Cotswold Gliding Club
Encyclopedia
The Cotswold Gliding Club (CGC) 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
.
airfield near Tetbury
, but in 1967 moved to its current home, Aston Down
—at that time still a military airfield. In 1980-1, with the help of Sports Council grants and other loans, the Club purchased a large part of the airfield when it was auctioned off by the Ministry of Defence
. Having since acquired further land, CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track.
CGC has some 200 members, including 80 students from the University of the West of England
(UWE) in Bristol. There are about 30 associate members: these include both pilots (with limited flying rights) and aeromodellers
. In 2007 the CGC widened its membership to include Blokarters.
Aston Down is, by gliding standards, a large airfield. The 1500 m main runway (about one mile) offers scope for launches of 450 to 700 m (1500 to 2300 ft)—and sometimes up to 900 m (3000 ft) when the wind direction is straight down the runway. For many years most launches at Aston Down were by the reverse pulley method, but since the year 2000 the principal method of launch has been by winch. The high launches make it easy to contact the abundant thermal
s that rise from the well drained Cotswold
limestone
to give excellent soaring conditions. Aerotow launching is also used, particularly in competitions and when westerly or north-westerly winds generate lift off the Cotswold
ridge (or "Edge") or wave lift downwind of the Welsh mountains
.
The picture shows Aston Down taken from the south. The main (northeast-southwest) runway runs from bottom left to top right, while the shorter 1000 m (3,300 ft) east-west runway runs left to right. The disused runway in the distance has been partly removed to allow more room for gliders landing on the grass. Blokarting and aeromodelling are restricted to the runway not currently in use for gliding (which varies according to wind direction).
The Club's fleet of aircraft includes two modern PW-6U training gliders (delivered in June 2008), a DG 500T
advanced cross-country trainer, two Ka13
dual-seat trainers and a Ka7 owned by UWE Gliding Club. Three Ka8
s are available for early solo pilots, while more experienced pilots can fly either a Pilatus B4
or an Astir
. All Club gliders have similar instrumentation and are equipped with audio variometers.
In 2008 the Club introduced courses specifically designed to give power pilots
a hands-on introduction to soaring flight.
Members receive training from the Club's 20 BGA
-qualified instructors. This training takes pilots to solo and well beyond—to advanced cross-country flying. Privately owned motor glider
s based at Aston Down are available for club members for field landing and Cross Country Endorsement checks. During the soaring season many members fly private gliders, usually owned jointly by two or more partners. This flying takes the form of either local soaring or more ambitious cross-country flights, often covering several hundred kilometres. Some examples of recent flights by members of the Club can be seen on the BGA Ladder website ( 2008, the last complete season, and 2009).
. As early as 1962 the National Gliding Championships were held at Aston Down under the auspices of the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association, with the UK's first ever 300-km task being set. Recent competitions hosted by CGC include the following:
Rockpolishers League
Two Seater Competition at Pocklington
Competition Enterprise
houses a briefing room, club room, kitchen and residential accommodation; caravan and camping facilities are also available on site. A large hangar accommodates the club fleet, most of the private gliders owned by club members being stored in trailers when not being flown. There is a workshop for maintenance of aircraft, vehicles and winches.
The club has recently built its own glider flight simulator
to expand the training opportunities for club members.
Aston Down
RAF Aston Down is a former Royal Air Force station near Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, South West England. It was used by the RAF from the First World War until 1967, since when it has been the home of the Cotswold Gliding Club...
airfield, between Cirencester
Cirencester
Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...
and Stroud
Stroud, Gloucestershire
Stroud is a market town and civil parish in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is the main town in Stroud District.Situated below the western escarpment of the Cotswold Hills at the meeting point of the Five Valleys, the town is noted for its steep streets and cafe culture...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. The Club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for cross-country 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...
and competitions
Gliding competitions
Some of the pilots in the sport of gliding take part in gliding competitions. These are usually racing competitions, but there are also aerobatic contests and on-line league tables.-History of competitions:...
.
Club
CGC was formed in 1964. It was initially based at Long NewntonLong Newnton
Long Newnton is a small village in Gloucestershire, England, situated on the main road between Malmesbury and Tetbury. The hamlet has no shops just a church and between 30 and 60 houses. Approximately an hour from Bristol, Bath, Gloucester and Oxford so the nearest big towns or small cities are...
airfield near Tetbury
Tetbury
Tetbury is a town and civil parish within the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded, probably by Ine of Wessex, in 681. The population of the parish was 5,250 in the 2001 census.In the Middle Ages,...
, but in 1967 moved to its current home, Aston Down
Aston Down
RAF Aston Down is a former Royal Air Force station near Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, South West England. It was used by the RAF from the First World War until 1967, since when it has been the home of the Cotswold Gliding Club...
—at that time still a military airfield. In 1980-1, with the help of Sports Council grants and other loans, the Club purchased a large part of the airfield when it was auctioned off by the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
. Having since acquired further land, CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track.
CGC has some 200 members, including 80 students from the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...
(UWE) in Bristol. There are about 30 associate members: these include both pilots (with limited flying rights) and aeromodellers
Radio-controlled aircraft
A radio-controlled aircraft is controlled remotely by a hand-held transmitter and a receiver within the craft...
. In 2007 the CGC widened its membership to include Blokarters.
