Learning to glide - what's it all about?
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 1,546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Good morning wannabe!
Of course young people of your age have a different biological clock, about three hours behind the adults....schools are beginning to adjust to this fact!
I recommend you arrive at your NEAREST gliding club, about 9 or 10 am, and ask anybody around who is the duty pilot ....or launchpoint coordinator, whatever they call themselves at Cambridge! Say you would like to learn, and would be willing to help out in any way. See what they say. They will have all kinds of discounts for young people, most clubs do, even London Gliding Club has a very good program.
Talk to other club members, just get a feel for the place. If you rolled up to my gliding club, they would sell you a winch launch for £45 or £50 pounds, which would include 3 months membership, so after this first day, a winch launch would only cost £8. And we fly 7 days, weather permitting. A lot of smaller clubs fly only on weekends.
However, it is not so close to your home....so check out Cambridge first of all, you may find old pilots, but they should be pleased to welcome a youngster, ESPECIALLY if you say you would be pleased to help rig a glider....
If you do begin helping with the gliders, make sure you are doing EXACTLY the correct thing.....don't just rush in and start pushing on the trailing edge, for example. You will be especially welcome if you offer to wash the gliders at the end of the day, they do collect insects on the leading edges!
Others have said it is correct to either help get them out, or help put them away. Or you could pay a lot of money to fly power, and get fat instead...!
have fun! we do.
Of course young people of your age have a different biological clock, about three hours behind the adults....schools are beginning to adjust to this fact!
I recommend you arrive at your NEAREST gliding club, about 9 or 10 am, and ask anybody around who is the duty pilot ....or launchpoint coordinator, whatever they call themselves at Cambridge! Say you would like to learn, and would be willing to help out in any way. See what they say. They will have all kinds of discounts for young people, most clubs do, even London Gliding Club has a very good program.
Talk to other club members, just get a feel for the place. If you rolled up to my gliding club, they would sell you a winch launch for £45 or £50 pounds, which would include 3 months membership, so after this first day, a winch launch would only cost £8. And we fly 7 days, weather permitting. A lot of smaller clubs fly only on weekends.
However, it is not so close to your home....so check out Cambridge first of all, you may find old pilots, but they should be pleased to welcome a youngster, ESPECIALLY if you say you would be pleased to help rig a glider....
If you do begin helping with the gliders, make sure you are doing EXACTLY the correct thing.....don't just rush in and start pushing on the trailing edge, for example. You will be especially welcome if you offer to wash the gliders at the end of the day, they do collect insects on the leading edges!
Others have said it is correct to either help get them out, or help put them away. Or you could pay a lot of money to fly power, and get fat instead...!
have fun! we do.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Surrey, England
Posts: 731
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It's the early worm that gets to fly the bird.
Hi Wannabeglider,
Here's something else about gliding that I can't imagine will have changed much since I was gliding. On a gliding site at the start of every day the instructors will open a fresh 'flying list' on which people who wish to fly that day will put their names down. People fly in strict order of their names appearing on that list. As people have their flights their names are crossed off the list. So the higher your name is on that list, the earlier you get to fly
When I was gliding, it was common for that flying list to be thirty or more names long by 9 a.m. So if you get there in the mid-morning, you can still put your name down, but there will still be about twenty odd names above yours. It was quite common for the people at the bottom of the list not to fly at all that day, (especially if the weather changed during the day,) this after putting in a hard day's work heaving gliders and cables on the ground.
Some clubs, (notably Dunstable,) used to have botheys. These were effectively dormitories where you could stay overnight and eat breakfast the following morning in the club canteen. So you could arrive the night before, sleep in the bothey and crawl out in time for the commencement of activities the following morning. It might be worth asking if this service is still available.
In regard to how to get started, I would say do a trial flight. If you like it, do a week's course.
Regards,
BP.
Is it always a strict 'start til finish' routine? I can barely get up at 10:00 at the weekends let alone be at an airfield an hour away for 8:00!!
When I was gliding, it was common for that flying list to be thirty or more names long by 9 a.m. So if you get there in the mid-morning, you can still put your name down, but there will still be about twenty odd names above yours. It was quite common for the people at the bottom of the list not to fly at all that day, (especially if the weather changed during the day,) this after putting in a hard day's work heaving gliders and cables on the ground.
Some clubs, (notably Dunstable,) used to have botheys. These were effectively dormitories where you could stay overnight and eat breakfast the following morning in the club canteen. So you could arrive the night before, sleep in the bothey and crawl out in time for the commencement of activities the following morning. It might be worth asking if this service is still available.
