Flying the Lightning was every boy pilot’s dream. Gliding will re-ignite your fascination for the skies.
–Tim Brunskill, MGC member and former English Electric Lightning pilot
Your Fast Jet days may be drawing to a close but you don’t have to resign yourself to flying a desk. You think nothing else could ever be that amazing, right? Well, you’re wrong!
Without an engine gliders can still fly as high as airspace will allow. And fast too, at speeds similar to an F1 car in fact. Find good lift and you can stay airborne for seven or eight hours and cover hundreds of kilometres. Competition gliding can stretch a good pilot’s skill to the limits. Flights like these are truly thrilling.
But to get up there with the best there are some new skills to master. And that’s the challenge.
As an experienced pilot it won’t take you long. You need to be able to read the sky, not punch holes in it.
Glider pilots make a critical decision every three seconds. Understanding lift systems, planning a route on the go, managing changing weather conditions and making it back to base off that jubilant final glide! An entirely new and challenging way to fly is out there, waiting for you to discover it.
Why not give it a try?
A Sailplane Pilot Licence is the first step of this journey. At The Midland Gliding Club we’ll get you there quickly. The club is set up to do just that.
And then? Fly cross country, fly in the mountains, climb in wave, take part in competitions and much, much more. You can go as far as your imagination allows.