News about general club activities, such as changes at the club, elections, new facilities, open days, etc
The Scouts today announced the recognition of Les Clark, Chair of the Vale of White Horse Gliding Centre (VOWHGC) and long‑standing member of the British Gliding Association (BGA), for his exceptional contribution to youth aviation over more than two decades.Les first became involved with Scout aviation activities over twenty years ago
Honouring Les Clark for Outstanding Service to Youth Aviation Read More »
On 30th March 2026, a new Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was issued affecting flying around Sandhill Farm and the wider area. (NOTAMs are alerts and mandatory changes to airspace, and typically warn of activities such as low-flying or new obstacles, as well as activating or deactivating existing danger zones; for example, when military parachute jumping is taking place,. It can also impose temporary new airspace limitations) This specific NOTAM imposed a new Transponder Mandatory Zone (TMZ) in a radius around RAF Fairford, to coincide with its use by American heavy bombers involved in the conflict between the USA and Iran.
Fairford Airspace & Aerotow Noise Read More »
It was another of the recent very hot days at the Vale of White Horse Gliding Centre today. ON days like this, pilots try to avoid too much time waiting in the cockpit, but occasionally it doesn’t work out quite as planed – maybe the tug stops to refuel, or there’s an issue with the tow rope, or another launch needs to take priority for some reason. Thankfully we get regular visits from our local ice-cream van on flying days, and pilots trapped in their planes can usually rely on another club member to deliver an ice-cream to the needy (in this case me – thanks Adrian!)
Ice-creams Welcome on Sweltering Gliding Day Read More »
A busy day today, lots of launches, including club member Ian’s first flight in his newly acquired ASW 19, which looked in beautiful condition after its years of care by another of our club members who sold it on to Ian. The club now has a handful of private owners looking forward to our cross-country task week starting on 15th June 2026 – fingers crossed for some decent soaring weather to put the 19 and our other gliders (and their pilots) through their paces.
Congratulation to Ian on His New ASW19 Read More »
Work is progressing on getting the Sandhill Farm Open Glider Network (OGN) ground station operational. Yesterday, Mark (that’s me!) installed our PoE switch in the clubhouse and ran a direct burial Ethernet cable out to the main hangar. We plan to position the antennas for the system on a mast mounted at the front of this hangar, and tests yesterday indicate we should get good line-of-sight across the whole airfield from this position. Once the system’s up and running, we should be able to log
Progress On Getting Our OGN Ground Station Installed Read More »
Our small gliding club has a long history in the area, with 40 years of operation at our Sandhill Farm airfield celebrated this year, and also 65 years since the club was founded. But a few years ago, the club was quite depleted of members – we recorded just 199 launches in 2017, and 135 in 2020. However, in the last couple of years, the club has really flourished again, with lots of new members of all ages, and lots of visitors taking trial/experience flights.
New Record For Aerotows At VoWHGC Read More »
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,
New Year’s Eve Flying at Vale of White Horse Gliding Centre Read More »
The first flight of the day on Saturday gave club-member Ian the chance to experience some aerobatics with one of of our aerobatics-rated instructors, Milan. With some broken cloud and lots of blue sky, the views were stunning. See some images below, as well as a video of the amazing figures they flew
Winter Aerobatics at VoWHGC Read More »
Sometimes the best days at the gliding club aren’t the days we all expect. Summer days with good soaring conditions are fantastic, of course. That’s when we do big cross-country flights, or long local soaring flights, while enjoying the sunshine at the airfield when on the ground. But sometimes a winter day compensates very nicely, with
Another Wonderful Winter Flying Day at VoWHGC Read More »
Members and visitors at the gliding club enjoyed some wonderful winter flying all weekend on 13th and 14th December. Saturday was very blue and pretty still, with a light headwind later in the day. Sunday was similar, although
Great Winter Flying Weekend at VoWHGC Read More »
