Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

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DerScuple
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Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by DerScuple » Mon May 29, 2017 6:13 pm

Hi guys, I'm sure this has been asked before but I got a lot of mixed results when searching for an answer. (Some say yes, some say no)

Anyway, I am a brand new pilot with almost no flight experience. I started taking gliding lessons with my club just this week. I've so far went for 5 flights, and probably don't even have an hour of stick time yet, so in other words: I am about as green as it gets.

I'm learning a lot with my lessons, but I'm wondering if it would be beneficial to use a simulator like Condor, (with stick, rudder, and maybe even track IR) to help me learn the basics faster, like flying coordinated, weather, wind, and maybe even trying some simulated landings and take offs. (Which are extremely overwhelming to a new guy like me.. seriously, how do you guys even do that)

What do you guys think? Would it be worth it investing in Condor, as well as all the hardware?

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Cadfael
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Cadfael » Mon May 29, 2017 7:00 pm

This question is not possibly seriously answer - everything depends on your discipline and interest. You can fly with Condor by the same way as with real glider, but you can learn some wrong habits here too. At the condor there is missing fear, so you can more risk. Also size of trees and some objects have no the same scale as reality, so you have teach wrong feeling of altitude before landing, but generally I personally think it can be used as a training tool.

Maybe exaple - this situation is similiar as you are learning drive a car wíth any good car simulator. You can learn many things here, but driving a real car as a little bit different.
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DerScuple
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by DerScuple » Tue May 30, 2017 6:24 am

Cadfael wrote:This question is not possibly seriously answer - everything depends on your discipline and interest. You can fly with Condor by the same way as with real glider, but you can learn some wrong habits here too. At the condor there is missing fear, so you can more risk. Also size of trees and some objects have no the same scale as reality, so you have teach wrong feeling of altitude before landing, but generally I personally think it can be used as a training tool.

Maybe exaple - this situation is similiar as you are learning drive a car wíth any good car simulator. You can learn many things here, but driving a real car as a little bit different.

I never really thought about the whole car thing - I never needed a simulator to learn how to drive a car - so you're saying I shouldn't use one to learn to fly?

The challenge for me is that I have limited time in the air, and I want some way to re-create that and maybe learn some more while I'm at it - I had 5 flights last week, which was quite a lot - but I still can't stop thinking about getting back up there and doing more.

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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Cadfael » Tue May 30, 2017 8:34 am

I did not say you should not use it - but you must understand a difference. I am personally flying with Condor by the same way as with real glider, and it is one of reason why I am poor racer - for me is more important save my life and outland if necessary before good score :-) At some clubs are using Condor as a learning tool, so it is possilbe. But simulation and reality never will be the same, so you can learn many things, but not everything.
Try it - but what you really need are rudder pedals. I started learn to fly with real glider AFTER flying with sim wihout rudder pedals, and sometimes from the beginning I found, I am not using legs, but I am twisting a Blanik stick :-)
Condor is not expensive - like one real aerotow, so I think it is good inverstment. You have advantage - you can compare it now with reality, so will not have wrong habits from Condor
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Sprunga » Tue May 30, 2017 10:22 am

Hello!

I think that you can use it for a training tool and would recommend buying condor. You can't really use it to practice landings and take off's etc but would be great to revisit things that you just learnt plus procedural stuff like checklists and radio calls. One example that comes to mind is to practice maintaining an airspeed by keeping the same attitude.

I'm not sure about the hardware. I just use a mouse so not the best to ask plus I started real life flying way before simulators like condor were around.

If you do use Condor in conjunction with your training make sure you have an open mind when you go to your RL training. Listen to your instructor instead of having preconceived ideas from Condor.

At the very worst at least you will get a soaring 'fix' if the weather is bad or you can't get out to the club for the weekend.

All the best with your training!!! Keep us updated!
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Olympia » Tue May 30, 2017 11:50 am

Speaking as a retired instructor who sent over 200 people solo in his time, I would like to make the following points relevant to using Condor as a training aid. You won't be sent solo till you can perform the following tasks safely and consistently:

Landing: This is the hardest thing to teach and to learn. You will not learn this properly in Condor, as one of the tricky bits is the final flare as you arrive on the deck. For this you need to be able to see either the grass or the tarmac realistically to judge your height. Condor c'an't provide the resolution to do this. You can learn to land eventually but it will not be a good representation of RL.

Handling: Condor is quite good, providing you realise that the air you will fly in in RL is not smooth and consistent. The turbulence in real life which bounces the glider around is missing. When you reach the stage of thermal soaring in a real glider, the bounce you get in a real thermal entry is largely missing. Unless you have a set of rudder pedals as well as to your computer joystick you will not learn how to co-ordinate stick and rudder when entering and leaving a turn. I manage fine by twisting the joystick, but then I have 2200 flights RL behind me.

Circuit flying: Here Condor does score well. After a pupil has mastered landing and handling he/she needs to be able to fly a good well planned circuit of the airfield. Condor lets you practice this many more times than if you were to learn this in RL. It is also good for teaching small field landings which you will probably have to perform in the early stages of your cross-country flying. This is a really scary thing in RL the first few times you need to do it. Condor should give you some confidence here (but don't land in standing crops!).

Taking off: This is an area which needs some attention in the current software. Winch launches are little hard to manage as keeping the wings level is not too easy with poor lookout sideways. Aero-towing is made difficult if you are not heading straight into the wind (or choose zero wind) mainly because the tow rope is much shorter than it ought to be. Crosswind take offs are well nigh impossible in strong winds. The short rope gives you a very short time to make corrections to position on tow.

Soaring: Forget about ridge soaring on normal slopes - it works fine in the near vertical slopes in Alpine conditions, but you will not learn how to scrape away on a typical British slope to gain enough height to find a thermal. I did my Silver height from a 200ft launch into 20 knots on a ridge in Yorkshire. This is not possible in Condor. Thermal soaring is good (too good really) with nice big circular thermals which last about 20 minutes on average. RL is not like this at all (at least in the UK - might be OK in Australia though). Wave soaring is possible, but bears no relation to RL, and the lenticular clouds which guide you to the wave are absent in v1 but might appear in v2 who knows.

Having said all the above, Condor is still the best soaring simulator you will find bar none, so take what you can from it. As a very old wooden ship pilot I enjoy flying this simulator for the sheer joy of silent flight. Look on it as an adjunct to your RL training and you won't go far wrong,

Best of luck, and happy landings.
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DerScuple
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by DerScuple » Wed May 31, 2017 4:51 am

Cadfael wrote: Try it - but what you really need are rudder pedals. I started learn to fly with real glider AFTER flying with sim wihout rudder pedals, and sometimes from the beginning I found, I am not using legs, but I am twisting a Blanik stick :-)
It's funny you say that - because this is MY EXACT problem.

My first few flights I was twisting my wrist a lot, because I use to play a lot of a video game called Elite:Dangerous - and my flight stick I used has the YAW twist as well.

It's a very bad habit and I still have it somewhat - but I've flown 5 times now, and I'm gradually teaching myself not to twist.
Sprunga wrote:
If you do use Condor in conjunction with your training make sure you have an open mind when you go to your RL training. Listen to your instructor instead of having preconceived ideas from Condor.

At the very worst at least you will get a soaring 'fix' if the weather is bad or you can't get out to the club for the weekend.

All the best with your training!!! Keep us updated!
Absolutely! I would never assume I know how to fly since I can do it in a simulator. We actually have Condor at the club and that's how I was introduced to it. I did some flying around, and its funny how SCARY things can be in Real life. For example, on my 3rd lesson we did some slow flying, gentle stalls, and basic zero g maneuvers and it scared me BIG time at first.
Olympia wrote:Speaking as a retired instructor who sent over 200 people solo in his time, I would like to make the following points relevant to using Condor as a training aid. You won't be sent solo till you can perform the following tasks safely and consistently:

Landing: This is the hardest thing to teach and to learn. You will not learn this properly in Condor, as one of the tricky bits is the final flare as you arrive on the deck. For this you need to be able to see either the grass or the tarmac realistically to judge your height. Condor c'an't provide the resolution to do this. You can learn to land eventually but it will not be a good representation of RL.

Handling: Condor is quite good, providing you realise that the air you will fly in in RL is not smooth and consistent. The turbulence in real life which bounces the glider around is missing. When you reach the stage of thermal soaring in a real glider, the bounce you get in a real thermal entry is largely missing. Unless you have a set of rudder pedals as well as to your computer joystick you will not learn how to co-ordinate stick and rudder when entering and leaving a turn. I manage fine by twisting the joystick, but then I have 2200 flights RL behind me.

