Gliding?
 

Would anyone recommend taking up gliding? I have been considering attending the Scottish gliding centre to do just that however have some doubts and would appreciate the thoughts/experiences of others.

For the record I'm 34 years old and my flying experience is limited to 2 x 1 hour flying lessons some years ago.

Thanks,

Jazzer83

I've been gliding for the last 4 years or so and would recommend it! Go along to your nearest club (Portmoak?) and have a look around - glider pilots are a friendly bunch, have a chat to some members and go for a trial lesson, see if you like it! If you're anything like me you'll be hooked after that.

In that 4 years I've ended up owning an aircraft and qualifying as an instructor!

Gliding clubs tend to be a little less formal than power flying schools, and typically requires a little bit more time and commitment, as they're mainly volunteer run, but for me that was all part of the fun.

Feel free to fire away with any questions and I'll do my best!

Gliding is a therapeutic activity, I enjoyed so much and it makes you disconnect from work every weekend since you start washing up the leading edge of the wings until you put it back to the hangar.
It is a great way to get a real feeling of flying, it will create a good base to develop later if you consider jumping to engined aircraft.
As a glider pilot you always need some help, someone to tow you, to run your wing on take off and to pick you up if you land off field, therefore it creates a nice ambience where you ended up helping each other. Creating a teamwork ambience.
I really want to make a return but unfortunately where I am now there are no gliding clubs.
Go for it!

Gliding is pure flying, I love it. But, you cannot just turn up and fly. You have to join in. Not to everyone's taste. Hanging around all day, helping out, can be onerous. If you don't, you will be accused of not being "a club member." The joy of powered is that you turn up, you pays yer money and off you flip. You give it back or hanger your own and go home.

Turn up, try it (their trial lessons are particularly good), see if you like it and, even more important, the club atmosphere.

Twice is a good idea, just in case you meet the club curmudgeon on the first visit (every club, power & gliding, has one).

The fun, the range of challenges, the excitement is simply astonishing.

In an ideal world I'd learn to fly powered aircraft however I'm struggling to justify the sheer expense of not only gaining the licence but of funding the necessary hours each year to keep it current.

I guess that's where gliding comes into it as a compromise of sorts. If you don't mind me asking how much does it cost to own your own glider?

Portmoak do a learn to glide package at £250 which includes 3 months membership and £200 worth of gliding. If I do go for it I think I'd do that as oppose to a trial flight as they cost £85 so financially the learn to glide package would make more sense.

Exactly the reason I got into gliding - and I've stuck with it because I prefer it!

While it is cheaper in terms of cost it definitely "costs" more in time. I purchased a third share in a fairly elderly wooden glider at a cost of £1500. Most people buy gliders in syndicates as it keeps the running costs down. Between the three of us, we pay for the insurance, annual inspection and issue, and most work that needs doing we do ourselves. I estimate realistically I probably spend around £500-600 a year on it. The per hour cost isn't brilliant but it offers more flexibility than renting a glider, although in most clubs renting is not a problem as there is always an aircraft to fly.

To fly something a little higher performance you're looking at maybe £15-20k for a good fibreglass glider for a low hour pilot, though personally I own a vintage glider and if I want to fly something quicker I fly a club aircraft.

I'm not familiar with Portmoak's flying fees but the package sounds like a reasonable deal. Most clubs you pay an annual membership fee (£240 at mine) then pay for a launch (£8 for a winch launch at my club) and hire the glider by the minute (usually 15-30 pence per minute). From winch launches £200 of flying should get you over a dozen flights, although aerotows are significantly more expensive (Usually about £35 for 2000ft)

As others have mentioned having a look around the club is a good idea - even if you don't fly! Most clubs will be happy to show you around with no obligation of spending any money. Best of luck!

It is more than just a choice based on cost. Gliding requires you to spend a fair bit of time at the club helping others into the air just as they will you. So you are probably looking at spending a whole day there to get 2 or 3 short flights in, to start with. If you take it up longer term, it is more of a social thing, devoting time and volunteering to help your club function. And that really suits some people.

