I soloed when I was 57, I'm now 63. I've got 400 hours XC (out of 640 total hours), a Diamond Badge, and I've flown in 5 contests. So unless I'm exceptional (and my friends assure me that I'm not), of course "old people" can learn to fly gliders!

Brad does raise a good point about reading the sky and learning the weather.. That's something you definitely learn through experience. I certainly can't read the sky like national champions, but I know enough to be able to beat some of them on occasion. Where they excel is in their consistency, which reflects their greater depth of experience.

-John


On Saturday, June 2, 2012 2:14:05 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:
Sure, a lot "senior citizens" fly gliders. But how many of them soloed at 55?

But my question is this, can an "old person" learn to fly and does the soaring community have the patience to teach them? Are there special challenges to developing an older student and how well are those challenges addressed?