Advice on returning to Soaring after over 20 years

I returned to soaring after a 15 year hiatus from flying gliders and 6 years since I had flown anything. Soaring and the avionics had changed much, for the better. The other change was significantly less private pilots flying on the weekend. Get a good instructor (much easier in soaring than power planes
) aand fly often as possible.

On Thursday, November 16, 2017 at 6:33:13 AM UTC-8, Michael wrote:
I am finally returning to Soaring after over 20 years, I earned a Private Glider rating in '91 and had @175 flights in 2-33/1-26 and a Private Power rating in '92 and 350hrs.
My goal: Regain currency/proficiency and purchase a standard class non-flapped glider.
Specifically I was looking for advice/opinions on how best to proceed to that goal in a short time frame (140 days)

Question 1: Is it unrealistic to train 2-3 flights a day twice or even 3 times a week?
Question 2: Start out in 2-33 or pay a little more for ASK/Grob from the start? (both options are available to me)

In the next @140 days I would like to get to 60 or more flights.

This year I returned to soaring after 30 years (I had got my license at the age of 16 and quit when I was 20). As others have mentioned already you don’t forget what you learned when you we were young. What helped me a lot, though, was practicing on the Condor Soaring simulator before I started for real. If you go that route you have to get rudder pedals so you practice coordination. A head tracker is invaluable, too, so you can look around like you do in real life. Some things are actually harder in Condor, especially flying aerotows and landings. But I had mastered it and started to actively flew competitions as a member of the Condor Club, which is also a lot of fun. That’s great cross country practice and you really learn thermal centering, ridge flying, speed management, etc. I had about 100 hours on the simulator when I got back into a real glider. From the first flight it was like second nature. I had my license back after 5 days and was flying several five-hour cross country flights the next week. I doubt any of that would have been anywhere near as easy had I not the simulator practice. It would also have cost a lot more money. You might invest $300 in a good simulator setup, that’s way cheaper than re-gaining an equivalent experience in a real plane.

On Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 6:00:34 AM UTC+3, Clemens Ceipek wrote:
What helped me a lot, though, was practicing on the Condor Soaring simulator before I started for real. If you go that route you have to get rudder pedals so you practice coordination.

Condor is great. At our club if time & manpower permits we put trial flight people into a real glider cockpit (from a crashed Cirrus) with Condor hooked to the real controls and a huge TV for a few minutes. It improves what they get out of a 15 or 20 minute initial flight a lot.

For myself at home, I find that a gaming joystick with twist for the rudder works fine, both for turn coordination in the air and things like dealing with crosswinds on the ground.

On Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 8:11:54 PM UTC-7, Bruce Hoult wrote:
On Sunday, November 19, 2017 at 6:00:34 AM UTC+3, Clemens Ceipek wrote:
What helped me a lot, though, was practicing on the Condor Soaring simulator before I started for real. If you go that route you have to get rudder pedals so you practice coordination.

Condor is great. At our club if time & manpower permits we put trial flight people into a real glider cockpit (from a crashed Cirrus) with Condor hooked to the real controls and a huge TV for a few minutes. It improves what they get out of a 15 or 20 minute initial flight a lot.

For myself at home, I find that a gaming joystick with twist for the rudder works fine, both for turn coordination in the air and things like dealing with crosswinds on the ground.

I visited a club recently with one of the Mach 0.1 setups. At least a couple of the instructors are using it with students. $8US/hour for the simulator, which seems a sensible price when you think about it.

Frank Whiteley

I am surprised that in all the replies nobody has mentioned the
phrase that I kept being told when I returned to gliding after a
long break - “We don’t do it that way any more�.

Pre-takeoff checks, CBSIFTCB. No, it is now CBSIFTCBE.

Raise my index finger and call “take up slack�. No, not any more.

Religiously comply with the maximum winch launch speed at all
times. Not any more. Now extra speed is accepted/preferred
during the initial part of the launch. 15 knots above the placard
speed is not a problem.

Once the glider is established in the climb, keep pulling the stick
back to maintain 50 knots or 48 knots if you are really trying for
maximum height. No, we DEFINITELY do not do that any more.

