On Monday, November 19, 2018 at 12:47:50 PM UTC-7, son_of_flubber wrote:
On Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 5:05:35 PM UTC-5, wrote:
In the summer of 2018, the United States Air Force Academy began using Mach 0.1 Simulated Glider Cockpits as part of their "Glider Airmanship" course.

Back to the merits of glider simulator training...

Student pilots pay for the majority of aerotows at most clubs. This cash flow keeps the club afloat. If we used simulators to train up students with fewer aerotows, then we would need to recruit more students, or the cash flow would suffer and aerotow rates would go up. Everybody would pay more for each tow, but students would still provide most of the cash flow. Certificated pilots would pay more, maybe a lot more.

How do we use simulator training to recruit and retain more pilots? Reducing the overall cost and duration of primary training will marginally increase the number of pilots, but I'd like to think that we could use Condor to potentially recruit even more pilots. I don't know exactly how though.


Should be a mix in my opinion, but as Scott Manley has demonstrated (convincingly at a Barnaby Lecture in Denver), it can be used effectively prior to actual flight. Simulators can also advance student knowledge and opportunities for reflective thinking in learning the art and science of soaring by several lessons.

If you indeed acquire a Mach 0.01 or put effort and money into another simulator setup, do what Black Forest Soaring Society does, charge some hourly rate for use.

Frank Whiteley