Thinking of taking flying lessons to learn to fly?
You may have used one of our vouchers and already had a flight or two, or you may have just decided that you want to learn to fly gliders. Either way, you need to know how to progress and get your ‘wings’.
Learning to glide is also the perfect way to start any flying career, whether you want to fly light aircraft, join the RAF, or fly commercially. Many people who choose these avenues often return to gliding as their hobby, or indeed, do both side by side. You will learn much more about the principles of flight, and what keeps an aeroplane airborne than with most other forms of flying.
How do you start? Well, if you have made the decision to join PSGC, you can start your training straight away. We normally have a briefing at 10 o’clock, when the duty instructor details what the weather forecast is likely to be for the day, who is doing what duty and where the launch-point will be on that day (it changes with the wind direction) etc. Each time you come to the airfield your name is entered on the flying list, so you can be paired with an instructor who will brief you for your flying lesson, including any explanations and theory for the practical side of the flight. You will have a personal log-book in which all your flights are recorded, along with the achievements you made on the day. We also keep a ‘progress record’ for you, which have a number of exercises needing to be signed off to prove your competency and enables all instructors to track your progress. When all of these are completed, and the instructor(s) are happy with your flying, you will be allowed to fly your first solo flight! This is the flight which you will remember for a very long time, as it signifies a great moment in your flying career.
After this milestone, you can go on to earn various badges, starting with Bronze through Silver to Gold and Diamonds as your experience and skills progress. In a short space of time, you could be taking other members of the public for their first flights, then moving on to becoming a full instructor, passing on your skills to others, just as they have done for you. Long cross-country flights offer further challenges, or learning aerobatics is another aspect which some enjoy. Many members, however, are happy to fly locally and simply enjoy the wonders of floating through the sky with the freedoms that gliding can offer. The choice is yours.
We are a totally voluntary club, and as such, we expect every member to be involved with running the airfield; helping with launching, retrieving and so on. It is all part of the fun too!
The ‘prices’ section on our homepage has the details of what it all costs, and you can be sure that gliding a most cost-effective way of getting into the world of aviation. We look forward to seeing you as a regular club member.