Originally Posted by
cats_five
It's an immersive experience at a BGA club, though without the open cockpit and the bus,
But there is one very major difference.
Apart from travel to/from the gliding school, the instruction to solo standard cost the cadet or their parents NOTHING, ZILCH, ZERO!(In fact when I started I'm sure you could claim travel expenses). My father worked 6 days a week so saturdays I would hitch hike(wasn't dangerous in those days)but sundays my father would take me.
No BGA club would be able to offer this on such a massive scale; I started learning at 613 just after my 16th birthday when I was still at school before I even took my 'O' levels and there's no way my parents could have afforded to pay for it.
The same would hold true today whether a cadet's parents are rolling in it or on benefits, the 'experience' would be available to ALL cadets on equal terms.