In rec.aviation.soaring Larry Dighera wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 17:23:32 +0100, "GB"
wrote in :

40 years or so ago, I learned to fly, at least a bit. I did some solo
circuits in gliders. I would like to come back to flying, and I was
wondering about whether to learn on powered or unpowered planes?

The answer to that question depends on what sort of flying you want to
do once you have your airmans certificate, and how much you can afford
to spend on flying. Glider instruction can be very inexpensive if you
join a soaring club, and you will get some fundamental experience in
aerodynamics and meteorology that powered flyers only get a smattering
of.

I would say that if you are planning to fly purely for fun, go for
gliders. If you imagine using it for useful things (or if "fun" for you
means using the plane to go on vacation somewhere) then go for powered.
(Full disclosure, I'm a glider pilot.)

However, you will be mostly limited to summer days, and costs
will be about as low as possible.

I must object to this, as some of the most spectacular soaring can happen
in the dead of winter, in the form of ridge and wave soaring. I don't know
how things are in the UK, but here in Virginia even for thermal soaring
the definition of "summer" is pretty loose, and really includes a great
deal of the spring and fall.

But the general theme is still true; gliders are much more
weather-dependent. You can fly in the same weather as a VFR powered plane,
but you can't *stay up* and therefore make it really fun on a lot of those
days.

--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software