Soaring

[planecrazy.eu]

I'm pretty sure i am in the wrong forum for this, but i cant see any other slightly relevent one, so i will ask here if its ok, feel free to move it if its wrong...

I was just wondering if there is a gliding equivelent to the PPL(A)?

I am sure there must be but not 100% sure or what its called...

Can freeflight hours be used towards PPL(a) hours?

Thanks all...

[JP1]

No I don't think so. Gliding is unlicensed, but I'm not sure about taking passengers. My gliding days are a few years ago. 10% of P1 gliding hours can be used towards a PPL, but I guess it's limited to a maxium number of hours. (maybe 10???, but not sure)

[robin]

Originally Posted by planecrazy.eu

I'm pretty sure i am in the wrong forum for this, but i cant see any other slightly relevent one, so i will ask here if its ok, feel free to move it if its wrong...

I was just wondering if there is a gliding equivelent to the PPL(A)?

I am sure there must be but not 100% sure or what its called...

Can freeflight hours be used towards PPL(a) hours?

Thanks all...

The nearest equivalent is the Silver C which counts (or counted) 10 hours towards the PPL(A), although you still need to do the ground exams

[grob103]

No direct correspondance to a PPL, but the Bronze certificate plus cross-country endorsement is usually considered to indicate a similar level of experience as a new PPL.

The requirements are set out in sections 17.11 and 17.12 of the BGA Laws and Rules.

Not sure about PPL(A), but if there's something relevant, it'll be in that document.

Cheers,

Grob

[planecrazy.eu]

Thanks for that, from reading that pdf it seems like any old person can just go up in a glider and fly. I am shocked after all the requirements needed to fly a powered aircraft and the lack of requirements to just soar.

So does this mean a glider is easy to fly compared to a powered aircraft?
And does this mean a glider is somehow harder to crash or loose control?

[XL319]

If you check with LASORS i'm sure that you can only carry over 10 hours of a PPL. I may be wrong, but that's my reading into it.

[robin]

Originally Posted by planecrazy.eu

Thanks for that, from reading that pdf it seems like any old person can just go up in a glider and fly. I am shocked after all the requirements needed to fly a powered aircraft and the lack of requirements to just soar.

So does this mean a glider is easy to fly compared to a powered aircraft?
And does this mean a glider is somehow harder to crash or loose control?

Yes gliders are easier to fly - they don't have an engine to worry about for one thing. But don't underestimate the skill required to soar, and especially to soar cross-country

For one thing you need to read the sky, stay with the lift, follow the energy and to navigate and flight plan in the air - all at the same time.

Navigation on a powered aircraft is hard enough, but that is just a question of pointing yourself in the direction of your destination. A cross-country glider pilot has to do that and calculate how to do this whilst moving miles off of the planned tracks.

We do more field landings than a power pilot will ever do, and every landing has to be to a higher standard han a power pilot, who has the option to go round.

To get to Silver C level you will need to show the ability to soar, to gain height, to stay airborne for over 5 hours and to do a cross-country of 50k (more in reality). The Bronze C is designed to prepare you for your first cross-country and that doesn't come quickly either.

At the end of this, you will be a more accurate and experienced pilot than any new PPL, but it only counts 10 hours against the PPL. I would rather have a glider pilot +PPL in my group than any 60hr PPL trained at any flight school I know.

[grob103]

Originally Posted by planecrazy.eu

Thanks for that, from reading that pdf it seems like any old person can just go up in a glider and fly.

Yes, in exactly the same sense that any old person can show up to a powered flight school and fly.

Just like powered flying, going through the hoops to be allowed up solo, and then outside of sight of the airfield, is quite another matter.

[Rocket2]

In theory you can go get in any glider & fly solo without a single lesson, though trying that at any UK club would get interesting response
Are gliders easier to fly than power? - that's like asking if a Evans VP1 is easy compared to a 747, depends what you are flying & what your doing. Flying a competition with 30+ gliders constantly fighting for the lead in a modern high performance single seater has a huge workload over a considerable time & is not for the faint hearted, pottering around on a summers day or doing some aerobatics is pure enjoyment & should not to be missed by anyone.

[robin]

Quite

Unlike gliders, anyone could buy a microlight or aircraft and have it delivered to an airstrip and fly it away. There was a fascinating little video of a guy who trashed a small helicopter. He was filmed starting the engine and playing with the controls - not sure if he wasn't actually reading the manual at the time, but he lifted off and tipped it over.

They discovered he hadn't got a licence

[IO540]

Unlike gliders, anyone could buy a microlight or aircraft and have it delivered to an airstrip and fly it away

You could do that with a 747. You can pick up one of those for under £1M. It will probably be past its pressurisation cycle limit so it can't go to normal cruise anymore, but hey who is going to check. Have it delivered to say Manston, jump in, call for a VFR departure for a local flight and off you go, flying a 747 single-pilot. Nobody is going to question it. It's just highly illegal and you will be in huge trouble if/when they catch you. Luckily, anybody with the technical knowledge to pull it off will also be smart enough to not try it.

[robin]

True, but my point is that unless you have a self-launching glider, you need the help of someone to tow you aloft, and gliding clubs are particularly nosey about strangers who turn up.

[Rocket2]

Agreed with all the above points, however it is legal to fly a glider in the UK without any training, not so a microlight, SLMG or a 747. Without a doubt any club members eyebrows will go skywards if a stranger is heard to ask what the blue or yellow handle does etc so the only way to achieve this legal loophole is to get daddy to by a long field, a length of rope & a winch thingy -oh & subscribe to a private healthcare fund

[Humaround]

As I understand it, gliding activity in the UK is regulated by the BGA, through a system of BGA accredited clubs and instructors. You may fly solo when your instructor thinks you are ready, and the same applies to your first cross-country flight, for which you are expected to undergo quite rigorous extra training. Before cross-country, you are expected to stay in gliding range of the airfield, but it's quite common for non X-country competent pilots to get it wrong and "land out" (did it myself a few times...)


Gliding is enormous fun, definitely increases your flying skills, and is as safe as most forms of flying (probably much safer than some). Very few accidents, most of them being mid-air collisions as a result of concentrations of gliders around gliding sites and in thermals.


I had 130 hours gliding experience over 7 years, and hold a Silver C, allowing a discount off PPL A training hours but although I was solo in a Warrior after about 9 hours, it still took me 47 hours to get the PPL A owing to considerable difficulty dealing with radio and ATC.... most of the gliders I flew didn't even have radios....