Staffordshire Gliding Club

Glider Flying at Seighford

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Booking your flights

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.

Gift vouchers

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.

Prices

The prices for visitor flights whether by voucher or paid directly are as follows:

Aerotow flight to 2000’ and 20 minutes flying	£80
Winch flight to about 1000’ and 5 minutes flying	£50
Short course (3 aerotow flights or equivalent winch launches)	£160
NB These can all be purchased online through our website under “shop”.
Evening group flying (winch only)	£30 per adult £20 if under 18

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.

Joining the Club

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.

Now the small print!

(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