Glider Ad on Rating

Jason Stephens said:
Thanks to Bijan for the referral. David, I own and operate Arizona Soaring inc near Phoenix. We are, as Bijan mentioned, the largest glider training school in the US. About 2/3 of our clients are doing some sort of "add-on" rating(Pvt, Com or CFIG). We are just one of several quality schools around the country plus there are some clubs that also do a good job of training. Many of our clients are club members from around the country and choose to train with us. Some advantages to working with a professional school such as ourselves are:
1. Being able to fly as much as you want.
2. Escape to a nicer climate during the winter months.
3. Availability of FAA Examiners, instructors and aircraft.
4. Being able to learn from instructors that teach in gliders every day.
As with choosing any school, it is important to find a school that has a good reputation, safety record and availability that fits your schedule.

Glider flying is a blast. I'm certain that you will enjoy the training process, learn some great skills, and meet some wonderful people too.
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Jason I may have been already in contact with you via email. I have to check and see.

I think I really want to try on a new kind of flying. I hope your a friendly operation because I’m really tired on the two fbos at my location I rent from.
 
evapilotaz said:
I think I really want to try on a new kind of flying.
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Definitely different. Definitely addictive. Definitely will give you a new skill set and possibly improve upon your current skills. My landings were greatly improved after my first few flights in a glider.

Oh, and no steenkin medical needed either. Not even if you've been declined/revoked.
 
Like the no medical part. Not really have anything concern about. Also I like solo flying the best. Just me and the sky. No passengers to worry about. Not that I don’t like sharing my passion but I just want to escape life for a while.
 
bijanmaleki said:
We have the largest commercial glider operation in the country right here in Phx, people come from around the world to soar in the area. Go check out Soaring AZ at estrella sailport, full time instruction staff, multiple tow planes, huge glider fleet.
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I know several pilots that had added or gotten rating as Estrella, never been there my self by they have excellent reviews by the pilots I know that have went there. I highly recommend them as being reasonably economical and effiecient at helping pilots obtain glider ratings.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
I liked the feel and sound of the air. Feel a bump, hear the vario change pitch, turn back into it. Listen to the wind noises change with airspeed. Put it into a stall and hear trains go by a mile below.

I didn't like that I couldn't just bail out of work on a nice day and fly like I can in an airplane.
 
Clark1961 said:
Cross countries might be interesting.

Landing out might would get you a headline or three.
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Haven't made any headlines yet, but have had the fire department and ambulance visit my land out site. Mostly they just watched me eat my sandwich while I was waiting for my crew to come get me:). Well of course I showed them the glider and explained that it was just a normal landing that didn't happen to me at an airport.

Brian
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Out of curiosity, rough ballpark figure, how long would it take for a CFI-G add on?
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Hi Greg. The Private and Commercial add-ons are a pretty typical bell-curve and are easy to give time and cost estimates. The CFI-G is not so easy. We see much more variation among CFI-G applicants, both add-on and initial, than any other ratings by far. The two main factors are 1.Total Glider Experience and 2. Teaching experience. Generally speaking, for an add-on CFI-G you would expect to need 5-7 days total and a cost somewhere in the $1200-2000 range. Some applicants need a lot of refinement of their flying skills(which adds $) while others can focus more on the ground school. Everyone is different so we just tailor the training to the individual client as needed. Exams usually last the day and the Examiner cost is not included in the estimates above. We do about 7-10 CFIG exams each year.
 
I know a few people from my club who did add-on ratings at AZ Soaring and they were pleased. I can think of two who did their initial CFIG ratings there too.
 
brcase said:
Haven't made any headlines yet, but have had the fire department and ambulance visit my land out site. Mostly they just watched me eat my sandwich while I was waiting for my crew to come get me:). Well of course I showed them the glider and explained that it was just a normal landing that didn't happen to me at an airport.

Brian
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Do you realize I was responding to someone about flying a glider on an island? The island looks like it averages about 5 to 6 miles wide maybe 30 miles long. Avg rainfall is about 90 inches a year so lots of foliage.
 
skier said:
I've started to do the add-on twice. Both times I got fed-up with it. I would spend all weekend at the club and be lucky to get .9 hours (3 tows). The rest of the time was spent sitting on the ground waiting/helping with launches. On top of that the cost for the tows and the sled ride down (I think I only had one flight where we caught a thermal for a few minutes) ended up costing more than renting a C-172. The cost didn't bother me as much as the wasted time. If I'm going to spend that much time away from my family for aviation, I want to actually be in the air. It's kind of fun, but there are a lot of things in aviation that I've enjoyed more. Seaplanes for one. Autogyros would be a close second.
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My experience precisely. I showed up to a glider club early on a Sunday, and after several hours gave up and went home. Perhaps in my retirement.
 
steingar said:
My experience precisely. I showed up to a glider club early on a Sunday, and after several hours gave up and went home. Perhaps in my retirement.
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You guys should come and see us if you're in the Houston area


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Matthew said:
Training costs in a club can add up. Cost to join, dues, and rental rates are pretty much the same for all members, but for students the flights can add up quickly. No such thing as a touch and go, so for a student to get the repetition that's needed it's not uncommon to get a half dozen flights per lesson. Add a tow fee for each trip.

Once you get that rating you can do a lot of soaring (if you are good enough and conditions are right) on a single tow.

If you have your PP already, clubs are always looking for tow pilots.
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Our pattern tows are $19 per, $15 for Tow, $4 for the glider. Club rate.
 
