Most information relevant to members is maintained on the CUGC wiki.This page contains some links to pages there; also, have a look at thesyllabus category on the wiki.
Learning to fly gliders is a enjoyable and rewarding process. Most of ourmembers have never flown before joining. Unlike learning to drive there is nodefinitive end point, you continue to learn and improve your whole life.
Pre-Solo training can be completed in under a year, it takes most peoplebetween 50-80 flights to get to a solo standard, although this depends on theperson and the amount of commitment they put in. Ideally you need to fly atleast once a month to make progress. These exercises don’t have to be completedin order, multiple exercises may be done in one flight.
You need to get an medical certificate signed and submitted to the CGC officebefore you fly solo. You should get this done well in advanced, because youdon’t want to miss an opportunity to go solo.
To go solo you must complete all the pre-solo training (except aerotow, if youonly want to fly on the winch). Your first solo is not an automatic process;factors such as the weather, quality of your flying, when you last flew, andyour attitude and behavior all affect whether you will be sent solo.Ultimately, it will be down to your instructor’s judgement when your flying issufficiently good for you to fly alone.
After going solo, you will do a combination of local solo flying and continuedtraining with an instructor.
Once you are solo, you should aim to convert to a single seat glider shortlyafter. Single seat gliders are lighter and have slightly differentcharacteristics, but are better for soaring and going cross country. Typically,students first convert to the Junior and then convert to the university’sASW-19b called CU.
Once you are flying solo, you can practice fly in the local area. You canpractice thermalling to gain height and extend the length of your flights. Onceyou can thermal, you can attempt Local Tasks. These are mini-cross countrytasks that don’t require a cross country endorsement
The Bronze Certificate is equivalent to a Pilot’s Licence, you need to havea minimum number of solo flights and pass written and practical tests. Whileworking towards your Bronze you can practice the techniques necessary forcross-country flying, safely within glide range of the airfield.
The cross-country endorsement enables you to fly cross-country. This means thatyou can fly away from your home airfield, without the endorsement, you wouldnot be able to go more than 20 miles (30 km) of the airfield. To gain theendorsement you must complete training in field landings (emergency landing ina farmer’s field) and navigation. See the section below on soaring forinformation how to fly cross country.
The LAPL(S) is a full pilot’s licence and is valid across Europe. If you wishyou can instead get a Sailplane Pilot’s Licence (SPL) which is valid worldwide.The SPL requires the same training, but a more rigorous and expensive medicalexam.