Olympia 463,
I thought the sentiments expressed in your post were a very good description of the benefits I gained from gliding in the 1980s, albeit at a BGA club rather than in the RAF GSA.
Your nom de plume also brought back some happy memories of the first glider I owned a share in, EoN Olympia 463, BGA number 1171. I flew it for about 5 years before we upgraded to the ultimate wooden glider, an SHK 1. The Olympia was sold on to some friends of ours and eventually grounded after the spar failure accident in the late 1990s.
The pictures below were taken at its home base in Pocklington and in a stubble field at Fulford near York where I landed after a flight from Sutton Bank in the Northern Regional Championship in 1984.
Olympia 463 1.JPG
Olympia 463 2.JPG
Happy days
Walbut