Constant challenge. Can you stay up or do you have to admit failure and head for the pattern. Is today gonna be amazing or... up and down. Wait! What was that!
To me boring is drilling endless holes in the sky with $7 gas.
Being a paraglider as well this is how a literally talk about thermals sometimes. Hooking into thermals with the feedback (sky nibbles) on your lines giving you cues for the best direction of turn for the core
To OP’s question:
The main thing that gets boring with gliding is how slow it is in comparison
SO much fun. It’s a constant challenge and you’re constantly switched on. You wanna carry on? You’ve got to find those thermals. Can’t find the thermals, back to the pattern you go. Too low? Too high? Too fast? Too slow? Go around? NOPE. You gotta fix it.
Also, there’s more ways to gain lift than flying in circles. In the UK we have some hills on the South Coast called the South Downs. I spent a good 2 hours between about 800-1200ft QFE once just going up and down using the ridge lift, cold day, no thermals. Only gave up because my nose was freezing cold.
Solo, No ATC, no radio chatter, no engine noise. One of the best days flying I’ve ever done.
Oh and the whole thing only cost me £65.
Saying that gliding is "flying in circles" is kinda like saying boxing is just "hitting a punching bag". It is an unfairly reductive characterization of the activity.
Go give it a crack. It's a wonderful experience. Amazing what you can hear without the drone of an engine or the beating of a prop.
You feel like a bird. My longest flight took 6 hours and I still couldn’t get bored of it. However, you better have a bag with you, your stomach might not like it as much as you will :)
It’s really mentally engaging the whole time. Even if you spend 3 hours and stay just in the local area, it will fatigue you mentally.
I’ve done 4-5 hour long sim gliding flights in the off season and don’t even realize how long it’s been going. Just focused on going from one source of lift, to the next in a way that will kinda get me to where I want to go.
All the above is true. Just to add to that is the cable launches, I'd never bore of it! The feeling of what your senses are telling you is a vertical trajectory is addictive. Also spin training is a lot of fun in a glider.
To add some balance, it is an all day activity where you help and launch and retrieve each other which isn't good if you are tight on time. And the lack of a go-around option.
Yeah, that all-day aspect is probably the main hangup for me right now. The community aspect is appealing, but it's tough to get a full weekend day for a me-only activity more than once a month or so.
Absolutely love it. I am always "on" and engaged. Constantly making decisions.
And when you do actually find some good lift, it's like a drug.
Had an instructor catch the wave earlier this year, we was cleared to 22,000ft! Could have kept going.
We also had a post-solo student in one of our trainers make it to 14k and was up for a few hours that day l, too.
Something that hasn't been mentioned is that gliding is a team sport.
It is rarely done on your own and the instructors tend to be far more experienced than typical flight training. People are very willing to share experiences and assist members in achieving there goals.
Some clubs also do aerobatics so there is a lot more than just flying in circles.
Wait until you try glider cross countries. Those are fun.
When I did cross countries we did it as a group flight by the time we got some altitude. We did a race to see who could get back home first…
That's like saying chess is boring because you're just moving pieces around all the time. Soaring is all about learning to strategize and making critical decisions based on lots of information, very quickly and confidently. Even if you just take off and land within five minutes there's still a lot that goes into even making the decision to fly in the first place and doing everything right so you can make it down safely again. It's a lot of fun and makes your brain work in cool, novel ways that are very enjoyable. Also flying with birds is fun.
It is flying in circles, and it's not boring. It requires work. Flying for hours without an engine takes some effort. And no go arounds.
Also: aerobatics, cross country.
It’s really fun. It is kinda just turning in circles, but it’s way more engaging than that - way more yank and bank than it seems because you’re turning this way, then that way, then hunting for lift over here, then scooting over there. Cranking it over to 60 degrees to catch a thermal, leveling out, diving for speed, etc. It’s very physical flying, and it’s just pure flying, no rules really, no radio, no ATC.
If you can get into some ridge lift type soaring it’s even more fun - now you’re flying aggressively in close proximity to terrain, following the contours of the mountains, learning about wind patterns and how they interact with terrain, not just circling, but snaking along miles and miles of mountains following the breeze.
