Membership at the BGGC
Join the Club
Whether you are fresh to gliding, or an experienced pilot, membership at the BGGC is open to all and we welcome new members at any time of the year. If you take a trial flight and are bitten by the gliding bug you will need to join as a Flying Member once your temporary membership period expires. You can find our costs here, if joining part way through the year the membership fee is pro-rated. We offer discounted membership to younger pilots (under 26 years old) and those living over 75 miles from the club.
If you’re just starting we offer a “Solo and Beyond” package which gives you a full years membership and a package of launches and soaring time at a discounted rate. Established pilots may bring their glider on site – please let the CFI know. The club also has its own caravan park on the south side of the airfield, and slots are open to members subject to availability.
Everyone is welcome at the BGGC and we will endeavour to progress your flying as far and fast as your abilities allow. We are a membership-run club, assisted by a small number of professional staff. While we do not mandate formal membership of a duty roster or similar we do expect every member to contribute towards the running of the club and the maintenance of our fleet and facilities as your capabilities allow. We are a Community Amateur Sports Club, so if you have particular needs, please contact us.
More detail......
Welcome to Nympsfield
We’re a friendly bunch – so don’t feel shy about joining in, everyone will be happy to talk to you, many of the experienced pilots are also instructors and we all had to learn sometime (longer ago for some than others !). Be sure to let the office know your email address so you receive regular club news updates. Social events and lectures are posted on the members website and sent out by email.
Enjoy get the most out of your flying Learn about the club & the sport
Try and come regularly – it will help your progress at flying and you’ll get to know people. We run a “duty team” structure for instructors, tug pilots and organisers so you should soon start to recognise members of the teams. You can find photo’s of the instructors and committee members on the website.
When you arrive at he club – get your name on the flying list as the first thing you do ! Then if you are early you can help out with unpacking the hanger, or if you arrive later please try and stay to help put things away at the end of the day.
Why not offer to help out during the competition week in the summer? There are lots of volunteer jobs needed – email the office and they will pass your name on to the competition director
Larry Lawes
Course Instructor
Greg O'Hagan
CFI
Neil Payne
Chairman
Alex Gibbs
Club Secretary
Pete Bagnall
Operations
Help out –
Your instructors will try to get as much flying as possible out of the day but effective operation depends on everyone helping whether it be retrieving gliders, holding wingtips, running the log, signalling or driving the cable tow-car. We operate a “grid” system so those wanting to go cross-country (this may be you soon !) can get launched as soon as soaring starts leaving the field clear for training.
Fly !
Fly with lots of instructors – everyone teaches to a standard syllabus, but you can learn different things from different people. Fly as often as you can – especially at first (to get some consistency in your flying). Later on you will want to fly in varied weather conditions to broaden your experience
Learn….
Get on our members site & read the information there…
Do some background reading – Gliding is a mixture of practical experience, skill and knowledge. Get some good gliding books (either from your library, available to purchase at the office, or a number of loan copies are kept in the clubhouse), subscribe to “Sailplane & Gliding” and read the articles, there is also a lot of information on the British Gliding Association website at www.gliding.co.uk
Finally – enjoy yourself ! Gliding is a great sport, you can keep learning every season, will make friends you keep for a lifetime and have experiences most people don’t even dream about.
