Primary Instruction


For better or for worse, glider training in the US concentrates only on the fundamentals and a private pilots license is "a license to learn". Apart from what is required for passing the knowledge (formerly called the written) test, there is no practical training in meteorology or navigation - the newly licensed is expected to learn that later, I guess. This is a dis-service in my opinion. My recommendation is that you buy one or more books on those subjects. You'll find some listed in the miscellaneous and weather sections of this reading list.

Glider Basics - Thomas Knauff

After Solo (see text) - Thomas Knauff

  

Note that these 2 books are considered to be required reading by GBSC students

 

Tom Knauff is a well known and highly regarded glider instructor. He is also an excellent soaring pilot, being the first person in the United States to fly 750 and 1000 km triangles.

The writing style is clear and follows a logical progression with the next lesson building on the previous. At the end of each chapter is a short written test (with answers near the end of the book) that allows the student to check his comprehension. In no way are these written tests designed to substitute for the FAA written (now called "knowledge") tests. The books are illustrated with numerous simple but effective diagrams. Those students wishing for lots of photographs may be disappointed because there's only one photo (full page) at the beginning of each chapter.

Tom takes advantage of the 2 volume approach. For instance, in book 1 he discusses the basics of thermalling without dwelling on much detail but enough to get you started. Greater detail comes in the second book when the student is expected to have been soloing for a while.

The books have a reasonable glossary of terms (a must for a primary instruction book, in my opinion), appendices covering the soaring badges (A, B, C, bronze,) and the FAI soaring awards (silver, gold, and diamond). The bibliography is a bit light and a significant number of books recommended for further reading are by the author. This a minor nit but he could have done a little better. Sadly lacking are any references to ground launch procedures. Those wishing to learn about winch or auto tows will have to look elsewhere.

NOTE These books are out in a new edition and there has been a title change. The second book is now called After Solo.

Transition to Gliders - Thomas Knauff

   The licensed power pilot transitioning to gliders does not need to rehash the basics ("the purpose of the ailerons is to ...."). For this pilot, there is really only one book, Transition To Gliders, by Tom Knauff (a highly respected glider instructor) and is, in a word, "excellent". The style and format is similar to his 2 books targeted to primary students. Interestingly, while aero tows get a great deal of attention, ground tows (auto or winch) are not mentioned at all.

Gliding - Derek Piggott

   Derek Piggott may be the greatest glider instructor. I bought the second edition of this book mumble years ago and, was to an extent, a key getting me interested in soaring. The book is now in its 7th edition and is as good as ever. Derek lives and works in the UK and the book has a decidedly British slant - which is what keeps this book from the top of my (biased) list. But, if you want to read about ground launching (winch or auto), this is your book. Also present is a comprehensive section (about 9 pages) on flying safely in high winds - a subject that does not merit much attention in most other books. Also unique is a chapter on emergency parachuting - try finding that in any other gliding book.

US pilots are well advised to skip the chapter on cloud flying :-) - illegal in the US but permitted in several countries. The bottom line this that this book is a useful addition to any soaring library and is strongly recommended.

Learning to Fly Gliders - Bob Wander

   Bob Wanders' book is not so much a text book but a series of enhanced lesson plans. This does not mean that it's not useful, it is. Each page is very focused on a very specific task being discussed but there's little attempt to pull everything together. What is very appealing is that for each section he lists the common errors that students make and how to correct them. Bob Wander, in his introduction, states the this book is intended to be a supplement to other texts (and of course your actual flight and ground instruction) and as such, this book should be a welcome addition to your library.

Flying Sailplanes - Helmut Reichmann

   Helmut Reichmann was a great soaring pilot but is probably best known for his definitive book on cross country soaring. This is a "nice" book, but not on the same level as the books mentioned above (or his own cross country soaring book, for that matter). It does have a number of good quality color photos and there are many simple, but very effective, diagrams. This is a good book for introducing new comers to the complexity and required skills of soaring soaring but if you're looking for a serious and comprehensive training text, I feel that your money could be better spent elsewhere.

Flight Training Manual for Gliders - Russell Holtz

Glider Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge - Russell Holtz

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I won't mince words - These are by favorite "basic training" books. They seem expensive ($53 for the Flight Training Manual and $76 for the Handbook) but are worth it. The author claims that these are the only books that a student will need to get to the private pilot license. While I might argue that point, the statement is pretty close - they are comprehensive. Although the books may be purchased separately, they should be considered as a set - with one book teaching you what it takes to pilot a glider and the other teaching you what you need know to be a competent glider guider.

