1. Go to the Federal Aviations Administration’s web site.When there, scroll down the page to the link that says ‘Verification of Authenticity of Foreign License, Rating, and Medical Certification.’There you will find complete instructions as well as links to the forms that must be completed and faxed to the Airman Registry Office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
2. Follow this link, FSDO, to another Federal Aviation Administration web site that lists all the available Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO). You will need to pick an office in which to appear in person for verification of your identification and foreign airmen documentation. The FSDO that you pick will be requested on the form that you submit to the FAA in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
3. It will be most helpful and less time consuming if you provide the FAA with complete information on how to contact the organization or government entity that issued your glider license.
4. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the SSA at any time. You may send us a fax, an e-mail or call by phone.
5. Come to the U.S. and enjoy some of the best soaring conditions in the world

Student pilots may solo at a minimum age of 14 with a student certificate endorsed for solo flight at the discretion of a FAA-Certified Flight Instructor for Gliders (CFIG). Generally, 30 to 40 flights with a CFIG are required to solo. This is roughly equivalent to 10-12 hours of flight time and is dependent upon the progress of the student.

After solo, student pilots may qualify as a Private Pilot-Glider provided they:

• Are at least 16 years of age; and
• Have logged at least 10 hours of flight time in a glider and that flight time must include at least 20 total glider flights, and
• Have 2 hours of solo flight time in a glider, and
• Have passed the FAA written examination; and
• Have passed the flight exam with a FAA Examiner.

Your first step in learning to fly a glider is to take an introductory lesson in a sailplane. That flight will introduce you to a world you have never known. And it is so exciting that you will want to explore it, to learn more about it and to become part of it. Accept that challenge and you are on your way to becoming a part of the world of glider pilots. As with any course of study, the more material you read on your own, the faster you’ll learn and the more competent you’ll be. The Soaring Society of America Online Store, commercial glider schools and book dealers listed in Soaring Magazine can provide textbooks containing all the theory and essentials of flight, soaring techniques, safety, navigation and meteorology, as well as the Federal Aviation Regulations you will need to know to pass the FAA written examination. You will be studying this material while you are taking your flying lessons. After you have passed your FAA written examination, your instructor will recommend you to take the Private Pilot Glider oral and flight test. Passing this test will entitle you to take passengers for rides.

Lessons can be scheduled at your convenience. The closer together the lessons are, the easier it is to build on the knowledge gained from previous lessons, and the faster you will learn. Most people try to fly at least once a week, and most prefer to take more than one flight during each lesson.

The sailplane you will fly has dual flight controls, and your instructor will sit behind you. Your instructor has all the directional controls that you have and will show you the control motions or follow along with you as you are learning to guide the sailplane. If you have not flown before, some of the maneuvers and coordination may seem a bit difficult at first. After a few flights, however, you will be making the sailplane do what you want it to do, and you will wonder why you ever felt so clumsy on your initial flights. You will learn that a sailplane is a docile yet responsive machine that answers to gentle, coordinated pressures on its controls. You’ll learn to fly the sailplane straight-and-level, to turn it in varying degrees of bank, and to recognize and recover from stalls. You will practice flight courtesy and safety, and will glide down to enter the airport traffic pattern at a predetermined altitude. You will fly your approach precisely, land your craft with its wings level, and stop where you want to stop. You will learn emergency techniques so there will be no unexpected surprises for you when you become a licensed glider pilot.

To fly as the hawk and eagle has been mankind’s dream for centuries. Modern sailplanes make soaring flight possible, and with them humans can fly higher, faster, and farther than the greatest of birds, using only an invisible force of nature to stay aloft. The sport is called “soaring” and to pilot as well as spectator, it has universal appeal. The terms gliding and soaring are used interchangeably. There are many soaring sites in the United States. Visit one and you are likely to find the pilots are men, women, and young people whose experience in sailplane flying may vary greatly, but who share a common bond in being participants in one of the world’s most satisfying and exhilarating sports. How else, within an hour or so of your home, can you become Columbus or Magellan, exploring the unknown?

Soaring offers a sense of freedom unique in sports. As a soaring pilot you are no longer earthbound; as your pilot skills increase, you will learn to venture away from the airport in a sailplane, relying on your own skills and judgment in analyzing the terrain and weather. Instead of passively enjoying the countryside or the sky, you will actively look for lift clues in the air, such as birds and the maturity of cumulus clouds; and you’ll gain respect for areas on the ground that can help or hinder you in meeting the continuing challenge of staying aloft.

