New Student Advice

On 3/28/2016 8:28 AM, Reuben Bakker wrote:
I'm beginning my soaring journey. Have visited the gliderport twice
(Bermuda High Soaring in Jefferson, South Carolina). Supposed to go up
this Saturday for the first time if the weather cooperates.

I did ground school and a few hours in a 172 about 6 years ago, and I've
been up in a glider once about 15 years ago. I'm 35 now. Aviation has
always been a passion of mine but life has kept me busy and I haven't been
able to fulfill my dreams... Hoping to change that now. Goal is to get my
glider license and become the best pilot I can be, continuing on to powered
planes and hopefully a commercial rating (and beyond). The more I learn
about gliders though the more I can see sticking with it long term, as well
as the many benefits of learning to fly via this route.

Just wanted to say hi, and if you have any advice or things you wish you
had known when you were starting out, let me know!


Congratulations on finding the sport, making a wise decision...and welcome!
Soaring: it'll change your life, and *you* get to control whether for the
better or not!

I haven't seen any dubious advice offered to-date, but I'd like to second
agcatflyr's sentiments. Stating what he's already advised you, but in a
different manner, "useful soaring performance" lies (far) less in the glider
you fly than it does inside your head, and anyone who tries to tell you
otherwise is really admitting they haven't learned a very basic truism of the
activity. You'll grow your soaring/flight skills most rapidly, safely and
"funly" by flying every opportunity you can, in whatever ship(s) are most
available and most affordable to you, L/D be hanged! Moreover, every single
one of the skills (judgment and mechanical) you learn from soaring
participation will carry directly over to future fixed-wing power flying,
while the reverse isn't true.

I'd also encourage you to join the Soaring Society of America (if you haven't
already - you're not yet present in their member database). Though disparaged
by some soaring nuts (not me!), its monthly magazine has been a font of
enjoyment and knowledge for me for (gasp) over 40 years. Membership also
offers you - among other things - electronic access to essentially all (but a
few recent years' worth) of back issues of "Soaring" magazine, a *tremendous*
resource!!!

My only wish when I began was that I'd learned of the sport earlier! (I was
just out of college.)

Just out of curiosity, how did you learn of RAS? You'll find that it
(presently) seems "inhabited" (in the routinely-posting sense of things)
mostly by "somewhat experienced" sailplane pilots, but I gather may be
relatively regularly visited by all skill levels of "lurkers." Feel free to
post bearing in mind the underlying principle that there isn't any such thing
as a silly/dumb question! Or, simply to exult in new-found joy...

Bob W.