You can immerse yourself in a powered flying club in a similar way but no-one is going to complain if you just turn up and fly. Slightly different cultures.

As has been said, Gliding is a superb way to fly, full of challenges and rewards. It does need a time commitment, but the returns are huge and Portmoak is a particularly good place to start.
They have two ridges very close by so in most wind conditions you can get extended flights, and that's without thermal and wave... I wish we had a ridge down here!
It can be frustrating at times but I promise you, Gliding is worth it once you are solo and start developing x country skills the challenges and rewards just continue to grow.
Go and have fun!

I love gliding and hope to go back to it one day.
It's so good that I once I lost a student because of it. About half way through his ppl we were talking about spinning. Not part of the syllabus and our aircraft isn't allowed to do spins intentionally, I said, but if you want to see what it's like why don't you spend a day at the gliding club and get them to show you? Never saw him again, and I won't make that mistake again!!

Thanks for all the replies! It certainly is food for thought. I think I'll go ahead and do the learn to glide package. That should give me a good idea whether or not I want to take it up full time.

It is interesting how 3 of the greatest feats in aviation (gimli glider, air transat and the miracle on the Hudson) were performed by captains who had vast glider experience.

Also read an interesting article from Easyjet captain Sarah Kelmen who says that gliding is something that all airline pilots should do to hone and maintain their hands on flying skills.

Jazzer83

There are one or two grumpy gits who show up from time to time in PPPrune who managed to have a miserable time in a gliding club. Probably self inflicted.

When my first husband ran off with another woman, I decided to do something rash and exciting, so had my ears pierced and went for a trial lesson at Booker Gliding Club, High Wycombe. Of course as a beginner I was nervous, until the tug towed us up over the hedge and I thought WOW! THIS BIRD WAS BUILT TO FLY!

Went solo 3 months later (wasn't getting any younger so thought I better get on with it...). And that was in 1983.

Since then have accumulated over 3,000 flying hours: 1,800 in gliders, the rest in power, mostly flying the tug! Got the instrument rating in Texas, and bought a 150 Supercub, had it shipped to Booker, but they said it didn't have enough power to pull up the heavier gliders, so moved to Shenington Gliding Club.

Mostly winch launching, at Shenington, it is much less expensive, though not guaranteed to find you a thermal. However we do have a ridge that works well in northwesterly winds.

My longest flight in the UK was 8 hours and 53 minutes, solo, gaining the diamond award. Got the gain of height diamond at Aboyne in Scotland.
So you can do much much more flying gliders. Including spins, loops and chandelles! And if you are a helpful person, you will be especially welcome.

I became an instructor and competition pilot, and have flown in France, Spain, and the USSR!

I’ve recently returned to gliding after many years of powered flying, great fun and a very much more social activity than powered flying, everyone helps or no one flys.

Go for it
 

I recently returned to gliding at st Remy de provence after a break of five years so that I could fly my grandkids
Twenty plus years ago it was a saviour after I lost my class one medical. It is far more demanding than flying powered aircraft - more like three dimensional chess.
Gliders aren't easy to fly initially but are very rewarding.
I went through driving the winch, trail lessons, instructor, mountain flying and aerobatics.
I stopped because of bullying at a local club..its not always easy as like all clubs there are politics but if you get the right club you will enjoy it.
Most clubs you need to arrive and get the gliders out..only leave when everything is put away.
St remy is a training field so they have a morning and an afternoon. Group which suits me as I'm getting old in the tooth.
I paraglide mostly as I can go when I want if the weather is right...not that often...and I can leave home have an hours flying and be back home within two hours but it involves far more risk.
Read as much as you can..most clubs have libraries of sailplane and gliding.
Remember the old guys who give their time were once young.

I would strongly recommend gliding if you can find the time, my only word of caution is stay out of the club politics.

Some great advice from others here. When you start Gliding you'll invariably think that it's a sport full of the retired, demographically it is biased that way but at Portmoak you'll find a diverse range of ages and backgrounds that you don't see in powered simply because power flying is so expensive and there's a much smaller social atmosphere. You'll find anyone from airline pilots to lawyers and shop assistants in gliding, you won't notice the difference really, everyone mucks in.

