Like the OP I've been wanting to take up gliding for the last few years. But because of various reasons have had to make do with only looking up at the sky on my quick visits to the local field (Lasham) on times I've just happened to be in the area.

My New Year resolution this year was that this would be the year. So just after Christmas, I went and bought some gliding study books to tie-myself over until time permits.

I've got one question bugging me though before I commit - will soaring suit me?

To answer that question - I was wanting to go for a soaring flight after the trial flight before committing to the courses, time and expenses.

Does anyone know how I can experience a soaring flight to allow me to answer my nagging question? There doesn't seem to be a "soaring" experience option on any of the web-sites for any of the local glider clubs.

Gliding in Yorkshire
 

We have a wonderful gliding club here at Sutton Bank east of Thirsk.
I sent my kid there when he was about 15 and he learned stacks of stuff.

It was expensive for us but worth every penny.

A lot of the members had caravans on the site. If I owned a glider the first thing I would do is paint it dayglow orange. That was my only worry.

It's a bit difficult to advertise a "soaring experience" because of the variability of the weather. If you mean staying airborne for longer than a guaranteed 15 minutes then there either needs to be thermals or a hillside with a suitable wind blowing onto it. If you mean flying some distance cross-country (and out of range of the home gliding site) then the conditions need to be suitable to give a fair chance of making it back. It's not generally considered good form to take someone who doesn't have any gliding experience cross-country and land in a field. Likewise many people begin to feel motion sick on their first couple of flights of anything long than 20 minutes, so it's a good idea to not go too far away from the gliding site in case a hasty retreat is needed.

EDIT (after thinking about it!)
Booker GC, who I glide with, offers 1/2 and one day intro courses which will include soaring when conditions permit (try and stop the instructors form climbing in a good thermal!). This might suit your needs:

Here with Booker GC we offer a v

Also, the Club provides the ability for you to do an intro course and if you like it upgrade to a basic or intensive training package. Take a look at the link for details. It's a reasonably sized and friendly club (and I instruct there, so it can't be bad) and is located to the West of London at Wycom,be Air Park (near High Wycombe).

Not allowed. Any color other than white traps the suns rays, heating up the internal structure. Which is made of composite. Which loses its strength very fast above a certain temperature.

That's why all modern composite gliders (and powered aircraft too, eg. Cirrus, Diamond, Europa) are white.
Yep. Turning in tight circles in a bumpy thermal definitely requires some getting used to.

Seen from the ground up, gliding looks like a real serene activity. But once you're up there trying to hold on to a small thermal, it's bloody hard work. And not quite quiet too.

It can take getting used to every year. My first flight last year after the checkride was a 300 km attempt. On the way back, my tummy announced it had had enough and I could no longer be as aggressive grabbing thermals as I had been that day.

I'm about to take up gliding and the only two things that I realy fear are a winching incident or a mid-air collision. Following a collision in the mid 90s that claimed a cadet and an instructor, the ATC have had large dayglo orange stripes around the wings of their Vikings, so I wonder why they have them and civvie gliders don't? Though your reasons for not having them make perfect sense.

Quick update from me while I'm still on a high. Spent the whole day at Seighford today. Everyone was really welcoming and friendly. I had 2 flights. First one was an aerotow to 3000ft in the club K13. Once we released the tow rope the instructer gave me hands on for my first experience of flying in 20 years. It was great, we even found a small thermal and gained a few hundred feet at one point.

The instructor was very calm and gave me loads of encouragement, I got to use the stick and rudder pedals from the start which was a bit tricky but I think I got the idea. After a 27 minute flight the instructor finally took control back from me on finals just before we landed.

Later in the day I also did a winch launch in the Twin Astir which was an amazing sensation. I didnt realise how fast you accelorate for that type of launch.

All in all a great day and I am well and truly bitten by the bug now. Cant wait till next time now!

Sounds like you had an excellent day and yes, thermals are starting to pop up. On a good day you can ride up to 5,000' airpsace and skill permitting.

