Cambridge University Gliding Club

"It will free man from the remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open to him the gates of heaven." - Werner von Braun 

• How can I join the club ?
  Please fill in CUGC membership application, write a cheque for £80 (payable to CUGC) and send the form and the cheque to our Treasurer.
• How do I get trained ?
  Training is done with an instructor, who gives up their time for free - you only pay for your flight. Once you're solo, you're expeceted to give up about one day every month or so helping out at whatever you like (be it winch driving, instructing, launch marshalling etc..). While you're training though, you can just enjoy the cheap flying!
• Can I book a glider and/or an instructor ?
  CGC has an online booking system where you can book an instructor and a glider once you are a member. All of the instructors on that system will be half cats or full cats. That means that if you become a member, you can book a slot on the system.
• I'm confused - what's the difference between CUGC and CGC?
  CUGC (Cambridge University Gliding Club) is a part of the larger CGC (Cambridge Gliding Centre). Once on the airfield, a CUGC member and a CGC member are treated in exactly the same way. The difference is really an administrative one, which helps us keep CUGC's costs down. CUGC is open to members of the university in statu pupillari who are resident in Cambridge. If you want to know more, read our 'History' article in the Club Info section.
• What levels of instructor are there?
  There are 3 different kinds of instructor. A Full category (Full cat), a Half or 'Assistant' category (Half cat or As cat), and a Basic Instructor (BI). Full Cats and As Cats will be who you do most of your training with, and these are the people who are rostered on the two seater booking system. BIs tend to do trial flights with people.
• How much can I fly on a day ?
  There are normally two instructors per half-day (i.e. morning or afternoon) and the booking system allows three students between them. It gets busier at the weekends, but during the week there is plently of oppertunity. As a rule of thumb, if you want a weekend, you need to book roughly a week in advance. If you want a week-day, you can generally book the night before - or even just turn up. When you turn up for a booked slot, you can expect around 4 flights per half day.
  
• How much training do I need to fly solo ?
  On average, it takes between 50 and 70 flights to go solo if you can make it out to the airfield fairly regularly (once a week/fortnight or something). You can expect about 4 flights on each half day at the airfield. The main factor I think is how consistenly you can make it to the airfield!
  
• Do I need a licence to fly solo ?
  The gliding community don't have a 'licence' as such (well, technically, such a thing exists, but it is not in common use in the UK). You must have approval from an instructor and a medical in order to fly solo however.
• Do I need a medical (test) ?
  You do not need a medical to fly with an instructor, but you will need one if you want to fly solo. See here for more details. Basically, you need to get your GP to sign the declaration form (Medical_Declaration). It will probably cost a nominal fee (£20 at a guess).
• I am solo and want to fly a single seater!
  The CGC club owns 2x Juniors, 2x Discus's and a Pegase. It's only on very good days that all these gliders are utilised. The Cambridge University Gliding Club (CUGC) owns a Ka8 for use by its members. Because we own it, it's a lot cheaper to fly than CGC's single seaters and it's great to fly something a little different! Once you have gone solo (in a two seater), and consolidated your flying with around 5 flights, the Junior will be the first single seater you fly.
• Can I count my gliding hours towards a Private Pilot's Licence (PPL)?
  Check the BGA website for current information. As it stands, you may count 10% of your solo gliding hours towards your PPL solo hours, up to a maximum of 100 solo gliding hours. That means that if you have 100 P.1 hours or more gliding, you can be credited with 10 hours for your PPL.