Michael wrote:

But if you just need a CFIG, all you need is another CFIG, a tow plane
and tow pilot, a two seat glider, and a pilot with a couple hundred
hours (of which only a couple dozen need be in gliders). It will take
a couple of weekends at most, and that's if your glider pilot lacks a
commercial glider ticket. The most difficult and time-consuming part
will be getting a glider-qualified FAA inspector to fly with the guy if
he isn't already a power CFI.


Michael

Been lurking on this one, but I just couldn't resist coming back to
this point. If you REALLY believe this, then please let me know where
you fly, so I can make sure never to let anybody I care about fly
there.

Although all of the points you make in this paragraph may be
technically true, they're hard to reconcile with your later points
about the importance of truly teaching soaring. I'm hoping that I'm
just taking your comments out of context.

In our club's experience over the past 30 years (I've been a member for
20), I would say that the typical CFIG candidate comes to the table
with about 300-400 hours (ie. not a ton of time). But, our CFIGs who
do the training and sign-off for the rating will typically require
dozens of flights and lengthy one-on-one ground school to ensure that
the candidate is able to handle the decision making and emergency
situations that come along with the territory. In my 12 year CFIG
career so far, I've only recommended two candidates for CFIG (both
passed first time), and each one probably consumed about 40-60 hours of
my time when all was said and done. That's not a lot when you consider
how much time we spend in the office or on much less worthy pursuits
:-)) In retrospect, I'm sure we could have shaved off some prep time
here and there and (maybe) still had candidates pass the practical, but
I also have faith in most Examiners to recognize where too many corners
have been cut.

Being a CFIG is not some superhuman power available only to an elite
few, but it's not something to be entered into lightly.

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)