Circuit flying: Here Condor does score well. After a pupil has mastered landing and handling he/she needs to be able to fly a good well planned circuit of the airfield. Condor lets you practice this many more times than if you were to learn this in RL. It is also good for teaching small field landings which you will probably have to perform in the early stages of your cross-country flying. This is a really scary thing in RL the first few times you need to do it. Condor should give you some confidence here (but don't land in standing crops!).

Taking off: This is an area which needs some attention in the current software. Winch launches are little hard to manage as keeping the wings level is not too easy with poor lookout sideways. Aero-towing is made difficult if you are not heading straight into the wind (or choose zero wind) mainly because the tow rope is much shorter than it ought to be. Crosswind take offs are well nigh impossible in strong winds. The short rope gives you a very short time to make corrections to position on tow.

Soaring: Forget about ridge soaring on normal slopes - it works fine in the near vertical slopes in Alpine conditions, but you will not learn how to scrape away on a typical British slope to gain enough height to find a thermal. I did my Silver height from a 200ft launch into 20 knots on a ridge in Yorkshire. This is not possible in Condor. Thermal soaring is good (too good really) with nice big circular thermals which last about 20 minutes on average. RL is not like this at all (at least in the UK - might be OK in Australia though). Wave soaring is possible, but bears no relation to RL, and the lenticular clouds which guide you to the wave are absent in v1 but might appear in v2 who knows.

Having said all the above, Condor is still the best soaring simulator you will find bar none, so take what you can from it. As a very old wooden ship pilot I enjoy flying this simulator for the sheer joy of silent flight. Look on it as an adjunct to your RL training and you won't go far wrong,

Best of luck, and happy landings.
Thanks for all the insight.

I actually tried flying the Tow just for fun on Condor at the club, and I actually could somewhat do it from the get go.

However in reality - it's TERRIFYING! I've only flown 5 times (3 of them lessons) but everything you guys do seems so overwhelming - I hope one day I can learn to do it all - but right now I have that creeping thought in the back of my mind that I don't got what it takes. I guess that's why I wanted to get the simulator for myself, and practice as much as I could - even if it is just virtual.

As an instructor - what kind of road map do students typically have? The members at my club, as well as the instructors told me on average, most students are able to solo after 20-40 flights.

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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Olympia » Wed May 31, 2017 5:06 pm

Thanks for all the insight.
As an instructor - what kind of road map do students typically have? The members at my club, as well as the instructors told me on average, most students are able to solo after 20-40 flights.
Well any club organised to take people from scratch (ab-initio is the usual term) should have a syllabus which instructors will use in conjunction with a log book which will record the flights and what was taught (and learned eventually).

The early flights will concentrate on use of the controls to fly straight and level at a constant speed, and then the use of the controls for turning. Lookout will be emphasised early on as well - many pupils tend to fly the instrument panel when they are supposed to be flying the glider.

Once a reasonable level of handling is reached the take off and landing phases will be dealt with and circuit planning will be combined with that. Stalls,incipient spins, and steeper turns usually follow this, the emphasis being on avoiding spins and stalls. This can be the longest stage.

Cable breaks on winch launches are taught because if your club winches, you will be doing your early solos on that method of launch.

While all this is going on a good instructor will take the opportunity to extend a flight if a thermal happens to pop up particularly to gain height for doing more prolonged spinning training, or teaching soaring. You need to know that the spin can be a deadly thing if you are caught out at low altitude.

Some clubs will teach recovery from unusual attitudes - these can happen if an aerobatic manoeuvre goes wrong. This bit might come after solo though.

When every one is sure that you are safe (several instructors normally fly with you in the final stages of training) the day will come when the guy in the back gets out, and doesn't get back in again. Off you go on your own, and another pilot has been made!

You may be lucky and do all this in 30 sorties like I did, but I wouldn't worry if it took you 50. We once taught a retired bank manager who needed over a 100 duals, but we got him off solo eventually. I used to say to pupils ,'if you can ride a motor cycle I can teach you to fly"

There will be set-backs but you should persevere. If you don't get along with a particular instructor there should be a system of letting the CFI know and he should move you on to someone else. In my last club I seemed to get all the girls to teach because apparently I didn't shout at them!

Have a good time.
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by DerScuple » Thu Jun 01, 2017 5:49 am

Olympia wrote:
Thanks for all the insight.
As an instructor - what kind of road map do students typically have? The members at my club, as well as the instructors told me on average, most students are able to solo after 20-40 flights.
Well any club organised to take people from scratch (ab-initio is the usual term) should have a syllabus which instructors will use in conjunction with a log book which will record the flights and what was taught (and learned eventually).

The early flights will concentrate on use of the controls to fly straight and level at a constant speed, and then the use of the controls for turning. Lookout will be emphasised early on as well - many pupils tend to fly the instrument panel when they are supposed to be flying the glider.

Once a reasonable level of handling is reached the take off and landing phases will be dealt with and circuit planning will be combined with that. Stalls,incipient spins, and steeper turns usually follow this, the emphasis being on avoiding spins and stalls. This can be the longest stage.

Cable breaks on winch launches are taught because if your club winches, you will be doing your early solos on that method of launch.

While all this is going on a good instructor will take the opportunity to extend a flight if a thermal happens to pop up particularly to gain height for doing more prolonged spinning training, or teaching soaring. You need to know that the spin can be a deadly thing if you are caught out at low altitude.

Some clubs will teach recovery from unusual attitudes - these can happen if an aerobatic manoeuvre goes wrong. This bit might come after solo though.

When every one is sure that you are safe (several instructors normally fly with you in the final stages of training) the day will come when the guy in the back gets out, and doesn't get back in again. Off you go on your own, and another pilot has been made!

You may be lucky and do all this in 30 sorties like I did, but I wouldn't worry if it took you 50. We once taught a retired bank manager who needed over a 100 duals, but we got him off solo eventually. I used to say to pupils ,'if you can ride a motor cycle I can teach you to fly"

There will be set-backs but you should persevere. If you don't get along with a particular instructor there should be a system of letting the CFI know and he should move you on to someone else. In my last club I seemed to get all the girls to teach because apparently I didn't shout at them!

Have a good time.
Thanks a lot for taking the time writing that post! Your insight definitely makes me feel better regarding my progress. Currently I find the whole expereince very overwhelming - especially take offs and landings. I see the instructor demonstrating such skill and accuracy while flying tow and land I can't even fathom doing it myself.

But I will keep at it - and keep flying. 50 flights makes me feel better - seeing as I only did 3 and have probably only 1 hour of stick time personally.

Thankfully I don't seem to suffer from airsickness or motion sickness - some of the instructors at the club say they get it quite bad and are envious of me.

The only thing I have right now is that instinctive "fear" of being high up that I have to push into the back of my head. I have never flown before, so being 3000 above ground was quite scary my first time - especially the sensations of thermals (I've been up 5 times now, and the feeling is starting to go away at least)

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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Paul_UK » Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:53 am

I only started flying last August so have been through exactly the same series of questions you're asking. I agree with what Olympia has said. I've been flying RC gliders and simulators for years. What I didn't know were the correct procedures to follow when using a simulator. If you combine what you learn from your instructors and put it into use in the simulator world it certainly helps. If you are struggling with coordination the simulator can help there too as long as you have a stick and rudder pedals setup. Whilst the winch launch in the sim is harder to fly than real life I find it useful for practicing maintaining a set speed on the launch. At first I would chase the ASI but have since learnt to let things settle and make small adjustments. In real life though the winch speed isn't as consistent and neither is the weather / wind so in real life you have to adapt more. Whilst the ground run is tricky in the sim on an aerotow if you can follow the tug in the sim once airborne and keep everything coordinated you should do fine in real life. On a calm day and only my third aerotow I flew the whole launch myself, I'm pretty sure if I'd have not had experience of this in a simulator it would have taken a few more tows maybe before I could do this. In all though I will stick by the simulator being a useful tool. The sim in combination with reading (I recommend reading 'The Glider Pilots Manual' by Ken Stewart. I read and ingested this prior to starting flying for real) and then being taught the correct procedures in real life will see you progress relatively quickly. I think the book I mention states it usually takes 40 - 80 flights until you solo. Because I'd read, was pretty coordinated control wise thanks to Condor prior to starting flying I went solo in 30ish flights (was pretty much bang on 3hours flight time). I did however do a 5 day course so my training wasn't split up, I think that helped too. My club required me to do a minimum of 13 launch failure flights on the winch so how you'd go solo in 20 without any previous experience I'm not sure though it could be some clubs have access to a ridge then the amount of launches could be less but flight time would still be comparable.

