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Arizona Soaring

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AKAAB

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Posts
503
Arizona Soaring at Estella Gliderport - just wanted to give them a shoutout for treating my teenagers so well last week and giving them an experience of a lifetime. My son is about to start flight training at his highschool and getting up for some real stick and rudder instruction will do him good before he gets fixated on all the glass and buttons.

I intend to go back when I can spent a week or two getting a Commercial add-on. I've waited way too long to get to this item on my bucket list.

(They also gave us a small airline discount...so there's that, too.)
 
Arizona Soaring at Estella Gliderport - just wanted to give them a shoutout for treating my teenagers so well last week and giving them an experience of a lifetime. My son is about to start flight training at his highschool and getting up for some real stick and rudder instruction will do him good before he gets fixated on all the glass and buttons.

I intend to go back when I can spent a week or two getting a Commercial add-on. I've waited way too long to get to this item on my bucket list.

(They also gave us a small airline discount...so there's that, too.)

Ummm....glass and buttons? Screw that. Send to someplace that will teach him stick and rudder. Make him a real pilot instead of a pilot pointer. I assume he's under 18. He can do the video game transition later. TEACH HIM TO FLY FIRST! Get him into a J-3 Cub for his private license. They are still out there. After Private to Commercial he can play with the buttons, go back to the Cub to build time for the Commercial, and come out on the other side a FAR better pilot if he wants to make a career of it.

Too many young lads show up at commuters (and pass training) but on line are ****ing worthless. Can't even make a crosswind landing in the easiest of conditions.

Even worse, they have no idea of North, South, East or West. "Duh, I follow the GPS". Get them into Orienteering to get them to understanding of BASIC navigation, map and compass and it's anomalies . "Dad, why did runway 36 get changed to runway 1 (DCA) ?

For God's sake it sounds like you really care about your kids and have the means to spend on their education. You sent them to experience the basic concept of flight. Do it right from there!

Considering the fact that you can blow cash on gliders, they have access to cell phones and computers, and the glass and buttons are nothing for them. They have the computer knowledge. Spend less cash and teach them to understand the basics behind the tech. And the basics behind how to fly.
 
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Ummm....glass and buttons? Screw that. Send to someplace that will teach him stick and rudder. Make him a real pilot instead of a pilot pointer. I assume he's under 18. He can do the video game transition later. TEACH HIM TO FLY FIRST! Get him into a J-3 Cub for his private license. They are still out there. After Private to Commercial he can play with the buttons, go back to the Cub to build time for the Commercial, and come out on the other side a FAR better pilot if he wants to make a career of it.

Too many young lads show up at commuters (and pass training) but on line are ****ing worthless. Can't even make a crosswind landing in the easiest of conditions.

Even worse, they have no idea of North, South, East or West. "Duh, I follow the GPS". Get them into Orienteering to get them to understanding of BASIC navigation, map and compass and it's anomalies . "Dad, why did runway 36 get changed to runway 1 (DCA) ?

For God's sake it sounds like you really care about your kids and have the means to spend on their education. You sent them to experience the basic concept of flight. Do it right from there!

Considering the fact that you can blow cash on gliders, they have access to cell phones and computers, and the glass and buttons are nothing for them. They have the computer knowledge. Spend less cash and teach them to understand the basics behind the tech. And the basics behind how to fly.

Sorry to respond to such an old thread but I have to jump in here. If you read the OP's post, he said he wanted him to get some stick and rudder BEFORE the glass and buttons. I'm a glider pilot, CFI, and I fly BE-300's for a living, and let me tell you...there is NO better way to teach stick and rudder skills than flying gliders. I can't tell you how many real "Pilots" who were bus drivers on the line who I took into flying gliders and they realized the stick and rudder required to fly gliders.

Navigation points you make are definintely valid. For us cross country glider pilots we are involved in navigation but more to the tune of wind directions, etc and more deciding best ways to go based on wx, winds, altitudes, etc.

But I can't agree more with the OP, teaching someone to fly gliders first is one of the best things you can do. Follow that up with some tailwheel and off the chart navigation, and your air sense will be much better than what these pilot farms are churning out.
 
Assuming they want to fly, my kid(s) will do PPL in a Pacer or Stinson...and only then as an add on to their Glider initial.

They WILL NOT fly professionally (learn from me!) but they'll be very competent private flyers.
 
i know the flight is over the Sierra Estrella Mountains, but its a shame the website does not give you more detail about what kind of gliders they use, specs and what have you hmm
When I was there last (a couple years ago) they had a Grob 103, a few Schweizer SGS 2-33as, an SGS 1-26 (single seat), SGS 1-36 (single seat), a Schleicher ASK 21, a LAK Genesis 2 (another single seat) and a MDM-1 Fox aerobatic glider. They do a lot of business seven days a week and are a great bunch of folks.
 
I hear that glider instructors love to torment lazy footed power plane pilots which lends credibility to the claim about making for the best stick and rudder skills.

The comment about the J-3 is kind of lame though, they don't have any bad habits-oh, they are no C-150 by any means but if you want someone to really learn taildraggers put them in a Chief, Luscomb or a Clipper so that they have the foundation to move on to more deeply challenging machines like a Pitts or Cessna 195!
 
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