Barb wanted to be sure that I was fully qualified, experiences and competent in the glider before she’d fly with me, and I fully shared that desire. So it was my 85th flight in gliders that she came with me--a lot of those 85 flights were with my Instructor, Joe M. But I felt ready and she was willing to take that awesome chance. Her only other glider flight was with Uli in the same plane, using a winch launch to get airborne. This was going to be a more gentle start, using a tow plane. The footage is not inclusive, but you will get the idea, if you watch.

Learning to Fly

Learning to Fly-Barb soars with me for the first time

Our glider club, the Carolina soaring Association of Spartanburg, SC owns a two-seat advanced trainer, the Grob 103-Acro. I’ve wanted to continue learning, in particular, to learn to fly cross-country, and that is best done in a plane designed. I’ve joined two other club members in ownership of such a plane, the Neukomm Elfe S4, a plane built in Switzerland in 1978. It’s pretty exciting to fly a single-seater for the first time, there is no instructor to help you with this task. This short video conveys some of the learning curve...

Learning to Fly-Transition to Single-Seat Gliders

In this podcast I share the three most exciting events that follow the first-time experience in a sailplane--my first solo, a solo flight that includes sharing a thermal with some vultures, and the successful checkride that makes me a Private Pilot-Glider. The picture above includes the DPE (the FAA Designated Pilot Examiner) Frank, his wife Jayne who is the tow-pilot and a record holding glider pilot, and Joe, my instructor. Have a listen...

Learning to Fly - Gliders III

In this segment we continue the learning process, not only with needed maneuvers to handle the glider, but with emergency procedures that include a simulated rope break at 400 ft when in aero tow, and at 600 feet during a winch launch--this get your adrenaline going, no question. The segment ends with the worst of experiences--a hard landing in the glider that leads to a bounce, a pilot-induced oscillation (PIO) and the aftermath. NOT the way to learn...

Learning to Fly-Gliders II

I got hooked on sailplanes when I took a few flights with my friend Ray, had a couple of demo flights with Doug and Philip at the Carolina Soaring Association, and decided this I wanted to learn! I was lucky to meet Joe, my instructor, and he took me through the paces of learning from the ground up (no pun intended). He guided me through the techniques, the development of judgement, and slowly let me build confidence without ever letting me get ahead of myself, instead, he taught me to stay ahead of the glider! A follow-up podcast will take us through the checkride. Have a listen...

Learning to fly-Gliders

Learning to Fly. That is the theme of the majority of these podcasts. If you are a student pilot, have had the desire to fly, or remember you own learning experience way back when, or are just interested in the learning process for flying, this may be of interest to you.Will try to bring the earlier lessons to this side in the near future

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Learning to Fly

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