To glide or not to glide, that is the question
Hi MD,
I regret I must disagree with what has been posted by the gliding enthusiasts.
Their advice is rather like advising a learner car driver, who is having difficulty with his car driving, to go off and ride a bike to improve his driving. What he wants to do is drive a car and to detour him onto another type of vehicle entirely is mostly a waste of his time and money.
I too started off gliding. Certainly, it taught me lessons that later proved valuable when I came to learn to fly powered aircraft; indeed they continue to be valuable even now. But the cost in terms of time and money would never have been justified if my only objective had been to be a better power pilot. It was only justified because at that time I wanted to glide.
I remember the frustration of gliding, the long flying lists of people awaiting their turn to fly, with my name at or near the very bottom. Many times I had to work like a trojan all day, in the hope that I might just get to fly once for a few minutes sometime before flying ceased for the day at 9 p.m. Many times I worked a whole weekend at the gliding site in the hope of getting a flight and did not succeed in doing so.
At London Gliding Club, you needed a seperate checkout for each and every approach on the field, so that if the wind changed to an approach you were not checked out on, you couldn't fly solo.
I would say don't take up gliding merely to improve your powered flying.
If you just happen to fancy a new flying experience, and can afford the time and cost, then I would say definitely take a week's gliding holiday one summer. But don't take up gliding every weekend to improve your powered flying as you will have to give up the one (and lose all currency) in order to pursue the other.
Regards,
Broomstick.