5 day Gliding Course

[marlat]

Can I recommend (biased opinion as I am a member) the Gliding Centre at Husbands Bosworth airfield (www.theglidingcentre.co.uk). The club operates from a large grass runway with easy approaches which should help a power pilot used to flying a circuit around rectangular airfields to progress quickly (planning/flying the circuit is one of the biggest challenges in learning to glide). We have a good range of training aircraft (2x K21 for basic training, 1 x Puchacz for spin/stall training and 1x Duo Discus to appreciate the delights of flying an aerodynamically efficient glider) plus a modern motor glider and launches via both winch and aerotow (it’s an experience in and of itself to be towed into the air by a Chipmunk). The club offers fairly decent accommodation in private rooms on site with good catering and bar.

To answer Backpacker’s question which has not been answered yet, I would think a power trained pilot of 100 plus hours could reach, given a full five days of flying, solo standard and be experiencing the challenge of local soaring but I guess it all hinges on the individual’s confidence and ability to learn. For books to read, I would recommend both of Ken Stewart’s books “The Glider Pilots Manual” and the “Soaring Manual”. The first concentrates on how to fly a glider assuming no knowledge with a basic appreciation of soaring theory, the second covers soaring techniques in more depth with plenty of real world examples from the author’s gliding career. I would also recommend Philip Will’s books published in the fifties “On being a bird” and “Where no birds fly” as he is an author who can really describe the joys of soaring flight (not an easy thing to do as words often fail to express the challenge).