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Old September 18th 18, 07:53 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Jonathan St. Cloud
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Posts: 1,463
Default A few newbie questions about the sport

On Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 11:30:08 AM UTC-7, Paul T wrote:
At 16:05 18 September 2018, Scott Manley wrote:
=20
4. Any tips on finding a school to begin lessons?
=20

A very effective and efficient way to learn to fly is through the use of
co=
mputer-based flight simulation software. Training can be done at

home, on
=
your schedule, at considerably less cost, in much less time, and there

is
n=
o off-season. Unfortunately, very few glider clubs or commercial glider
op=
erations offer this mode of training.

That said, I do provide simulation-based training, at-a-distance (i.e.,
via=
the Internet), and I may be willing to take you and/or your daughter

on
as=
students. My services are free to those I elect to work with, and for
ref=
erence purposes I can connect you to one or more of the 70 persons I

have
t=
rained this way over the past 10 years.

Simulation-based flight training is not a complete course of instruction..


=
After learning most (80-90%) of what you need to know in simulation,

you
wo=
uld need to complete your training by applying your skills in an actual
air=
craft at a soaring club or commercial operation. However, showing up
pre-t=
rained will allow you to advance much more quickly through your
aircraft-ba=
sed training. =20

If interested, feel free to contact me via my website "gliderCFI.com" or
ca=
ll me at area code six zero eight, two two two, six eight four three.

Welcome to the sport.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration,

Scott Manley CFIG



Do you have the evidence to prove this Scott, and if so how much of a
'time-saver' on real life flying does the computer based training make to

the average student?


While I have no hard facts, statistics nor research on this subject, in keeping with the long standing traditions of RAS, it is my experience that young people who are gamers and first time flying a glider do much better than those that do not have computer game experience. I have taken 14 year olds flying that could fly better than licensed power pilots. I also note that many of the young competitive pilots on the world competition scene say they fly Condor. I had a decade and a half break from gliding, bought Condor (is it not expensive) and flew it a bunch before I got in a glider to get current. On my first flight back to soaring I flew like I was current, as I had a bunch of Condor flights, and a ton of practiced emergencies, that I could quickly repeat. Other than my personal confidence which only comes from actual time in the saddle, I found Condor to be a great training/learning aid.

I recently had a friend over that has been out of gliding for years. We flew Condor and he went out and bought a copy after he tried using aileron to lift a wing as the (simulated) glider dropped a wing entering a spin. I would wholly recommend a student use both simulator and actual training. Caveats: I am not a CFIG, just a commercial pilot, I have no financial interest in Condor or any other business venture that would be profitable.