Booker Gliding Club

The latest newsletter is up on the website, packed with good stuff. Read it here: http://www.bookergliding.co.uk/mem…/new sletters/latestnl.pdf

76,000ft in a glider! And their goal is 90,000ft. They climb using waves in the atmosphere triggered by mountains, the aim of the project is to understand how these giant waves affect global weather patterns.
We will be using mountain wave (but only to 20,000ft or so) on our forthcoming expedition to Aboyne.

This weekend we had the pleasure of hosting the Inter Club League final, with teams from 5 clubs battling for the trophy. Jim White directed the comp and set tasks for the three classes, Novice, Intermediate and Pundit. No landouts, everyone got back for Saturday's BBQ and today's prizegiving. It was close at the end but Bicester squeaked into first place and took the trophy from HusBos who have had it for the last 5 years. