Today was another fantastic soaring day at the gliding centre just outside Swindon. This picture shows our visiting duty instructor Nick (seated), running the daily flying briefing ahead of the first launches. Many thanks to Nick for doing a great job on the day.

As the day developed, we were climbing in thermals to over 6ooo feet above the airfield, which put us just safely below the Cotswold CTA at FL65 overhead Sandhill Farm. Strong thermals from late morning gave way to gentler, smoother conditions by late afternoon, but with plenty of height still available.

In addition to the usual club gliders that fly year-round as trainers and for club members to fly solo (Grob Twin Astir, Schleicher K13 and Grob Astir CS), private members were flying their ASW19, LS4, K6 and Pilatus B4AF, with some nice cross country soaring, aerobatics in the specialised Pilatus, and flight durations of over 4 hours easily achieved.

If you’d like to experience the challenge, excitement, and beauty of gliding over the English countryside, we’d love to share it with you. Have a look at our introductory flight options on the website, or jump straight in and join the club!