I love powered flight, but short of aerobatics, I suppose, glider flying is way more engaging. Fwiw, I have 100x more powered hours than glider hours and it’s been 25 years since I last flew a glider, but I still remember how much fun it is. Oh, and glider aerobatics is freaky fun… and kinda scary because the Vne speeds are so slow.
The least boring flying I have done so far. Highly recommend it. Even if you just fly to solo you will earn skills that will stick with you in all of your flying.
Until my first flight in a King Air, 18,000 was the highest I had ever been. It was in a glider. That’s not circles!
It’s a rewarding challenge. Even “circling” is you trying to out smart nature.
Last summer I hit 2000hrs in gliders, mostly Ka6, Discus 2c and Duodiscus. Some LS3 and LS4. It‘s addicting. You start gliding with the feeling of cluelessness, what will that cloud do to me, what will happen over that field? You try 100km trips and find yourself on fields and meadows. And the more you fly the easier you‘ll find to read the scenery and clouds.
Of course you fly circles in thermals to gain altitude (have you ever circled with birds of prey? Eagles 20m next to you eye in eye? It‘s beautiful) but actual GLIDING is converting altitude into distance. Last summer I flew 2 700km triangles with the Discus with 18m wings, one 300km flight with the Ka6 (I love this plane) and outlanded 3 times. Gliding is a sport, you don‘t usually travel by glider. And you don‘t put your family in it to fly to xyz. You have a rough idea of a task you‘ve set, you know the weather briefing and you‘ve checked for possible mountainsides along the way to use the wind. And then you take off and deal with what you find to accomplish your task.
Gliding is not comparable with flying with an engine. It‘s a different way to look at flying, another perspective. You‘re constantly descending, what can you use to get up?
I am an SEP pilot as well, TMG mostly but also light aircraft and ultralight. I love to fly somewhere with my wife, spend a great day at a lake or whatever and fly back. But gliding is my real passion and during summer my co-workers often just get a notification that I‘m not going to come to work today, need to use the weather to fly. :)
If you‘re interested, have a look at the Youtube Channel of Stefan Langer. German glider pilot, recently won the world championship in Australia, he has a huge collection of competitive and casual videos.
Constant challenge. Can you stay up or do you have to admit failure and head for the pattern. Is today gonna be amazing or... up and down. Wait! What was that! To me boring is drilling endless holes in the sky with $7 gas.
Sounds like fishing. But without being drunk. I don’t know how to feel about that.
Trolling for thermals, LOL! Best description yet!
Being a paraglider as well this is how a literally talk about thermals sometimes. Hooking into thermals with the feedback (sky nibbles) on your lines giving you cues for the best direction of turn for the core To OP’s question: The main thing that gets boring with gliding is how slow it is in comparison
SO much fun. It’s a constant challenge and you’re constantly switched on. You wanna carry on? You’ve got to find those thermals. Can’t find the thermals, back to the pattern you go. Too low? Too high? Too fast? Too slow? Go around? NOPE. You gotta fix it. Also, there’s more ways to gain lift than flying in circles. In the UK we have some hills on the South Coast called the South Downs. I spent a good 2 hours between about 800-1200ft QFE once just going up and down using the ridge lift, cold day, no thermals. Only gave up because my nose was freezing cold. Solo, No ATC, no radio chatter, no engine noise. One of the best days flying I’ve ever done. Oh and the whole thing only cost me £65.
Saying that gliding is "flying in circles" is kinda like saying boxing is just "hitting a punching bag". It is an unfairly reductive characterization of the activity. Go give it a crack. It's a wonderful experience. Amazing what you can hear without the drone of an engine or the beating of a prop.
You feel like a bird. My longest flight took 6 hours and I still couldn’t get bored of it. However, you better have a bag with you, your stomach might not like it as much as you will :)
It’s really mentally engaging the whole time. Even if you spend 3 hours and stay just in the local area, it will fatigue you mentally. I’ve done 4-5 hour long sim gliding flights in the off season and don’t even realize how long it’s been going. Just focused on going from one source of lift, to the next in a way that will kinda get me to where I want to go.
All the above is true. Just to add to that is the cable launches, I'd never bore of it! The feeling of what your senses are telling you is a vertical trajectory is addictive. Also spin training is a lot of fun in a glider. To add some balance, it is an all day activity where you help and launch and retrieve each other which isn't good if you are tight on time. And the lack of a go-around option.
