Here's Part 1 of the epic quest for the CFI certificate. It covers everything from deciding to go for the certificate up to the failed attempt to transition to a different motorglider at a faraway school. Part 2 is already recorded and will be up soon. In the meantime, enjoy the comedy and the tragedy that is pursuing a glider CFI ride in a world not equipped to make that ride happen.

Airspeed - Because Glider - Part 1

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Tony Condon is as an ATP and corporate pilot who also serves as the president of the Kansas Soaring Association, headquartered at Sunflower Gliderport. We sat down and talked about long-distance cross-country soaring.

Airspeed - Downwind Dashes and Other Long-Distance Soaring with Tony Condon

John Harte is glider CFI and chief instructor at Sanhill Soaring Club in Gregory, Michigan, just a few miles down the road from Hell. (Hell, Michigan, that is.) He's also a tow pilot, aerobatic pilot, airshow performer, and FAST formation lead. Here's an hour and a half in conversation with John.

Airspeed - From Hell to Namibia and Back Again with John Harte

Kent and I are sequestered in our respective locations at SARS-CoV-2 sweeps the nation, so we thought we'd record a podcast episode.

Airspeed - Hangar Flying with Kent Shook

We made an audiobook! Steve narrated the audiobook version of Thomas A. Bass's The Eudaemonic Pie. The book tells the story of a band of physicists and computer wizards in the late 1970s and early 1980s who set out to beat roulette in Las Vegas with computers in their shoes. A story of science, art, and the birth of the hacker culture. The episode contains a brief account of the making of the audiobook and the entire prologue of the audiobook itself.

Airspeed - The Eudaemonic Pie

The second in a two-part series chronicling the long road to becoming a CFI. In this episode, our hero suffers more indignation at the hands of a check airman who calls off Christmas, after which he begins the long slog down the self-launch mountain, through the valley, and back up the adjacent peak of aerotow.

Airspeed - Because Glider - Part 1

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