Cross Country Tasks and Training Resources

Pre-Made Tasks

Pre-made Tasks (including Proving Grounds)

Ground School Lessons

Cross-country Intro (Calculating glides — Go/no-go decision points)

SSA Webinars

SSA Webinars

Recommended Reading

By Kai Gertsen:

Aviation Center Library:

  • Bob Wander books, especially:

    • Breaking the Apron Strings: Soaring Cross Country by Phil Petmecky

    • Cross Country Manual For Glider Pilots, by Dean Carswell

    • Landing Out: The Final Four Minutes, by Don Ingraham

    • Riding On Air: Ridge Wave, & Convergence Lift, by Rolf Hertensten, Ph.D.

    • Thermals

  • Cross-Country Soaring, by Helmut Reichman

  • Winning on the Wind, by George Moffat

Other:

  • The Soaring Engine, volume one, by G Dale

Study Guides

Bronze Badge Study Guide

Badges and Records

SSA: Badges and Records

Your Flight / IGC Recording applications

When flying as a private or commercial glider pilot, it can be rewarding and educational to review and analyze your flight afterwards. In order to do so, you need to log your flight with an application on your phone or logger that will save your GPS trace to an .igc file. The resulting .igc file can then be studied in a computer application like SeeYou (available on GHSA computers). Secondly, the file can be uploaded to the Online Contest, which is a website where you can keep a record of your flights and see other pilots’ flights. Start the logger before you get in the glider and then turn it off after you land. Note: Some badge flights require a certified and calibrated logger. See the SSA badge and record webpage for more details.

Phone Logger Applications

  • OLC (Online Contest) Upload your .igc file of your flight here

  • IGCDroid .igc logger for Android (Free)

  • iGlide .igc logger and simple flight computer for iPhone ($33.99)

  • SeeYou Navigator .igc logger and simple flight computer for Android and iPhone ($55/year when purchased with SeeYou desktop flight analysis and task creation software)

  • XCSoar .igc logger and full-fledged flight computer for Android phones (Free). Much more complicated to use than the others, but also many more features.

OLC Webpage

With any of the flight computer software (XCSoar, iGlide, SeeYou Navigator) we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the application’s operation when someone else is flying (e.g. dual pilots in Blanik), or when using XCSoar paired with Condor simulation. The distractions caused by learning the flight computer software in actual flight can be detrimental to flight safety. Learn this software on the ground or with another trusted pilot at the controls. The loggers can be turned on before the flight and forgotten about while in-flight and then turned off afterwards.

There are also other portable IGC/GPS logging solutions, such as the Nano, Nano III, and Nano4. GHSA members have had mixed results using these solutions. These solutions start around $490 (Nano).

Please reach out to our instructors or cross-country pilots if you have any questions.

Note that you may need a certified and calibrated logger for non-duration badge claim flights. See the SSA badge and record webpage for more details. A list of approved loggers can be found on the SSA badge website under “Sporting Code” -> “IGC Approved Loggers”.

Example OLC Screenshot:

Example OLC Flight

Whatev

Outlanding Letter to carry in your glider during cross-country flights