Gliding. Your thoughts/stories etc......

[BRL]

Hi all. I am going Gliding at the local gliding club soon. I have looked at their web-site and i am quite looking forward to it. I don't know what to expect right now as i am only used to wandering around the sky in a Pa28 so I want to hear your stories if you have been gliding yourself.

Tell me about your first flight, memorable flights etc anything really here just to get a 'feel' as to what is coming up for me.
I am not looking for how its all done or where to go, all that is sorted, just want you to share a few nice things with me if you will. Many thanks....:)

[Aerobatic Flyer]

The worst of gliding....

Get to the airfield just as it starts to rain, to find that you are number 27 on the flying list, and they're short of instructors! Hang around for a long time intermittently getting very cold when you do nothing, or very hot when you're pushing a glider from one end of the field to the other. Get shouted at by someone officious when you were only trying to help!

Finally you fly. 800 foot winch launch.... there's no lift around, and you're back on the ground in 3 minutes. Have a 2nd launch, and cable breaks and you glider ends up at the far end of the field. By the time you've pushed it back, the sun has come out and everyone after you on the flying list gets a long soaring flight!

The best of gliding....

It's absolutely the most magical passtime, and knocks spots off powered flying for satisfaction!

At Sutton Bank in 198? I had my first flight in wave lift. It was winter, and we had a winch launch to about 400ft, then soared above the ridge until we reached cloudbase. We turned into wind, and flew just below cloudbase (and very bumpy it was....) for a few minutes. It then turned extremely turbulent for a while, before suddenly becoming totally calm as we came into the wave.

We were climbing at about 1000ft/min (10kts in glider speak), in front of a cliff-face of cloud. We beat up and down in front of the cloud, which was so sharply defined that you could just dip a wingtip into it.

At about 8000ft we arrived at the top of the "cliff-face". We could cruise at 110kts skimming the top of the cloud without losing any height, in brilliant sunshine chasing the shadow of our glider!:cool:

The lift was so strong that we flew aerobatics for 15 mins without losing any height. Those who had oxygen flew to well over 20000ft that day!

Anyway - enough reminiscing. Go try it! When it's good, it's fantastic. When it's bad, it's very British!

(One small tip, which I'm sure you already have heard - you will need a LOT OF RUDDER when rolling into and out of turns! And you need to keep nicely balanced once you're turning; if you find some thermals you'll be doing 30-40 degree banked turns just a few knots above the stall, sometimes in close proximity to other gliders, and it only takes a bit of mis-use of the rudder combined with a gust to make you realise why glider pilots practice a lot of incipient spin recoveries!:rolleyes: :rolleyes: )

[AerBabe]

I've done it twice. Both times were winch launches (baptism of fire, apparently, but I enjoyed it!), and were a single circuit. The rest of the time was spent standing around in the freezing cold waiting while other people flew, and dragging gliders around the field. Amazing fun though. Would do it again if I had the time :)
PS. Don't be put off by the piece of string sellotaped to the front of the canopy ;)

[IanSeager]

Go for a winch launch if you get the chance...

You'll be sitting in a much smaller space than you are used to, the people outside will be making all kinds of funny signals and saying things like all out, up slack or whatever. (I'm sure you'll get a briefing, I can't remember exactly)

At first you'll see the cable starting to snake through the grass, until it becomes taught. The glider will edge forwards and then before you know it you'll be accelerating over the ground and soon after that pointing skywards.

The attitude will seem impossibly steep. After a short while, and somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000+ feet you'll either pull off, or the cable will back release. Nose down, pull the release twice (Was in my day anyway) and trim.

Relax and enjoy...if you're lucky you'll feel a bump, hear the vario scream and start climbing in a steep turn while trying to centre in a thermal. If it is a busy day you may well be sharing the thermal with a gaggle of other sailplanes.


Ian

[AerBabe]

Oh, and

don't touch the yellow knob!!!

:eek: :D

[Circuit Basher]

BRL - it's great - I'll be on the gliding field tomorrow (although Wx looks pretty rancid for the day). Great excitement - I could easily say I preferred it to powered flying, but they're really 2 separate things.

Yes, there's a lot of ground handling and waiting associated with gliding, also the cold, but on a good day, it's almost better than s*x!! (what I can remember of it, as I'm married!!) ;) Thermalling is a skill that takes years of practice to perfect - I haven't got there yet.

