An obvious thing that the gliding community could perhaps do to make themselves seem friendlier to the powered community is make the airfields visitable - which the majority don't.
The vast majority of gliding airfields do not do anything to make powered visits possible. Just picking a few near me, and using Pooleys, which is the most common UK VFR airfield guide...
Lasham, phrase from Pooleys: "Powered aircraft restricted to visits in connection with gliding and to pilots with gliding experience to Silver 'C' Standard".
Bicester "Primarily a winch launching gliding site. Light aircraft welcome when on gliding business and at pilots own risk."
Rivar Hill: Unlisted (so powered pilots can't even look up what's going on there so that we can be considerate when flying past it)
Keevil: Also unlisted
The Park: Unlisted
Shennington: Unlisted
Eyres Field: Unlisted
And so-on, a majority that don't even publish their existence to powered pilots, and a minority who do publish their existence, but tell us to bu66er off unless we are glider pilots on gliding business.
Here's what it should look like:
Aylesbury Thame: "Primarily a gliding site, but light aircraft and microlights welcome at pilots own risk".
When I'm flying a light aeroplane, I'm welcome at most microlight sites. When I'm flying a microlight, I'm welcome at most GA airfields and have even been into a few international airports without difficulty. Gliders are generally welcome to land at any microlight site, and at most GA airfields so long as they use radio and make some attempt at following the circuit pattern. If I was flying a helicopter (which I don't), I know that I can land at most GA or microlight airfields. In none of these cases do I have to justify my existence - I don't need when I land a microlight at a GA airfield to show that I am on "light aeroplane business", and at my microlight club we've never asked a visiting helicopter pilot to show they they are actually "on microlighting business". When we get gliders land there from Lasham we help them off the runway, make them a cup of tea, and welcome the tug aircraft in to get them home.
Yet pretty much anything with an engine is unwelcome at pretty much any gliding airfield.
I'll admit to landing at a few for one reason or another over the years, but at-least 50% of the time,
with permission I have still got bollocked for transgressing some local regulation that I hadn't been briefed about.
So, I'd say that gliding, if it wants to make itself appealing to those of us who generally carry our own thermals on board, needs to work hard at integrating itself much more into the general UK flying community.
This doesn't mean compromising gliding safety, it doesn't mean not requiring us to get a briefing and permission, it doesn't preclude publishing strict procedures to be followed by powered traffic.
It does mean publishing your airfield details, having a procedure we can safely follow, and probably a phone number we can call.
Then you might get people flying in to have a look at a place, talk flying, and think about signing up for a gliding course.
Here's an example of wording from an airfield called Netherthorpe near Doncaster - I'm picking it only because the wording is pretty much the style that would allow gliding sites to publish their details and feel comfortable about it:
Operated by Sheffield Aero Club. Strictly PPR by phone. Inexperienced pilots are to phone for advice prior to arrival and contact a member of staff before departure.
(notes on use of radio)
(notes on circuit direction and height)
(notes on where you may not overfly)
(caution about getting too low when overflying the roads under the threshold)
In short, persuade the gliding community to consider itself part of the wider light aviation community, not something different, separate, and unwelcoming.
G