Shepherd said:
I haven't flown a glider since 1987, so I decided to get current again.

I flew 35 minutes to the glider field to find out they only fly on weekends.
I flew 35 minutes home.
Logged 1 hour and 10 minutes, so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Weekend only? what's up with that?
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Most of us in clubs still have full time jobs.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Out of curiosity, rough ballpark figure, how long would it take for a CFI-G add on?
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All ready have a Commercial Glider? Not long at all. Can you still perform all commercial glider maneuvers to standards? Know how to teach the maneuver and know the common student failure or problem areas on those maneuvers.
Add-on instructor to Airplane CFI, 25 question written test.
 
BillTIZ said:
Our pattern tows are $19 per, $15 for Tow, $4 for the glider. Club rate.
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I think our club rental for the 2-33 might have been a couple dollars higher but that sounds about right. After about 6 pattern tows at about 0.2(?), around $100+ per day? Then figure about 6-8 hrs of ground crewing. Can make for a long weekend.
 
Cross country soaring is the best thing I've ever done in aviation and always will be. I earned my glider and power ratings at about the same time but can't remember which was first. I've since moved on but will always consider myself primarily a soaring pilot and racer.

Gliding is just takeoffs and landings with some very enjoyable floating around the sky. Soaring is where real skills are developed and cross country is where the challenges are found.




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BillTIZ said:
All ready have a Commercial Glider? Not long at all. Can you still perform all commercial glider maneuvers to standards? Know how to teach the maneuver and know the common student failure or problem areas on those maneuvers.
Add-on instructor to Airplane CFI, 25 question written test.
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Didn't know thee was a written involved.

Gonna be awhile before I get back in that saddle again.
 
BillTIZ said:
Our pattern tows are $19 per, $15 for Tow, $4 for the glider. Club rate.
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That sounds like a great rate. Aerotows for the hang glider are $25/per, that is for a tow to 2500agl. Still, I can do three for four tows for what avgas for a burger run would cost.

And even more so than gilders, HG requires good weather conditions to fly. Often, folks set up their gliders and wait half the day (and sometimes all day) for favorable launch conditions. As such, HG is a very social sport, lots of time to hang out and get to know other pilots, gain wisdom from talking to expert fliers, etc. This is a big difference from powered flight, as powered flight is not as social, just get in the plane and go.

And I think this point is lost on some of the above posters who grouse about having to wait around. I’ve had very good days at the flight park even though we didn’t end up flying. Spending the day shooting the **** with other pilots isn’t a bad way to spend the day.

I kind of liken gliding to sailboats and powered planes to powerboats. Enjoying the same medium, vastly different philosophies.

One of these days I need to get up to Chilhowee and do a demo flight in a glider, I’d love to see if any of the training to fly HG behind dragonflys translates.
 
Our club had reduced tow rates for students because of the number of pattern tows that are typically required. I can't remember what a 1000' tow cost for a non-student, but it was probably another $10 or so, and then another $10, or something like that, for every additional 1000' feet.
 
Bill Jennings said:
And even more so than gilders, HG requires good weather conditions to fly. Often, folks set up their gliders and wait half the day (and sometimes all day) for favorable launch conditions. As such, HG is a very social sport, lots of time to hang out and get to know other pilots, gain wisdom from talking to expert fliers, etc. This is a big difference from powered flight, as powered flight is not as social, just get in the plane and go.

And I think this point is lost on some of the above posters who grouse about having to wait around. I’ve had very good days at the flight park even though we didn’t end up flying. Spending the day shooting the **** with other pilots isn’t a bad way to spend the day.

I kind of liken gliding to sailboats and powered planes to powerboats. Enjoying the same medium, vastly different philosophies.

One of these days I need to get up to Chilhowee and do a demo flight in a glider, I’d love to see if any of the training to fly HG behind dragonflys translates.
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Agreed on all counts.

It's been a social sport by necessity given the need for tows and ground handling. With ownership and the self launchers one can be more independent but the social aspect is still a big part of the fun.

For those more interested in scheduling a couple of hours, dropping in and moving on, getting some tailwheel time or flying some acro will probably a better use of your time and money.

Will the HG experience translate to 'enclosed' soaring? I've always thought that takeaway was more about reading and flying the sky rather than piloting the 'craft. But having said that, training in glider acro out at Estrella years ago was a fun trip, and that was all about flying the aircraft.

Coincidently, some friends on FB wanted to know if I'd be interested in splitting the difference in this (it's been around for a few years)
 
evapilotaz said:
Ok I’m waiting for someone to come here and say flying gliders is the best thing In the world
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Sailplanes. they're sailplanes, not gliders.

I have about 25 hours in sailplanes dating back to my college days in the 70s. Never got the rating because i could solo with my ASEL. Nothing compares. Everytime i'm a bit high on final in my 172, i wish i had spoilers.
 
A very cost effective approach is CAP, if there's CAP sailplane ops anywhere near. Big cadet operation and the seniors piggyback on the ops for the rating. In Colorado, we fly out of Boulder and KFLY. Got a launcher at KFLY, IIRC. I've been meaning to get the add on, just haven't had time lately. After the first of the year, my schedule will change, and I'll try again.
 
My club normally operates Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Also Wednesdays for about half the year. But, members can fly any day if they can get a tow pilot (plus any needed ground crew) to show up.
 
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