In regard to how to get started, I would say do a trial flight. If you like it, do a week's course.
Regards,
BP.
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: 23, Railway Cuttings, East Cheam
Age: 68
Posts: 3,115
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
People fly in strict order of their names appearing on that list.
'I've seen a bus empty when the duty dog walks in with the flying list and asks 'Can you start filling it in.'
I started gliding with a week long course at Challock aged 17 then from 18-21 at a small club then 21-25 at Dunstable. I loved Dunstable and never though about age but I guess most were older. It more came down to hours experience and X Country distances etc rather than age as to who you mix with.
I then got a UK PPL after a Silver C conversion in just 16 hours instead of 40 which was a big saving, before going onto CPL/IR. In spending a day at a club you learn other skills like driving and repairing tractors, driving the winch and rigging/derigging gliders especially when you get into a syndicate. These make the day go quick. At Dunstable you can stay for a few days or weeks intense gliding if you dont want to commute, or at least you could when I was there.
Because its got winch launching and a ridge these keep costs down as you can get plenty of airtime. I had years of winch launching and never got less than a 30min flight with ridge, thermal and weak evening wave lift. Even cross country flights can be started with a winch to the ridge.
I then got a UK PPL after a Silver C conversion in just 16 hours instead of 40 which was a big saving, before going onto CPL/IR. In spending a day at a club you learn other skills like driving and repairing tractors, driving the winch and rigging/derigging gliders especially when you get into a syndicate. These make the day go quick. At Dunstable you can stay for a few days or weeks intense gliding if you dont want to commute, or at least you could when I was there.
Because its got winch launching and a ridge these keep costs down as you can get plenty of airtime. I had years of winch launching and never got less than a 30min flight with ridge, thermal and weak evening wave lift. Even cross country flights can be started with a winch to the ridge.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: UK
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
heliport - Yes I had a look but the entry criteria said something about wanting a career in aviation. I wouldn't mind it but my career path is pretty much set for the next few years so I don't think they would consider me.
Still reading all your posts, thanks!
Still reading all your posts, thanks!
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: LHBS
Posts: 281
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by thing
gliders, TMGs, SEPs: all good stuff, all different
For us, TMG folks, the troubles happen on the ground! The glider folks laugh at our 1:20-ish glide ratio, and the SEP folks laugh at our 65-ish kts cruise speed
So you can't really show off with a TMG plane, unless it's one of those brand new composite makes. Although I must mention, one big advantage of our low cruising speed is that single engine planes and also gliders like to team up with us and fly on our wings for a minute or so, when the circumstances allow, just for fun. It's an awsome sight, words can hardly describe
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Oxford, UK
Posts: 1,546
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
rnzoli, motorglider flying next to a glider an awesome sight?
Wannabe, if you get your wish and become a glider pilot, awesome sights await. I trust you will be trained to KEEP A GOOD LOOKOUT!
Because the most awesome sight in aviation you will ever see is sharing a thermal with fifteen or twenty other gliders....above you, below you, and one or two at your level, all turning the same way. And this takes place every summer over the UK, in competition flying. Which is why we wear parachutes.
My first competition was at Lasham, the biggest club in the UK. There were a hundred gliders on the runway, a national competition of 50 gliders flying the standard class, and two regional handicapped classes of 25 gliders each.
Each class must be launched in an hours time. So about 8 or 10 tug planes, in orderly sequence. The safe way the PPL flying light power can avoid this traffic, is to fly above cloud, say 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Usually smoother air, as thermals are associated with the cumulus clouds. Airline pilots often fly gliders, for fun.
NOTAMS advise about these events, but they are weather dependent, and the tasks for the day may cover 300 to 500 kilometers. This to my mind is the most fun in aviation, I just loved flying in competition. Especially if I was still flying and half the guys have landed out!!!!!
Wannabe, if you get your wish and become a glider pilot, awesome sights await. I trust you will be trained to KEEP A GOOD LOOKOUT!
Because the most awesome sight in aviation you will ever see is sharing a thermal with fifteen or twenty other gliders....above you, below you, and one or two at your level, all turning the same way. And this takes place every summer over the UK, in competition flying. Which is why we wear parachutes.
My first competition was at Lasham, the biggest club in the UK. There were a hundred gliders on the runway, a national competition of 50 gliders flying the standard class, and two regional handicapped classes of 25 gliders each.
