New to Soaring and Gliders

Hello,

I am new to soaring and live in Florida. I just joined the TBSS Tampa Bay Soaring Society. And went for my introductory flight yesterday. It was awesome! I start my flight training next Saturday, and very excited. My CFI asked me to pick up two books from Mr. Knauff Web-Site which I purchased last night online. And also recommended 'Soaring Flight Manual' from SSA. But haven't been able to obtain do to the server being down. Are there any other links to this book? Any advice from this group to a new trainee, or URL's would be fantastic.

Firstly listen to your CFI.. Secondly insist on spin training and Acro if your CFI is up for it.

For books get 'beginning gliding' by Derek Piggot available from amazon.com

Buy a plane as soon as you can, its cheeper than renting if you plan on flying over 60hours a year.

Al

Carl,

Welcome to the world of soaring.

WARNING: Prepare for one heck of an addiction!

Some URL's for soaring stuff:
www.wingsandwheels.com (One heck of a toy store) www.bobwander.com www.soarmn.com/cumulus/index.htm www.126association.org/indexstart.htm www.yorksoaring.com/whatissoaring.html?main2=wis1.html

Ray Lovinggood Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

At 22:06 18 August 2002, Carl Buehler wrote:

THE classic book on Gliding is 'Gliding' by Derek Piggott. Suggest you start with that.

George Emsden

<<And also recommended 'Soaring Flight Manual' from SSA.>>

Carl,

Welcome to Soaring. As mentioned in previous responses to your post...be prepared for a heck of an addiction!

As for the SSA book,my personal opinion,....obtain the books your CFI recommends, AND follow the advice of the others already mentioned. There are a great many great books out on Soaring. The book from the SSA is a bit limited, but it does contain a lot of information those learning need/want to know.

This book is the one the FAA bases its written tests on. It is the one most often cited as the source by the FAA. It is therefore important to have it. It is entirely possible to read only this one book and pass the written test. However it is not really a 'flight manual' but a Ground School Manual.

Stick with what your CFI tells you. There are many, many books out there on soaring and glider flying, some good, some very bad. It takes experience to know the difference. You get that by flying and learning from more experienced pilots.

It is possible to have information overload now by reading too many books, very few of which agree with each other. Conflicting information is not what you need now.

We all want to help newcomers like yourself but for now your CFI is the one you need to listen to most of all.

Robert Mudd CFI A/G

Thanks Everyone,

I will look into obtaining the books you mentioned. And thanks for the URL,s. One good thing about joining TBSS and getting the Life-time Membership is that We do not pay for glider rental. But I do plan on trying to buy my own glider as soon as I can. but you do get sticker shock checking out some of the new gliders. One that seems nice is the Blanik L33 Solo? Of course I fell in love with the Genesis 2 the first time I laid eyes on it. but thats a little out of my price range. But I have had people mention that there are some Loan companies out there that do finance gliders? Any good links for buying gliders?

Prepare to become an amateur meteorologist, the things you will learn about the atmosphere will astound you. Big billowing cumulus clouds will become your friends, lenticulars will fill you with awe, all winds and gusts will be intimate companions. Weather information will be your new daily business report, listing all the leading economic indicators, you will try to see what can't be seen, only hinted at, even when your not flying.

CP

Carl, welcome!

Check out http://home.attbi.com/~verhulst/GBSC/read_lst/read_lst.htm for info on books and stuff.

Tony V. CFIG

Another good site is: www.gliderpilot.net :o)

Regards,

Andy