Unfortunately, HRH won't let me out alone in her lighter than air machines (migraines! :mad: ), so I'll have to go private if I wish to go solo again (last glider solos were 1973!)

[Future Pundit]

I remember my first glider flight. The instructor did not brief me on what the sensation of being winch launched would feel like. Consequently I had my eyes closed and was terrified until it was over.

1800 launches later and as an instructor myself I always remember to brief passengers (oops, we do not have passengers, only students) that the glider creeks and groans as it flexes, the angle of climb pushes you back into the seat and if the cable is released under tension, there will be a loud bang and the glider will lurch. If you are aerotowed, it will be a much gentleraffair.

Gliding is a much more team orientated sport and a newcomer can feel abandoned while club members socialise in groups sometimes forgetting to include the newcomer into the conversation. Do not get put off by this, try to get as involved as you can.

Finally, beware, you may become hooked.

Enjoy.

[maggioneato]

First try at gliding was in Arizona, towed by a Pawnee,very sedate and enjoyable. Winch launch back in England was going up feet first at a great rate of knots, got several flights in over two days, but as I always like to land away somewhere, decided I liked power flying more, I enjoyed the experience,but It's not for me.:)

[MLS-12D]

Aerobatic Flyer has summed things up rather well. At its worst, gliding is virtually a complete waste of time and money. At its best, soaring (vice gliding) is approximately 5,000% more satisfying than powered flight.

A lot depends on the weather, but other factors are the number of other pilots / students at the field (too many means you spend too much time waiting around) and the sort of people at your club (some can be authoritative jerks, as Aerobatic describes). Personally I have not always been lucky with the weather, but my club is a small one where everyone pitches in and gets along well, and waiting for a flight has never been a problem.

I have only winch-launched two or three times (always with an instructor), but from what I recall it is tremendous fun ... and its almost as enjoyable to watch as a spectator. You'll find the angle of cimb to be pretty spectacular (reminded me of a V1 rocket launch!).

Aero-towing is not particularly fun, but neither is it terribly difficult. Power pilots always find it rather daunting at first. Don't worry, it will quickly come together. It's kind of like learning to flying tailwheel: anticipate, keep your feet moving as needed, and make early small corrections rather than waiting until you have to make large ones.

I have found that most glider pilots turn their noses up at power flying and vice versa. Too bad, since both forms of flying are fun and challenging in their own rights, and neither is inherently superior. A well-rounded pilot can do both well! Fred Hoinville's book "Halfway to Heaven: Skywriting, Gliding, Stunting" (1960) has some pertinent comments.

MLS-12D :)

P.S. It should be noted that gliding / soaring is much more of a social activity than power flying. There's none of that "book your lesson show up go flying land pay and drive away" stuff.

P.P.S. Check out Chapter 15 of Robert Buck's book, "Flying Know-How" (1975), which is entitled "The Case for the Glider". :D

[Saab Dastard]

BRL,

I started flying gliders before powered and it was great.

Yes, there was a lot of standing around, working the launch point & radio, logkeeping, retrieving, pulling cables, helping on the winch etc. which really meant that I had to spend a whole day on the field to get in a couple or three flights. (That's the difference - gliding is a real team effort, power flight you can go it alone).

But the feeling in the air was worth it.

Agree with everything that has been said about the sensations on the winch - S***, was I scared the first time! But after a short time you love it - really. It is one hell of a buzz! Just watch out for the negative G at the top when they pull the bung! As soon as I started flying the launches I stopped noticing it!

Best thing about gliding? Wave. Scratching around a ridge, picking up a thermal that no-one else can find and climbing into wave. Trim, take your hands and feet off and enjoy (OK, don't close your eyes!)

Flicking the edges of cumuli with your wingtip, just 'cos you can!

Oh yes, and helping at the launch point when attractive females come along for a trial flight and need to be strapped in - especially if they are wearing a skirt :D

Enjoy

SD

[MLS-12D]

Thought I would add this link: www.avweb.com/articles/eyeofexp/eoe0046.html

Actor Cliff Robertson (www.avweb.com/articles/profiles/crobertson/index.html) and author Gordon Baxter (of Flying's "Bax Seat" fame) are other long-time power pilots who fell in love with soaring late in their flying careers.

