Extending new pilot comfort zone?

Tom -

There's already been a ton of great info posted and I encourage you to
read and try just about all of it (there's no reason not to, and the
more prepared you can be, the less your fears will control you)...

I just got into XC soaring 3 years ago, so let me offer a couple of
other suggestions that no one's mentioned yet:

1) The book you're talking about is reportedly a good one (I haven't
read it yet) - but I found 3 books from Bob Wander to be HUGELY
helpful before I went XC: Breaking The Apron Strings, The Cross
Country Manual, and Thermals. All 3 are from his "Gliding Mentor"
series and are very good.

2) GlidePlan was mentioned. This is a fine tool, but I do area
familiarization and pre-flight planning on paper charts (even though I
fly with XCSoar or LK8000 on a PDA in my cockpit). Paper charts are
easy to write on and set up "glide circles". The idea is that you
pick airports and points along your route and draw concentric rings
around them showing what altitude you need to be at, in order to make
a safe final glide & landing to the airport from that ring/distance
(with a safety factor). The whole procedure is explained in various
books (including one of the 3 I mentioned above). Doing this is a
great exercise and makes it easy to do the "airport to airport"
flights that others have described.

3) I did not do 2-seater cross-country flights to get started. What I
did do was wait for a strong weather day, and then go up on a "lead
and follow" flight with an experienced and trusted pilot - he in his
glider and me in a club ship (with similar performance envelopes). We
discussed the flight ahead of time, and set clear expectations about
how we would communicate in the air, and how I would leave and return
to the airport if I started to be uncomfortable. It was great because
I could focus on safety, orientation (knowing how to get home), and
working the thermals as we encountered them. My buddy was the one
reading the sky and determining the safest path and sniffing out the
thermals - lightening the load on me (although we made sure to have a
constant dialogue so that I wasn't blindly following him; I knew when
he was taking bigger chances). We stuck within 1/2 mile (or less) of
each other the entire flight and had an amazing time. I've gone on
flights that are a whole lot longer, but few were as fun as that
flight. One note: If you're going to chat on the radio a lot with
someone, be sure to pick an open radio frequency so you don't clog up
the main freq that your club or airport uses. :-)

4) I mentioned the "Thermals" book for a reason. Don't discount
thermals & weather information! The #1 key to successful XC flying is
your ability to find & *maximize* lift! Anyone can climb in a 7-
knotter. EVERY XC pilot will eventually encounter a 1-knot thermal
that they *need* in order to make it home. Practice to able to use
those 1-knotters! Learn how to safely fly in tight banked circles
with excellent speed control (Condor can really help with this
practice). Don't ever get complacent - work the lift, don't just ride
around in it. Make it a challenge and try to have fun with it; and
don't get discouraged - this is a life-long pursuit and a continuous
adventure!

Best of luck,

--Noel
P.S. If you're using Condor with the attitude that you're always
trying to improve (not just as a game), you'll be amazed at how much
of the skillset transfers over! The one trap I worry about with
Condor folks (myself included) is that you can neglect your visual
scan. Drill yourself and don't get complacent with your scanning,
like so many many glider pilots do!