Have you ever wanted to fly like a bird? Well, gliding is
the closest you can get to realising that dream and we offer four ways for you
to try it.
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1
You can take a half-day course consisting of 3 aerotow flights or an
equivalent number of winch flights lasting a total of about one hour in the
air. By the end you’ll be able to control the glider in turns and straight
flight, and do much of the flying up to the final approach and landing. This
course is aimed at anyone who is thinking of taking up gliding as a hobby. |
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2
You can take an aerotow launch behind a light aircraft to over 2000’ for a
flight lasting about 20 minutes. On the launch you’ll have time to admire the
scenery and, after releasing from the tow aircraft, you can have your first
lesson in flying or do some more sightseeing around central Staffordshire, or
a little of each. |
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3
You can take a winch launch for a flight lasting about 5 minutes. The launch
is particularly exciting as you climb steeply to about 1000 feet in 30
seconds. After releasing the launch cable you’ll be able to admire the view
and handle the controls before the landing. |
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4
You can bring a group of 8-15 people along for an evening session of winch
launch flights. We’ll brief the group together and then fly you all in about
2 hours. If you want to, you can end the evening by organising a barbeque
using the club equipment at no charge or visit one of the excellent
restaurants or pubs in the area. |
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All our visitor flights are flown by British Gliding
Association qualified gliding instructors in dual control gliders which are
well maintained and subject to regular inspections. The ‘student’ usually
sits in the front seat, where the view is better and where you have to sit if
you decide to learn to fly a glider to solo standard. However, we’re quite
happy to let you choose either seat for your first flight. |
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Individual visitor flights
normally take place at weekends and we limit them to four per day. These must
be pre-booked so that we can arrange for a British Gliding Association
Instructor to be available to give you a short introduction to gliding
including a safety briefing, before taking you for your flight(s). To make an
individual flight booking, please ring the clubhouse 01785 282575 on a
Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday morning or leave messages at other times, or you
can send an e-mail stating your request and giving contact information to office@staffordshiregliding.co.uk
If you want to arrange an
evening group session in the summer months, please get in touch with Dave
Knibbs by e-mail to daveknibbs@yahoo.com.
You can check which dates
might be available by looking at the Club Diary on the website. You can also
use this subsequently to check your booking.
If you want to arrange a session as a gift for someone else,
we sell vouchers for the aerotow, winch and short courses. Simply get in touch
with John Bates at ippyfolk@supanet.com,
tel 01538 266409, or via the clubhouse phone 01785
282575 on Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday mornings - or leave messages at other
times.
The prices for visitor flights whether by voucher or paid
directly are as follows:
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£80 |
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£50 |
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£160 |
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£30 per adult |
All prices include the temporary
membership fee and the cost of the flights. Once you have taken your flight you
may want to fly again. Subject to availability, additional flights taken on the
same day cost £50 for aerotows and £20 for winch launches.
After your flight, you may decide to take up gliding on a
longer term basis in which case you can join the club and fly at the
substantially lower rates for full members. If you do this on the day of your
trial flight, then the difference in the cost of the flights will be credited
to your flying account.
(Please read this carefully before buying a voucher or
booking a flight.)
Gliding is
an adventure sport and, although we take safety very seriously and have never
injured a visitor, we cannot guarantee the same security as you’d expect on a
commercial flight. The flights are intended to give you an introduction to
gliding as a student pilot. Therefore you have to abide by the Club rules and
conditions and acknowledge this by completing and signing a temporary
membership form.
One aspect
of safety is that we don’t operate when the weather is unsuitable. As a general
guide we don’t fly visitors if the wind is stronger than 20mph or very gusty,
or the cloud is lower than 1000’ or it is misty, raining or snowing.
Furthermore all flights are subject to postponement or cancellation for
operational reasons including un-serviceability of the gliders and launch
equipment. We’ll try our best to fly you when you are booked in but, if we
can’t for any reason, we’ll book you in for the next available date which suits
you or give you a full refund.
There are
some constraints on who we can fly. Firstly all gliders are limited in the
maximum weight that can be carried. Therefore we can fly you only if you weigh
228lbs or less (i.e. about 16 stone or 103Kg). There isn’t a minimum weight but
very light people may have to fly in the rear seat. There are no specific
height limits although very tall people may not fit into the cockpit and very
small people may not fit safely into the parachute or seat harness. Therefore
we normally fly children only over the age of 12, and then only when
accompanied to the club by responsible adults who can sign the membership form
on their behalf. Finally, although it should be obvious, we cannot fly anyone
who has taken any alcohol (or drugs) on the day of the flight – the alcohol
limit for any form of flying is virtually zero.
Last updated 1st January 2012
© 2012 Staffordshire Gliding
Club