[BRL]

Excellent stuff, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I just read this, taken from the 'Learning to fly' guide given free with Pilot magazine a few years ago. Bob Rodwell wrote this............
----------------------------------------------------------------
They were about a mile away, crossing the beach and lower than my 2,800ft in weak ridge lift when i spotted them. Thirteen whooper swans in V formation, making their Ulster landfall after staging through Islay on passage from Arctic breeding grounds to their winter roost around Loch Foyle.
I turned away from the ridge, swapped height for speed and swept out across the Magilligan peninsula to intercept. Using nouse garnered from otherwise forgotten Biggles books, I approached them from behind, reducing my speed, airbrakeing a smidgen and slipping into the missing port wingswans slot.
Each bird was eyeballing its neighbour to keep station. So they didn't even notice me, even the one which i was formating, only a few feet in front of the right side of the gliders nose. For several minutes we all flew south in close formation, the Ka-6 mushy and close to stalling.
Then there were several signs of unrest among the seven flying on the leaders starboard side. I'd been seen , so i broke left, back towards the ridge while the whoopers continued south towards their winter haunts.
It was only one of several marvellous encounters in over thirty years of gliding, including a herring gull disgusted at my failing to recognise sink and showing it with a mocking squawk and a dose of fresh guano over the canopy, a buzzard formating on my port wingtip above a lancastrian fell, nine thermaling storks marking much needed lift for me in Hungary as i was loosing out on making it back to base, and two encounters with wedge-tailed eagles on a single cross-country from Benalla in Victoria.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Now, i know i will never see anything like this in my spell at gliding, i am not that taken in, i just thought it was a nice story. :)

Many thanks once again for taking the time out to write here, its nice to see. I can't wait to go up, really looking forward to it now.

P.S.

AerBabe Whats this all about pulling yellow knobs?:confused:

[Whirlybird]

I went for a trial lesson at Long Mynd a year or two ago. Aerotow, and yes, you need lots of rudder to turn, but no big deal. It would all have been very peaceful, but the instructor made me do a loop! It was fun, but I started to feel ill, as I'd told him I would if we did aeros. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and very friendly people, but it's never grabbed me enough for me to take it up.

[Skylark4]

Aerbabe,
Don`t be disparaging about the `piece of string`.
1. It`s probably finest virgin wool.
2. It`s the best slip indicator you will ever come across.

It does have a disturbing tendency not to work when rained upon though but a good glider pilot can probably line up with the airflow pretty well simply by the sound of the air flowing over his (or her) aircraft.

Red `L`
You are doing it the wrong way around. You should glide first and then do the easy bit later.
Enjoy!

Mike W

[MLS-12D]

BRL,

Good story. Actually it is not uncommon to thermal in company with various birds (hawks, eagles, turkey vultures, etc.); though not in V formation, admittedly. They can recognize thermals a lot better than any human (or human-designed instrument) can ... but beware, sometimes they sucker you into sink and then flap away! Who says that birds don't have a sense of humour.

MLS-12D

P.S. You were just kidding about the yellow (release) knob ... right?

[SKYYACHT]

Picture this......RAF West Malling, about October 1971. As a young teenager, I was lucky enough to be invited to the RAF Gliding school resident at this ex WWII airfield. I recall being awed at the sheer lumbering size of the Sedburgh "Barge", and the exposed tandem cockpit of the Kirby Cadet Mk III. After a bit of waiting around on the windswept grass, I was strapped into the Mark III front cockpit, and unceremoniously hurled skywards by the winch. I remember the initial adrenalin rush as if it were yesterday. At the release point, the peace and relative silence was almost spiritual, and I could see almost all of the weald of Kent and most of London spread out before me in gin clear visibility. (I still have my schoolboys account of this marvellous trip, in an exercise book.....it includes pencil diagrams of straps, controls, and panels!). I remember landing, and getting out, feeling wobbly, and ungainly. However, that was it - I was HOOKED. I joined my local ATC squadron, and before long I was gliding most weekends, at Betty Windsors expense. I have been privileged to fly from the following famous aerodromes.....West Malling, Manston, Tangmere, and Kenley. I soloed at 16, in a Cadet MkIII at Kenley. Subsequently, I have glided (glid????) off and on for about 27 years. Aerobatics in a performance glider is a must to be experienced.

I have flown power now for a long while, and work in the industry - but - I will a) never forget that first ethereal flight, or b) grow tired of gliding, and the challenge of staying aloft on a breeze.

Guess that makes me a bit of an Anorak......but if it does, - Then SO BE IT

Blue Skies

[White Shadow]

Crystal air. Blue sky. Hard-edged cumuli, building into CBs.
And I've got the hang of centring in a thermal, flying just on the stall, catching a dropping wing that with just a quick nudge of rudder.

