My name is Elliot and I am a Junior member of Cotswold Gliding Club. I have been a member of the club since I was 12 years old. My father is also a member of the club and I always wanted to fly gliders like him. On my first flight, my instructor taught me the basic effects of controls and we were fortunate to soar in thermals to 4000 feet and flew for over 40 minutes. I was bitten by the bug!

Training to solo

I continued my training towards my first solo flight and quickly managed to complete many of the flying exercises. These included launching and landing and also stalling, spinning and launch failures. In the UK we are allowed to solo at age 14 so I had to wait a while. In the meantime, I spent time learning how to thermal and fly short cross-country tasks in the clubs two seat gliders.

Then Covid hit. I was really worried that, due to the lockdowns, my first solo would be delayed and not being able to fly I would forget what I had learned. Fortunately, the lockdown ended, and we were able to get back to the airfield to fly again. Our team of instructors were extremely supportive and on my 14^th birthday I was sent solo by Geoff (who also sent my Dad solo!) in one of the clubs K13 gliders.

Post solo progression

I was soon flying soaring flights in thermal lift and quickly got my silver height, which is a height gain of 1000 metres, or 3000 feet. I also converted onto other gliders. I started with our other two-seater, the ASK21, and then moved onto the club’s single seaters, ASK23 and ASK18.

Alongside flying solo as much as possible, I was also encouraged to fly cross country with instructors and coaches as much as possible. Although I was allowed to fly solo, I needed to be 16 before I could fly cross country on my own. I was fortunate enough to be offered flights in a high-performance Nimbus 3 glider, which gave me lots of training and experience of flying cross country. In the summer of 2022, which is well know as being an excellent year for gliding, I flew a 500km task at over 100kph with Jon, one of the gliders owners. I also flew with instructors in our club DG500 trainer.

Part of my training was to complete my Bronze badge. This consists of ground school and exams followed by a flying test. The exam is very similar to those taken by GA power pilots for their private Pilots License. The flying tests take in most of the training syllabus to make sure we are safe and competent as pilots. The final section is a cross country navigation task flown in a motor glider and includes practising field landings. A necessary skill for a glider pilot! Once completed, I became a fully licensed glider pilot.

Cross Country Flying

More recently, I have been very lucky to be allowed to fly my father’s DG300 which he shares with Geoff (who sent me solo). This is an excellent glider to fly and has really good performance. During 2023 I flew my first cross country task solo in it of over 50km to gain my Silver distance. I flew from Aston Down to Bidford, another gliding site in Warwickshire, then turned around and came back. I wasn’t particularly fast, but I was very happy to have completed this first solo task.

During 2023 our club hosted the 50^th Vintage Gliding Club rally and I spent the week at the club helping launch various vintage gliders. I was also lucky enough to spend some time flying a Slingsby Skylark 2c, a unique glider from the 1950s. Being in the air with so many other vintage gliders was a memorable experience.

Support for Young Pilots

In between flying at Cotswold Gliding Club, I am actively involved in helping out on the launch most weekends. Gliding is very much a team effort, and we all have to help each other get into the air. I enjoy helping out at the competitions the club hosts too. My hope is to fly in competitions in the future and I have been fortunate enough to take part in two seat coaching at the Junior Gliding Championship in 2023. This is supported by the British Gliding Association and really helps young pilots like me develop their cross-country skills in a competitive environment. I have also been awarded bursaries by the Royal Aero Club to progress my flying.

My First Competition

2024 is an exciting year for me. I have already attended the BGA Junior Winter series at Denbigh in North Wales where I flew twice in mountain wave lift, once up to 12000ft and we only stopped because we had no oxygen. I plan to complete my silver badge by flying for five hours solo, maybe this will coincide with my first attempt at a 300km task? Beyond that I want to fly as much as possible and practise ready for the Junior Gliding Championships, which this year I will enter and hopefully fly our DG300.