On Friday, September 18, 2015 at 10:44:52 AM UTC-4, wrote:
I bought Condor and started using it last night. It does help understand how much and when to use each of the controls, even though the feel of the controls vs. the real thing itself is quite different.

I'm not so much trying to save cost, as much as minimize the time needed to get to the solo point, and hence reduce the wait time for training at the club, but I think the Condor is vastly better than FSX, and does appear to be helpful in that regard. I'm expecting the powered flight to be useful as well.

Again, thanks for all the useful advice.

Highly recommend going through a couple of the guides that the guys from Caesar Creek published: http://soar-ccsc.com/?page_id=915

While I agree the tactile feel isn't ideal, you can tweak the settings to reduce some of the sensitivity from the input devices (see the setup guide). More importantly, the ability to pause in mid-flight (e.g. turning base to final) and review your "plan" is a great benefit.

Right now, I'm working on crosswinds (takeoffs and landings) with my son. I can dial up a decent wind (10 kts) and we discuss the three phases of a takeoff (for example).
Me: Remind me again - what's going to happen when you are both on the ground?
Son: I'm going to focus on wings level and keeping the upwind wing slightly low while steering with rudder.
(I then hit "go" and he fights the weathervaning and some minor PIO tendency)
We pause after he gets in the air to take a look at where he is and what happens in the next few seconds (glider in the air, towplane still on the runway).
Etc.

I've found that the discussion in the real cockpit is much more effective since he's already seen the theory in practice and has absorbed some of the key visual cues (like keeping wings level, matching towplane bank angle, etc.)

Obviously, this is nothing new to the airlines and large commercial flight schools, but it's definitely a newer concept to the gliding ranks.

P3