On Jul 29, 9:00 am, borntoglide wrote:
Does anyone know if an FAA Commercial Glider License is an ICAO
recognized license?

Not sure about the ICAO status of US licenses, but with an FAA glider
rating, a membership in the SSA makes that a valid an FAI sporting
license. I am interested on how that plays out on a commercial level
as well, but do not have the answer to that either. Post finding here.

On another note if I wanted to do an FAA CPL Glider, coming from the
UK, would I need to get TSA approval (as for all other flight
training)?

Not entirely sure about the TSA thing, but I don't think you need
their approval since gliders were exempted from the threat list early
on (thank you SSA!).

What is invloved i.e what training/etc? I have around 180 hours and a
silver C.

Since you are already licensed in the UK (I assume with 180 hrs and a
Silver C...) you will most likely be made to learn the bookwork part
to get you up to legal speed (assuming your instructor is happy with
your logs and evaluation flights) for the private rating, along with
teaching you the finer points on differences between UK ans US flying.
Once ready for your PRIVATE rating (a necessary first step) you need
to pass a written test and a practical test (an oral exam based on the
weak points of your written and a minimum of 3 flights with an FAA
examiner). Once you have a private rating in your hands, you will
pretty much repeat the process over again for your commercial but to
higher standards/tighter tolerances and another round of written/
practical tests.

Does anyone know any schools which they would recommend?
How long is it likely to take? would it be possible during a 2 week
holiday

Not knowing what part of the country you will be visiting makes
suggestions a little broad. We don't have many large "schools" here in
USA. Turf Soaring in AZ http://www.turfsoaring.com/ , Great Western in
Ca http://www.greatwesternsoaring.com/ , Bermuda High in SC http://www.glider.org/
, Elmira Soaring School http://www.wingsofeagles.com/soaringschool.cfm
(formerly Schweizer Soaring School) are a few that come to mind.

On the whole, glider ops in USA don't usually use the word "school" in
their titles, as any club/commercial operation already serves this
purpose. If you post your US destination, a detailed list of glider
training options in your area can be compiled. In the meantime, your
specific questions regarding training can be answered over the phone
by operators at the sites already linked (and I'm sure you will get
many more answers here-both right and wrong...)

Is 2 weeks enough to knock this out? Hmmmm, very subjective since it
will be based on your skill/motivation coupled with availability of
equipment/instructors/examiners, however it sounds pretty marginal
even under the best of circumstances. Hoe this helps!

-Paul