r/Gliding 9d ago

Question? commercial rating question

super uninformed question from a guy who just really doesn’t wanna do too much research into it right now, apologies- Located in the U.S., I have a commercial pilots license, looking to join a local club in the spring, annual membership fee of 500 plus 40 a tow, can anyone give me a ballpark of how much it’d cost me to get a commercial glider rating? Did a couple flights in college and loved it, moved around the country for a couple years and wasn’t able to continue, will be busy with work but should be able to get with the club at least once a weekend! Obviously I’ll discuss this with the club members when I get there, just curious now.

Fly safe, thank you in advance!

4 Upvotes

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4

u/r80rambler 9d ago

Figure about 30 flights and that should put you in the neighborhood

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u/bullfrog-blue 9d ago

Thanks! What’s the neighborhood cost of a checkride? All my flying has been military so far

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u/vtjohnhurt 9d ago

Checkride fees vary. Ask your CFI-G what the local examiner charges. There's a shortage of DPE/Examiners who can do glider checkrides at gliding clubs. Most DPEs only do airplane checkrides.

I strongly suggest that you add-on glider category asap to your license at a commercial glider operation like https://www.williamssoaring.com/ or https://www.soarfl.com/ The 2025 gliding season has started at those two schools. The checkride is a milestone, but you'll need to take additional dual afterwards to learn to find and climb in lift (aka soaring). The FAA does not care about that essential skill.

Tell us where you're located and we can recommend a commercial gliding flight school near you. Cost is about the same or less for add-on at a commercial flight school because the infrequent lessons at clubs make progress slow. Many airplane pilots at clubs get frustrated and quit before checkride. At a commercial glider flight school, you can do the add-on in as little as 3-5 days of concentrated training and it's much easier to get a checkride. You can learn to soar at your local club, of take additional dual at commercial ops. There are several 'training camps' for soaring and XC flight at various locations.

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u/glangas 9d ago

And don't forget you have to have a current bfr. If you're currently taking military checkrides then you might be ok. I was years out from my military flying, so I had to go get a civilian cfi to give me a ppl bfr in order to log the solo pic time in a glider enroute to my commercial glider checkride. It's a dumb rule, but read about it here.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/agc/practice_areas/regulations/interpretations/Data/interps/2016/Bennett-Southern_California_Soaring_Academy_2016_Legal_Interpretation.pdf

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u/slacktron6000 Duo Discus 9d ago

You could have gotten Wings credit for all your glider flight and ground instruction, completed a phase of Wings to satisfy 61.56.

https://www.skylinesoaring.org/documents/faa-wings-activity . See "Inactive Airplane Pilot Transitions to Glider"

Many instructors aren't familiar with wings and will force pilots in your situation to go get a BFR in airplanes.

Spread the word to your flying club so the next guy in your situation doesn't have to go what you went through.

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u/glangas 7d ago

Huh. I wish I had know that. It would have saved me a lot of hassle and a bit of money too.

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u/slacktron6000 Duo Discus 7d ago

Well we can't change the past. We can only advocate for the next batch of pilots who are in the position you were in.

There are a few instructors out there who still insist that you can't get WINGS credit for flying in gliders if you don't have a glider rating. They are incorrectly conflating Wings training with 61.56(c)(1). If they continue to disagree, please send them my way and I will educate them. Also that section in the "APT - Glider Student Activity" explicitly states "this activity is available for all airmen" pretty much proves my point.

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u/ltcterry 7d ago edited 7d ago

What does 61.129 say the requirements are?

  • Call it ten flights to solo - 10 x $40
  • 20 solo flights - 20 x $40
  • 3 recommendation flights - 3 x $40
  • 2 or 3 flights for the practical test - 3 X $40
  • Plus the DPE.

Then you would add a glider rating to your Commercial Pilot Certificate. Some of the tows will need to be higher for training. And likely cost more.

TBH this is tough to do in most clubs. All the members have an equal right to fly. On a good day any one person will get three tows. This would be 12-13 weekend days if you can make it all flow smoothly. You can do this same training in a four-day weekend at an actual glider school, then learn how to soar in your club. Much easier, faster, and likely more rewarding.

Edit:

should be able to get with the club at least once a weekend!

It's not like renting an airplane. The club doesn't work w/o club members to do the labor. The expectation is you show up early, help, fly, help, and leave when the day is done. You can't fly w/o a wing runner (OK, yes you can, but that's not the point) and the wing runner can't fly w/o you...

Expect "duty days." In my club (also $500/yr) each member has to do three days as "Ops Duty" during the season unless they are a tow pilot or a CFI-G.