A few newbie questions about the sport

At 16:23 21 September 2018, Scott Manley wrote:
Paul T

My replies are embedded in your message below.

=20
=20
Yeah at great expense to myself, sorry but I cannot afford to
make=20
transantlantic telephone calls

I had no idea you were international. I assumed you were within the
U.S.
a=
nd simply offered the usual ways of communicating. Now that I know
you
are=
international, and assuming you are still interested in my opinions on
the=
subject, I would suggest you download and install Skype. It costs
nothing=
to install and nothing to use. My Skype ID is "scooter.manley". You
woul=
d need to send me a contact request that I would accept, allowing us
to
com=
municate via Skype.

- there was no accusatory tone - asked a=20
simple question that's all=20

Over my ten plus years of advocating for the use of flight simulation to
im=
prove glider flight training using computer-based software (Condor),
the
id=
ea has been met with various levels of passive resistance. My
experience
=
has been that when someone asks for "evidence", they are more likely
lookin=
g to refute my claims than looking for information. So forgive me for
bein=
g gun-shy.

dont see why that can't be answered. Think=20
you are getting a bit oversensitiveness and reading things into
things=20
that aren't there .

Guilty. =20

My reluctance to respond on a public forum is based on your
experience
aski=
ng a question on a public forum. =20

The guy stated this was his business

Pretty sure I didn't state that.

and made some=20
claims in a public forum -

While it might be "assumed" by my post that the flight training
services I
=
provide are my business, they are not. I do not solicit nor have I ever
ac=
cepted offers of payment for the services I provide. The training
resource=
s I have developed and make available on my website (gliderCFI.com)
are
fre=
e for the taking. I do not even ask for attribution. I do what I do for
t=
he good of the sport. I ask only to be taken seriously. =20

I merely asked if he had any evidence for that

Nothing that could be considered irrefutable, only my perception of my
expe=
rience with the 70 or so folks I have trained over the last 10-12 years.
M=
any of those folks are happy to back up my claims with their
testimony.=20
=20
and what the average time saving was - surely a simple answer like'
in=20
my experience for the 50 students that have used this method -
the=20
average student can save 2 -4 hours on R/L training' would have=20
answered the question - cannot see why that is so hard to do?

The answer is not as simple as you would imagine, but I'll give it a
shot.

Time savings:
In one sense, simulation-based trainees will spend considerably more
time
(=
often orders of magnitude more) performing and perfecting their flight
skil=
ls than do aircaft-based trainees. For example, it is possible in
simulati=
on to perform 20-30 crosswind landings in the span of one hour.
Compare
th=
at to the time needed to acquire that same level of experience in an
actual=
aircraft. While the brains of aircraft-based trainees may have 10-30
hour=
s of flight experience upon earning their rating, the brains of
simulation-=
based trainees will have hundreds of hours of experience.

In simulation, there is no time spent waiting around for your chance to
fly=
..

If the training is done at-a-distance (over the internet) there is no
trave=
l time to/from the airport.

Simulation-based training is not limited to the available days/hours of
ope=
ration of a club or commercial operation. It can be done any time of
the
d=
ay, any day of the week, any month of the year, and with student and
instru=
ctor anywhere in the world.

I could go on, but this post is already running long, and long posts are
an=
noying.

Cost savings:
Computer-based flight training costs next to nothing and pales in
compariso=
n to the costs of conducting aircraft-based flight training. If you are
lo=
oking to provide low-cost flight training, as you describe below, you
can't=
beat simulation.

=3D=3D=3D

For more of my thoughts on the use of flight simulation to improve
glider
f=
light training (and so you don't even have to install Skype and talk to
me)=
, I would encourage you to read the 26 articles I wrote for Soaring
Magazin=
e over the span of 4.5 years. They are available on my website under
the
"=
Condor/Condor Corner" drop-down menu.

Respectfully submitted for your consideration. =20


=20
If you wish to know the reason for this - is that I with some friends
are=
=20
thinking of establishing a gliding club in Bulgaria - Bulgaria is one
of
the=20
poorest countries in the EU - we would like to establish a club that
the
=
a
=20
person on an average income can afford to fly - average incomes are
low=
=20
in Bulgaria @ 400euro/month - so any money savings saved in
training=20
would be beneficial and it may pay to use a simulator in the
training=20
syllabus.



Thank you Scott - apologies about the misunderstanding about being
your business and for maybe my phrasing of the original question - I
shall read the articles and be in touch on 'Skype'. I am genuinely
interested to know what time/cost savings this type of training can
make.