Students who learn to fly at SCSA will have access to some of the best and most challenging soaring conditions in the world. At the completion of your training with us, you will be a safe and competent pilot, prepared to enjoy everything the sport of soaring has to offer.
We offer both primary instruction to prepare you to get your glider license, and advanced instruction in such areas as cross-country soaring, racing, and aerobatics.
Requirements
There are no age limits as to when you can begin training to become a glider pilot. However, students will not be able to fly solo until they are at least 14 years old.
To obtain your glider license, you must
- be at least 16 years old
- have no medical conditions that would prevent you from safely piloting a glider (a medical certificate is not required for glider pilots)
- have a minimum of 20 glider flights
- have received a minimum of 10 hours flight instruction
- have performed a minimum of 10 solo flights
- have a minimum of 2 hours of solo flight time
- pass the FAA knowledge test
- pass the oral and flight test with an FAA examiner
If you have a valid FAA airplane license with a minimum of 40 hours as pilot-in-command, you need a minimum of 3 training flights with an instructor, and 10 solo flights to qualify to take the glider flight test. No written exam is required to add a glider rating to a power license.
Southern California Soaring Academy requires all pilots that rent our gliders to fly solo or act as pilot in command, have a current Renter's Insurance policy that has adequate hull coverage for the glider you intend to rent. If a pilot does not have Renter's Insurance, you can fly with one of our instructors acting as safety pilot at a rate of $35 per hour.
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SCSA Training Program
Glider pilot training can be divided into two parts; knowledge training and flight training. Knowledge training includes topics such as aerodynamics, weather, regulations, and airspace. Flight training teaches the student to perform the maneuvers required to safely pilot a glider, such as takeoffs, flying the aerotow, circling flight, and landing.
At the SCSA, we use the Glider Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, and the Flight Training Manual for Gliders, written by Russell Holtz (one of our instructors) as our textbooks. These texts, along with accompanying materials developed specifically for the SCSA, form a very structured curriculum which allows our students to progress rapidly to solo and their license. You can review samples of the textbooks at www.GliderBooks.com.
Flight Training
A flight training session with an instructor is typically scheduled for a minimum of two hours. Your instructor will assign you reading and review questions from the textbooks, and will review the material with you before your flights. You will then practice the maneuvers that you have learned about. At the end of your flights, your instructor will review the lessons, and assign you material to complete before your next session.
Knowledge Training
The knowledge training is mostly self-study, with the students reading the book and doing the review questions on their own. The instructor will then answer any questions the student has, check the student’s answers, and ask questions to confirm that the student understands the material.
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Expense/Time to get a License
A good student can solo after about eight to twelve training sessions, and get their license after an additional eight to ten sessions. How fast the student progresses depends on the students age, natural ability, hand-eye coordination, study habits, and frequency of lessons. The total cost of getting certified varies greatly from student to student, but you should plan on spending about $295 per two hour lesson.
The SCSA maintains a “flight simulator” that can be used to practice some maneuvers. The cost of the simulator is only $10 per hour.
Advanced Instruction
Learning does not stop when you get your license. At the Southern California Soaring Academy, we have the experience and the equipment to help you reach the next level of your soaring goals.
Cross Country Instruction
Most glider pilots aspire to cross-country soaring, where long distances are covered by repeatedly climbing then gliding. We can help you attain this goal with dual training in our high performance DG-1000.
You will learn the finer points of maximizing speed around a course, using all available lift sources, and navigating in unfamiliar territory, all the while under the guidance of an experienced cross-country instructor. Pilots who take a few cross-country lessons with an instructor progress much faster in their cross-country flying. The experience you gain will be invaluable when you start flying for FAI badges, and in contests.
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Aerobatic Instruction
There are many different reasons for wanting to learn aerobatics. Some pilots seek the thrill that aerobatics provide. Others want the confidence that comes with knowing that they can recover from any situation that they may find themselves in.
We can teach you to do loops, rolls, inverted flight, and even snap rolls with our DG-1000 in its 18 meter configuration.
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