UoN Gliding

Are you interested in taking your fascination with aviation to the skies this September?

Join UoN Gliding to take up cheap, affordable flying this year!
From September, we’ll be running freshers flying days, safety briefings and going gliding every weekend of the year, along with even some weekday flying!

Start your journey with us, with a membership price of £80 and winch launches from £8.

Feel free to contact us with any queries.

Are you interested in taking your fascination with aviation to the skies this September?

Join UoN Gliding to take up cheap, affordable flying this year!
From September, we’ll be running freshers flying days, safety briefings and going gliding every weekend of the year, along with even some weekday flying!

Start your journey with us, with a membership price of £80 and winch launches from £8.

Feel free to contact us with any queries.

From Your First Flight to SOLO!

Join UoN Gliding in 2026/27 and start your flying journey.

1. Attend a Safety Briefing

Before your first flying day, attend one of our safety briefings at the start of the academic year and purchase your club membership.

2. Get to Know the Airfield

Familiarise yourself with the gliders, meet our committee and instructors, and get comfortable with the airfield environment.

3. Meet Your Instructor

You’ll be introduced to your instructor, learn how to fit and use a parachute correctly, and be briefed on your first flight.

4. Your First Flight

You’ll launch by winch or aerotow, experience gliding for the first time. You will have the opportunity to take the controls and fly the aircraft yourself under instruction.

5. Begin Your Training Record

You’ll receive a training record that tracks your progress through the British Gliding Association syllabus as you complete each exercise.

6. Keep Flying

Consistency is the key to progress. By flying regularly you’ll steadily build your skills, covering topics including:

* Straight glide
* Turning
* Stalling and stall recovery
* Launches
* Circuits and landings
* Emergencies
* Airmanship and lookout

Throughout your training you’ll develop confidence, sound judgement, situational awareness and safe decision making.

7. Your First Solo

After successfully completing the required syllabus exercises, holding the appropriate medical declaration, and when both you and your instructor are confident that you’re ready, it’ll be time for your very first solo flight.

8. The Journey Continues

Your first solo isn’t the end of your training, it’s just the beginning. You’ll continue flying supervised solo and dual flights, work towards your Sailplane Pilot Licence (SPL), enjoy longer soaring flights, and continue developing your skills as a glider pilot.

It’s been just over a month since our expedition to Portmoak and we can’t stop thinking about it! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

We completed:
🛩️ 29h 47m of flying
🛫 56 launches
⛰️ 26h 41m of ridge soaring

Other than taking advantage of the amazing landscape Portmoak has to offer, we completed plenty of SPL training including launch failures, soaring and spin training.

A huge shout out to Joshua Sheridan who ranked top of the hog sheet with a whopping 7h 46m in the air, whilst progressing towards his BI(S). 🏆

A massive thank you to Scottish Gliding Centre for hosting us for our summer expedition, and we hope to be back again next year!

May Monthly Wrap Up ⭐️

The club has been busy this month! From electing our new committee for 2026/27 to gliding at different sites, it’s been great to get out as the summer starts rolling in.

At the start of May, we held our Annual General Meeting (AGM) where we reflect on our achievements from the previous year, hand out awards to our outstanding members and set new targets for the year ahead.

Straight after, we went to for our Annual Formal Dinner (AFD) where members enjoyed a two-course meal before venturing out into the city centre. 🥂

This month we’ve been back at Saltby taking advantage of the brilliant soaring. Thank you to .gliding.club for their hospitality and we hope to see them more over the summer months! ✈️

We can’t forget when , our incoming President for 2026/27, won the Outstanding Contribution Award at Sports Ball. Congratulations!🏆

And to wrap it all up, our current President joined other members from on an exciting expedition to the French Alps, completing some epic mountain soaring. 🇫🇷🏔️

If any of this sounds like a piece of you, why not get a Semester 2 Club Membership and join us on our upcoming trips! If you have any questions, DM us or get in touch with a member of the committee!

Signups for Interunis 2026 are now open✈️🎓

The registration link is now in the bio! Entry starts at £30, with on-site camping available and standard flying fees paid separately.

The Interunis is a competition between university gliding clubs from across the UK. There is no skill requirement, with pilots of all skill levels able to contribute points for the club!

🏅 Beginners earn points through training progress
🏅 Intermediate pilots earn points through duration flights
🏅 Advanced pilots earn points on self-set XC tasks

It's a fantastic opportunity to get some summer flying in, meet people from across the gliding community, and take your first steps towards junior gliding (U26)!

If you have any questions, DM us or get in touch with a member of the committee!

Signups for Portmoak now open!!! An incredible expedition up into the highlands, for a week of summer flying with both our aircraft. Tickets are £375 which includes transport, accommodation and memberships.
Deadline is Sunday 24th May at 23:59. Signup now, link in Bio