Spectacular glider touchdown in the rain
https://youtu.be/0tIGLZUFHIQ?si=XJGtKfZHhsyW-PX6 This landing was filmed on the final day of the first EGlide competition and is a nice chance to get a brief sightseeing tour of the historic Italian city of Pavullo nel Frignano, in the province of Modena. The EGlide formula is reserved for electric aux-powered sailplanes. Each sailplane has an allowance for a defined energy quota to be used during the mission. Ultimately pilots can...
How glider pilots use thermal lift
This short video illustrates the principles of thermal lift and talks about how glider pilots can stay airborne for hours by convection and harvesting natural resources to sustain flight. Thermals are columns of rising air that are formed on the ground through the warming of the surface by sunlight. If the air contains enough moisture, the water will condense from the rising air and form cumulus...
Women needed for glider pilot study
Leinster Gliding Centre in Co Kildare ROI is currently recruiting women candidates to take part in a study on the experience of participating in learning to fly gliders in a typical gliding club environment. The study is being run in partnership with the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Trinity College Dublin. The participants in the study will become members of the Leinster Gliding Centre for six months, with membership and the...
Bicester Gliding Centre closes
On 04 July, as other flying clubs in England re-opened following an easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, Bicester Gliding Centre, once one of the busiest flying clubs in Europe, closed its doors for the last time at the historic airfield. The club, which had been in place at Bicester Airfield since the 1950s, did not renew its lease with the airfield operators, Bicester Motion, citing that the new terms made operating out of the...
BGA launches webinar, issue exemptions and announces new radio telephony course
In bid to keep the gliding community engaged during the pandemic lockdown, the British Gliding Association (BGA) have been running a series of webinars over the last few weeks. The webinars commenced on 29 March with a presentation from Andy Perkins, the BGA’s chairman. The date was apposite as it also marked the 90th anniversary of the association. Andy explained that the BGA had introduced the webinars to keep their membership...
