Gliding is the ultimate medium to experience flight; with nothing to disturb your ears but the whistling of air as you soar through it, you not only get a breathtaking birds-eye-view of the world, but a truly bird-like experience of powerless flight.

Far from a one-off thrill, gliding is a diverse sport which can be enjoyed all-year-round by all ages. Flights may be for instruction or for fun, staying close to home or soaring over 1000km across the country, a peaceful journey or packed with thrilling aerobatics.

How Gliders Fly

A glider flies in exactly the same way as a powered aircraft, in that air flowing over the wings produces sufficient lift to counteract the force of gravity. With a powered aircraft, this airflow is produced by one or more engines pulling it through the air horizontally. Gliders however do not generally have engines and so achieve this horizontal motion by using gravity to turn height (potential energy) into motion (kinetic energy) by constantly flying at a very slight pitch towards the ground.

Whilst this means a glider is always falling in relation to the air around it, part of the skill in becoming a pilot involves learning to find and use areas of the sky where air is rising, which in turn raise the aircraft leading to longer flights – regularly many hours! This is known as soaring, and is discussed in more detail in the section below.

A glider 5 to 10 seconds into a winch launch

Each have their own advantages, but both provide a glider with sufficient height to fly unaided for anywhere between many minutes on a cold winters day, to many hours during the summer months.

How Gliders Soar

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Competition Flying

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