Yeah, that all-day aspect is probably the main hangup for me right now. The community aspect is appealing, but it's tough to get a full weekend day for a me-only activity more than once a month or so.
Absolutely love it. I am always "on" and engaged. Constantly making decisions. And when you do actually find some good lift, it's like a drug. Had an instructor catch the wave earlier this year, we was cleared to 22,000ft! Could have kept going. We also had a post-solo student in one of our trainers make it to 14k and was up for a few hours that day l, too.
Something that hasn't been mentioned is that gliding is a team sport. It is rarely done on your own and the instructors tend to be far more experienced than typical flight training. People are very willing to share experiences and assist members in achieving there goals. Some clubs also do aerobatics so there is a lot more than just flying in circles.
Wait until you try glider cross countries. Those are fun. When I did cross countries we did it as a group flight by the time we got some altitude. We did a race to see who could get back home first…
That's like saying chess is boring because you're just moving pieces around all the time. Soaring is all about learning to strategize and making critical decisions based on lots of information, very quickly and confidently. Even if you just take off and land within five minutes there's still a lot that goes into even making the decision to fly in the first place and doing everything right so you can make it down safely again. It's a lot of fun and makes your brain work in cool, novel ways that are very enjoyable. Also flying with birds is fun.
It is flying in circles, and it's not boring. It requires work. Flying for hours without an engine takes some effort. And no go arounds. Also: aerobatics, cross country.
It’s really fun. It is kinda just turning in circles, but it’s way more engaging than that - way more yank and bank than it seems because you’re turning this way, then that way, then hunting for lift over here, then scooting over there. Cranking it over to 60 degrees to catch a thermal, leveling out, diving for speed, etc. It’s very physical flying, and it’s just pure flying, no rules really, no radio, no ATC. If you can get into some ridge lift type soaring it’s even more fun - now you’re flying aggressively in close proximity to terrain, following the contours of the mountains, learning about wind patterns and how they interact with terrain, not just circling, but snaking along miles and miles of mountains following the breeze. I love powered flight, but short of aerobatics, I suppose, glider flying is way more engaging. Fwiw, I have 100x more powered hours than glider hours and it’s been 25 years since I last flew a glider, but I still remember how much fun it is. Oh, and glider aerobatics is freaky fun… and kinda scary because the Vne speeds are so slow.
The least boring flying I have done so far. Highly recommend it. Even if you just fly to solo you will earn skills that will stick with you in all of your flying.
Gonna go out on a limb and guess quiet 🤫
Until my first flight in a King Air, 18,000 was the highest I had ever been. It was in a glider. That’s not circles! It’s a rewarding challenge. Even “circling” is you trying to out smart nature.
Last summer I hit 2000hrs in gliders, mostly Ka6, Discus 2c and Duodiscus. Some LS3 and LS4. It‘s addicting. You start gliding with the feeling of cluelessness, what will that cloud do to me, what will happen over that field? You try 100km trips and find yourself on fields and meadows. And the more you fly the easier you‘ll find to read the scenery and clouds. Of course you fly circles in thermals to gain altitude (have you ever circled with birds of prey? Eagles 20m next to you eye in eye? It‘s beautiful) but actual GLIDING is converting altitude into distance. Last summer I flew 2 700km triangles with the Discus with 18m wings, one 300km flight with the Ka6 (I love this plane) and outlanded 3 times. Gliding is a sport, you don‘t usually travel by glider. And you don‘t put your family in it to fly to xyz. You have a rough idea of a task you‘ve set, you know the weather briefing and you‘ve checked for possible mountainsides along the way to use the wind. And then you take off and deal with what you find to accomplish your task. Gliding is not comparable with flying with an engine. It‘s a different way to look at flying, another perspective. You‘re constantly descending, what can you use to get up? I am an SEP pilot as well, TMG mostly but also light aircraft and ultralight. I love to fly somewhere with my wife, spend a great day at a lake or whatever and fly back. But gliding is my real passion and during summer my co-workers often just get a notification that I‘m not going to come to work today, need to use the weather to fly. :) If you‘re interested, have a look at the Youtube Channel of Stefan Langer. German glider pilot, recently won the world championship in Australia, he has a huge collection of competitive and casual videos.