Training to become a qualified glider pilot is a rewarding and sometimes challenging pursuit, but is well within the capabilities of most people. There is a lot to cover, but it’s best to simply focus on (and enjoy) the next steps in your journey. As you progress, you will find that much of what you are learning becomes second nature, so you don’t have to think about it anymore, much like driving a car. The Student Pilot Manual, available from the club, gives a good breakdown of the flying training.

All of the flying exercises are carefully structured to build in a logical progression, following a syllabus that is common to all gliding clubs in the UK. A focus on safety is a common thread running throughout the training. Your progress will be recorded in your Student Pilot Training Record held by the club and to gain your sailplane Pilots Licence you will need to work through all of the sections and have them signed off as “satisfactory” by your instructor. The CFI (Chief Flying Instructor) will also check everything is in order at key points in your flying training. While most of your flying training will be completed in one of the clubs two-seater training gliders, the club also has a flight simulator that can be used to introduce or consolidate exercises and to practice emergency scenarios.

Initially you will be introduced to the glider and safety equipment and familiarised with the local area that we do our flying training in. You will then quickly move onto learning the basics of how to fly a glider with our instructors in a dual-control two-seat glider until you are able to control the glider accurately while in the air. Once that is mastered you will learn how to take-off and land the glider and then learn other more advanced piloting skills that you will need to be able to safely fly a glider by yourself.

For many student pilots, landing the glider themselves (under close supervision of their instructor) is a big step forwards, but the first formal milestone is to “go solo”. You will have completed most of the flying training exercises before you are sent up in the glider by yourself and will only be sent solo when your instructor is completely satisfied you can fly safely.

Once you are a solo pilot, you will continue to consolidate your flying training, including flying solo under supervision - initially in the club two-seater and then as you build experience, in a club single seater. There are some flying exercises formally required to be completed after going solo but most student pilots will also need to keep consolidating the more advanced handling skills they learned before going solo. You will also work towards getting your off-airport “field landings”, flight planning and navigation signed off.

Once you are flying solo, it’s also time to start preparing for your Theoretical Knowledge exams. While they need not all be sat in one go, many people do. The exams consist of six short multiple choice exams covering all the key subject areas. Theoretical Knowledge study will be a combination of formal lectures provided by the club, self-study and remote learning using online resources.

The final step to gaining your licence is to fly the Practical Skills Test with a flight examiner. This comprises a demonstration of the key flying skills, showing that you can fly smoothly and safely while showing good airmanship. Again the Chief Flying Instructor will check that you have completed all of the training and that you are ready to sit the Skills Test before putting you forward to be tested.

Many student pilots who are approaching or have reached solo standard ask “what do I need to do next to get my SPL”

In summary, the steps are:

1. Complete all the pre-solo exercises in the Student Pilot Training Record and have them signed off as “satisfactory”
2. Go Solo, then build solo experience in the club two seaters followed by the single seaters. While there is a minimum requirement for solo flying to gain your SPL, most student pilots will do more than the minimum simply because it is an opportunity to enjoy flying, but importantly it also helps to build flying experience and consolidate your flying skills. Solo flying will be supervised by your instructor, initially with a check flight before each solo flight.
3. Continue to consolidate your flying skills with an instructor. There are flying exercises set out in the training record card that you must complete, but the old DGC “post solo training card” is also a useful guide to the exercises that you are likely to need to consolidate and keep practicing ahead of your SPL practical skills test.
4. Complete your theoretical knowledge exams. This will involve formal lectures and self study and the exams have to be successfully completed before you are able to do the practical skills test. It also makes sense to have completed these before you move onto the practical navigation exercises, as a lot of the knowledge needed for the Navigation exercises is covered in the Theoretical Knowledge syllabus
5. Complete the Navigation and Field Landing Exercises as set out in the Student Pilot Training Record and have them signed off as “satisfactory”.
6. Once these have all been completed satisfactorily, you will be ready to sit the practical skills test with an examiner, which is the last step to becoming a qualified glider pilot.

