British Gliding Association
Encyclopedia
The British Gliding Association (BGA) is the governing body
for gliding
in the United Kingdom
. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 85 gliding clubs (both civilian and service) which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members (including service personnel), though a further 17,000 people have gliding air-experience flights each year.
in 1922. The meeting was largely a publicity stunt by the Daily Mail
newspaper which had offered a prize of one thousand pounds for the longest flight. However little gliding happened in the UK for several years after until reports of long flights in thunderstorms in Germany appeared in The Aeroplane magazine. Douglas Culver suggested a lunch meeting at the Comedy Restaurant in London
on 4 December 1929 for anybody who was interested. Fifty-six people attended and a committee was formed. Shortly after the BGA was founded to start the sport of gliding
in the UK. Clubs were soon established throughout the country, many of which disappeared just as quickly, though some still remain today. Initially the BGA had individual members and funded some clubs, but it soon changed to being an association of the clubs with no individual members. Today the clubs pay an annual subscription to the BGA on behalf of their members. The patron of the BGA is Prince Philip
who was introduced to the sport by a former chairman, Peter Scott
.
is gradually causing greater regulation. Consequently British glider pilots do not yet need a licence awarded by the Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA). This is currently being re-negotiated to comply with European requirements. Instructors and pupil pilots are trained to BGA standards; annual inspections of gliders are done by engineers authorised by the BGA, whose qualifications are accepted by the CAA; and minor accidents are investigated by the BGA alone. Since September 2008 all gliders have a full CAA registration and airworthiness checks to EASA standards, except for a number of mainly vintage and one-off types which remain under BGA control.
An elected Executive Committee of twelve is responsible for running the BGA. There are nine sub-committees covering the BGA's functions:
Monitoring proposed European legislation and evaluating proposals by the CAA to fit transponder
s on all gliders are currently almost full-time activities for some BGA volunteers. The BGA also publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Sailplane & Gliding.
The seven Scottish
gliding clubs whilst remaining under the aegis of the BGA have also formed the Scottish Gliding Association
to liaise with the local and national authorities in Scotland.
headquarters with five administrative staff. The Association also employs two National Coaches, a Development Officer, a Chief Technical Officer, the editor of the magazine, and a part-time officer who awards the gliding badges of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
and some badges specific to the UK, such as the UK 750 km Diploma. Approximately 1,000 badge claims are processed every year.
National gliding associations
The sport of gliding is managed in each country by national gliding associations, subject to governmental aviation authorities to varying degrees...
for gliding
Gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 85 gliding clubs (both civilian and service) which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members (including service personnel), though a further 17,000 people have gliding air-experience flights each year.
History
A gliding event first occurred in the UK on a hill at Itford in East SussexEast Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
in 1922. The meeting was largely a publicity stunt by the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
newspaper which had offered a prize of one thousand pounds for the longest flight. However little gliding happened in the UK for several years after until reports of long flights in thunderstorms in Germany appeared in The Aeroplane magazine. Douglas Culver suggested a lunch meeting at the Comedy Restaurant in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 4 December 1929 for anybody who was interested. Fifty-six people attended and a committee was formed. Shortly after the BGA was founded to start the sport of gliding
Gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...
in the UK. Clubs were soon established throughout the country, many of which disappeared just as quickly, though some still remain today. Initially the BGA had individual members and funded some clubs, but it soon changed to being an association of the clubs with no individual members. Today the clubs pay an annual subscription to the BGA on behalf of their members. The patron of the BGA is Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
who was introduced to the sport by a former chairman, Peter Scott
Peter Scott
Sir Peter Markham Scott, CH, CBE, DSC and Bar, MID, FRS, FZS, was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer and sportsman....
.
Role
When the BGA was formed, it assumed responsibility for British gliding and the British government has not seen the need to change a system of self-regulation, because it has been effective and economical. As a result the BGA still has the authority that it assumed to manage most aspects of gliding in the UK though the European Aviation Safety AgencyEuropean Aviation Safety Agency
The European Aviation Safety Agency is an agency of the European Union with offices in Cologne, Germany, which has been given regulatory and executive tasks in the field of civilian aviation safety. It was created on 15 July 2002, and it reached full functionality in 2008, taking over functions...
is gradually causing greater regulation. Consequently British glider pilots do not yet need a licence awarded by the Civil Aviation Authority
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority is the public corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA head office is located in the CAA House on Kingsway in Holborn, London Borough of Camden...
(CAA). This is currently being re-negotiated to comply with European requirements. Instructors and pupil pilots are trained to BGA standards; annual inspections of gliders are done by engineers authorised by the BGA, whose qualifications are accepted by the CAA; and minor accidents are investigated by the BGA alone. Since September 2008 all gliders have a full CAA registration and airworthiness checks to EASA standards, except for a number of mainly vintage and one-off types which remain under BGA control.
