Attn Tony Condon: Glider flying

[Greg Bockelman]

Tony, what does it take to get a PPL glider? Can it be done in a weekend? What about commercial? I feel like I am losing my mind.

 

[SCCutler]

Tony, what does it take to get a PPL glider? Can it be done in a weekend? What about commercial? I feel like I am losing my mind.

You may be doing just that, Greg... but we all still think you're pretty cool.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Til the expert appears in person, I will say I looked into it seriously a few years ago. I decided you probably could do it on a long weekend if:
-you could find a glider operation that was geared up for this
-you could find a cfig and associated d.e. who were likewise motivated and with free time
-not one significant mechanical problem can happen
-you were very motivated and above average stick yourself
-you did all the studying before getting there
-you don't mind 'crash' courses and their downsides (poor retention etc)

I decided to just fly over every weekend and afternoon off and had a much better time.

 

[gismo]

I think it (PPL) could be done in a (long) weekend if the weather cooperated. The biggest issue might be getting a DE for the checkride. I took about a month to get mine done but that was at a soaring club where I usually only got about two flights per day and I only flew on weekends. My checkride was done in MVFR conditions (1300 ft ceiling 3-5 mile vis) and only took about an hour including the oral! I think you'd have to go with a commercial outfit though, typically club rules and other issues would make it tough there.


There's a very good outfit at KFBL (just south of Minneapolis) and I'd bet they could pull it off (baring weather issues). Tony and Matt know the owner/CFI pretty well.

The requirements for PPL glider are only 3 hrs of flight time in gliders, 10 solo flights, and 3 training flights. It shouldn't take you much longer than that if you have formation experience or can pick it up quickly (being on two is pretty close to formation flying in trail).

CPL glider is pretty much out of the question for one weekend (even one week would be pretty tough) unless you can travel back in time to get more than 24hrs per day.

 

[MauleSkinner]

As Lance and Dave indicated...it COULD be done.

You'd have to check the current requirements...when I did mine, the private add-on required enough dual to solo, 10 solo flights, an endorsement and checkride. The Commercial add-on required 20 solo flights. No written required, since I was power-rated at the appropriate levels when I did them.

What you CAN'T do if you do it in a weekend is any soaring flight of any significance...you're basically going to have to do the basic maneuvers, solos amounting to not much more than traffic patterns, the recommendation ride and checkride. You'd have the rating, but you wouldn't really be worth anything as a glider pilot.

...and it wouldn't be NEARLY as much fun!

OTOH, something like a subsequent ground-launch endorsement can be done fairly quickly...a weekend is generally more than adequate if it's coordinated properly.

Fly safe!

David