Soaring, like any sport, has a jargon all of its own. In addition, because soaring is a part of aviation, it shares many of the acronyms and lingo that has developed in the years since the Wright Brothers (who -- don't forget -- were glider pilots before they flew their first powered aircraft). Here are some of the most common terms you'll see in these pages and hear around the airfield:

PIC	Pilot in Command: the person ultimately responsible for safe completion of the flight.
FOO	Field Operations Officer: the person responsible for the ground-based portion of the flight operations. This includes promoting safe operations, keeping the operations moving and making sure visitors' questions get answered.
CFIG	Certified Flight Instructor, Glider. This person is licensed by the FAA to provide instruction in gliding.
SSA	Soaring Society of America: the blanket organization for most of the soaring activity in the United States. Sets standards and promotes the sport of soaring.
BFR	Biennial Flight Review. Every two years, a pilot must have a flight review consisting of 3 flights (or a total of 1 hour in the air) and 1 hour of ground review with a CFI.
SGC	Seattle Glider Council Regional organizatoin that maintains towplanes and clubhouse in Ephrata, WA.
FAA	Federal Aviation Administration. The portion of the Federal Government responsible for creating and enforcing aviation regulations. All glider pilots are required to have a license from the FAA.
Cu's	(Pronounced like "Qs") Cumulus clouds. The big, puffy, cotton-candy clouds you see in the summer. When they get very large, they can develop into TCu (towering cumulus) and even cumulonimbus (thunder storms). Soaring pilots look for Cu's because there is often lift beneath them (something's holding all those water droplets up in the air, right?)