As for progress, since the course on average I have managed to fly about once a week, all over winter too. I purchased 'Bronze and Beyond' the weekend after I finished my course and set to reading that. I now have my Bronze C, my silver height gain, I stupidly messed up noting my launch time and landed 14mins early on one flight to get my silver duration (5hrs) :x and have progressed into the clubs Grob 102 and a few weeks ago the clubs Discus. That is a lovely glider to fly! At the moment you will feel like everything happens very quickly and that the workload is of a high level. The more you fly though you will notice this feeling subsides. Keep at it and you will get there and if you think you can be strict enough to follow procedures you learn in real life when you use the simulator I would recommend getting it as an extra training tool, it certainly served me well!
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Olympia » Thu Jun 01, 2017 12:31 pm

@Paul UK,

Your input is valuable here because you have had a mix of RL and simulator while learning. There were no computers never mind high quality simulators in my time (1963). You seem to be tackling the development stages very well - Silver height and nearly duration! - it took me quite a while to get anywhere near those achievements. You have the colossal advantage of modern high performance aircraft of course. I learned in a wooden open glider - the T31- and flew its single seat version the Tutor for over a year after solo, before being turned loose on the club Olympia 2b. I was the first UK pilot to get the Bronze 'C' on the day it became available in April 1966. I have only ever flown one glass ship the ASK21, and I can see why the 'badges' are easier to come by these days. I did my 5 hrs in the Olympia in August 1966 (my own one by that time) in thermals - a first for the site I flew from. Like the '4minute mile' this was regarded as 'impossible' at our club till I managed it, and then two other people did it again that year. Most folk did the 5hrs on a ridge which must have been boring beyond belief.

We found that for the first 5 hrs after solo most pilots were flying safely, but they needed watching after that till they had about 50 hrs to catch any bad habits. Most folk few well after 50 hrs as by then they had frightened themselves enough to become totally safe. There are bold pilots, and old pilots, but NO old, bold pilots.

I must admit I have never heard of instructors getting air sick. Maybe it was because we all started our careers in open two seaters. I do recall the claustrophobic feeling the first time I flew the Olympia though. I had it again when I started instructing in the back seat of a K7. You could hardly see out. The K13 was much nicer, and the Bocian was a dream, as you sat about six inches higher than the front seat man.

Anyway you seem to be well on the way to your Silver.

Try and avoid doing what I did on the cross country check our CFI set up for me the week after I did the 5hrs. They laid out a big bed sheet in the middle of the field and I to pass I had to land and stop within twenty feet of it. Off I went in my Oly on a winch launch intending to do a quick circuit and land on this sheet. Lo and behold I was tempted by a little thermal as I released, so I thought I might just do a few turns in it before setting off on the task in hand. I hadn't noticed an increase in wind speed and the thermal was very weak. By the time I came notice these facts I had been blown down wind of our field,and was now too low to get back, so I had to land in the very small farmer's field next door. The CFI grounded me for two weeks (driving the winch), and signed me off for cross country flying. The sight of my colleagues laughing as they climbed over the fence to retrieve me will live with me for ever. Cost me a fortune in the pub later.
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Paul_UK » Thu Jun 01, 2017 2:36 pm

I guess we are lucky that we have access to better performing gliders today when it comes to achieving Silver, Gold and Diamond. I flew my Silver height and 'almost duration' in the Grob102. It's a nice glider to fly first solo. The stall is very benign and I prefer how it spins over a K13 however during recovery it does nose over a tad more! I think I had about 13 hours solo under my belt the day I got my Silver height etc. Here's my flight path for that day.

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I fly from Lasham so no ridge flying for me yet. I am lucky in that flying RC I understood what a thermal was already and that I would have to circle in it. The simulator use prior to flying for real helped me to obtain an idea of how to centre in thermals, along with reading various techniques. In the real world though it's not quite as easy however as things change a lot quicker as well as other gliders coming barreling in and messing things up usually just as I'm happy with my position :lol: I'm by no means the most efficient at using a thermal yet but I can hold my own. I love how the Discus accelerates in comparison to the Grob102 however the thinner wing section is less forgiving. The controls are lovely and light however and it's so quiet compared to the club 102s! I'm still aware I have plenty more experience to gain, we're always learning after all. As for sickness the only time I've had that, and my instructor is we flew a whole morning of spin training for my Red Card (post solo stuff) which was spin after spin and after he got out I had to go and do my first solo spin. I had a longer lunch break that day :lol:

I enjoy it when the wind picks up. We had 18kts surface speed and 40kts aloft a few weeks ago. Adjusting the circuit to suit is always fun! I like to keep my hand in on that. Those conditions are not really enjoyable for soaring locally however. I've almost been caught out like you in the 102 tussling with a weak thermal when it has been windy aloft and letting it slip my mind where the airfield is. I luckily noticed in time to head back and join the pattern from out wide about half way between high key and low key.