See a flock of white sailplanes circling under a Cu and join them, much lower.
And it's there.
One wing shivers and jumps upwards. Stick hard over and tuck into the turn. Start the routine of turning, straightening, until I know where the best lift is. Make sure I'm circling in the same direction as the ones above me. Vario shows lift all the way around, and the audio stays high-pitched.

Going up like a lift now. Cloud above getting closer. Out of the sun, it's cold. Base a grey dome, a white curtain around me. The others have disappeared into it.
Onto instruments. Sharp control movements, AH dancing about. Cold and gloomy. Work at staying in the lift.

Very rough now, and difficult to find the lift. OK. Straighten up. Fly out of it.

Blinding white cloud-tops around me. Ground a long way away.

Deep breath.

Mmmmmm

WS

[Aerobatic Flyer]

Onto instruments. Sharp control movements, AH dancing about. Cold and gloomy. Work at staying in the lift.

The one and only time I psyched myself up enough to do a cloud climb, my (ancient, secondhand....) AH did a slow 360 degree roll just at cloudbase!

The airbrakes came out, and I never had the nerve to try it again in my glider. Also never had the nerve to try it in a club glider with just a turn and slip....

Note to any IMC pilots - don't ever fly through a fluffy cumulus cloud, 'cos there could be half a dozen gliders inside it!:eek:

[henry crun]

Phillip Wills tells an amusing story of an encounter with a bird in one of his books.

Flying in the US nationals in Texas on one task he was down to 800ft over inhospitable terrain, going round and round in plus or minus 100ft/min just holding height and no more.

He knew that he was on the edge of a thermal and in one direction lay the core , but which way was it ? If he took the wrong direction he would be faced with an ignominious and expensive out landing.

Suddenly his salvation appeared. A soaring hawk on rigid wings came into view from the south. Clearly he had been in the same thermal and on seeing this monster had assumed the pilot's wisdom was in proportion to his size so he had come over to see if he had better lift.

"He did a couple of circles just over my head and I could almost see his beak curl into a contemptuous sneer as he tasted the miserable rags of my lift, then he turned and glided straight back the way he had come. No thought of saving the face of my theoretically superior species prevailed upon me to hesitate, I straightened up and followed my feathered friend and in two minutes was circling up at 500 ft/min to cloud base."

[Flight Safety]

I have a single day's experience in gliders.

Back in the mid 80's ('86 or '87) I went to a small field some miles east of Dallas. They had as I recall two single seat Grob G-102s, two twin seat Grob G-103s, and an I-26. On that hot Texas summer day, the 102s were kept very busy as people were waiting in line all day for them. An instructor was using one of the 103s, and the other sat on the grass idle. The I-26 for some reason stayed in the hanger. I wanted an instructor to take me up since I had no prior experience in gliders, but the only instructor at the field that day was busy with students in the first 103.

While I was trying to figure how to get up in one of the gliders, I met a retired dentist at the field who was waiting his turn in one of the 102s. We struck up a conversation and then we made a deal, he'd fly the idle 103 (he was fully licensed), and I'd pay for the airplane and tow.

So off we went. We flew twice that day, towed by a Pawnee each time. The dentist (I've long since forgotten his name) piloted in the front while I sat in the rear. Each flight lasted about 45-50 minutes, as we had no trouble finding thermals on that hot Texas day. We flew over the huge oil storage tanks nearby, over the interstate highway, farm fields, farm houses, trees, you name it. It seemed we could fly just about anywhere we wanted to (for a time), then we could easily find a thermal to climb back up again. We had a broken cloud base that we had to stay under, and I don't think we ever got over 4000 ft, but that was more than enough altitude for that day.

The dentist let me fly some and worked with me on handling the glider in the thermals. I remember we had to keep the turns pretty tight, and we had to fly close to the stall speed. I remember more than once (in that first flight) that he had to push the stick forward because I allowed the aircraft to get too close to the stall. I also remember having to use a lot of rudder, if fact this pilot told me that rudder was more important in the turns than the ailerons were. I don't know if that's really true, but it worked.

In one of the thermal climbs we had a large hawk join the circling pattern with us. He was just off of the right wingtip for about 2 full turns. During the encounter he was eyeing us (not too nervously) and we were eyeing him. We were circling left in formation with him for what seemed a good bit of time (again about 2 full turns), then finally he broke right.