For some reason the K13 isn't mentioned on their website.

Glad you`ve got the bug Dan, Now you`ve taken the first steps, this is when the fun truly begins!

@ChillinDan - welcome to the highly addictive sport of gliding. Like many other forms of addiction, you'll have highs & lows, a constant desire for your next fix and a willingness to sacrifice you wife/girlfriend to fund your addiction (only kidding!). Hope you continue to have a great time.

@Fireflye
- Conspicuity research undertaken by the RAFGSA and BGA a few years ago (including the use of dayglo and reflective strips) revealed, from what I can recall, no improvement. Indeed there's actually a risk that by having multiple colours you actually camoflage the aircraft - a fact embraced by Von Richthofen who had his aircraft painted in (often quite bright) multiple colours.
- Winching does have inherent risks and that's why safe winch techniques are tought by all BGA clubs in order to mitigate against such risks. Your instructors will spend plenty of time ensuring that you develop a safe technique and that you're able to recover from launch failures promptly and safely.
-Mid-air collisions are unlikely but not impossible. Again thorough training in keeping a good lookout and developing a high level of spatial awareness helps to mitigate the risk.

No I know they dont mention the K13 on the web, I dont know why I'll have to ask! It was very windy inside it though!

And compared to powered flying, not having a zillion dials and electronic gizmos in the cockpit means you spend more time looking out. Through a very large clear canopy instead of tiny windows. Plus the speeds in gliding are relatively low compared to powered flying. And gliders circle a lot, which means aspect changes which make them more conspicous than somebody on a straight and level track.

The results of the conspicuity tests are available online:

http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/Data/gl...uity-study.pdf

Noticed that although the gliders I saw flying over the weekend were entirely bright red, once they're up in air on a dull, overcast day they become silhouettes, like all the other aircraft.

The "confusing" multiple stripes and shapes scheme was also tried out by the Royal Navy I believe as it broke up the distinctive outline of the ship and made it harder to spot.

Dan
We use the Grob Twin 2 as the normal training glider but the K13 still helps in certain training roles for the club aswell as filling in on the fleet if one of the other Grobs is on maintenance.
Glad you enjoyed your day. I will be at the club this Sat pm and Sun too plus the following weekend so maybe see you then.
Cheers
Paul

I enjoyed flying both, although I don't know why but I kind of liked the K13. Still as long as I get to fly I don't mind. Don't think I'm gonna be there this weekend as I have prior engagements, but I might try and get down either wednesday or next wednesday. If not it'll be the following weekend for me.

Still can't wait till next time!

I understand the risks and appreciate the efforts of the BGA and instructors to minimise them, it's just that the collision that prompted the ATC to introduce the dayglo scheme happened to be at the same VGS that I attended, a couple of years after I left the ATC. It's not putting me off by any means, just making me that little more conscious.

Interesting. Seems that dayglo is pretty useless but there may be some value in having a black underside for thermalling and mirror film for overall conspicuity.

That's no bad thing. Anything that encourages you to keep an extra sharp lookout will help reduce the risk.

Noticed the gliders at Lasham are fitted with FLARM units. A bit like TCAS (put simplistically) as I understand, only useful for warning of other FLARM equipped aircraft. The feeling about these from some was ambivalent - might be disadvantageous in giving you a false sense of security, but on the positive side, a useful addition to a good lookout (on the basis that no-one is infallible).

Had my first glider flight at the weekend. Very professionally done by Lasham. Aerotowed in a K13 to 2500', then did a quick bit of stall training before a good old fly around. Flight was good although no thermals, and it looks like I'll need to get used to using a bit more footrest...erm...sorry, rudder.....
Seemed to be more yaw component in the steep turns than I'm used to in powered aircraft (that rudder thing again)..is this my imagination, or is this actually the case with gliders? Forgot to ask the instructor.

I'll be getting the most out of my free three months membership if all goes to plan!
:ok: