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#1
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Kent Gliding Club (UK)
Hi guys, I have been thinking about starting to fly gliders (I have
previously flown R/C and Paragliders). I am based in the Southern London suburbs, Kenley is only about 15 mins from me, but they do not fly over the weekends from what I can tell, so for a person who works Mon-Fri this makes it pretty much useless. It seems that the next closest club is the Kent Gliding Club. This is quite a distance, I went down to take a look at the location on Sunday, it took about 75 mins (with no traffic) which is not too bad, although factoring in the cost of petrol it will pretty much double the cost of flying and I am not sure I can stretch that far. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew of a closer club (I'm sure there isn't one, but it doesn't hurt to ask)? Also just a few questions that I think anyone will be able to answer... How much commitment is expected from a club member? I saw on the KGC website mention of duty rosters etc??? What participation level is expected, can I simply go along to learn to fly, or does one have to be fully involved in all activites? I am very limited on the time so I am not sure how much I can commit!?! I have been thinking about taking a 1 day course, and then if I like the club/people etc join up. Any members of the KGC on here? Also can someone recommend an introductory book on the subject? I have a good grounding in soaring (well I think so anyway, from R/C and a little Paragliding), but not in this area. Thanks, Justin. |
#2
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Hi Justin
Kenley mob are an OK bunch, pity about their weekend grounding. How about getting out to Southdown GC for some of the best flying in the Southheast? The drive from where you are to Storrington is not too bad. I can do Epsom to the club in an hour after work in the summer. Motorway a lot of the way ( I can let you know where the cameras are ) Acording to Autoroute the distance is actually considerably shorter to SGC than to Challock and KGC. Another option is East Sussex GC 5 miles more than Storrington from Kenley. SGC has the advantage of all winter flying on the Southdowns ridge. Some level of commitment is required in all clubs but at the moment SGC demands very little from its members. Help is always appreciated however. SGC runs a 3 day intro course I think. Ian |
#3
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Hi,
I'm sure you will find that the R/C stuff will help you "understand" gliding quite a bit better than those coming in cold. I've flown at Challock, (1970!!) but from here in sunny (read wet) Bolton, it's a tad too far! The distance to the club is not the only consideration you will have to make. Try spending a day at each of them first to see how it works, how friendly they are and whether it's for you. You should also try the excellent BGA site on www.gliding.co.uk which has a really good "clickable" map of all of the clubs in the UK. Other thoughts are what the local costs are, and local conditions. Being in the middle of the country can be great for thermals in summer, but not too helpful in winter unless you have wave lift available (but you need a higher rating than just "solo" to get aerotowed to it) Other sites may have a local ridge which will give good ridge lift in winter and stronger wind conditions. On the book front, there are a number of written tests to go through a year or so after going solo. I wouldn't bother too much with the books until you are well into the sport. Getting solo is enough to concentrate upon in the early days, and your instructors will tell/show/instruct most other things in the early days. On the duty issue; Most clubs expect you to help out running the club when you are there. In the early days there isn't too much to do apart from pulling gliders back to the launch and helping to get them in the air again (putting winch/aero cables on or holding a wing for the launch) Later on (often post solo) you would be expected to be Duty Pilot which entails running the launch end of the field. Other jobs are as Winch Man, which means you get to sit on a big diesel engine and tow the gliders into the sky. Usually your expected to have quite a bit of experience prior to getting these jobs. At the most you can expect 1 day per month of duty. It varies with site, and some sites with a high member list may just have you on 1/2 day per month. This is an area to look at when you visit each club. Hope that helps? Malcolm... "Justin Fielding" wrote in message news:1119882965.4224ca44eb2edcd2d0f4b5687048c672@t eranews... Hi guys, I have been thinking about starting to fly gliders (I have previously flown R/C and Paragliders). I am based in the Southern London suburbs, Kenley is only about 15 mins from me, but they do not fly over the weekends from what I can tell, so for a person who works Mon-Fri this makes it pretty much useless. It seems that the next closest club is the Kent Gliding Club. This is quite a distance, I went down to take a look at the location on Sunday, it took about 75 mins (with no traffic) which is not too bad, although factoring in the cost of petrol it will pretty much double the cost of flying and I am not sure I can stretch that far. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew of a closer club (I'm sure there isn't one, but it doesn't hurt to ask)? Also just a few questions that I think anyone will be able to answer... How much commitment is expected from a club member? I saw on the KGC website mention of duty rosters etc??? What participation level is expected, can I simply go along to learn to fly, or does one have to be fully involved in all activites? I am very limited on the time so I am not sure how much I can commit!?! I have been thinking about taking a 1 day course, and then if I like the club/people etc join up. Any members of the KGC on here? Also can someone recommend an introductory book on the subject? I have a good grounding in soaring (well I think so anyway, from R/C and a little Paragliding), but not in this area. Thanks, Justin. |
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