The first book covers the usual basics such as takeoffs, aero tows, flight maneuvers, landing patterns and landings, flying in lift, and emergency procedures. It does so in a very clear and organized manner. A subject not covered is ground launches (winch and auto tow) - a fatal flaw in much of the world but not so much in the U.S. where aero tows predominate.

The second book covers topic such as aerodynamics, performance, soaring weather (the only basic training manual that covers this most important topic in sufficient detail), radio procedures (ditto), air space and the like. All of this material is available in other, separate, publications but this volume pulls it all together into one. An extremely valuable book, in my opinion.

According to the author, these books are printed in small production runs (no doubt adding to the expense) so that they may be frequently updated. A nice feature, I think.

Also available are student workbooks (one for each manual - $4.50  and $8.00 each) that are designed to prepare you for the FAA knowledge test. The author's web site claims that "A student who can correctly answer the questions in these workbooks should have no problem passing the FAA written test". Perhaps, but the problem is that the correct answers are not given, so how is one supposed to know? For slightly more money, you can buy the ASA or Gleim test preparation guides that, in addition to providing all questions that the FAA may ask you, also give the correct answer and why that answer is correct. Given the price of the main books, I would like to see these workbooks included at no additional charge.

Buy them directly from the author at http://gliderbooks.com or from your favorite online vendor. FYI, if you look at the "News & Specials" section of the author's web site, you'll find that the books are periodically on sale (which is how I bought mine).

Glider Flying Handbook - FAA

   Published by the FAA (FAA-H-8083-13) in 2003, this book is a  replacement for the Soaring Flight Manual (below) since there is a lot of similarity in style and content. As is the SFM, this book is more of a reference book rather than a "how to fly" book. It should be in every glider pilot's library because it's good, and student pilots can be sure that future knowledge test questions will come out of it. As one would expect, in some ways the Handbook is better than the SFM and in some ways worse. On the plus side, the "Emergency Procedures" chapter is unsurpassed - nothing else comes even close, IMHO. Also good is the chapter on Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) - again, no other text really covers this area.

On the down side, the treatment of the use of oxygen and the dangers of hypoxia is a great disappointment. One lousy paragraph on the whole topic (page 8-15) compared to about 6 pages in 2 chapters in the SFM. This is BAD. The subject of pattern planning also gets a most cursory treatment. All diagrams of ground launches depict the cable attached to the nose release instead of a center of gravity release- also bad. Nothing I've seen in this book even mentions the advantages and disadvantages of the differences in release location - the SFM certainly does. Tost releases are rarely mentioned.  There is no "winch" launching in this book - there is "wench launching" - an editing mistake, of course. Not a typo, though, as "wench" is used over and over (with the exception of one diagram). I admit to being stopped in my tracks considering the ramifications of being a "wench operator" :-). Available directly from the US Government Printing office or from online vendors.

April 2004: FAA corrections to the manual

Available since 2010, a new (non FAA) version of this book is available from From Tom Knauff. This edition corrects the many mistakes in the original and adds new material.

The Joy of Soaring - Carle Conway

   Quite frankly, this is not my favorite book. The book loses point because of the rather cursory coverage of most topics and the minimal coverage of several important topics, such as navigation and weather (one page each) or in the case of airspace and pre-flight inspections, no coverage at all. Still, the book has several strong points. It covers a lot of material (accurately) in a limited amount of space and it has a format that makes it easy to read. This book gets a very marginal "thumbs up".

Soaring Flight Manual - SSA

  

No longer available new as it has been replaced by the FAA Glider flying Handbook. Still available used from Amazon.com - and worth getting.

This book continues to impress me. This is not the kind of book you want to curl up with next to a fire place on a cold night. It is chock full of facts and is updated on a regular basis (9 editions in 23 years). The most recent addition (1998) has all the recently changed airspace rules and weather reporting methods. For the student, there are also useful workbook exercises at the end of the book. If you want to know why you don't want to fly too fast in small and weak thermals, look at figure 1-24 and see that at 40 mph at a bank angle of 45 degrees, your turn radius is only 107 feet. But, keep the same bank angle and bump the airspeed up to 60 mph, your turning radius more than doubles to 240 feet. It's all there. Buy this book.