FAQs

If there are any knowledge areas that you don't feel you fully understand, or any flight maneuvers that you struggle with, then you will probably benefit from the material in these books.

Several years ago when I was the flight instructor for the Youth Soaring Academy, my students were often dismayed by the stack of books that they were required to buy and read.  Even though they were only required to read a small section from some of the books, the sheer height of the stack would intimidate and discourage many students.

I was also dissatisfied with the variation in both the quality and readability of many of the existing publications.  Many of the older FAA publications were especially difficult to read and understand.

I decided to try my hand at writing my own glider training textbooks. My goal was to cover all flight maneuvers required by the FAA (plus many more), and all knowledge areas required to pass the FAA written test, as well as the SSA Bronze Badge written test.

What resulted are these two books, the Flight Training Manual for Gliders, and the Glider Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge.  Between these two books, all required topics are covered!  The books are clearly written, generously illustrated, and have been professionally edited for content, accuracy, and style.

Almost all the publications developed by the FAA are intended for power pilots and therefore contain much information that is not of interest to a glider pilot. The Flight Training Manual for Gliders and the Glider Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge bring all of the bits and pieces from other sources and refine them into a comprehensive training source with no extraneous information that doesn't apply to gliders.

The fact that these two books comprise a complete training program make them ideal for new instructors, or for clubs where a student has more than one instructor. The “progress record” included in each book also helps both the instructor and the student keep track of the student’s advancement, making it easier for one instructor to pick up where another has left off.

The lesson format and progress records allow the student to clearly see where they are, and what is left to complete in the overall training program. This helps students stay motivated and progress more quickly. Students can expect shorter training time and instructors can expect higher student retention rates.

No. Every question on the written test can be answered by studying the Flight Training Manual for Gliders and the Glider Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. Students will find these books clearly explain the necessary concepts, thus eliminating the need for rote memorization.

Yes. Students will need a pilot log book and a pilot's operating handbook for the particular glider model they will be flying.

In addition, regulations require that pilots have "access" to a copy of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). The FARs are available at libraries, on the internet, and possibly at your glider port.

No. The Flight Training Manual for Gliders and the Glider Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge includes all topics covered in the FAA's Soaring Flight Manual - and more.

Private/Commercial Glider Pilot Package:

• FTMFG
• GPHAK
• Glider Pilot Logbook
• Glide Slope Ruler
• Conversion Ruler
• Airspace Card

Instructor Package:

• FTMFG
• GPHAK
• Instructor's Guide

We also offer an online course entitled "Guide to Becoming a CFI-G"

Many experienced glider pilots and instructors say is that even though they have tons of experience, they can NOT fly a glider well in Condor, especially on tow.  There are two reasons for this that they need to understand.

If they are using a joystick on a table, they are controlling the stick using their shoulder muscles, not their fingertips like they would in a glider.  This means that while they KNOW what to do with the stick, they have to learn a different way to cause those movements, which takes them back to being a beginner again.  In the Mach 0.1, they would have their forearm resting on their thigh, just like in the real glider, and controlling the stick with their fingertips.  We have found that at the conventions, CFI-G’s who say Condor is a waste of time change their opinion after flying in the Mach 0.1.  Without exception, every experienced pilot was able to fly the tow on Condor on their first try when they were in the Mach 0.1 Simulated Glider Cockpit.

Second, experienced pilots are hardwired to expect to feel the movement of the glider when they move the controls.  When they don’t get this feedback, they instinctively move the controls more, leading to over controlling.  Again, this makes some instructors think that Condor is not accurately modeling how a glider behaves.  When a student, with little or no experience gets in the sim, they are controlling the glider based on visual cues, and don’t have the hard wired response yet of expecting to feel the gliders movement, so they don’t have this problem with over controlling.

If you are using a joystick on a table, you are controlling the stick using your shoulder muscles, not your fingertips like you would in a glider.  Also, all commercially available rudder pedals use a sliding motion rather than pushing with the toes to actuate the rudder.  

If you are new to flying glider, this means that you will learn to control the glider using the wrong muscles.  When you get in the real glider, you may know what to do with the controls, but will have to relearn how to use the controls.

If you are an experienced pilot, while you KNOW what to do with the stick, you have to learn a different way to cause those movements, which takes you back to being a beginner again.  In the Mach 0.1, you would have your forearm resting on your thigh, just like in the real glider, and controlling the stick with your fingertips.  

