Gliding Experience

[jade]

Hi everyone,

 

never normally do things like this but google isn't giving me the best answer lol

 

I'm looking to book a glider experience for my partners 30th birthday, possibly looking for the start of next year to actually have the experience,

 

I'm just wondering if there's any better places to glide from, would quite like to see some lovely views, and maybe have a bit more than a basic gliding experience if thats possible lol,

 

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

thanks 

[Robert Cracknell]

Google 'Red Letter Days' . You buy vouchers for the experience and get a choice of venues.

[leccyflyer]

Hi Jade

 

You don't say whereabouts you are located, but if you are northwards at all, my builder said the other day that his wife had bought him one of those glider experience flights for his birthday and he's due to embark on it next week. That's at the Scottish Gliding Centre at Scotlandwells, near to Loch Leven in Fife, and the gliders there ooperate along the ridge line of the hills of East and West Lomond and the nearby Ochil Hills.

 

https://scottishglidingcentre.co.uk/

 

If you are after something different the views are spectacular, but you could also spend some non-gliding time in the Kingdom of Fife and Edinburgh itself, within easy reach to the south.

 

Another alternative, with even more impressive views over the Cairngorms and some of the best gliding conditions in Europe is Deeside Gliding Club, who operate from their airfield at Aboyne on Royal Deeside.

 

https://www.deesideglidingclub.co.uk/

[Robin Colbourne]

Red Letter Days probably just put a premium on what you would pay by going directly to a club.

Some clubs such as Lasham operate every flyable day.  Other smaller volunteer-run clubs may operate weekends only.

Hill sites such as The Midland Gliding Club at the Long Mynd, Yorkshire Club at Sutton Bank, London Gliding Club at Dunstable and the Bristol & Gloucestershire Club at Nympsfield, near Stroud, give the advantage of ridge soaring on a non-thermic day.

It is usual for trial lessons to be aerotows, although if the club has a winch as well, it is often possible to have some winch launches as well if the first flight was enjoyable.

A word of warning, doing aerobatics on the first flight can often leave the passenger feeling queasy.  It is better to have a more sedate flight and actually control the glider (most instructors will allow this after the launch phase is over and before the landing circuit is started).

Typically a 2000ft aerotow in still air will give about a 15 to 20 minute flight (including the tow).  A flight by winch launch to 1000ft will only last about five minutes as the launch is quicker, and in both cases the landing circuit starts at about 750ft.

Edited September 6, 2023 by Robin Colbourne

[MattyB]

If you just want to experience a flight, then choose the location based on views and ease of getting there. If you want to get hands on and do some flying, I’d recommend the Long Mynd or LGC on the Dunstable Downs, as in ridge lift you’ll get a longer flight and more time to try stuff out.

[Geoff S]

The Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club used to offer air experience flights and probably still does.  It's situated about 8 miles ENE of Buxton near to Great Hucklow.  It's a beautiful area to fly being near Edale and Castleton.  I did a week's course there back in the 90s and joined the club for a year but gave up when I retired and time replaced income 🙂

[John Lee]

The British Gliding Association has a Club search facility & offers vouchers for gliding experiences. https://www.gliding.co.uk/buy-voucher/

[Capt Kremen]

Red Letter Days = Rip Off!

[MattyB]

My first flights in a glider were at RAF Syerston whilst at Notts Uni in the late 90s. The price back then? £15 a year membership fee, and £3.10 a winch launch. Instruction was free (all RAF guys), and no soaring fees either cos we owned our own K13 (reg. HPE, or Happy)! and K6. Driving the vintage post war tractor for retrieving aircraft was a heck of a lot of fun too!
 

Tremendous days - I think I went solo for about £130!!!

Edited September 6, 2023 by MattyB

[john stones 1 - Moderator]

Never went solo or anywhere near, but did it at a £5 a shot via winch, that was a buzz in itself, you mucked in and helped throughout the day.

[Simon Chaddock]

i can only add do not go to the pub before your first 'jolly' ride to pluck up courage.

At the club I was at it was the only time I saw a two seat glider demonstrate its speed limiting dive brakes. Just after release from the tug at 2000' the glider suddenly went into a vertical dive and at about 150' straight into the appreoach to land. The canopy even opened before it came completely to rest.

The pub lunch and beer had decided to make an appearance at the point of tow relase.😬

The instructor made the emergency descent before the mess/smell in the side by side cockpit made him sick too.

From then on those of us that had seen the event included in the prefilght check for jolly rides "Have you been to the pub today?" 

[Martin Dance 1]

My first glider flight was from Lasham, sitting next to Mr Derek Piggott!  Thisd flight nwasin the late 60's and at that time the Upward Bound Trust operated from Haddenham airfield near Thame. At that time the fee was £20 pounds to solo, regardless of how many flights it took. At that time the instructors were all ex Glider Pilot regiment. As far as  know the trust still operatges but I doubtt the fee is still the same.

[RedBaron]

I have to add a serious warning here

In 1973 I started into power flying at Southampton airfield it was Ok but a bit boring

In 1974 I was bullied (weak, weak, weak) into going to Lasham for a flight in a glider.

Well I had an aerotow (with instructor) to two thousand feet flew around on a lovely summers evening.

Upon landing I just sat in the cockpit dumbstruck but knowing it was what I wanted to do more than anything else

I wont tell you all the details of what happened in a long career of gliding but seeing the world from 25000ft over Wales, flying in the French and Austrian mountains over glaciers and snow fields was just out of this world.

Jade should not setup this lovely birthday treat without realising it can be a serious life changer.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

6 hours ago, Simon Chaddock said:

i can only add do not go to the pub before your first 'jolly' ride to pluck up courage.

At the club I was at it was the only time I saw a two seat glider demonstrate its speed limiting dive brakes. Just after release from the tug at 2000' the glider suddenly went into a vertical dive and at about 150' straight into the appreoach to land. The canopy even opened before it came completely to rest.

The pub lunch and beer had decided to make an appearance at the point of tow relase.😬

The instructor made the emergency descent before the mess/smell in the side by side cockpit made him sick too.

From then on those of us that had seen the event included in the prefilght check for jolly rides "Have you been to the pub today?" 

 

It's thankfully very rare.  In many hundreds of trial lesson and instructional flights I only had the experience of a sick passenger once - on a lovely soaring day after we'd been flying for some time with the young lady thoroughly enjoying the experience.  All was well until a couple of other gliders joined the thermal at around 3000 feet and soon after this she started to feel queasy.  I left the thermal and headed back towards the field while trying to distract her but to no avail and she filled a sick bag to much more than overflowing.  I flew the rest of the descent and approach in a side slip with the open DV panel blowing fresh air at me.  Once we had parked up the lady, a doctor, was quite interested in why she'd suddenly developed air sickness and concluded that it was due to relative vertical motion between us and the other gliders in the thermal.  As far as I know she was perfectly sober though.

[Mike Blandford]

I went gliding through the CCF Cadets (RAF section). Didn't have to pay anything. I did the basic course 23 dual winch launches, followed by the 3 solo launches to get a gliding licence!. I was then lucky enough to be offered the advanced course, so had 14 more dual launches and 16 solo launches. I remember trying to see just how slow the glider would stay flying, it got very quiet at 28 knots (open cockpit), I recall normal flying speed was 35 knots.

I got a flying scholarship later so had 30 hours of power flying at no cost, and a set of "wings" for my uniform, still got the wings!

 

Mike

[Rich Griff]

Similar experience for our lad but he was as sick as a dog in the hawk, will find the picture later, poor thing...