Airfield
Thermal
A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection. The sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it...
s that rise from the well drained Cotswold
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
to give excellent soaring conditions. Aerotow launching is also used, particularly in competitions and when westerly or north-westerly winds generate lift off the Cotswold
Cotswolds
The Cotswolds are a range of hills in west-central England, sometimes called the Heart of England, an area across and long. The area has been designated as the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
ridge (or "Edge") or wave lift downwind of the Welsh mountains
Geography of Wales
Wales is a generally mountainous country on the western side of central southern Great Britain, between the Irish Sea to the north and the Bristol Channel to the south. It is part of the United Kingdom, and is bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean, St George's Channel and Irish...
.
The picture shows Aston Down taken from the south. The main (northeast-southwest) runway runs from bottom left to top right, while the shorter 1000 m (3,300 ft) east-west runway runs left to right. The disused runway in the distance has been partly removed to allow more room for gliders landing on the grass. Blokarting and aeromodelling are restricted to the runway not currently in use for gliding (which varies according to wind direction).
Club fleet
Glaser-Dirks DG-500
|-References:*...
advanced cross-country trainer, two Ka13
Schleicher ASK 13
|-References:**...
dual-seat trainers and a Ka7 owned by UWE Gliding Club. Three Ka8
Schleicher Ka 8
|-References:*Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1966–67. London:Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1966.**...
s are available for early solo pilots, while more experienced pilots can fly either a Pilatus B4
Pilatus PC-11
|-References:* Hardy, M. Gliders & Sailplanes of the World. Ian Allan, 1982...
or an Astir
Grob G-102 Astir
-References:**Hardy, M. Gliders & Sailplanes of the World. Ian Allan, 1982*...
. All Club gliders have similar instrumentation and are equipped with audio variometers.
Gliding activity
The Club operates seven days a week during the soaring season (April to September), and on Wednesdays, Fridays and at weekends during the winter months. Members of the public can book trial lessons or more intensive one-day courses, as well as five-day holiday courses. Group flying for work parties, clubs, etc takes place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings in the summer.In 2008 the Club introduced courses specifically designed to give power pilots
Private Pilot License
A Private Pilot License or, in the United States of America, a Private Pilot Certificate, is a license that permits the holder to act as the pilot of an aircraft privately . The requirements to obtain the license are determined by the International Civil Aviation Authority , but the actual...
a hands-on introduction to soaring flight.
Members receive training from the Club's 20 BGA
British Gliding Association
The British Gliding Association is the governing body for gliding in the United Kingdom. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 85 gliding clubs which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members , though a further 17,000 people have gliding air-experience flights each year.-History:A...
-qualified instructors. This training takes pilots to solo and well beyond—to advanced cross-country flying. Privately owned 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 ,...
s based at Aston Down are available for club members for field landing and Cross Country Endorsement checks. During the soaring season many members fly private gliders, usually owned jointly by two or more partners. This flying takes the form of either local soaring or more ambitious cross-country flights, often covering several hundred kilometres. Some examples of recent flights by members of the Club can be seen on the BGA Ladder website ( 2008, the last complete season, and 2009).
Competitions
Aston Down
The excellent runway and facilities available at Aston Down make it a frequent choice for hosting regional and national gliding competitionsGliding competitions
Some of the pilots in the sport of gliding take part in gliding competitions. These are usually racing competitions, but there are also aerobatic contests and on-line league tables.-History of competitions:...
. As early as 1962 the National Gliding Championships were held at Aston Down under the auspices of the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association, with the UK's first ever 300-km task being set. Recent competitions hosted by CGC include the following:
- 2004 Standard Class Nationals (shown on the right)
- 2004 Competition Enterprise
- 2006 15 Metre Nationals
- 2007 Inter University Task Week
- 2008 Club Class Nationals
- 2009 15 Metre Nationals
- 2010 Open Class and Standard Class Nationals
Other sites
CGC pilots regularly take part in regional and national competitions—usually of an informal nature. These include the following:Rockpolishers League
- An informal group of six local gliding clubs who organize friendly cross-country competitions.
Two Seater Competition at Pocklington
- In 2007 the Club DG 500 and a private Duo DiscusSchempp-Hirth Duo Discus|-See also:-References:*...
from Aston Down took 15th and 5th positions, respectively, out of 33 entrants.
Competition Enterprise
- In 2008 the same two gliders also took part in this competition, which was held at North Hill in Devon.
Other sports
In 2007 Aston Down was the venue for the British Blokart Championships. In July 2008 the Cotswold Cycle Racing League held its final round at Aston Down with a 30 km race comprising six circuits of the airfield.Facilities
The original control towerControl tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
houses a briefing room, club room, kitchen and residential accommodation; caravan and camping facilities are also available on site. A large hangar accommodates the club fleet, most of the private gliders owned by club members being stored in trailers when not being flown. There is a workshop for maintenance of aircraft, vehicles and winches.
The club has recently built its own glider flight simulator
Flight simulator
A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and various aspects of the flight environment. This includes the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they react to applications of their controls and other aircraft systems, and how they react to the external...
to expand the training opportunities for club members.
External links
- Cotswold Gliding Club Official website
WebcamWebcamA webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
view of northeastern end of main runway at 15-minute intervals over the past two hours
- UWE Gliding Club
- Cotswold Radio Control Society (modellers)
- Blokarters UK