Soaring flight is almost exclusively a daytime activity and severe weather is generally avoided. Although flights can extend into extreme conditions, such flights are normally planned and prepared for by experienced soaring pilots. The sport is considered safe enough that the Federal Aviation Administration will allow 14-year-olds to fly gliders solo, while in most states they must wait until they are 16 to drive automobiles

Pilots learn to fly sailplanes knowing the limitations of their craft and their own personal flying ability, and plan their flights accordingly. Good pilots always keep a safe landing site within gliding distance. Take a good training program, add a dash of self-discipline, and you have the recipe for safe, lifelong participation in a glorious sport.

When you have earned your private pilot glider certificate, you’ll find the best is yet to come. As your skills and confidence improve, you will learn to leave your home field, head out on cross-country flights, work for proficiency badges, and perhaps enter soaring contests. Numerous fly-ins and badge and wave camps offer soaring pilots and their families and friends a chance to vacation and fly in some of the most beautiful parts of the country. The accomplishment of flying from one airfield to the next, leaving the comfort of known thermal sources and home-field familiarity, is a thrill unequaled in any other sport. The pilot must draw on his accumulated knowledge of the ground and the air mass, navigation, and flying skills plus a dash of adrenalin. Even the most experienced pilots never lose the exhilaration of “heading out on course.”  To fly cross-country, the pilot circles up within a “bubble” of rising air, then leaves it to head out on course and find a new source of lift. If cumulus clouds are present, the pilot assesses them constantly, looking for growing young clouds that have a high probability of providing rapid climb. Climb and glide, climb and glide… the rhythm of the flight develops as the cross-country adventure unfolds. No two cross-country flights are ever the same.

Sailplanes construction begins with carbon composites, fiberglass, aluminum, wood, special fabric stretched over steel tubing, or any combination of these materials. Wingspans vary in size from under 40 feet to nearly 90 feet. Fuselage lengths range from 20 to 30 feet. And the empty weight of the glider may be as little as 150 pounds, or nearly 1000 pounds for a glider that can carry three people.

Some sailplanes have engine-drive propellers mounted in the nose or retractable mounts projecting above the fuselage. The power plants are small, lightweight, low horsepower engines mounted in the shell of the glider. Motorgliders are gaining in popularity in the United States because they offer the pilot the freedom of self-launching out of any airport.

New, factory-built sailplanes may cost $50,000 to over $300,000 or more depending on performance, construction, and equipment. Excellent kits for homebuilding are on the market, enabling enthusiasts to produce a sailplane at a cost of one-third to two-thirds that of a factory-built machine. Shared ownership is one way to moderate the cost of some of these gliders. For those who can neither afford a new sailplane nor want to build a sailplane, the second-hand market of gliders provides a wide variety of relatively inexpensive alternatives. Older models of factory-built gliders, as well as used home-built gliders, are often quite economical to buy and to own. There is virtually nothing to wear out on most sailplanes, and they have proven to be excellent investments because they hold their value well and often appreciate in value.

It’s easy for the slender sailplane to stay aloft without an engine, since it is aerodynamically designed to glide efficiently through the air. Gravity slowly draws it toward the earth’s surface. Generally, a 20-25 minute flight will result after the sailplane releases from a 3000-foot aero tow, when no rising air currents are found to extend the flight. The pilot in the sailplane can achieve a longer flight if the air mass in which he is flying is rising at a faster rate than the sailplane is gliding downward. When this happens, the real thrill of flying without an engine begins! The most common sources of lift are thermal lift, ridge or slope lift, and wave lift.

Thermal lift is dependent upon solar energy. The earth, when heated by the sun, warms the air next to it, causing it to expand and rise just like steam coming from a boiling kettle. Bubbles of warm, rising air form into columns called thermals. Some terrain absorbs heat from the sun more rapidly than the surrounding earth. Dark plowed fields, asphalt parking lots and rocky terrain absorb the sun’s heat quickly and provide excellent sources of lift. Open countryside and desert lands are also known for their strong thermals. In some areas of the United States, sailplanes have ridden thermals up to altitudes of 25,000 feet!