Forum: Civil and General Aviation

CrewdawgDC wrote:

Some airlines don't accept glider time though...just be aware.

The nice thing is though that you don't have to have hundreds of hours in sailplanes to learn the basics. I think I learned spins in my first few hours. Plus you get to learn about ground effect which can save your butt in a power out landing. I've also seen powered guys crash trying to reach a runway when there was a perfectly good grass or fallow field to land in. Too many guys also try to stretch a power out landing by pulling back on the stick.

All of that is stuff you can learn in the first 20 hours of flying sailplanes. IMHO 20 hours of sailplanes should be mandatory for everyone getting a private pilots license. Pick any 10 NTSB crash reports for light aircraft and you will find a handful that wouldn't have happened if the pilots had received some basics in sailplanes.

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If you have a good instructor, you can learn all the basics in 20 hours in a powered aircraft too. If you pick those same 10 NTSB crash reports...it's always STUPID stuff the pilot did. Sailplanes are boring as heck if you ask me...other than aerobatics that is. That's fun. But if 20 hours was required, I know a lot of people who wouldn't be flying anymore, including me. It's a waste if your goals are airlines. Well, not a waste, but it's not needed. You just need a good CFI, and good study habits.

You don't need hundreds of hours to learn the basic in powered aircraft. Spins aren't required, though they should be and I surely want all my students to experience them before I sign them off. Also, ground effect is something private pilots of powered aircraft should understand as well...and it should be part of the pre-solo written. It is at my flight school, and all the students can explain it before they are signed off to take it up by themself.

PS, JR007... I'm not a dude... there's a couple females on this site. Very Happy

And don't get me wrong, taildraggers are fun to fly, and require good skills...but no more than flying a tricycle. That's all I was saying.

Cheers though.

Sorry Miss I'll go back and edit that post to "Dudette". Embarassed

You know it's a southern thang. And the Dawg definitely had me steering the wrong direction. Wink

JR

CrewdawgDC wrote:

If you have a good instructor, you can learn all the basics in 20 hours in a powered aircraft too. If you pick those same 10 NTSB crash reports...it's always STUPID stuff the pilot did. Sailplanes are boring as heck if you ask me...other than aerobatics that is. That's fun. But if 20 hours was required, I know a lot of people who wouldn't be flying anymore, including me. It's a waste if your goals are airlines. Well, not a waste, but it's not needed. You just need a good CFI, and good study habits.

You don't need hundreds of hours to learn the basic in powered aircraft. Spins aren't required, though they should be and I surely want all my students to experience them before I sign them off. Also, ground effect is something private pilots of powered aircraft should understand as well...and it should be part of the pre-solo written. It is at my flight school, and all the students can explain it before they are signed off to take it up by themself.

Well it takes more skill to be a good sailplane pilot than a powered one. You just have an engine to keep you airborne and one to fix your mistakes when you botch an approach. Apparently you didn't grasp the finesse of it and there are thousands of military/airline pilots out there that would disagree with you that it is boring and would driuve people away.

But it does sound like you are well on your way to getting the right elitist pilot attitude. There are old pilots and bold pilots - but no old bold pilots. And thinking you know it all leads to smoking holes. And I've had more friends dead from that attitude than I care to remember.

Forum: Civil and General Aviation

Starting Aircraft