Flight Training Information

Penn State Soaring Club  training follows the flight training syllabus outlined in Tom Knauff's training manuals, "Glider Basics" and "After Solo". Tom is a highly accomplished flight instructor, and glider pilot with thousands of hours, and a number of National and World Gliding Records. 



On average it takes about 25 to 30 flights with an FAA certified instructor to solo if they fly regularly. A private glider license is usually earned after a few months. Follow the links below to find out more.

Wing Runner Course
This web based training course offers information from ground handling through launch.

Study materials
A list of useful books for your soaring library

Practice For The FAA Written Exam
A website designed to let you practice the FAA written Private, Commercial, and CFI exams. Please note you need to create an account.

FAA Requirements List (pdf)
This is a list of FAA requirements for a Private Pilot Glider certificate. Some of the items are to be taught in ground school, and some are covered in the flight portion of our training. All of these items must be covered in order to take the flight test.