Each class must be launched in an hours time. So about 8 or 10 tug planes, in orderly sequence. The safe way the PPL flying light power can avoid this traffic, is to fly above cloud, say 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Usually smoother air, as thermals are associated with the cumulus clouds. Airline pilots often fly gliders, for fun.
NOTAMS advise about these events, but they are weather dependent, and the tasks for the day may cover 300 to 500 kilometers. This to my mind is the most fun in aviation, I just loved flying in competition. Especially if I was still flying and half the guys have landed out!!!!!
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wor Yerm
Age: 68
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Pop along to your nearest club as soon as you can. Both Cambridge and Dunstable are good clubs. Both will have young people. Have a Trial Lesson. Ask about the money. If you can afford it, do it. And spend as much time as you can doing full time courses to get the inital drudge out of the way. Once you have reached a reasonable level, say after a year, you will know what you want to go for. Competitions, Aerobatics, Cross-country, Wave Soaring, the Vintage glider scene etc. Each has their own set of attractions. It just depends how you are cut. Only time (and wanting to see my family) prevents me from gliding now, otherwise I would be off gliding every weekend.
PM
PM
Wanabeglider,
Lots of good advice here for you - as is always the case when someone asks for info on gliding. We glider pilots are keen to show our enthusiasm for our sport/hobby and to attempt to change some of the many misconceptions that exist within the general populace and even within aviation circles. Responding to questions from someone with a genuine interest is a good way to do it.
But just to take it a step further, have a look at the attached video. The voice-over is a bit cheesy but the content is factually acurate. These pilots are the Lewis Hamiltons and the Fernado Alonsos of soaring. Something to aspire to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33bOGqWheCY
Lots of good advice here for you - as is always the case when someone asks for info on gliding. We glider pilots are keen to show our enthusiasm for our sport/hobby and to attempt to change some of the many misconceptions that exist within the general populace and even within aviation circles. Responding to questions from someone with a genuine interest is a good way to do it.
But just to take it a step further, have a look at the attached video. The voice-over is a bit cheesy but the content is factually acurate. These pilots are the Lewis Hamiltons and the Fernado Alonsos of soaring. Something to aspire to?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33bOGqWheCY
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi
I'm Chairman at Cambridge - I'll PM you my phone number, give me a call and ask any questions you like.
But to answer a few of the points:
At Cambridge we have bookable training - so you can book training by the half day with a ratio of two students per instructor. That will give you a good amount of flying for your time on the airfield (but you will be expected to help get the aircraft out and around the launch point for the rest of the half-day).
For someone like you, who wants to learn to fly, I wouldn't recommend a trial flight - they are for people who more typically want a 'gliding experience'. Instead, come along and book some training - a half or full day, or even a one week course. We do that for a membership fee of £25 per day, plus flying at club rates.
In the long run gliding is both cheaper and (IMHO) more challenging than power flying (and I speak as someone who still has more power hours than gliding, just). At the early stages though, it's cost benefit isn't as marked - since as has been said, you do a lot of launches per flying hour.
Paul
I'm Chairman at Cambridge - I'll PM you my phone number, give me a call and ask any questions you like.
But to answer a few of the points:
At Cambridge we have bookable training - so you can book training by the half day with a ratio of two students per instructor. That will give you a good amount of flying for your time on the airfield (but you will be expected to help get the aircraft out and around the launch point for the rest of the half-day).
For someone like you, who wants to learn to fly, I wouldn't recommend a trial flight - they are for people who more typically want a 'gliding experience'. Instead, come along and book some training - a half or full day, or even a one week course. We do that for a membership fee of £25 per day, plus flying at club rates.
In the long run gliding is both cheaper and (IMHO) more challenging than power flying (and I speak as someone who still has more power hours than gliding, just). At the early stages though, it's cost benefit isn't as marked - since as has been said, you do a lot of launches per flying hour.
Paul
Because the most awesome sight in aviation you will ever see is sharing a thermal with fifteen or twenty other gliders.
This may sound too close for comfort. The club has been at the Woodbury site for forty years now.. In the beginning the eagles could be aggressive. One of the Blaniks still bears a graunch just behind the back seat on top. But now they are completely accepting of our presence. Today we are probably sharing the airspace with third or fourth generation wedgies since our coming, which would explain their almost amicable behaviour.
Needless to say watching their movement closely can be a sure signpost of where next to be heading. Often the eagle will take you directly to the next booming thermal.
