Gliding or powered..... help?

[nathan_c]

Ok, so heres the situation. Ive started gliding training with the Air force cadets, and I love it. I really do. But im not that far into my training, and I cant get rid of the feeling that I like powered almost as much, and its more convenient. My problem is, I dont know which one I really want to do more...

 

So glidings fun, and I have made some great friends doing it, but its inconvenient in the fact that i fly one or 2 days a month, and get at most 2 flights in a day, and the rest of the day is pushing gliders around and getting others in the air.

 

Powered on the other hand.... So much more is available to me. Convenience in that I would get more flights per day, and I can go alot more often then I can in gliding, but it is more costly.... ALOT more costly...

 

So has anyone gone through this before? Can anyone shed some light? Feel free to turn this thread into a discussion about the pros and cons of both, im sure it would help.

 

 

[farri]

Hi Nathan_Cornwell,

 

When I was instructing,a guy who was in a local gliding club at the time, got his recreational pilot certificate with me,due to very similar reasons to yous.

 

It is difficult to discuss the pros and cons of both,because it is the individuals expectations of the two types of flying that is realy the issue.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest ROM]

There is no shadow of doubt that for ease and speed of learning that power is the way to go.

 

Power is also useful, something that gliding is definitely not.

 

Power is very convenient which gliding is definitely not.

 

Power pilots look at one another's instrument panels.

 

Glider pilots look at the sky and weather.

 

I started in Tigers in 1959 and gliders in 1963.

 

I never had the money to go long distances cross country in power and in my heyday often did 300 to 500 or even 600 kms flights in an arvo in gliding and it did not cost me much, particularly as I owned a part share in a good sailplane.

 

After some well over 2000 plus hours in sailplanes and another 700 or so in power, quite frankly, power flying just bores me spitless after an hour or so.

 

Sometimes I get bored when gliding if it is only local soaring but there is always the next challenge in gliding or the next unexpected situation turns up to keep you right on your toes and if you just happen to be a couple of hundred kilometres from home and the day starts to turn to worms, now that gets your attention as you try to make it home without landing out.

 

There is always the next unusual bit of weather phenomena to try to explore and sometimes there is a huge reward as you calculate right to crack a bit of an unusual weather to achieve soaring in a weather created situation you may have tried many times before to explore.

 

Our Club operates both power in the form of a J120 and a J230 for training and towing as well as a two seat glider for training, a single seater and a self launching sailplane.

 

Gliding here is at a very low ebb exactly because of the inconvenience and the time factor.

 

The Jabs are supporting the club but a couple of new jab pilots have now tried gliding and are becoming keen glider pilots precisely because of the challenges it poses.

 

Since we amalgamated a small sports aviation club and the gliding club 4 years ago, there have been two kit aircraft plus another two under way at the moment in our club and the gliding guys are the ones who are passing on their skills to the kit builders.

 

We now suggest that new pilots get their licenses in the Jabs and then convert to the gliders which is easy to do from the pure flying side of things.

 

That is by far the quickest, most convenient and cheapest route to learning to fly.

 

But gliding teaches you to fly, really fly with all the subtleties that the feel of the air and the sensitivity and feel of the controls can input to you.

 

Without that engine you learn to rely on your senses for so much of your flying and the incentive is there as you will be outperformed by your mates if you don't acquire that sensitivity to the elements.

 

Gliding has a real sense of competitiveness in it as you try to out soar and out perform one another in so many aspects.

 

You can't compete with other power pilots unless it uses more petrol or is bigger and more expensive.

 

Trainee power pilots do miss out on the osmosis side of gliding where long exposure to other more experienced pilots while learning and pushing aircraft around teaches a pupil many subtle items such as reading weather, air sense, safety limits, respect for other pilots and the machines they fly, maintenance and etc and etc.

 

Most of this is taught in power but it is rarely fully absorbed until many tens or even hundreds of hours of flying have been accumulated by a lot of power pilots.

 

For me personally power in short bursts is fun [ can't even afford that for the present as another almost total crop wipe out from drought has crippled us financially ] but my real love is gliding because of the intellectual challenges it presents just to be able to fly and to fly long distances for long durations.

 

There is immense satisfaction felt when you have completed a difficult flight and sometimes equally great frustration when you get shot down due to misreading the conditions.

 

You climb out of a power aircraft and relax and maybe talk about your flight.

 

You climb out of a glider with a real feeling of self satisfaction and a sense of having accomplished something when you have completed a good cross country flight in a glider.