An elected Executive Committee of twelve is responsible for running the BGA. There are nine sub-committees covering the BGA's functions:
- Airspace,
- Competitions and Awards, (including the British Team)
- Communications and Marketing,
- Development (of the sport and clubs),
- Instructors,
- Safety,
- Strategic Planning,
- Finance, Staff and Administration,
- Technical (airworthiness and other engineering issues).
Monitoring proposed European legislation and evaluating proposals by the CAA to fit transponder
Transponder
In telecommunication, the term transponder has the following meanings:...
s on all gliders are currently almost full-time activities for some BGA volunteers. The BGA also publishes a bi-monthly magazine, Sailplane & Gliding.
The seven Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
gliding clubs whilst remaining under the aegis of the BGA have also formed the Scottish Gliding Association
Scottish Gliding Association
The Scottish Gliding Association is the body which represents the sport of gliding in Scotland. It represents the Scottish gliding clubs when dealing with the government of the UK, the Scottish government, local government in Scotland, and other statutory organisations. It is the main point of...
to liaise with the local and national authorities in Scotland.
Staff
The BGA employs a Chief Executive (Pete Stratten) who is based at the LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
headquarters with five administrative staff. The Association also employs two National Coaches, a Development Officer, a Chief Technical Officer, the editor of the magazine, and a part-time officer who awards the gliding badges of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...
and some badges specific to the UK, such as the UK 750 km Diploma. Approximately 1,000 badge claims are processed every year.
Notable UK gliding clubs
- Buckminster Gliding ClubBuckminster Gliding ClubThe Buckminster Gliding Club is a gliding club based at Saltby Airfield on the Leicestershire / Lincolnshire border, England. It is affiliated to the British Gliding Association and runs a seven-day-a-week operation throughout the year except on Christmas Day.-History and changes:Saltby Airfield...
- Cambridge Gliding CentreCambridge Gliding CentreCambridge Gliding Centre is a gliding club based near Cambridge in the United Kingdom on the Bedfordshire/Cambridgeshire county border. Nearby major towns include Bedford, Cambourne, Huntingdon, Royston, Sandy, St. Ives and St...
- Cotswold Gliding ClubCotswold Gliding ClubThe Cotswold Gliding Club is based at Aston Down airfield, between Cirencester and Stroud in Gloucestershire, South West England. The Club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for cross-country gliding and competitions....
- Darlton Gliding ClubDarlton Gliding ClubDarlton Gliding Club is a gliding club located in Nottinghamshire near the village of Tuxford.- Location:The address of the club is Darlton Gliding Club, Darlton Road, Darlton, near Tuxford, Nottinghamshire, NG22 OTH...
- Denbigh Gliding ClubDenbigh Gliding ClubDenbigh Gliding Club was a gliding club operating from Lleweni Parc airfield near Denbigh, North Wales. It was a member of the British Gliding Association. It formed in April 1999 but had to close down in 2008....
- Imperial College Gliding ClubImperial College Gliding ClubImperial College Gliding Club is the oldest, and one of the largest, university gliding clubs in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1930, the club was the second club to become affiliated to the British Gliding Association, and has for most of its life flown from Lasham Airfield in Hampshire...
- Lasham Gliding SocietyLasham AirfieldLasham Airfield is located north-west of Alton in Hampshire, England, in the village of Lasham.It was built in 1942 and it was an operational RAF during the Second World War. It was used for recreational gliding from 1951. The airfield is now owned by the world's largest gliding club, Lasham...
- London Gliding ClubLondon Gliding ClubThe London Gliding Club is a private members' club, and was set up primarily to train pilots in powerless flight, and the skills necessary to fly cross country using nature's sources of energy. Aerobatics and instructor training is also available. The club provides gliding courses, one day courses...
- Midland Gliding Club
- Nottingham University Gliding ClubNottingham University Gliding ClubThe Nottingham University Gliding Club is the gliding club of the University of Nottingham. The aim of the club is to provide affordable flying in order to introduce as many members as possible to unpowered flight...
- Oxford University Gliding ClubOxford University Gliding ClubThe Oxford University Gliding Club is the gliding club of Oxford University, flying from the historic Bicester Airfield.The club was founded as part of the Oxford University and City Gliding Club in December 1937, and the illustrious German pilot Robert Kronfeld was its first chief flying instructor...
- Scottish Gliding UnionScottish Gliding UnionThe Scottish Gliding Union is the largest gliding club in Scotland. The body is based at, and operates, the Scottish Gliding Centre, Portmoak Airfield, Scotlandwell, by Loch Leven, Perth and Kinross.-External links:**...
- Shenington Gliding ClubShenington Gliding ClubShenington Gliding Club is a British gliding club near the village of Shenington in the Cotswolds, seven miles north west of Banbury.The present club was founded in 1991, though gliding had been a regular activity at the airfield since 1984...
- Trent Valley Gliding Club
- Windrushers Gliding ClubWindrushers Gliding ClubWindrushers Gliding Club is a gliding club flying from Bicester Airfield, where it moved to from Little Rissington in 1956, later merging with the Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association....