Flying the circuit, turn 90 degrees from downwind to base leg.
No, now it is two 45 degree turns.

All gliders were moved by hand, now they are towed. Gliders
were landed back at the launch point, aiming for two or three
wingspans from any glider waiting for a launch. Launches were
not delayed by gliders overruning the launch point.

To achieve a fast launch rate, the strop / weak link was not
changed between launches - K21, K13 and Ka8 were all launched
using the same weak link. We DEFINITELY do not do that any more.

A downwind landing was frowned upon. Now it is an acceptable
option following a failed launch or other contingency.

What other changes to procedures have returning pilots noticed?

On Sun, 19 Nov 2017 19:23:27 +0100, John wrote:

Dunflyin wrote:

I am surprised that in all the replies nobody has mentioned the phrase
that I kept being told when I returned to gliding after a long break -
“We don’t do it that way any moreâ€?.

Pre-takeoff checks, CBSIFTCB. No, it is now CBSIFTCBE.

Raise my index finger and call “take up slackâ€?. No, not any
more.

Religiously comply with the maximum winch launch speed at all times.
Not any more. Now extra speed is accepted/preferred during the initial
part of the launch. 15 knots above the placard speed is not a problem.

Once the glider is established in the climb, keep pulling the stick back
to maintain 50 knots or 48 knots if you are really trying for maximum
height. No, we DEFINITELY do not do that any more.

Flying the circuit, turn 90 degrees from downwind to base leg.
No, now it is two 45 degree turns.

All gliders were moved by hand, now they are towed. Gliders were landed
back at the launch point, aiming for two or three wingspans from any
glider waiting for a launch. Launches were not delayed by gliders
overruning the launch point.

To achieve a fast launch rate, the strop / weak link was not changed
between launches - K21, K13 and Ka8 were all launched using the same
weak link. We DEFINITELY do not do that any more.

A downwind landing was frowned upon. Now it is an acceptable option
following a failed launch or other contingency.

What other changes to procedures have returning pilots noticed?

It costs more.

Gliders have a lot of electronic kit.

Your airfield is under pressure from from "developers" who want to turn
it into a housing estate or a "retail opportunity".

Your club has a Child Protection Officer.

Some of the private gliders have jet engines while others have two-bladed
folding props on each side of their nose.

The flying list at the launch point has been replaced by a booking system.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

"Pilots" now want cell phone mounts and cup holders.

On 11/19/2017 11:50 AM, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 19 Nov 2017 19:23:27 +0100, John wrote:

Dunflyin wrote:

I am surprised that in all the replies nobody has mentioned the phrase
that I kept being told when I returned to gliding after a long break -
“We don’t do it that way any moreâ€?.

Pre-takeoff checks, CBSIFTCB. No, it is now CBSIFTCBE.

Raise my index finger and call “take up slackâ€?. No, not any
more.
Religiously comply with the maximum winch launch speed at all times.
Not any more. Now extra speed is accepted/preferred during the initial
part of the launch. 15 knots above the placard speed is not a problem.

Once the glider is established in the climb, keep pulling the stick back
to maintain 50 knots or 48 knots if you are really trying for maximum
height. No, we DEFINITELY do not do that any more.

Flying the circuit, turn 90 degrees from downwind to base leg.
No, now it is two 45 degree turns.

All gliders were moved by hand, now they are towed. Gliders were landed
back at the launch point, aiming for two or three wingspans from any
glider waiting for a launch. Launches were not delayed by gliders
overruning the launch point.

To achieve a fast launch rate, the strop / weak link was not changed
between launches - K21, K13 and Ka8 were all launched using the same
weak link. We DEFINITELY do not do that any more.

A downwind landing was frowned upon. Now it is an acceptable option
following a failed launch or other contingency.

What other changes to procedures have returning pilots noticed?
It costs more.

Gliders have a lot of electronic kit.

Your airfield is under pressure from from "developers" who want to turn
it into a housing estate or a "retail opportunity".

Your club has a Child Protection Officer.
Some of the private gliders have jet engines while others have two-bladed
folding props on each side of their nose.

The flying list at the launch point has been replaced by a booking system.



--
Dan, 5J