Cambridge Gliding Centre is a 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...

 club based near Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 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...

 on the Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire is a ceremonial county of historic origin in England that forms part of the East of England region.It borders Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Northamptonshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the south-east....

/Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 county border. Nearby major towns include Bedford

Bedford

Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. It is a large town and the administrative centre for the wider Borough of Bedford. According to the former Bedfordshire County Council's estimates, the town had a population of 79,190 in mid 2005, with 19,720 in the adjacent town...

, Cambourne

Cambourne

Cambourne is a new settlement and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, in the district of South Cambridgeshire. It lies on the A428 road between Cambridge, 9 miles to the east, and St Neots and Bedford to the west. It comprises the three villages of Great Cambourne, Lower Cambourne and Upper...

, Huntingdon

Huntingdon

Huntingdon is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was chartered by King John in 1205. It is the traditional county town of Huntingdonshire, and is currently the seat of the Huntingdonshire district council. It is known as the birthplace in 1599 of Oliver Cromwell.-History:Huntingdon...

, Royston

Royston, Hertfordshire

Royston is a town and civil parish in the District of North Hertfordshire and county of Hertfordshire in England.It is situated on the Greenwich Meridian, which brushes the towns western boundary, and at the northernmost apex of the county on the same latitude of towns such as Milton Keynes and...

, Sandy

Sandy

Sandy may refer to:* Characteristic of sand* Sandy , including a list of people with the name* Sandy brown, a shade of brown- Places :* Sandy, Bedfordshire, England* Sandy, Carmarthenshire, Wales* Sandy, Oregon, United States...

, St. Ives

St Ives, Cambridgeshire

St Ives is a market town in Cambridgeshire, England, around north-west of the city of Cambridge and north of London. It lies within the historic county boundaries of Huntingdonshire.-History:...

 and St. Neots.

The club is based at Gransden Lodge Airfield

Gransden Lodge Airfield

Gransden Lodge Airfield is a former wartime airfield from Cambridge, England.The Cambridge Gliding Centre moved to Gransden Lodge in October 1991, having previously shared Duxford Airfield with the Imperial War Museum Duxford-RAF Gransden Lodge:...

, where it moved to from Duxford Aerodrome

Duxford Aerodrome

Duxford Aerodrome is located south of Cambridge, within the Parish of Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England and nearly west of the village.The airfield is owned jointly by the Imperial War Museum and Cambridgeshire County Council and it is the site of the Imperial War Museum Duxford and the American...

 in October 1991.

Formerly known as the Cambridge University Gliding Club it became known as the Cambridge Gliding Club in the mid-nineties. In 2006 the club began trading as the Cambridge Gliding Centre.

The Cambridge Gliding Centre provides flying lessons, and 'learn to fly' courses for aspiring glider pilots, along with advanced training, e.g. aerobatics

Aerobatics

Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment and sport...

, and conversion courses for more experienced pilots. Experience trial flight gift vouchers are also available and provide a steady stream of visitors to the airfield.

The club boasts an active and growing membership, with many record holding pilots amongst their ranks.

The Cambridge Gliding Centre operates a fleet of four two-seat basic trainer and five single seater gliders, has access to a motor glider

Motor glider

A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: A fixed wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion ,...

 and facilities for both winch launch and aerotow operations.