Familiarisation day gliding drag start

Introduction

Learn the basics of gliding with this one-day course. During this introduction day you will fly 2 times under guidance of an experienced pilot. You will be towed up by a tow plane. A day course is a good step to get acquainted with gliding.

What will you do?

Your day starts in the morning at 10.30 at the hangar of the gliding club. You start with the briefing. This is how the gliding company always starts. The weather conditions, flight planning and all other relevant things for the day are discussed. Before you start flying, you get theory about the basics of flying. Then you go to the aircraft for inspection.

After the inspection you get into the aircraft together after which your first take-off starts. With a tow plane you will be pulled up far above the landscape. You will rise about 500 metres into the air. During the first flight, you will experience what that feels like. On a day with little or no thermals, you will be towed higher up into the sky so that you can still gain sufficient flying experience.

Between flights, there is plenty of time for all your questions. There is a briefing before every flight and a debriefing after every flight. Furthermore, you will discover the club life of the gliding club and see if this world is something for you. Who knows, this might be a nice step towards a multi-day course or even the complete training to become a glider pilot?

During the second flight, you get the chance to try out the controls yourself. With your hands loosely on the control stick you will feel what the pilot is doing. Of course, everything goes at a pace you feel comfortable with. It is very quiet in a glider, so you can hear the pilot well while he tells you more about flying and the environment.

After the second flight you can leave, but if you like you can have a chat with the rest of the crew.

Location

The course is given at the airfield of Weelde. This is in Belgium, near Turnhout and the Dutch border. Weelde airfield is a popular field for glider pilots from Belgium and the Netherlands. At the bottom of this page you will find a map with the location.

During the course, you will not only discover how much fun it is to fly a glider yourself, but also how sociable the team is. You might not expect it, but gliding is a real team sport. You will be surprised how many people it takes to make you glide.