What you can do

Gliding isn't just about floating around enjoying the scenery. There are many ways that you can use gliding to energise yourself. Cross-country soaring, often flying hundreds of kilometre is a great challenge, pushing yourself to get round a course as fast as you can, taking advantage of the weather conditions to outperform your mates. Competition flying is the logical extension of this. Spending a week at a new gliding club, getting some epic flights, flying hard and playing hard just can't be beaten

Most people don't realise just what a modern glider is capable of. Flights of 5 or 6 hours are common and speeds of up to nearly 300kph can be reached. The longest flight so far in the UK is over 1100km (although that's nothing to what's been done down in the Andes - over 3000km!) and we sometimes reach the sort of heights that airliners fly at. The adrenaline and sense of adventure from various flights can leave you on a high for days after the flight. As we say:

Gliding is the most fun you can have in the sky!