Recommended online training
Wing Runner Course by the Soaring Safety Foundation
Training videos
SVS uses training materials by Holtz
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Jay's suggested reading list for beginners:
SSA Flight Manaul by SSA
Glider Basics by Tom Knauff
After Solo by Tom Knauff
Learning to Fly Glliders by Bob Wander
Private Pilot Glider Checkride ...Made Easy! by Bob Wander
2007 edition of Private Pilot FAA Knowledge Test ASA and possibly other publishers
Transition to Gliders by Tom Knauff: An excellent book if you're an airplane pilot wishing to fly gliders.
Transition to Gliders by Bob Wander and others: This is a DVD video published by Sporty's Pilot Shop. You don't have to buy one, as John Trissel has it in his lending library.
Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche: Stick and Rudder isn't a training manual, nor does it focus on gliders (although it uses gliders as examples), but In my opinion belongs in the personal library of everybody of any experience level who flies fixed wing aircraft. It becomes more valuable if re-read periodically, as I feel I get a better understanding of the subject each time I read it.
Once Upon a Thermal by Richard A. Wolters: This was in print about two decades ago from Crown and SSA and possibly other publishers. It's available from amazon.com, sometimes for less than the postage it will take to get it to you. Somebody told me it's back in print in a paperback edition, but I haven't confirmed this. This isn't a book on how to fly gliders or anything else, but rather one man's story of his participation in the sport of soaring. I've introduced maybe seventy-five people to this book and all but three loved it. I recommend it to anybody who understands English, whether they care about aviation or not.
Glider Flying Handbook by FAA: I saved the worst for last. You can buy this for about 30 bucks or download it for free (there's a tough choice). I bought this book and read it when it was first published in 2003. There's material presented in this book worth knowing, but on the whole I was disappointed in that despite respected names in glider instruction associated with it, but it was poorly written and edited. I doubt anybody proof-read it before it went to press. The free downloadable version doesn't seem to be improved. Tom Knauff sells a re-written version. I haven't seen Knauff's version but it might be better than the book as originally published.
Jay's suggested reading list for beginners:
SSA Flight Manaul by SSA
Glider Basics by Tom Knauff
After Solo by Tom Knauff
Learning to Fly Glliders by Bob Wander
Private Pilot Glider Checkride ...Made Easy! by Bob Wander
2007 edition of Private Pilot FAA Knowledge Test ASA and possibly other publishers
Transition to Gliders by Tom Knauff: An excellent book if you're an airplane pilot wishing to fly gliders.
Transition to Gliders by Bob Wander and others: This is a DVD video published by Sporty's Pilot Shop. You don't have to buy one, as John Trissel has it in his lending library.
Stick and Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche: Stick and Rudder isn't a training manual, nor does it focus on gliders (although it uses gliders as examples), but In my opinion belongs in the personal library of everybody of any experience level who flies fixed wing aircraft. It becomes more valuable if re-read periodically, as I feel I get a better understanding of the subject each time I read it.
Once Upon a Thermal by Richard A. Wolters: This was in print about two decades ago from Crown and SSA and possibly other publishers. It's available from amazon.com, sometimes for less than the postage it will take to get it to you. Somebody told me it's back in print in a paperback edition, but I haven't confirmed this. This isn't a book on how to fly gliders or anything else, but rather one man's story of his participation in the sport of soaring. I've introduced maybe seventy-five people to this book and all but three loved it. I recommend it to anybody who understands English, whether they care about aviation or not.
Glider Flying Handbook by FAA: I saved the worst for last. You can buy this for about 30 bucks or download it for free (there's a tough choice). I bought this book and read it when it was first published in 2003. There's material presented in this book worth knowing, but on the whole I was disappointed in that despite respected names in glider instruction associated with it, but it was poorly written and edited. I doubt anybody proof-read it before it went to press. The free downloadable version doesn't seem to be improved. Tom Knauff sells a re-written version. I haven't seen Knauff's version but it might be better than the book as originally published.
Advanced Reading:
Understanding the Sky by Dennis Pagen, Dennis Pagen Publishers, Mingoville, Pa. 1992. A great little book to help you understand the weather.
Meterology and Flight by Tom Bradbury. Second edition, A&C Black, London. 1996. An updated weather book for glider pilots. Lots of information about wave. Good diagrams about how fronts form and how low pressure areas develop.
Gliding. by Derek Piggott, A & C Black Publishers, London, 1990. An excellent general text on all aspects of soaring.
Cross - Country Soaring by Helmut Reichmann, Soaring Society of America, 1993. The classic text. A practical and mathematical discussion of flying sailplanes cross country. Oriented toward contest flying.