You will find the whole SPL course described in the SPL course programme (Sailplanes). There is a lot to cover, but it’s best to simply focus on and enjoy the next steps in your journey and you will find that much of the detail becomes second nature, so you don’t have to think about it, much like driving a car. There are links to practical training resources below, including

• Student Pilot Manual – BGA’s recommended guide to learning to fly gliders.
• Licence and Beyond - A Glider Pilot's Guide – the BGA’s book covering the SPL syllabus that every post-solo glider pilot should own
• Navigation and field landing courses – videos produced by Paul Ruskin

There are many decades, perhaps centuries, of accumulated practical experience in DGC – why not ask experienced cross-country pilots and instructors what they use to forecast weather, plan flights, find NOTAMS, how to program nav computers, etc.

• BGA’s description of the SPL training course
• CAA Flight Instruction for the SPL - Training course and experience requirements – the CAA regulation that describes the flight training syllabus
• Instructor Manual - while this is aimed at instructors, it is available online and student pilots can access it it they want more detail on specific exercises.
• SPL Syllabus Changes – a summary of changes that is aimed at instructors
• BGA’s Managing Flying Risk contains lots of excellent safety information
• Practical skill test - SPL skills test description and requirements.

Once you are flying solo or are close to going solo, it’s also time to start preparing for your Theoretical Knowledge exams. While they need not all be sat in one go, many people do.

There are six exams covering 8 subject areas, all multiple choice with between 12 and 20 questions each. Theoretical Knowledge study will be a combination of formal lectures, self study and remote learning using online resources.

The theoretical Knowledge syllabus can be found at this CAA page: Theroretical Knowledge subjects.

The CFI will need to confirm you have completed this course of study covering all the subject areas before you sit the exams, including attendance at formal lectures given by DGC. Please therefore make sure you have lecture attendance signed off in your training record.

• Air Law (Part 1)
• Air Law (Part 2)
• Meteorology
• Aircraft Knowledge (Part 2)
• Principles of Flight
• Human Factors
• Navigation (Part 1)
• Communications
• Introduction to Tephigrams
• Operational Procedures

As well as formal lectures given by DGC instructors, there are lots of self-study resources available, many with practice questions. As a minimum you should thoroughly study the following and use the practice questions they contain.

• Licence and Beyond – the BGA’s book covering the SPL syllabus that every aspiring glider pilot should own
• The Skyway Code – CAA’s accessible summary of UK air law. While it is focussed on GA it gives excellent clear descriptions of rights of way, airspace, VFR and IFR limitations, air traffic services and pilots responsibilities amongst other things.
• spl-course.uk - Andrew Watson (you tube theory lectures including practice questions)
• Scotland 1:500 000 Chart – study it and learn the symbols. We have them for sale at the club.
• SPL Academy - Practice Questions only. This is a Danish website, based on the European (EASA) SPL but most of the subjects are the same as the UK SPL. Some air-law is different so best not use this section and you would need a Danish chart to be able to answer all the navigation questions)
• SPL Theoretical Knowledge and Examinations (BGA)
• SPL theoretical knowledge practice questions (BGA) - 544 Questions!

Further resources to consolidate those listed above are:

• Air Law – a General Aviation text book used by PPL pilots. Similar books are available covering Human Factors, Communications and Meterology which are common subjects with the PPL syllabus, although the BGA have not recommended these.
• Laws and Rules – BGA site covering BGA regulations and requirements and with links to the CAA’s law websites.
• Human Factors Study Guidance – guidance published by Gliding NZ, much more detail than required by SPL. This presentation by Craig Lowrie provides helpful information on Aircraft General Knowledge and Systems
• Navigation and field landing courses – videos produced by Paul Ruskin
• Soaring Weather, a free FAA publication, rather dated.
• The Soaring Engine volume one – which covers theory and practical safety aspects of ridge, wave and thermal soaring, published by a highly experienced gliding instructor and coach. Highly recommended as a practical guide to soaring flight, perhaps less relevant to passing the Theoretical Knowledge exams.
• BGA description of theoretical knowledge course reference from part SFCL AMC1 SFCL.130, with references to study resources (included above).