Arranging an expedition
We welcome visiting expeditions from other clubs. In the first instance send an email to Mark Sanders at bookings@midlandgliding.club. He will let you know what weeks are available and how many we can accommodate.
Arriving
Please close the gate at the entrance behind you, drive below 15 mph/24 kph (we have a fragile access road) and keep a good look out for aircraft (we land in all directions). Please keep all dogs and children under control. Airfields can be dangerous places for the unwary. Once through the gate follow the road to the car park behind the trailer line. Please do not park in front of the hangar or the trailers.
As a visitor please report to the office first before you do anything. We need to know if you are on site. The car park is behind the trailer line to the south of the hangar. The door to the clubhouse is in the north west corner of the car park next to the hangar. The office is immediately inside the clubhouse. There is additional overflow car parking behind the southern end of the trailer line.
Accommodation
If you have booked accommodation then you will need to collect a key. If you arrive after hours, there is a list on the corridor wall and your room key will be in the door.
Download and Read Visiting Pilot Notes
Glider Flying at the Midland Gliding Club
Standard Operating Procedures
All visiting pilots must familiarise themselves with our Standard Operating Procedures which detail our site specific procedures. You may download a copy by clicking here.
Pre solo
We operate under the BGA Requirements and Guidance and have our own training curriculum which will ease you through the club stages. You will be trained in one of our two seater gliders and once solo you will be able to fly one of oursingle seaters. Due to the flight limitations of our gliders, there is a weight limit of 16 stones (102 kilos) and a height limit of 6’3″ (1.9m). There is no upper age limit but you must be able to get into and out of the glider. There is no minimum age to fly P2 in a glider and you can legally solo at 14 years. If you are under 16 years old we will require a parental consent form to be signed. If in doubt please contact the office for advice.
Post solo
You will have to prove that you have the required BGA medical qualifications before you will be allowed to fly any of our gliders solo.
Bringing your own glider
Route up to the club
There are three access roads up to the top of the Long Mynd: the Burway from Church Stretton, the road from Ratlinghope and the road from Asterton. The preferred route with a trailer is Ratlinghope, the Burway is a good second choice. The road from Asterton is extremely steep and you may not be able to restart if you are forced to stop.
Trailer Hitches
We have a few spare hitches, please contact the club beforehand to see if we can reserve a hitch for you.
Instructing at the Midland Gliding Club
If you wish to instruct while at the club then we will take you through a familiarisation process including a ground survey as well as flight considerations.
Incident Reporting
We encourage anyone using our site to report incidents from which we can learn. Incident reporting is a critical part of the Club’s safety culture. It is one of the ways we can identify the causes of incidents and accidents and find ways of reducing the the probability of them happening again in the future. It is a way we become safer. The more reports the better. No one will every be penalised for submitting an incident report. If you choose, you can submit this form anonymously.
All reporting is automatically sent to the CFI and Safety Officer.
You can download the reporting form here.