I first flew in a glider with the Air Training Corps (ATC, or air cadets). In 1976 I went solo, again with the ATC, and soon after that I joined the staff of the ATC gliding school. At various times I was with 618 (West Malling), 617 (Manston) and 625 (South Cerney).
The gliders we flew back then (late 70s, early 80s) were old even then.
The daily workhorse back then was the Slingsby T.31 Kirby Cadet Mk3 - or just “mk3” to us. It would never win any awards for it performance, but it excelled at what we used it for: teaching air cadets to fly.
Many commercial and RAF pilots did their first solo flight in one of these.
The mk3 in the picture is at the Bristol and Gloucestershire Gliding Club at Nympsfield. I haven’t flown a mk3 for about 40 years, but I plan to one day.
The other type of glider we flew back then was the Slingsy T.21b Sedburgh, affectionately known as “the barge”. Side by side seating made it ideal for nervous passenges - they could see you were still there and flying it.
This one lives at the Cotwold Gliding Club at Aston Down. It’s pure joy to fly over the Gloucestershire countryside on a summer evening and feel the breeze on your face.
My wife, diparagingly, said it looked “rickety”. It’s built like an ox.
I got my first instructor rating, an ATC “C” category, in 1980. I was 21 and I knew it all. Like so many things, when done well instructing looks easy.
I soon discovered that it isn’t.
I’ve been instructing pretty much ever since. These days I hold a British Gliding Association (BGA) Full Category Instructor rating and I fly with (mostly) the Cotswold Gliding Club at Aston Down near Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Since those early days I have a) learned a lot more about instructing and b) found that I still don’t know it all.
The picture at the top of the page is my glider, an LS6c. It’s a single seat, reasonably high performance glider. Most of all, it’s fun to fly.
I’ll put some gliding stories here from time to time.