This course is the first part of a comprehensive program we designed specifically with the needs of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in mind. The course is open to everyone who is interested; CAP cadets and senior members can register free of charge.
CAP cadets often aspire to become professional pilots, either for the military or as airline transport pilots. In both cases, they will end up flying advanced, high performance jets. Therefore, intellectual development and transferability of the lessons learned to more advanced aircraft with different flight characteristics are two of the main goals of our program. Special emphasis is put on a thorough treatment and understanding of physics fundamentals and applied flight dynamics, which we borrow from the field of flight test engineering. While gliders and soaring are the primary theme of this course, the material is not restricted to gliders alone, and examples from other aircraft categories (including multi engine airplanes and helicopters) are introduced to illustrate important concepts.
The process of learning is exponential. Adaptability and being able to learn quickly requires a broad range of skills and knowledge, and the development of analytical thinking. The tools required to do so efficiently must be at the students’ immediate disposal. In modern times, this includes the ability to visualize and interpret data, as well as being able to follow some mathematical calculations and logical reasoning, in order to understand where concepts and results come from. This is why our students in this program are also trained in the basics of data analysis, programming in Python using the Jupyter environment, and are introduced at least to the fundamentals of some selected, relevant college-level mathematics – such as linear algebra, which will be needed in our discussion of kinematics (description of aircraft motion). Since CAP cadets are high school students, this optional extended material is introduced carefully from the beginning, without requiring any prerequisites, during a later part of the course.
The diagram below illustrates the broader scope of the comprehensive three-track program this glider course is part of. This course is introductory, yet manages to progress quickly to some advanced topics at the same time, due to its diligent development of fundamentals. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to register for this course.
