Bob Wander took up gliding in 1979 and has been a glider flight instructor since 1980.
He operated a glider flight school until November 1998 and Soaring Books & Supplies, a bookstore devoted to books on soaring flight. He has written articles for Soaring magazine, and regularly travels the country to lecture and consult members of several large soaring clubs and has represented the Soaring Society of America at the Oshkosh Airshow.
Bob is the most widely published gliding author in the English language. His books include: 
- Learning To Fly Gliders
- Private Pilot Glider Checkride. . . Made Easy
- Commercial Pilot Glider Checkride . . . Made Easy
- Glider Flight Instructor Checkride . . . Made Easy
- Glider BFR & Spring Checkout . . . Made Easy
- Glider Polars & Speed-To-Fly. . . Made Easy
- Transition To Single Seat Gliders. . . Made Easy
- The Art Of Thermaling. . . Made Easy
- Badge Soaring: The ABC Badges . . . Made Easy
- Badge Soaring: The Bronze Badge . . . Made Easy
- Badge Soaring: The Silver Badge . . . Made Easy
- Safer Soaring . . . Made Easy
- Everybody's First Gliding Book
Bob Wander is also General Editor and Publisher of the Gliding Mentor Series of books: 
- Thermals by Rolf Hertenstein Ph.D.
- Towpilot Manual by Burt Compton
- End Of The Line: Glider Pilot Aerotow Manual by Murray Shain
- Cross Country Manual For Glider Pilots by Dean Carswell
- Breaking The Apron Strings: Soaring Cross Country by Phil Petmecky
- Practical Wave Flying by Mark Palmer
- Final Four: Making Safe Glider Outlandings by Don Ingraham.
- Landing Out: The Final Four Minutes, byDon Ingraham
- Power Pilot's Guide To Soaring, by Murray Shain
- Riding On Air: Ridge, Wave, & Convergence Lift by Rolf Hertenstein, Ph.D
In cooperation with Jeppesen-Sanderson Publications, Bob wrote numerous chapters for the FAA Glider Flying Handbook. He has served as an aviation consultant to the FAA, the NTSB, the Soaring Safety Foundation, the Soaring Society of America, Sporty’s Pilot Shop, and Jeppesen-Sanderson Publications.
In 1993 the Soaring Society of America presented Bob with the National Exceptional Achievement Award in recognition of his devotion to the sport and success in promoting it. He has also won several recuitment awards.
Bob built his own Woodstock glider and enjoys flying and racing it in his spare time.
Does the Space Shuttle qualify as a glider?