Gliding in the US

On 10/6/2010 7:10 AM, Rob Shepherd wrote:
I recently spent a short time in Breckenridge Co. and was not only amazed
at how good the sky looked for gliding but the total absence of gliding
facilities in the area.

It then got me thinking that as I travel alot in the US, how does a UK
pilot go about flying in the US?

Cheers
Rob


For power pilots, the situation is straight-forward: apply for an FAA
license on the basis of a UK one. But the UK one has to be *KEPT* in
force. (I flew on the basis of a UK license for many years - until
the FAA tightened up on things this year - when they changed from paper
to plastic certificates. It's not usually practical to renew the UK
medical for a US resident, and a US medical - it turns out - is not
equivalent.) Still I flew a US license from scratch in a month,
including the ground test, and I suppose you could too, at some point.)

But for soaring, you can't just rent so easily, and you might not want
to buy...

Brian W