Today was another fantastic winter flying day at the Vale of White Horse Gliding Centre near Swindon. After a heavy frost and mist in the early morning, the sun burned off the mist and melted the frost by mid-morning, leaving a clear blue sky and a light headwind from the southwest, straight down the runway.
Solo pilots took the opportunity to fly club gliders in the beautiful conditions,
and our CFI Al also brought out his beautiful vintage Slingsby Prefect for a few of us to fly for the first time. The Prefect (T.30) was built by Slingsby Sailplanes from 1948, but it is closely related to the classic Schneider Grunau Baby, which was developed in 1932. It’s a single-seat, fabric-covered glider with high-mounted wings and a bracing strut on each wing. If you’d like to learn more about the aircraft, check out the Wikipedia page here, which features a picture of our specific aircraft in its stunning yellow livery.
See a gallery of photos from 31st December 2025 below, including some views of the airfield in the winter sun, and shots of the various pilots braving their flights in the Prefect.
