[Soarcerer]

Hello All,

I'm finally going to start training week after next at Inland Air Sports in Spokane. I will be training five consecutive days there. I can't wait, i've put this off far too long.

I have a few basic questions before I start, hopefully they aren't too ridiculous -

How long, on average, does it take to get the H2 rating after attaining the H1?

The reason I ask is because I live in Seattle. Spokane is on the other side of the state, just over a four-hour drive.. I've not been able to find an instructor whom is close to me whom will also teach newbies like myself. I'm just trying to get an idea of how to plan my summer, budget for gas and hotel rooms, etc. Once I get the H2, i'm hoping that I can find someone more local to work with me.

Also, I have a private pilot's license and an instrument rating with roughly about 300 hours of flying time. How much of this translates to flying hang gliders and does that kind of experience help in achieving the ratings?

Thanks!!

[Wonder Boy]

Everything depends on you & your skill level.
There is no set time interval.

GA & hang gliding. The ties are:
Weather
Good take offs are important
Good landings are important
You are the pilot in command.


Good luck with your training. Dale is a good instructor.

Mike

[screech]

Doing training on consecutive days is certainly the way to go (unless you get so tired on one day you can't run down the hill the next ) as you will remember things better by doing things repeatedly. Doing a lot of driving for a single day of training once a week, you can forget a lot in the days in between. So it sounds like you are off to a good start.

As far as how long to an H2 -- as wonder boy said above, impossible to say. But if you stick with it and can train on consecutive days -- you can move up pretty quickly (also depends on how many people are training with you and the instructor, etc, but that is more or less out of your control I imagine.) I imagine there are students who can get a H2 at the end of 5 days if you have the necessary hills to yourself and good conditions throughout. There are also those who take a lot longer( I took much longer but was trying to learn one day every week or two, every now and then priorities, priorities....)

Having GA training should help you on some questions on the H1,2,3,4 etc tests regarding the different classes of airspace (how it is regulated, how to read a sectional, etc), but meeting the requirements for such a level does NOT guarantee that you will be registered with that certification -- they are only minimum requirements; your instructor must approve that you have the skill set(s) relevant to attaining said certification.

Hope my tired ramblings help

Good luck with everything!
Yet Another Mike

[ChattaroyMan]

When will you be here for your consecutive days? I've been meaning to get out and see Dale's training area at Square Butte (near Fishtrap exit on I-90). Hear it is a good one. To keep in touch with Spokane area pilots try one or both of our groups linked below. You might meet a student of Dale's that is buying my Falcon 1 (Bart). Dale's good - you'll learn a lot about hang gliding. Be prepared for being worn out. The combination of learning something new and carrying/handling unfamiliar equipment can be taxing. Once you can let the wind help instead of hinder you it'll get easier. You'll definitely have fun!
Steve

[Fletcher]

Welcome
Remember finess works better than brute force when handling the glider
Bring snacks and lots of water so you can stay hydrated
Have fun and keep us posted on your progress
Fly High Be Free

[aqua]

once you have some skills, you'll be able to fly mt blanshard near bellingham. its a great coastal site and not too challenging for a newbie. been a while since I flew it, but it had great launches and lz. fine local group of pilots, as I remember.
some nearby campsites are great, a nice area! check it out, I think dan harding still flies there (he's on this forum)
another great nearby site is black mtn, more challenging, great flying! there's a meet there coming up there soon, a good chance to hook up with your local pilots.

[Dan Harding]

Yes, I live close to Blanchard, might be heading there today, the weather looks like it is changing for the good. the Black mountain meet is in august maybe the 17 -18 th.

[Soarcerer]

[otterflogger]

cool

[Soarcerer]

I just got back yesterday from my excursion over to Spokane. Long and short of it is that the winds wouldn't cooperate and I only trained about a day and a half out of the five days. The instructor, Dale, was very accommodating and he tried to make it work as much as possible, but if the weather is at fault then there's nothing which can be done.

I did all of downtown Spokane and some outer areas on foot, though. That was neat. I have never really spent a lot of time there.

The past few days did get me thinking a bit about training up here in Washington. I'm wondering if the weather is just too variable for good, continuous training. I'm considering taking some more time off next month and heading down to Windsports in Los Angeles to get my H1 and maybe a bit into my H2. I'm wondering if the weather might be a bit more consistent down there. I'll probably buy equipment from Dale and maybe do some additional training with him later on, I just like the guy, frankly. He's been around the sport forever and there's a lot to be learned from him. But for now, I need consistency in weather.

Have any of you trained at Windsports or in LA area?

What were your experiences there?

[Fletcher]

I don't know abuot Windsports but if you're going that far you may want to consider Rob Mckenzie at Crestline, they don't get much better than him and weather is pretty consistent for teaching there.

[Dan Harding]

this is abit late but here is some info about the Can-Am coming up in Aug. 17-18-19th...

[blindrodie]

And that info would be where Dan?

[Fred Wilson]

The North Cascades Soaring Club Pan Am Meet Info: http://www.westcoastsoaringclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7338

The Site Guide link there is broken. See: http://www.cloudbase.org/flying-site-guides/black-mt/
Contact Jeff Beck enes14@wildblue.net

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/NCSC_group/
"The North Cascades Soaring Club is gearing up again to throw another great bi-wing fly-in Aug. 17, 18, 19th at Black Mountain.
If you have never/ever attended this event you owe it to yourself to make the short drive up the Mt Baker highway just east of Bellingham to fly one of our best sites.
Black Mt is a 4500' site with amazing views of the Mt Baker, the Cascades, the Fraser Valley, and the San Juans.
Camping is adjacent to the park like landing zone next to beautiful Silver Lake so bring your wing, your family and get read to have fun!
The Can Am was started as a friendly competition between American and Canadian glider pilots in 1976."

http://blog.nwparagliding.com/2011/08/can-am-black-mtn-flyin.html

[Spitfire]

[Dan Harding]

OOPPSS, my bad, The event is held at Black mt. which is above and east of the Whatcom county park at SilverLake, just north of MapleFalls, Washington. The group camp area has been reserved for all that wish to attend, I'm not sure what the price is, there is a meeting on thursday night to hash out the details, like the task that might be expected, and price for entering stuff like that. It seems like last year it was 25 bucks, but I expect it will be more this year. I try to get up there on thursday morning and warmup that day and friday for the comp., on saturday and sunday,,,,,, August 18th-19th

This is a pic of the LZ

[ChattaroyMan]

[Soarcerer]

Hello All -

I finally managed to finish up my H1 rating yesterday. I decided to go down to Santa Barbara, California to Fly Away Hang Gliding because the training weather is more consistent there and I managed to do it all in two days. The school is owned by Tammy Burcar but I actually trained with one of her instructors named Willy. He was very patient and really believed in getting a firm grip on setting up a good launch and approaches for foot landings. The first day was a bit rough but he let me continue for as long as I was alert and energetic. I couldn't seem to master my landings, particularly timing to flare, and kept landing on the training wheels. The few times I didn't land on the wheels I ended up skidding on my knees and feet. I was dirty, covered with weeds and briars and frustrated. On the second day I came back and suddenly just nailed everything with steady course corrections and gentle foot landings. Overall it was a very good experience and i'm planning on going back down there for my H2 training.

I'll probably go back to Dale Sanderson at Inland Air Sports and other local instructors in Washington State when I get into and beyond the H2 rating. I'll probably also buy my equipment through Dale. He's been around the sport since the late '70's and has a lot of very good experiences to learn from. Having an instructor local to Washington will really help at the H2 and advanced stages, I think.

[blindrodie]