Cambridge University Gliding Club

Day 3 (Tuesday)

Good conditions meant there were long flights to be enjoyed which extended into the evening. As well as consolidating gliding skill our pilots enjoyed amazing views over the ridges and of the clouds particularly as the sun began to set.

Day 4 (Wednesday)

A cloudy and rainy start cleared up to allow soaring later in the day. However gliders and instructors all seemed to disappear and stay up in the air. Michal however found someone with a spare seat in a 2 seater and enjoyed a long flight on the ridge. However those of us left on the ground enjoyed some socialising with the other universities present.

Day 5 (Thursday)

Conditions turned turbulent due to the southerly wind curling over the hills and giving an almost 90° cross wind component. However, some instructors were mad enough to still let us fly and once in the upper air (if you managed to get there) there was some enjoyable soaring to be had. Approaches became very interesting and only for the very experienced and led to the descision to, at least temporarily, put a stop to the flying.

Day 1 (Sunday)

Weather was good (unusal for our expeditions). Flying started at 9am and it was soon discovered the ridge was soarable. Our collection of relatively inexperienced pilots found eventually found free gliders and instructors and discovered the joys of ridge soaring.

Day 2 (Monday)

Weather not so good but there was some flying, however an easterly wind meant the ridge wasn't working. All our pilots got at least one circuit in before the rain put a stop to flying. There was one interesting incident for one of our pilots when his instructor yelled 'get off, get off', he didn't mean let go of the controls so the landing was completed with no-one on the controls.

In the evening we discovered the joys of traditional Scottish food, Haggis which Tom and Lex followed up with some traditional Scotch.

We are pleased to announce that CUGC has bought a new glider! If you’d like to fly it in the near future, get in touch with Peter Buchlovsky (pb368). 

Some information:

Charges: It will cost £9.00 ph to fly (max charge £22.50) for CUGC members.  

Experience requirements: These are the same as for the CGC high performance fleet. They are in the process of being changed in the new CFI’s flying orders but are likely to be 10 solo flights, 3 check flights, stall/spin currency and senior instructor approval. You’ll see these gliders are now available with reduced experience requirements (e.g. no Bronze badge required). I hope to see it getting lots of flying over the summer – enjoy!

On Friday evening members of CUGC enjoyed formal at Lucy Cavendish College followed by our AGM.

Congratulations once again to the trophy winners:

   Marshall Papworth Trophy (outstanding contribution to CUGC): Peter Buchlovsky

   Slazenger Trophy (greatest cumulative height gain in a flight of not more than 70min): Peter Buchlovsky

   Undergraduate Trophy (for a flight involving Gransden Lodge and Oxford East): Kate Woods

We now have a new committee, they are:

   Julia Robson         Chairman

   Kate Woods          Treasurer

   Julia Rigby            Assistant Treasurer

   Rebecca Ward       Captain

   Simon Hay            Equipment Officer

   Peter Buchlovsky   Ordinary member

   Adam Spikings      Ordinary member

There are still some spaces on the committee for a secretary and a social secretary. If anyone is interested in filling them please get in contact with the chairman.

 Happy Gliding!

The annual BGA conference is taking place on Saturday 7th March at  
the Hellidon Lakes Hotel. It looks like they might have some  
interesting speakers as well as an exhibition. Some of us are  
thinking of going so there might be lifts available. It's only an  
hour-long drive away or so and we probably wouldn't stay for dinner.

On the evening of March 5th CUGC will be holding it's Annual General Meeting and Dinner followed by a Trophy Presentation. The details are:

Date: Thursday March 5th
Time: Pre-dinner drinks at 7pm, dinner at 7.30pm
Venue: Lucy Cavendish College
Dress code: College formal

After dinner we plan to retire to the bar for the AGM and trophies accompanied by cheese and port. The meeting agenda is as follows:
1. Presentation of the club's annual financial statement
2. Election of the executive committee
The meeting should be fairly short - in the past we've managed it in under a minute. All members are entitled to come and vote at the AGM.

There will be an end of season juniors party at Hus Bos on Saturday, 1st November.  With a live band, DJ, bar and food as usual.  All juniors and ex-juniors are encouraged to come along to finish off the season with a bang. Anybody with links to gliding is also welcome to come and experience the social side of juniors gliding.

There is a possibility of a Cambridge contingent heading to this so please get in touch (enquiries@cugc.org.uk) if you're interested. You don't need to have competed at the Junior Nationals or even flown before. For new members, Hus Bos is only an hours drive away and they have two bars and an excellent atmosphere. Bunk rooms are probably sold out but last time the Cambridge lot set down their sleeping bags in the briefing room.

I am pleased to announce that our online trial flight booking system is now up and running! Our trial flight dates are:

• Friday 24th October
• Friday 31st October
• Friday 21st November

To book: click on ‘Trialflights’ across the top, read the information on that page, and then click on ‘Trialflight database system’ in the text to proceed to the booking page.

We will transport you from Cambridge (specifically, the Sidgwick Site), to the airfield and back again. You should be away from Cambridge for around 3 hours. We are taking groups to the airfield every hour and a half throughout these days, as you’ll see. Trial flights cost £20 but if you have two flights on the day the second one is reduced to £16. And if you decide to join as a member on the day then the cost of each of your flights will be reduced to £10. If you have any further questions, do contact us (enquiries@cugc.org.uk).

The new academic year is here which means the Societies' Fair is taking place again at the Kelsey Kerridge Sports Hall. CUGC will be there in force with a stall inside the hall (upstairs with the other sports clubs) and a glider rigged outside on Parker's Piece (across the road from the hall). You can't miss it - it's the white shiny thing with long wings - so do come and meet us to find out more.

This year's fresher's squash will be held in the Gardner Room at Emmanuel College from 7.30pm Thursday 16th October. There will be drinks and nibbles followed by a talk from a gliding instructor.