We have found that at the conventions, CFI-G’s who say Condor is a waste of time change their opinion after flying in the Mach 0.1.  Without exception, every experienced pilot was able to fly the tow on Condor on their first try when they were in the Mach 0.1 Simulated Glider Cockpit.

I designed the Mach 0.1 to be an affordable way for glider clubs and commercial operators to offer simulator training to their students.  I chose to make it out of furniture grade PVC, which is much stronger and more durable than typical PVC pipe used for plumbing.  This made it much quicker and cheaper to design and prototype the device.

While a metal frame and controls would be more durable, the cost of designing, prototyping, and producing the Mach 0.1 this way would make it much too expensive, especially given the limited size of the market.

We have found that the Mach 0.1 is more than durable enough for intensive use.  During the summer of 2018, over 300 US Air Force Academy cadets shared 8 Mach 0.1s, without a single broken part on any of the simulators.

Currently, we have lessons available utilizing the Duo Discus X and the  ASK-21. If you are interested in having lessons for other gliders, let us know so that we can prioritize our efforts.

The Mach 0.1 is about 65" long and 34" wide.

Yes, the Mach 0.1 will required some assembly.  You will need an electric drill, a Phillips bit and screwdriver, and an 1/8" drill bit.  It will take about and hour or two to assemble.

If you secure the computer to the frame of the Mach 0.1, the entire unit can be moved when assembled. 

The Mach 0.1 connects to your computer through a single USB cord.  It is simply a "Game Controller" as far as your computer is concerned.

The equipment requirements for running Condor can be found on the Condor Soaring website.

Any size monitor will work with the Mach 0.1, as long as it weighs less than 20 pounds.  A 27" (diagonal) monitor is plenty big enough, but as long as your graphics card can support it,  monitors up to 42" may be used.

Each of the Knowledge courses covers one chapter in the Glider Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge.  The on-line courses cover all the material covered in the book, plus some extra material.  The online courses also use video, animation, and graphics to enhance the explanations and make the concepts easier to understand.

We do not currently have all the chapters covered, but are adding new courses regularly.

Yes. Your CFI-G should accept a course completion certificate as proof that you have completed an "appropriate … home study course" in the subject covered by the course, as required by FAR §61.35(a)(1).

If your instructor is unfamiliar with our on-line courses, you can have them contact us to gain access to the courses for a limited time so that they can evaluate them.

The on-line Knowledge courses cover all the material covered in the corresponding chapter in the Glider Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, plus some extra material.  The online courses also use video, animation, and graphics to enhance the explanations and make the concepts easier to understand.  If you feel that you don't fully understand the material in the books, or would just like to see it presented in a different way, you would probably benefit from taking the online courses.

Since we do not have all the chapters in the Glider Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge covered with on-line courses yet, you will need to cover those knowledge areas somehow.  You can cover them with your instructor, or using other resources, but it is always a good idea to have books covering these knowledge areas available to reference when needed.

The course starts when you register and will be available for your use for one year (unless otherwise stated). It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when to take the course.

We estimate the time to take the entire course and list it in the course description. This of course varies from person to person. At the beginning of each video segment, the title will show you the length of the video. Also, each quiz or test has an estimated time to complete in the instructions.

Yes. You can start and stop the course as many times as you want. If you stop a video in the middle, when you come back to it the video will pick up where you left off. We do recommend that you complete each quiz or test in one sitting.

The courses are designed for individual use. It would be against the Terms of Use to use the content to teach a ground school class. The time and effort that has gone into this project is immense. To insure that we will be able to offer more courses, we need to collect a fee from every student who takes a course.

The short answer is because they are a lot of work to put together!

It is true that compared to ground school courses for power pilots, our courses are more expensive. But you have to consider that the markets for glider and power pilots are very different. For every one new glider pilot, there are 50 new power pilots. So for the same amount of work and preparation, there are substantially fewer potential customers. For online training to become a reality for the soaring community, prices do have to be higher than online power training. If you compare the cost of our courses to other online glider training.... Well, you won't find any.

The real comparison should be between the cost of the course and the cost of time with an instructor. Compared to paying an average rate of $60/hr for a CFI-G, these courses provide a substantial savings -- with the added bonus of not having to drive to the gliderport.

We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 7 days and we will give you a full refund.