Portmoak is a fantastic site to learn at and is very busy, soaring flights throughout the winter on the hill will give you plenty of handling time without the difficulties of a small airfield. There's even a chance of wave soaring, just today someone launched out of Portmoak and managed to climb up to 17,000ft, you won't find many GA aircraft up there!

There will be days invariably where the winch breaks or there is a shortage of instructors and you might not get much flying, but thankfully this is far more rare than it used to be with the modern setup of larger clubs who are recognizing the need to evolve, some offer half day bookings as it is realized that people work!

The skills will set you good for life, I'm just completing a powered licence where most of the handling skills were immediately transferable, navigation and procedures may be a bit different, but the stepping stone from gliding to powered is much easier than the other way round as you get used to high angles of attack and conditions much closer to the envelope. Once through your training you can take 10 hours off a LAPL/PPL or even better convert with less than 10 hours add a motorglider rating to your glider licence, best of both worlds!

6 years ago I sat in the front seat of a glider on a trial lesson, now I work for two of the world's largest and most well known clubs teaching people to fly, I haven't gone to university yet but there's plenty of opportunities to broaden your flying, across the world!

Planesandthings

Unfortunately so too was the co-pilot (who was the pilot in control at the time) of AF447. As was the co-pilot of Germanwings 9525.

As has been said before, gliding is a team effort to get all the flights out. In the winter months it can be particularly unpleasant for the team standing in the mud at the launch point. The jobs that need doing include cable retrieve, glider positioning, wing running, and communicating with the winch (by radio or hand signals.) So be prepared and wear a stout coat, scarf, hat and wellies, whilst you stand in the open air for 4 hours.


However, I had one of my best flights wearing my green wellies. When it was my turn in the K8 (wooden glider), I launched into the leaden skies, and found a gap in the clouds that gave me about 1200 fpm climb rate, I went up to 5500ft so quickly the vario was on the stop, and the altimeter was winding around quicker than a clock's second hand. Had to dive out of that climb as the clouds where closing in on all sides. Also I couldn't claim the height for a badge, as I didn't have the recording apparatus on board... But I still have my 5500ft Green Wellies...!

Impressive post as ever, Mary. I was struck by the incantation "This bird was built to fly". Wonderful stuff - have you thought of building a website to inspire the next generation. We could call it, oh, I dunno, "Bird in a Towplane" ??

Absolutely, and the Mini Course might be what you want to see how you enjoy it. The club is good at upgrading from a Mini Course (Mon, Wed-Fri) to the Learn to Glide package.

It doesn't happen often but several gliders winch launched straight into wave yesterday and rapidly reached almost 10,000'. There is also a keen set of cross pilots, some of whom flew over 500km yesterday.

Portmoak is a great place to fly: a good fleet of aircraft; winch and aerotow launches; ridges which work in virtually all wind directions bar easterly; thermals in 'summer'; wave in winter (and spring and autumn). Going solo over a snow-covered landscape was a magical experience, maybe only bettered by climbing at 700 feet per minute to 10,000 feet over Loch Leven and seeing the whole of Fife spread out below me. That I got there on the power of the wind alone never fails to awe and amaze.

Modern gliders can go higher and faster than your average spamcan. They've got radios for controlled airspace, and turbos and self-sustainers even have engines, so you can satisfy your ATC/Pushing Tin and "'Clear Prop!" shouting fetishes to your heart's content. Plus the challenge and skill required to stay aloft at all. And the fact you only get one attempt at landing each flight.

Unless your PPL is merely the first step on an aviation career, I'd suggest gliding is a more rewarding way to fly. However, it is, or can be, a significant time commitment, which some might struggle to make. Other find it takes over your life completely....to the chagrin of spouses & significant others, employers, non-gliding folk etc...! If you're therefore looking for a shorter, more schedule-able, bookable or organise-able time commitment then the more 'turn up and go' commercial flight school approach could suit.

Cats 5: I think I know a couple like that at my club!

