GBSC Recommended Reading List

Tony Verhulst AGI, CFI-G

Although no one can learn to fly gliders by reading books alone, books compliment what you learn in the air with your flight instructor. This knowledge can make you a better and safer pilot and, of course, help you get better scores on your FAA tests. Fortunately, there are many excellent books available that can be purchased online from the Soaring Society of America (SSA) or from commercial vendors such as Knauff & Grove Soaring Supplies and Bob Wander's Soaring Books and Supplies. Additionally, Amazon.com is a good source for getting many soaring books - especially for used books and books out of print - http://www.amazon.com

You don't necessarily have to spend your hard earned cash. The government has many publications that are available at no cost - often downloadable from the web. A good place to start is http://www.faa.gov/publications/index.cfm.

This reading list is divided into five sections:

• Standards and "one of a kinds". The standards are books that every soaring pilot should have. The "one of a kinds" are just that - there is only one book dedicated to cross country soaring, for instance.
• Next are the books that provide "primary instruction". Of course, by that I mean books that cover the fundamentals.
• Aviation weather.
• Aerodynamics.
• Miscellaneous books that don't fit into the other categories.

This reading list does not represent a complete inventory of the works in print today (although I dare say it is a pretty good representation). This is mostly my personal soaring book library.

See also Soaring Publications from Oxford Web Publishing.