or 2,000 feet agl
enough to get you over all high passes. My biggest gripe with all this
nonsense is that is we had an effective SSA we wouldn't have this
silliness but as you all know a few years ago the SSA was run by a
load of crooks who stole funds and had no interest in such things as
rules and regs and consequently things like the LSA glider rules were
put together by the FAA without feedback from glider pilots.
Grr.......!
Dave

On Apr 18, 8:37*am, "Wayne Paul" wrote:
That is a lot of questions to for a single post. *So I'll start out here
with the basic LSA definitions.http://www.aerofiles.com/LSA.html

The 120 kt Vne limit requirement is the disqualifying factor for most
gliders. *The flight altitude limit of 10,000 msl is the tall pole in the
tent for pilots who fly "out West."

As for insurance, there doesn't seem to be a problem getting insurance for
powered LSA so I don't see why it would be a problem for gliders.

The FAA prescribes who and what training is required. *Here is a list of
people who should be able to answer most of the training and endorsement
questions.http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certific...cation/sport_p...

Waynehttp://tinyurl.com/N990-6F

wrote in message

...



I've just had a second light sport pilot airplane, ask me about
getting the endorsement for light sport pilot glider.

What's the deal here?

Has anybody actually done this? *Are there any glider instructors out
there who would do this sign off...any instructors who would do the
check ride?

Any commercial operators who whould rent gliders to a LSA glider
pilot?

How about insurance?

Do gliders even qualify as LSA?

Any clubs which allow members to fly on light sport pilot glider
certificate??

Cookie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sorry for the too many questions....

But nobody answered the questions I really wanted answers to....

So to simplify...

Are there any instructors out there signing off people as Light sport
pilot glider?

What are the advantages to someone becoming a light sport pilot glider
over becoming a private pilot glider?

The reason I am asking is I have had two guys in the last year want to
"add on" a glider endorsement to a light sport pilot airplane
rating......I tried to talk them into private pilot glider because I
see no advantage in light sport glider...and lots of limitations....

Both guys went away mad at me.....

Cookie

On Apr 18, 11:56*am, kd6veb wrote:
Hi
* The LSA rules for a glider are absurd. The VNE rating of 120knots?
Where did they come up with that? But as with most ridiculous things
there are ways around the nonsense. If you wish to register a glider
as a LSA just have the manufacturer redefine the VNE as 120knots in
the manual, placards etc. My new Phoenix motorglider is placarded at
120knots VNE irrespective of what its reasonable VNE should be. On the
question of max altitude. If you have a regular glider license there
is no altitude limit when flying a LSA glider. If you only have a LSA
glider ticket the limitation is 10,000 feet msl or 2,000 feet agl
enough to get you over all high passes. My biggest gripe with all this
nonsense is that is we had an effective SSA we wouldn't have this
silliness but as you all know a few years ago the SSA was run by a
load of crooks who stole funds and had no interest in such things as
rules and regs and consequently things like the LSA glider rules were
put together by the FAA without feedback from glider pilots.
Grr.......!
Dave
....and you're volunteering to step up and help the SSA serve the
soaring community better, right?

On Apr 17, 8:32*pm, "
wrote:
I've just had a second light sport pilot airplane, ask me about
getting the endorsement for light sport pilot glider.

What's the deal here?

Has anybody actually done this? *Are there any glider instructors out
there who would do this sign off...any instructors who would do the
check ride?

Any commercial operators who whould rent gliders to a LSA glider
pilot?

How about insurance?

Do gliders even qualify as LSA?

Any clubs which allow members to fly on light sport pilot glider
certificate??

Cookie
There are not many gliders that qualify for the LIght Sport pilot. I
think the SGS 1-26 is one.
There are more limitations than advantages, especially out west, east
coast operations may allow more opportunities.
As mentioned, 10K MSL is one, long distances between safe land out
areas with low performance gliders is another, in many areas, you need
to get above 10K MSL to make the transition.

I do not know of any commercial operation renting gliders that qualify
for Light Sport, most that rent want higher performance. An insurance
rep would have to speak up about limitations, but I would guess that
most policies on rentals require Private rating or higher.

