Open Discussion; Creating XC pilots

Hi Bob,

My experience has been that there's no training for cross country or
wave soaring other than at a few well known locations. I and most of my
soaring buddies learned simply by doing. We read books, asked
questions, tagged along with a more experienced glider pilot and picked
up the skills along the way. It was a lot of fun and very rewarding to
land after another major (for me) accomplishment.

A self launch sailplane can be great if you're in an area without club
or commercial gliding, but they are very expensive by comparison to
other gliders. They can also get you home when you might otherwise have
landed out. They can also fail you when least expected!

You didn't mention your location so I can only suggest checking out
gliding locations on the SSA.org website. Go to a commercial operation
and take a ride. Ask about cross country rentals and have a ball!

Oh yeah - if you're near Moriarty, NM, we're in the beginning of wave
season. There's no formal wave training, but we can routinely thermal
into wave or enter the wave from a 3,000' tow within a couple of miles
from the airport. Be advised, however, that the winds are pretty strong
this time of the year (hell, most of the year!). I'll be happy to fly
with you.

Good luck,
Dan

On 12/23/2014 8:09 AM, Bob Pasker wrote:
I'm a newly minted CPL-G, who also hold ASEL, ASES, heli, and instrument/airplane, who has a lot of XC experience in powered flight.

I have searched in vain for a place to start training for XC, and it has been very difficult because most glider clubs and commercial operation websites focus on club member activities, PPL-G training, and sightseeing rides (commercial). Also, I'm not by nature a "joiner," and the club process (go to some meetings, join up, fly with some people, etc) doesn't fit my Type A personality. My messages to club info email addresses info@blahblah go unanswered, or the people who've responded are like, yeah, sure, come to a meeting, which I didn't feel was very inviting.

My experience with finding a place to learn wave has been similar.

So my current plan is to buy a used SLMG and start flying.

Any thoughts or ideas please let me know.

--bob

--
Dan Marotta