DrZod

the RAA is going the way the GFA has gone. You can't do any training in a homebuilt at all, eventually the RAA will ban BFRs in homebuilts.

Thanks Mike glad for the heads up on the club scene ha! I flew hangliders in Switzerland for 5 years and miss travelling for 3 km in the van then standing at 2000m to launch. I saw some self launch non motorised cockpit gliders over there unfortunately geographically we don't have the location,s close to where I live to head that way! Thanks for the information.

Go to the CASA website and read CAR21. You can design and build a home built aircraft but doing it properly is a big deal unless you get a kit. A Xenos isn't a bad suggestion. Just register it RAAus. Nobody will know you turned the engine off if you are a long way from an airfield. Just start it for landing. The GFA isn't interested in homebuilding. There is at least one Xenos on the RAAus register.If you want to put up with gliding clubs and the GFA I'd visit one and see if you can stomach it. Many can't. As far as I'm concerned the locations and internal politics of most gliding clubs give them the ambience of a Soviet era collective farm crossed with a decaying hippie colony.

 

The above is why gliding is in decline world wide and the world is awash in quite nice composite gliders going for not a lot of money. I wouldn't pay more than $10000 to $12000 for an airworthy Standard Cirrus or Libelle with trailer , instruments and radio.

 

It depends on what kind of gliding you want to do. Self launch is a great idea. After 49 years in gliding I've come to the conclusion the sport will never amount to much until all gliders are self launching.

Thanks Rastus all the information you provided is very useful thanks for taking the time to reply. I was under the impression I would need a separate glider license than my HG license. I just need to find the closest club to Wollongong! Much appreciated!

There is no licence required to fly a powered glider that is registered in the VH category. You must be a member of the Gliding Federation of Australia and an affiliated gliding club. You train as a glider pilot, either in a pure glider or a powered glider. When you reach an appropriate skill level, you will be authorised to fly solo. After that, there is a progression from basic solo to initial cross-country, passenger carrying, advanced shows-country, instructor ratings etc. There is a Glider Pilot Certificate available that allows your qualifications to be recognised in other countries. www.gfa.org.au

 

www.ddsc.org.au

 

Not many clubs have powered gliders available. The best way is probably to train up in a pure glider then seek a powered glider rating later.

 

There are three basic styles of powered glider.

 

The fixed engine type with the engine in the nose. These look like a little aeroplane with long wings. The prop feathers for gliding flight. These glide From about 25-1 to 35-1 or so, depending on the individual type. These are better at powered cross country flight and are often called touring motor gliders.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_HK36_Super_Dimona

 

The retractable engine type where the engine is mounted on a pylon and retracts into the fuselage behind the wing. These look just like any other pure glider when the engine is retracted. These can have glide angles up in the 60-1 area. These are best when flown cross country as a glider.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleicher_ASH_25

 

The sustainer type. These have a small retractable engine that is not powerful enough to take off, but will climb at about 150 fpm in flight. These are meant to get you home at the end of the day when the thermals have stopped.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAK-17

 

You can also train for authority to perform various levels of maintenance from daily inspection right through to annual inspection and minor to major repairs.

 

In the early days most gliders were home built, but not so many in the last 50 years or so. There are not many modern designs out there. Certainly, to achieve high performance, the wing skins need to be made from composite materials in a mould to get laminar airflow over as much of the surface as possible.

 

Garry Morgan is doing some interesting work at the moment. http://www.morganaeroworks.com.au/

 

Hope I haven't bored you to tears.

 

Robert

There is no licence required to fly a powered glider that is registered in the VH category. You must be a member of the Gliding Federation of Australia and an affiliated gliding club. You train as a glider pilot, either in a pure glider or a powered glider. When you reach an appropriate skill level, you will be authorised to fly solo. After that, there is a progression from basic solo to initial cross-country, passenger carrying, advanced shows-country, instructor ratings etc. There is a Glider Pilot Certificate available that allows your qualifications to be recognised in other countries. www.gfa.org.au

 

www.ddsc.org.au

 

Not many clubs have powered gliders available. The best way is probably to train up in a pure glider then seek a powered glider rating later.

 

There are three basic styles of powered glider.

 

The fixed engine type with the engine in the nose. These look like a little aeroplane with long wings. The prop feathers for gliding flight. These glide From about 25-1 to 35-1 or so, depending on the individual type. These are better at powered cross country flight and are often called touring motor gliders.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_HK36_Super_Dimona

 

The retractable engine type where the engine is mounted on a pylon and retracts into the fuselage behind the wing. These look just like any other pure glider when the engine is retracted. These can have glide angles up in the 60-1 area. These are best when flown cross country as a glider.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schleicher_ASH_25

 

The sustainer type. These have a small retractable engine that is not powerful enough to take off, but will climb at about 150 fpm in flight. These are meant to get you home at the end of the day when the thermals have stopped.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAK-17

 

You can also train for authority to perform various levels of maintenance from daily inspection right through to annual inspection and minor to major repairs.

 

In the early days most gliders were home built, but not so many in the last 50 years or so. There are not many modern designs out there. Certainly, to achieve high performance, the wing skins need to be made from composite materials in a mould to get laminar airflow over as much of the surface as possible.

 

Garry Morgan is doing some interesting work at the moment. http://www.morganaeroworks.com.au/

 

Hope I haven't bored you to tears.

 

Robert

Thanks for the reply , I,ll look into all the information you provided! all the subsections, clauses etc no doubt seems all logical to you, but I find some of it a bit difficult to comprehend, I'm probably going to have to get advise on the wing loading determination,s in regards to aircraft category's! Thanks again

Hi I've just joined and would like to hear from experienced flyers about glider design and registration! I come from flying hangliders but after a nasty ankle injury I,m considering looking into getting a licence to fly gliders. I have some design concepts for a lightweight glider but have little idea about the difficulties and costs involved with casa and test documentation to allow me to fly a home made aircraft. And I was wondering if a powered glider required an ultralight license, there seems to be so many licences out there!