I've heard that the G-103 is not an easy glider to land, since it tends to float a lot. But this pilot made 2 very nice landings right where he wanted to, on a very short and narrow asphalt cross runway. I remember he was very good at using the speed brakes (vertical moving lift dumpers) to control the descent.

All in all, it was a fun and very memorable day.

(edited for typos)

[Rwy in Sight]

The worst experience -so far.

Wanting desperately to fly. Push the glider some 2 miles down the taxiway, the momnet we arrived at the beginning of the runway the wind changes direction and flight is simply cancelled because local regulations prohibit taking off on a southern direction for reasons of noise! Yes it was a Piper Cab towing.

The best thing is the unbelivably low noise levels - no engine eh!

Additionally it is pure flying!:) :)

[Volume]

Most fun ever was my first flight on the H30, more a toy than a glider and therefor JUST FUN !
It has less than 200 kg MTOW, 13 m wingspan, a non removable small V-Tail (I´ve seen much larger modell plane wings) and looks like a little toy plane. Build of balsa wood and glass fibre by the famous Eugen & Ursula Hähnle (who later founded Glasflügel) in their living room. Verry narrow cockpit, but lots of space for the ellbows in the wing root, Spitfire-style canopy (turn around and see your V-tail), no forces on stick and pedals (so you just think it around the corner), retractable landing gear and reasonable performance. Getting towed by a Robin feels a little like a leaf in the wind, must be like getting towed by a 747 in a normal glider.
There´s just one existing, but if you should ever get an offer ...
Just say YES :D

[Paul Boath]

Go try it you'll never fly straight and level again.
The main challenge is soaring, followed by going places. On a good day duration is limited by daylight or your bladder and dsitance by your courage.
The following sites will give you more info, they are for my home club at Aboyne and the British Gliding Association respectively.
http://www.gliding.co.uk (http://www.deeside.glidingclub.co.uk)http://www.deeside.glidingclub.co.uk

[Kegbuster]

you cant beat soring flight. I started as a kid & still enjoying it 20 plus years later! Some of my best moments are Completing a 512km flight taking 8 hours to complete. Competing with 50 other pilots racing around a task, just reading the sky whos going to get round the fastest? whos going to end up in field? Completing a task with an average speed of 112kph!! & only came 6th that day. Getting away from a low point 300ft & really working hard to climb away. ( had picked a field ) When a student tells you that they had really learnt something on that flight. Soaring with birds of pray. Enjoy:)

[White Shadow]

A few years ago, TV's National Geographic Channel produced a wonderful film in their "Quest" series - "Wind Born: Journey into Flight".

First part is the introduction to her gliding first-solo for sixteen-year-old Lucy, young member of the Philip Wills dynasty, by her father, in New Zealand.

Second part follows an extraordinary flight by Lucy and her father, in a high-performance sailplane, accompanied by another, along the length of the Southern Alps, past Mount Cook, to Milford Sound.

Magical filming. Find it if you can.

WS

[MLS-12D]

I have a copy of this video and indeed it is worth seeing; the scenery in Milford Sound is great. :)

The Soaring Society of America sells copies for US$38: see www.ssa.org/catalog/ (mine is a 'bootleg' copy that my wife picked up for much less).

"Running on Empty" is another video available from the SSA, and is also worth watching. It's about the Hitachi "Masters of Soaring" international competition at Estrella Sailport in Arizona.

[treadigraph]

I was walking on the clag-laden South Downs above Storrington on Bank Holiday Monday (freezing in Shorts and T-Shirt!). The strong wind out of the North East provided ideal slope-soaring conditions for the gliders from Parham, some of whom were doing so with gusto!

Some excellent close-up "on a level" views of them once or twice - wish I'd had a camera with me! And a K-13 several hundred feet above the hillside, nose into wind, looked to be as near as dammit hovering! If any of you guys are reading this, thanks for the entertainment!

Lovely stuff, I really must get back down there next summer and take it up again and this time stick at it!

Enjoy it BRL!

[Canadian Luscombe]

So, BRL, what happened? May we hear how your flight(s) went?

[Flyin'Dutch']

Hi Big Red

Take it you have not been yet.

Am sure you will enjoy it. Yup you can have to wait for hours to have a go, get cold etc.

But that is only a very small price to pay. If all goes well you will have the experience of a lifetime.

A good winch launch gives you the same acceleration as a F1 car.

