Use of club fleet
As a member you get access to the club fleet at club rates. This means that for the first stage of your membership journey you do not need to own a glider, as the whole of the club fleet is available for you. Of course, you have to be sent solo by an instructor before you can fly the single seaters
Bookable training
You can book training slots at the weekends by sending an email to the Operations Manager. The rota of what is available and when is available from the club website.
Members Only area on website
As a member you have password protected access to a Members Only section of the club website where you can see and download a wide variety of learning resources, lectures and videos to compliment your gliding journey.
Access to accommodation
Our comfortable accommodation, some with en-suite facilities, is available to members, at a reasonable cost, for a single night or weeks at a time. With a few rare exceptions the accommodation is only let to members. If you wish to take advantage of our discounted courses staying on site is a real advantage.
Discounts on courses
If you do want to take advantage of the courses, as a member you get substantial discounts. Sometimes there are single days available on courses as well as full weeks. Attending course is one of the fastest ways to learn to glide.
Club lectures
During the winter the club organises a lecture every month on topics that are of interest to glider pilots. These have the dual benefit of keeping you involved and informed over the winter and encouraging you to fly when many other clubs have to close. All lectures are published on the club’s YouTube channel for those who are unable to attend.
Use of simulator
The club has an excellent gliding simulator with photo realistic landscapes, based on a K13, the same two seat glider that you will do much of your training in. The simulator is available free of charge to members for days when flying for real is unlikely to happen, and to do specific exercises and learning skills with a qualified instructor. As an experienced glider pilot, you can use it to explore specific manoeuvres, or parts of the country or different sites before visiting for real.
Access to the motor glider
As a member you can book time in the motor glider to learn new skills and pass through stages of your gliding journey on the way to becoming a licensed pilot. The motor glider can be trimmed to replicate the performance of most pure gliders. half an hour in the motor glider costs much the same as three winch launches, so on a marginal circuit day you get a lot more stick time. Perfect for navigation and field selection exercises.
Share in the club
Every Full Member of the club gets a share in it, allowing you to stand for election to the management committee and take part in supporting a historic and thriving organisation.
Coaching
Somewhere along your gliding journey you will want to leave the site and explore farther afield. But taking that step is a big one. The club has a coaching scheme where some experienced cross-country pilots with their own high performance two seat gliders take aspiring cross-country pilots away from site to experience and learn a new set of skills. Taking this step with an experienced pilot is a lot easier than doing it alone.
Learning new skills
For many learning to fly is a big enough challenge, but there are many other skills to be learned at our gliding club that are immensely useful, especially for young people looking to enhance their career prospects. Team working, taking responsibility, engaging with older or younger people, learning meteorology, forward planning, threat and error management, to name just a few. Remember young people can start to learn at the age of 12 years and can solo at 14.
Engineer/inspector on site
The club benefits from having a skilled and experienced inspector and engineer on site, occupying a workshop owned by the club. If you own a glider, you can get your regular checks and maintenance done on site without having to trail it to another business elsewhere.
Social events
The club regularly hosts evening events for members such as birthday parties, evening lectures and a Christmas dinner. As a member the club and all its facilities are usually available.
On site meals and drinks
After a long day’s flying you probably want to relax before making the journey home. Most evenings when the club is open you can get a full meal from the on-site catering or relax in the bar with some local beers or wine.
Social Media
The club makes extensive use of social media and especially WhatsApp groups to keep all its members informed. We have groups for general chat, for flying information, for experience flights and for specific flying days during the winter so everyone knows what is going on. We also have a YouTube channel, a Facebook account, and are on Instagram and Twitter.
Emails
In addition to the WhatsApp groups, we send email out to members to keep them informed of events and to disseminate important information about the club and gliding generally. Of course, you can opt out of the emails if you wish but it is a very good way of staying in the loop.
Link to Newsletters
The club publishes a very professional Magazine four times a year with a variety of illustrated articles from members on subjects of general interest. This is available to all members of the public and not restricted just to members.
We also send direct emails to members with a Newsletter that keeps them up to date on matters that concern them.