We have had no individuals approach our club about LSA endorsements.

Hi Cookie
Here are some comments(not necessarily answers to your questions):

1) The only reason to get a SLA glider ticket (actually an
endorsement) is that it is easier to obtain than a regular glider
ticket if you already have a power plane LSA license. However I would
recommend always getting a regular glider license so you are not
limited by the 10,000 feet msl or 2,000 feet agl LSA rules.
2) If you have a regular glider license you may fly a LSA glider as
though it were a regular glider except for exceeding the placarded VNE
limit which most likely would be 120 knots.
3) The only benefit of certifying a glider (motorglider) as a LSA is
that it is very easy to do and does not cost much. My Phoenix
motorglider is being certified as a LSA for these reasons.

OK an example of what's possible - Certifying a ASK29 as a LSA.
You ask the manufacturer of the ASK29 to make 2 small placard changes.
Firstly the max gross weight would have to be changed from 1323 lbs to
the legal LSA limit of 1320 llbs and secondly get the placarded VNE to
be reduced to 120 knots from 146 knots. Done!

You have to keep a sense of humor when you discuss LSA glider rules
and regs. Don't attempt to apply reason. You will not succeed.
Dave

Cookie wrote:
What are the advantages to someone becoming a light sport pilot glider
over becoming a private pilot glider?

On Apr 18, 5:18*pm, "
wrote:
On Apr 18, 8:37*am, "Wayne Paul" wrote:









That is a lot of questions to for a single post. *So I'll start out here
with the basic LSA definitions.http://www.aerofiles.com/LSA.html

The 120 kt Vne limit requirement is the disqualifying factor for most
gliders. *The flight altitude limit of 10,000 msl is the tall pole in the
tent for pilots who fly "out West."

As for insurance, there doesn't seem to be a problem getting insurance for
powered LSA so I don't see why it would be a problem for gliders.

The FAA prescribes who and what training is required. *Here is a list of
people who should be able to answer most of the training and endorsement
questions.http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certific...cation/sport_p...

Waynehttp://tinyurl.com/N990-6F

wrote in message

....

I've just had a second light sport pilot airplane, ask me about
getting the endorsement for light sport pilot glider.

What's the deal here?

Has anybody actually done this? *Are there any glider instructors out
there who would do this sign off...any instructors who would do the
check ride?

Any commercial operators who whould rent gliders to a LSA glider
pilot?

How about insurance?

Do gliders even qualify as LSA?

Any clubs which allow members to fly on light sport pilot glider
certificate??

Cookie- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Sorry for the too many questions....

But nobody answered the questions I really wanted answers to....

So to simplify...

Are there any instructors out there signing off people as Light sport
pilot glider?

What are the advantages to someone becoming a light sport pilot glider
over becoming a private pilot glider?

The reason I am asking is I have had two guys in the last year want to
"add on" a glider endorsement to a light sport pilot airplane
rating......I tried to talk them into private pilot glider because I
see no *advantage in light sport glider...and lots of limitations....

Both guys went away mad at me.....

Cookie

I think there is no rational reason to become a light sport glider
pilot. I would explain it this way.

For a glider pilot, altitude is like gas in the tank - it's what you
use to go somewhere. The 10,000 foot limit is like artificially - and
severely - limiting the amount of gas an airplane can carry. For a
very small additional investment in training, that restriction is
removed by getting the PP-G rating.

Then, with a PP-G, the Light Sport Glider looks a lot more
interesting. You still have the 120 knot limit but for many lower
cost/performance gliders, that's a non-issue since you won't want to
go that fast anyway. Certification costs should be much lower.

Although the regs are confusing, it helps to keep LSG pilot
restrictions separate from LS glider restrictions which are
essentially only the 120 knot and 1320 Lb limits.

The 10K altitude limit is not an issue for most of the country. Just
because we had to jump through hoops X,Y, and V to get a license
doesn't mean everyone should have to jump through hoops X,Y, and V.
Other satisfactorily hoop jumping options exist. If people are aware
of the limitations and still want the SP-G why should we care?
Wouldn't it be better to make a new glider pilot and then upsell to
PP(if needed) after they have drunk the soaring cool aid?