Fliegen Lernen heißt üben und Erfahrungen sammeln!

Gliding is a participant sport and you will learn about ground operations alongside flying. Given good weather and continuity of training you might go solo after six to eight months and approximately 60 -100 launches, but it does vary significantly between individuals.

Gliding spans all ages and members come from a wide range of backgrounds – some started before the age of 16, while others discovered the sport after they retired. You can start off in several different ways. We normally fly at weekends and public holidays. You can join the Club immediately for 1 year or get the offer for quarterly membership for trial lessons where you can see what it’s like and handle the controls yourself. We also run summer courses where you can have some intensive flying.

Practice and theory
Above all gliding is a practical sport. Most emphasis is put on how you control the glider in normal flight and how you cope safely with the unexpected. A small amount of theoretical learning is needed so that you can understand why and how the controls work and what the limitations of the glider are. Before you fly solo it’s important to know the rules of the air and the law so far as it affects you as a pilot. This is generally covered in talks by instructors during the odd unflyable times so it’s important to be around the club even when the weather is poor.

Going solo
Before you can fly solo, two of your instructors will will monitor both your skill level and your self-confidence and judgment to decide when you are ready to go solo and one good flying day when the conditions are favourable and you seem to be on top form the question will come “do you fancy trying that again on your own this time?”. That’s it – you’re a solo pilot.