Online References for Pilots
FAA-Related
Main FAA site
This is an entry
point to many other things for pilots.
FAA TFRs
site
This
map view is particularly useful. When
you select it and then choose PA or NJ from the state drop-down list; select NY
from the center drop-down list also works. The main page also shows upcoming
TFRs, not just current ones.
Caution:
TFRs can change quickly, especially presidential ones as successive POTUSs have
tended to change their schedules at very short notice.
FAAST:
FAA Safety Team
They
organize and/or advertise a lot of safety-related seminars and webinars, mostly
related to power flying or general safety topics, but including some
soaring-related ones. They also seem to manage the “Wings” program. The
website also includes useful materials and lists of upcoming events.
Signup page: https://www.faasafety.gov/login/Default.aspx?dest=FAASTApp/pub/default.aspx
WINGS - Pilot
Proficiency Program
A FAASTeam Representative, Len Levy, maintains an
e-mail list for our region, so you get useful news and in particular “push”
notifications of upcoming TFRs. Note: Len provides useful rather than
“official” information – so this is not a substitute for Flight Service or the
TFR site. There
doesn’t seem to be an associated web site for sign up – just send an e-mail to
the following address and ask to be added. IACRA https://iacra.faa.gov/IACRA/Default.aspx Our
club rules require you to be a current member, which gives you access to the
entire site. You can also buy books and other soaring merchandise through
the site. The
Soaring Safety Foundation (SSF) is the Training and Safety arm of the Soaring
Society of America (SSA). Their mission is to provide instructors and pilots
with the tools needed to teach/learn both the stick and rudder skills and the
Aeronautical Decision-Making skills needed to safely fly a glider. They also
provide information and analysis of incident and accident trends in order to
develop better training tools. https://www.soaringsafety.org/ This
resource doesn’t take long to run. It’s essential to ensuring safe ground
operations. https://www.ssa.org/wing-runner-course/ This
is the major national organization for General Aviation. The organization and
its website are oriented towards power pilots, but some materials are open
access to non-members. Soaring benefits indirectly from AOPA’s advocacy efforts
with Federal and State Governments. AOPA
also has a foundation that sponsors the Air Safety Institute. Their part of the
website includes useful aviation safety materials. https://www.aopa.org/training-and-safety/air-safety-institute CAUTION:
Our flight instructors preferred training syllabus and approach may differ from
those used by sites and materials listed here. Our club requires that you
follow our CFIG’s direction. Scott
Manley has developed an extensive training course based on Condor, complete
with lesson plans and organized into a complete course. See “Cautions”
above. Scott has discussed his course in a major series of articles in
“Soaring” magazine. Back issues of “Soaring” may be visible on the SSA
website.
Note: despite the high quality of this simulation, some experienced pilots in our
club find it difficult to fly and somewhat unrepresentative of being in a real
glider. Condor2 Soaring Simulator Online Resources and
the author has done a tremendous amount of work setting up a syllabus and
lesson plans. If
you have good joystick and rudder pedal attachments for your PC, and especially
if you have multiple
screens, it might well be worth a try. http://www.soaringtigers.org/Condor2SoaringSimulatorOnlineResources-v2.pdf This
is a listing of devices that connect to Condor to enable you to simulate the
controls in your cockpit. http://www.soaringtigers.org/Condor2SoaringSimulatorSticksRuddersandOtherHardwareDevices-v1.pdf Bob
Wander has published a series of “Made Easy” books on different aspects of
flying gliders – e.g., “The Art of Thermaling Made Easy”. At least some of
these books can be purchased via the SSA website. http://bobwander.com/cgi/generate1.cgi?action=homepage This
is a specialist supplier of soaring accessories. They also maintain
listings of gliders for sale and provide a good newsletter on advanced soaring
topics. Sign up via their website. Cumulus Soaring https://www.cumulus-soaring.com/ They
offer an extensive range of flying accessories and training materials, mainly
oriented to power pilots. Most useful for their chart subscription
service. Sectional charts are now published every 56 days or so (used to
be every 6 months). It
is worth getting a subscription to the New York sectional so that you always
have an up-to-date chart. YouTube CAUTION:
A number of these are of the “don’t try this at home” variety.
The objective of the WINGS Program is to address the primary
accident causal factors that continue to plague the general aviation community.
By focusing on this objective, we hope to reduce the number of accidents we see
each year for the same causes. As you will see, it is not a simple “Award”
program but is instead a true proficiency program, designed to help improve our
skills and knowledge as pilots.
Local mailing list
FAA application used
to formally apply for airman certificates. You may need a login/password here
that is separate from the one you use to access the main FAA site. Or CFIG will
no doubt walk you through the IACRA process.Organizations
Soaring
Society of America (SSA)
Soaring
Safety Foundation
SSA Wing
Runner course
Aircraft
Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
Training
CAUTION: Simulator-based training (e.g., Condor) is not a substitute for
training in a real aircraft, even if you find it useful as supplementary
training for grasping concepts.Condor
Soaring Simulator
You will need to ensure that you have a suitable PC and peripherals – the best
experience requires multiple screens as well as joystick and rudder pedals.
may also be available from some of the “Supplies” sites listed below. The
current version of the software (10/2021) is Condor 2.
The series of
articles in Soaring magazine on how to use Condor2 for training is very
intriguing,Condor2
Soaring Simulator Sticks, Rudders and Other Devices
Made Easy
book
Supplies
Wings &
Wheels
Likewise, though I
don’t believe they publish a newsletter. They also seem to act as a
seller of Condor software.Sportys Pilot
Shop
Other
There is a large number of soaring videos of varying quality
available by searching on YouTube.