If
you are thinking of taking up gliding read on! If you want training your will
need to find a gliding club
near you. If you would like to know more about gliding
Taxiing down
the tarmac, the jetliner abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate.
After an hour-long wait, it finally took off. A concerned passenger asked the
flight attendant, "What was the problem?" "The pilot was bothered
by a noise he heard in the engine," explained the Flight Attendant, "and
it took us a while to find a new pilot."
Breaking news
.....Bored glider pilots all over the country are pretending to work at their
desks. Bosses are getting concerned as Flight club
whittles away the hours for many glider pilots.
The
sport of gliding is said to have taken off (pardon the punn) on a hillside close
to the old border with East Germany. In 1909 Engineer Oscar Ursinus of Frankfurt
formed a team to promote the application of motorless flight.
"These
slow glides in rising currents probably hold out greater hope of extensive practice
than any other method within man's reach... ...when gliding operators have attained
greater skill, they can, with comparative safety, maintain themselves in the air
for hours at a time in this way, and thus by constant practice so increase their
knowledge and skill that they can rise into the higher air and search out the
currents which enable the soaring birds to transport themselves to any desired
point by first rising in a circle and then sailing off at a descending angle."
Wilbur Wright, Sept 18, 1901.
Gliding
is many different things to many different people. For some, it is a hobby, and
a way to meet new people. For others, it is an inexpensive way to get airborne.
For many, it is even the cutting edge sport of either racing or aerobatics. For
all, though, it is a silent and graceful way of flying without an engine.
Gliding is a sport that
all can enjoy.Because training is carried out by highly qualified volunteers,
learning to fly is inexpensive. Once you are a member, a day at the Airfield flying
and helping others to fly is going to cost you between £20-30!.
"For
once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards,
for there you have been and there you will long to return." Leonardo
da Vinci
If
you fancy becoming a pilot you will need between 40 to 80 takeoffs and landings
before you are allowed to fly without an instructor. This will cost you between
£450 and £750 (on average) depending on how quickly you pick it up.
Read
My first flight experiences.
Even
better you could join one of our week long training weeks for as little as £350.
Flying
experience gift vouchers are available for sale on-line Please
visit a local gliding club for more infomation. It can be a life changing
experience gliding for the first time! With prices starting at £50 for up
to 3 flights.
The
best thing of all is that after your flying experience you are then a member of
the club for three months. This means that half an hour flight in a glider would
cost you £16.50. However as a member you are expected to help others fly
as well
Flying
a glider is probably the closest thing any human will come to feeling like a bird.
Powered only by gravity and air currents, these gliders move silently through
the sky, often for hours at a time. Because they have no engines, gliders, or
sailplanes, can be thought of as pure flying vehicles, staying aloft by balancing
the forces of gravity, lift, drag and thrust. Read
more about how gliders fly.
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