A Typical Gliding Day
How the day runs (ish..!):
- Leave Bath at approx. 8am. When you successfully sign up for a trip, you will be sent an email or WhatsApp message to discuss precise pick-up time and location.
- Arrive at the club for the 9am briefing. This is mostly useful for solo pilots and instructors, but it is also a chance for the new Uni guys to introduce themselves.
- New pilots will need to fill out membership forms. The group will then help the other club members set up for the day. This usually means pushing out the gliders and helping set up the launch point. The trip leader will then give a safety briefing to new pilots. This will involve basic airfield safety and a briefing on the gliders themselves, including parachutes, controls, instruments and the bail-out procedure.
- Flying will then start at approx. 10/10:30am. Throughout the day, you will also be taught various other aspects of a gliding day including driving gators to retrieve gliders, launching gliders and even filling out the logs.
- Flying will finish (time of year dependent) any time between 3:30 and 6pm. At this point, the group will help put the gliders and other equipment away.
- You'll then need to pay...! Though, often the club bar will open for a post-flying drink, so not all bad news!
- You should be home any time between 5 and 7pm. More accurate timings will be made clear in the pre-sign up email (more info on the "Sign-Ups" page).
What to bring:
- Plenty of water. There is drinking water available, but at least bring a water bottle. Its easy to get dehydrated on the very exposed airfield, particularly in the Summer!
- Food. Sometimes there is food available (bacon and egg butties) on the day, but don't count on it! Always a good idea to bring some change, in case food is available!
- Suitable footwear. Enclosed footware (i.e. no flip flops) is a must. In the Winter/after recent wet weather, boots are strongly recommended. If you do wear trainers, you may want to think about bringing a spare pair if they get wet.
- Warm Clothing. In the Winter, it is really really important (we honestly can't stress this enough) to wear warm clothing. Jumpers, and a coat are a minimum. Hat, scarf and gloves are recommended. The airfield is very open, so take off 3 or 4 deg celsius from the weather report! Its better to bring more clothing than you need than be cold!
- Suncream. Really important in the Summer, hopefully for obvious reasons!
- Sunglasses. Again, very strongly recommended in both Winter and Summer. The glare of the Sun is much stronger in a glider cockpit. You will have a much more enjoyable time wearing sunglasses.
- Solo pilots (glider, PPL, or otherwise), remember your log books!
New pilots:
You will also need to sign a membership form before you fly. If you are under 18, this requires a parent's or guardian's signature so please email the committee (su-gliding@bath.ac.uk) if this applies to you.
Please be aware that there are loading limits of the glider. As such, you must weigh between a minimum of 45 kg / 7 stone and a maximum of 102 kg / 16 stone. If you are approaching either of these limits, please email the committee (su-gliding@bath.ac.uk) before signing up to a trip.