Someone has already mentioned that flying and gliding are really 2 different things altogether. They are different challenges and can both be very satisfying.

If you want to go from A2B gliders are pretty useless and a powered machine is the way to go. However if you want to have a nice day 'relaxing' in the air or compete with mates I think you will have to go a long way to find something which is half a challenging as gliding.

Have fun.

Frank Voeten

[Who has control?]

Gliding is something all PPLs should do - in fact it should be part of the PPL Syllabus!!:)

I've only ever been gliding 2 or 3 times but I'm hooked - thanks guy at Borders Gliding.

Gliding teaches you to fly in balance using the rudders, it teaches you to fly using the merest pressure on the stick and you get lots of practice at Forced Landings too!. Its wonderfuly quiet and smooth, I remember that the tug was rocking all over the place in the turbulance but once we cast off the glider was really stable.

So try it - you won't regret it.

[BRL]

Thanks chaps. Excellent stuff. I am looking at doing next wed/thursday. Been a tad busy here and am definitely going to do it next week. (Weather permiting of course) :)

[ASW19]

Hi there!

I can only advice every pilot and wannabe to try this out. I started gliding in 1992, when my aim was to get in a 747-cockpit. What happened? I figured out that gliding is much better than bus-driving ;) and started a career in Air Traffic Control. That gives me more time to spent in a glider cockpit.

Since June 2002 i own a ASW 19b, one-seat fibreglass glider, and i tell you: It 's great!

I wish you finest weather with great thermals to enjoy!!!

C U under the clouds!

[chrisN]

In some ways, Saturday 31st August was fairly typical - soarable, but not classic in East Anglia:

Enjoyed a 2hr 41 minute flight over Suffolk: Ridgewell to Wratting
Common (took ages going upwind in a poor performance glider - every
thermal saw me drifting back over where I had been already!), then back
nearly to Ridgewell, then to Newmarket, Mildenhall (rows of grey
military stuiff parked), up to Isleworth,, and back to Ridgewell. Got
rather cold in cloud at 6000 feet, but most of the time stayed between
3500 (once I had climbed there from a 1200 foot tow) and 5000, which was
cloudbase. A very modest distance, but a pleasant flight in "bimble"
mode.

Not as adventurous as some glider pilots in Scotland: quote: "Saturday
31st August 2002 - what a day!!! First launch
was at 09.07am with a declared 500Km. Second launch
was at 09.15am with a declared 1000Km.

The day turned out well - 20-30Kts NW with wave climbs
up to 21,000 but continuing on from there.

What a day of claims - we had the following successful
flights:

Steve Thompson completed his 500km to claim Diamond
Goal and Diamond Distance having done his first 300Km
two days ago!

Dave Smith completed his Gold Distance, Diamond Goal
and Gold Height with his new glider.

At long last a Diamond Height for Lyn Ferguson-Dalling.

Andrew Eddie can now enter tomorrow's UK Mountain Soaring
Championships having completed his Silver Distance
for full Silver and Part 1 of his 100Km diploma. He
missed his part 2 by less than 4kph.

Jack Stephens completed 793Kms of his 1000Km attempt.
He is presently 'engine out' heading up the country
from somewhere south of Newcastle...." Unquote.

(The "engine out" refers to a glider with a fold-out engine to get home
when the thermals or wave lift fail to last long enough. Apparently
this pilot landed in Northumbria having flown there in pure gliding mode
via various turning points, and then took off again with his engine out
to fly back to Aboyne, in the Dee Valley beween Balmoral and Aberdeen.)

All right for some!

[engineless john]

Treadigraph, Glad to see someone enjoys the show, I've spent several enjoyable hours skimming along the South Downs...

BRL, Given you're in Brighton, I assume you are either going to Parham, or Ringmer. I'm a member of Southdown GC, at Parham and they fly Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends. Fridays are set aside mainly for trial lessons so that may be your best bet. That said turn up any of the days before 9am and ask for the duty instructor, and you should be airborne fairly quickly (i.e. before lunch, gliding involves absurd amounts of hanging around)

As for memorable flights, I don't have a huge number as I've only been flying for just over two years, but so far there is flying along a sea breeze front at 5000ft at the end of a 5 hour flight, thermalling with buzzards, scraping away from the ridge in a weak thermal to cloudbase, floating in a gentle wave system at 3000ft kicked off by the downs, soaring for an hour in weak evening thermals (never worked so hard...)

Have fun,

John