Paul

They've been busy today: Daily Scores

Flights of over 780 & 900km, I suspect more flights still to go on the ladder.

Gliding is an affordable entry into flying, but be warned it is addictive and time consuming, if you fancy giving it a go book a day course at your local club, April to September will give you a good chance of decent weather, if you like that, join the club and start to learn, you will make quick progress if you have one or two instructors that get to know you. It can be time time consuming most clubs expect one weekend day a month duty time and you may want to do more, if you have a partner he / she will need to be understanding.

Your first goal is to fly solo, a quick learner with good instructors maybe 40 flights, by that time you will have learned the basics and scope of gliding, the more you get involved the more you learn. Your fellow club members will come from all walks of life and appearance is no guide to experience or rank so get to know who is who.

Best of luck, fit in with the club rules and stay out of club politics.

I fly power and gliders, having started in gliding.

I've had a lot more memorable flights in gliders than I have in powered aircraft (for all the right reasons). If you can afford the time, go for it.

I currently fly power and gliders at a smaller club a bit further north,
Portmoak has superb instructors, a good fleet and is in a decent place to learn to fly.
Every airfield has a doom and gloom merchant on it, practice see and avoid skills early :)

Unless intending to go the full CPL route, you'll get tired of spamcans and 100 quid bacon rolls quickly, Gliding never gets dull.
The day the guys were referring to Ed banged out over 1000km, John W (Scottish one) did 900+ km at over 150kph, with no engine, Sant did the highest scoring flight in the UK from Portmoak (lower performance glider, higher scores)

Costs, like any form of aviation, you can spend what you want to.
Flying the club fleet will keep costs to bare minimum, club membership then as much or as little as you want to spend a month from there.
Gliders cost from 500 quid for a share in a multi person syndicate with a vintage glider to 450k gbp for a nice self launcher, and anywhere in between depending on your wants and desires.

'tis challenging and fun, avoid the club politics . . . .

Jazzer,

Lots of good advice here. This may have been mentioned already but one of the advantages of gliding is it significantly improves airmanship.

Also, learning to glide will make you much more aware of the weather. In my experience, it’s only glider pilots and sailors who look up at the sky when they step outside. 😉

Jazzer,

You mentioned the 'Scottish Gliding Centre', which is based at Portmoak. Formerly known as Scottish Gliding Union, it is the closest to Edinburgh and one of the larger clubs in Scotland. Depending on where you live, it may or may not be the most convenient for you.

The other clubs I know of in Scotland are -

Deeside Gliding Club at Aboyne,
Cairngorm Gliding Club at Feshiebridge,
Highland Gliding Club at Easterton and
Dumfries and District Gliding Club at Falgunzeon.

Just across the border there is also the Borders Gliding Club at Milfield.

All will have friendly as well as grumpy pilots...

Both SGC and Deeside Gliding Club operate during the week as well as at weekends form late Spring till late Autumn. The others are largely weekend operations except for occasional summer weeks.

SGC, Deeside and Cairngorm will probably all have visiting sailplanes hoping for high level wave flights just now - always fun to hear about.

Enjoy yourself, and India Four Two is absolutely right; you will never look at a sky in the same way again.!

Financial Health Warning - Gliding is dangerously addictive, to the detriment of your wallet (although probably not more than most other forms of aviation). I'd be a lot better off if I hadn't gone solo in 1960, and spent much of the past 57 years gliding all over the world wherever and whenever possible. Some of the more memorable flights were over Scotland.

Go for it.

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'll give gliding a go and see how I get on. Powered flying is still very tempting but a ppl will set me back approx £10k then at least £1300 a year to keep it current. (12 flying hours)

From all that I've read a glider is a far more comfortable and enjoyable ride that most light aircraft out there anyway.

And if it's good enough for Sully...!

Back in the 90s when I did my glider pilot licence it allowed me to reduce the hours of the PPL course almost to a point where I had two licenses for the price of one...
The advantages of getting the early knowledge of flying in a glider is a great base that will stick forever with you.
I am not aware of the regulations now, if you still get a reduction in the PPL hours by being a Glider pilot, go for it.