New Pilots

  • Best foundation for learning how to fly anything with wings
  • Access some of the world's best soaring sites in the Sierra Nevada: Truckee, Minden, Air Sailing
  • Time varies, 6 months to 1 year average
  • Join a very experienced group of NorCal glider pilots
  • Start to Solo, varies widely, usually 30 to 50 flights. This determines how much you'll end up spending.
  • Check Ride - Flight exam consists of oral & flight portions.
  • Total cost from zero to license varies, $3000 - $5000 average. 
  • Fastest way to license is to fly every weekend, be proactive taking home items to review in gopro video from your flight and practice those on a simulator whether iPad or PC 

Pilots with Other Ratings

  • Expand your flying and use the atmosphere's energy
  • Access some of the world's best soaring sites in the Sierra Nevada: Truckee, Minden, Air Sailing
  • Start to Solo usually 10-20 flights.
  • Cost varies, $1000 - $2000 average
  • FAA Minimums: (FAR 61.109 f 2)
    • Must have logged at least 40 hours of flight time as a pilot.
    • Minimum of 3 hours of flight time in a glider, including:
    • A minimum of 10 solo flights;
    • A minimum of 3 training flights in preparation for the practical test.
  • Check Ride - consists of oral and flight portions.

Schedule an Intro Lesson!

​Email us at norcalsoaring@gmail.com
​1 to 3 weeks before you want to come out to fly

How lessons work at NCSA

First Lesson
Come out for an introductory lesson. You'll take the controls and see what flying a glider is like. 

Schedule a Lesson
  1. View the calendar at View at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/NCSA-Operation
  2. Instructors names are in yellow
  3. Email the instructor you'd like to fly with
  4. Do this a week in advance, no more than three weeks in advance
  5. Monitor your email, they will email out the day's schedule at least a day in advance
  6. Monitor your email, if issues arise they may affect or cancel the day's operations
  7. Bring cash or check to pay your instructor. Each instructor charges slightly different rates, feel free to ask ahead of time.
  8. (You do not need to also reserve the glider, the instructor will have done that for the day)
Second Lesson
If you liked the first, we recommend joining as a trial member for several more. NCSA is a club, each member is critical to operating. Our second lesson for a new member is orienting you as a new student pilot on our operations. Your second lesson is a half day helping the volunteer Field Manager. There's no cost here, you'll learn a ton and feel more comfortable in your second flying lesson.
Third Lesson
You'll be back in the airplane and start to feel a little more oriented. From here each student will progress at their own rate and instructors will determine each student's progress. Instructors have the final say for what their student is ready for next.
NCSA Syllabus Nov 6 2018
File Size: 30 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Your First Solo

Each student flies solo for the first time when they are ready. This is a huge accomplishment. Instructors will decide when a student is ready, but a student will need to let instructors know they feel ready and self evaluate their skills to instructors.

Post-Solo

Flying solo is just one step on the way to becoming a pilot. There is a lot to learn still. You'll fly solo more building confidence and situational awareness, but will be flying with instructors a lot as well. Instructors will want to see your flying becoming more precise, and will also challenge you with new situations you haven't yet seen.

Final Exam, Getting Your License

The final step in getting an airplane license or rating is called a "check ride." To get here you'll need to demonstrate consistent precision in your flying both solo and with instructors, have the knowledge, awareness, and confidence to act as the pilot in command (PIC) when planning, pre-flighting the airplane, briefing passengers (your instructors), and all phases of flight. Instructors will only move a student pilot to this step when the student pilot begins acting, and performing, like a licensed pilot. 

Your exam will be with a FAA "designated pilot examiner" (DPE). This will be several flights, and two or three hours of spoken/oral tests. It's challenging, but when you are ready for this it will be easy!

Post-License

Now the fun really begins! You have a lot to learn by experience now. The fresh pilot is humble, safe, and consults knowledgeable people in the glider community about any new type of flight they are thinking about. With your new skills, NCSA's airplanes, and the NorCal glider community you can start doing great soaring flights out of Byron and our mountain sites. 

Most pilots spend a season or a few staying local to the airport they started from, and then transition to flying cross country hopping from airport to airport!

Schedule an Intro Lesson!

Email us at norcalsoaring@gmail.com
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