Flight manuals, handbooks and checkride standards for glider pilots, free to download.
This is our reference shelf, open to everyone. It holds the flight manual for every glider on our field at Homestead General Airport (X51), the weight and balance data for those airframes, the FAA handbook the glider knowledge test is drawn from, and the practical test standards plus oral prep for the private, commercial and flight instructor certificates.
No accounts, no forms, no email gates: click and read. If you are training with us, these are the documents your instructor expects you to know your way around.
The Glider Flying Handbook is the FAA's own textbook for flying sailplanes, and the glider knowledge test is written straight out of it. Aerotow, ground launch, thermalling, performance speeds, weather and emergency procedures are all covered. Read it before your first lesson if you can, then keep going back to it.
These are the gliders flown at our field. If you are reading one of these manuals because you want to fly the aircraft rather than only study it, our initial certificate and add-on rating tracks both start in these cockpits.
A three-place all-metal sailplane built by Schweizer Aircraft in Elmira, New York. Roughly a 57-foot span and a glide ratio near 34:1. The pilot sits up front, two passengers sit side by side behind, and the airframe is heavy and stable, which is why the 2-32 has been a standard American ride and training glider for decades. Ours is N232WE, serial 87. The manual below is the original Schweizer flight, erection and maintenance handbook.
The two-seat tandem trainer from LET Kunovice in the Czech Republic, about a 53-foot span and roughly 28:1. Forgiving, well harmonized, and the aircraft most of our students solo in. Ours is N8023, serial 938023, which falls inside the US approved manual below. The quick reference card is our own one-page summary of speeds and limits.
A single-seat all-metal sailplane from Pilatus Aircraft in Stans, Switzerland, 15-meter span, stressed for aerobatics. The 1972 flight manual is kept here for pilots stepping out of the two-seat trainers into a single-seat ship.
