About the Course

Prerequisites: None
Approximate time to complete: 2 hours 30 minutes

The airspeed indicator, the variometer, the yaw string, and the compass are your primary tools for tracking the glider’s position and movement through the air. Because of their crucial role, it is important that you understand how these instruments work, and how you should interpret the information they provide. In addition, many gliders have additional instruments and systems. These can include G-meters, radios, transponders, GPS, and supplemental oxygen systems.

In this course you will learn about the instruments and systems that you may encounter in a glider, and how those systems work.

Purchase of this course entitles you to one year of access to the course material.

Please Note: This course is designed for use by a single individual. It is against the Terms of Use to share this course, in part or whole, with other users, or to teach others using the content from this course. The time and effort that goes into the development of these courses is immense. To ensure that we will be able to offer more courses, we need to collect a fee from every student who takes a course. Thank you for supporting our effort!

About the Course

 Course Curriculum

  • 1
    Course Overview
  • 2
    The Atmosphere
    • Section Overview
    • Video
    • Quiz 1
  • 3
    Primary Instruments
    • Section Overview
    • Video - Altimeter
    • Quiz 2
    • Video - Airspeed Indicator
    • Quiz 3
    • Video - Variometer
    • Quiz 4
    • Video - Yaw String/Inclinometer
    • Quiz 5
    • Video - Compass
    • Quiz 6
  • 4
    Secondary Instruments and Systems
    • Section Overview
    • Video - G Meter
    • Quiz 7
    • Video - Radio
    • Quiz 8
    • Video - Transponder
    • Quiz 9
    • Video - GPS
    • Quiz 10
    • Video - Oxygen Systems
    • Quiz 11
  • 5
    Final Exam
    • Final Exam

  About the Instructor

  • Russell Holtz

    Russell Holtz

    Russell is the author of two well-respected and widely-used soaring flight training books in the United States - the Glider Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Flight Training Manual for Glider Pilots.

    Russell grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering.

    He obtained his Private Pilot Certificate in gliders in 1995, in airplanes in 1996, his Commercial Certificate in Gliders in 1998, and his Certified Flight Instructor rating in gliders in 1999. He completed the FAI Silver Badge requirements in 1997, and the Gold and Diamond requirements in 1998. Russell has given over 2,800 hours of primary, cross-country, contest, and aerobatic flight instruction, and has over 4,000 hours total time in gliders.

    Russell's passion for understanding and communicating soaring knowledge is evident in his teaching.

Reviews

  • Outstanding Intro to the Primary Flight Instruments

    Rand Baldwin

    Russ has carefully chosen graphics and animations that bring to life the principles that underlie the operation of the pitot-static system and primary flight instruments. This intro is succinct, very clear, and distills what would otherwise be pag...

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    Russ has carefully chosen graphics and animations that bring to life the principles that underlie the operation of the pitot-static system and primary flight instruments. This intro is succinct, very clear, and distills what would otherwise be pages of text into a few minutes of viewing time. Excellent!

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  • Great information and I love these short courses followed by Quiz and then Exam.

    Ken Desforges

    Nice work!!!

    Nice work!!!

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