 

It's pretty hard to beat that feeling.

 

 

[facthunter]

Comparison.

 

Similar thing to power boats and sailboats, Prefer the sails every time, but sometimes there is NO wind. Nev

 

 

[Guest Juliette Lima]

Nathan,

 

Similar experiences impact very differently on individuals.....So here are a few of my thoughts,

 

Some of my most MAGICAL flying moments were experienced in gliders....these moved me at the time and will live with me forever....not so powered. I did however fly from Lake Keepit, and 5 hour plus flights were the norm between late october and early May.

 

You won't escape the 'ground activities' until you get your own glider, and even then, decency dictates an amount of contribution to helping fellow flyers get into the air before you go away for the day.

 

Non-powrerd flight teaches never to be forgotten stick and rudder skills. As your hours build, try to become really proficient at flying in strong thermal conditions at fairly steep angles and a few knots above stall.....flying and reaction to the air you are in(or lack of it) becomes second nature.

 

There must be a reason why some airforces insist on trainees being proficient glider pilots before commencing power flight training.

 

Cheers and get thermalling.

 

JL

 

 

[youngmic]

Nathan,

 

If a military aviation career is what you are chasing, it used to be they encouraged gliding but not powered.

 

Times may have changed but might be worth looking into.

 

 

[nathan_c]

Thanks or your replies guys.

 

I would have replied earlier, but I have been away for the last 10 days without the internet. From what everyone seems to be saying, gliding is the more rewarding type of flying, so I am going to try and push on with that. I met a gliding friend the other day who about 3 months ago, we were at the same level in gliding skill, and hes been flying, I havnt, so now hes solo. I guess thats what money does to you though.

 

Anyway, thanks again for the replies..

 

Nathan

 

 

[Guest Juliette Lima]

Hi Nathan,

 

Hang in, and I guarantee you that when you first soar (thermal) from 2000 ft to 10000 ft on your own, you will experience euphoria....

 

Greetings

 

JL

 

 

[Guest L/D]

Power pilots look at one another's instrument panels.

Glider pilots look at the sky and weather.

Precisely. If only everyone looked out of the window, instead of panels chocker block with the latest gizmo's.

 

My suggestion would be, learn to fly gliders, it will teach you how to land and fly proper circuits and also teach you what your feet are supposed to be used for. Then switch to power if you want, or better still, get a glider with an engine.

 

 

[Guest keeffe]

Ok, so heres the situation. Ive started gliding training with the Air force cadets, and I love it. I really do. But im not that far into my training, and I cant get rid of the feeling that I like powered almost as much, and its more convenient. My problem is, I dont know which one I really want to do more... So glidings fun, and I have made some great friends doing it, but its inconvenient in the fact that i fly one or 2 days a month, and get at most 2 flights in a day, and the rest of the day is pushing gliders around and getting others in the air.

 

Powered on the other hand.... So much more is available to me. Convenience in that I would get more flights per day, and I can go alot more often then I can in gliding, but it is more costly.... ALOT more costly...

 

So has anyone gone through this before? Can anyone shed some light? Feel free to turn this thread into a discussion about the pros and cons of both, im sure it would help.

My suggestion would be, learn to fly gliders, it will teach you how to land and fly proper circuits and also teach you what your feet are supposed to be used for. Then switch to power if you want, or better still, get a glider with an engine.

 

Nathan, I started to fly gliders (once) until I found out how expensive it is. The cost of a club can be over $1000 then your GFA membership on top of that. compare that to RAA and your looking at $160 PA then the cost of your flying. If you buy a plane it gets very cheap to fly with RAA.

 

Once you do learn to fly, you will be flying around in circles. Not for me personally as I like to go places when I want to, and don't find that very appealing.

 

Towed gliders seem to be a thing of the past as self launchers take over. Unless your very well off a self launching glider might be out of reach. Comparatively you could buy a nice little single seat LSA for less than $5000 dollars, where you can fly when and where ever you like.

 

Die hards will tell you that gliding will make you a better pilot, I was taught in a drifter Which is an entirely different animal and I was able to fly a glider with no trouble at all. So I think it all comes down to your training and your outlook to be the best possible airman you can be.

 

To round up, for me it's all about dollars and cents. If you want convenience and a cost effective form of flying that can take you places then RAA is the way to go. But if money and time is no object than just do both.

 

Michael

 

THE DEGREE OF SURVIVAL IS EQUAL TO THE ANGLE OF ARRIVAL.