The one thing that I think will take me a while to pick up is gaining confidence in each gliders performance, especially as at the moment they've been changing frequently. I use the simulator to experiment with this too. On a NAV training flight my instructor stated he'd be happy to be 2500QFE from where we were to get back in a Discus and I thought he was pulling my leg. So I fired up the sim on getting home and the Discus2 made it back from where we were. As said much experience to be gained and only hours of flying for real will see me gain this. Next for me is my NAV test and field landing test flight. Then I have my x-country endorsement and I can fly away from the safety of the airfield :? Another good point about the simulator. With VFR3 south UK scenery and a chart I am able to plot a course, turn off the PDA and fly it using ground features. After flying the NAV training flight things became even clearer and I can use the sim to practice techniques mentioned etc.

In short on it's own you may learn to fly using a simulator but will probably pick up many bad habits. If you take what you learn in the real world and apply it in the simulator I believe it can be a useful training aid. Not everyone is great on computers however and this could cause some complications when using the sim, i.e. looking around using a hat switch if you don't have TrackIr or similar. My father gets very confused using this function!
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Olympia » Thu Jun 01, 2017 4:36 pm

@ Der Scuple

Thanks a lot for taking the time writing that post! Your insight definitely makes me feel better regarding my progress. Currently I find the whole expereince very overwhelming - especially take offs and landings. I see the instructor demonstrating such skill and accuracy while flying tow and land I can't even fathom doing it myself.

It's a pleasure. Long retired from real life flying, it is good to recall some of the happy times I had in the air, and the pleasure I had from teaching others to fly.

Instructors may seem like little gods (and some alas, think they are), but I'll let you into a secret:

None of us instructors learned how to fly really well till we had to teach others.

The learning process for an instructor is nearly as hard as that for the pupil in the early days of one's teaching career. No doubt at all, 1000 sorties instructing will make you into a very smooth operator. At that point gliding is just like driving a car - you do everything instinctively, and this will look very far away from your efforts. Do not despair - the skill will come to you - quicker if you pay close attention to the instruction, and fly regularly. Better still, go on a week long course if your club organises one. Continuity is the key to fast progress. I sent lots of people solo on club courses, or sometimes shortly afterwards, because they got a lot of their training in one lump.
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Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by DerScuple » Fri Jun 02, 2017 4:16 pm

@Paul_UK & Olympia

Thanks for the reply guys! Reading your posts was awesome and shows me just how long of a road I have to going solo.

I understand now that learning to fly won't be as fast as learning to ride a bike, and will take many weekends of lessons.

I guess I was just scared that I wasn't progressing as fast as I should, and didn't "have what it takes".

I'll keep at it, and probably invest in some hardware and Condor only after I have a better grasp of the real thing so I can apply my lessons in the simulator so I don't pick up bad habits.

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Paul_UK
Posts: 828
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 1:05 pm
Location: Southampton, UK

Re: Would you guys recommend Condor as a learning tool to a pilot in training?

Post by Paul_UK » Fri Jun 02, 2017 5:42 pm

Once you're getting more comfortable flying if you can I'd go with what Olympia says and try to get on a course. Keeping consistency will really help you to progress quickly. Even after a week I suspect you'll still need at least one flight to settle back in and get the feel of it. If you can be at the airfield everyday for a week getting in 6 or so flights a day your progress will be quicker, if this is what you would like to achieve.

There is no time limit on anything when it comes to flying so there is no need to have any worry that you're not progressing fast enough. Just remember to only use Condor as a training aid, nothing will beat actual hours of flying to gain the experience we're all after.
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2018 - Silver Badge complete - Forgot I could claim for the 100km diploma flying an out and return :oops:
2019 - Get up to speed and aim for a 300km task?! maybe.....

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