Glider flying tow start

Introduction

Gliding is perhaps the purest form of flying. With a tow plane the aircraft is slowly pulled up to 500 metres: a sensation in itself! The drag start takes you higher into the air than a winch start. The plane is perfectly streamlined, so it can float far.

Location

Gliding with a drag start is possible at the airfield of Weelde. The airfield is located in Belgium, near Turnhout and the Dutch border. The airfield has a cosy bar. There is always a lot of activity and you can enjoy all the gliders that fly continuously to and fro. This will make you look forward to your own flight even more.

Gliders can also take off

What you might not have known is that a glider can also go up! It works like this: the sun heats up the earth. The earth, in turn, heats the air directly above the ground. That warm air rises. Compare it to bubbles in a glass of cola. Gliders look for these rising air bubbles. Sandy soil, for example, emits a lot of warm air. By flying above it, the aircraft can climb along with the rising air. We call this thermalling. The sport of gliding is therefore to look for those thermals and to fly long and far. Some even go all over Europe in competitions. Because the glider has no engine, you feel as free as a bird. No engine noise; just the whir of the wind! Gliding is also a real team sport. On the day itself, you will be received at the gliding club. Run by volunteers. You will be amazed at how many people it takes to make you glide.

The time has come!

You are expected at the gliding club. From the starting point you can see the gliders come and go. This will get you all in the mood!

Start

You will get a short explanation about gliding. Of course you'll get the opportunity to ask questions. When you are in the glider, you will be towed up to a height of about 500 metres. Because of this tow start, you can fly higher than when you take off with a winch start.

Floating

Once at altitude, the pilot disconnects the cable and the aircraft continues to hover. The aircraft glides down at about 1 metre per second. If you are lucky, your pilot will find a nice thermal bubble and you can climb higher and hover longer. Unfortunately, this is not in our control.

On a day with little or no thermals, you will be dragged higher up into the sky so that you can still gain sufficient flying experience.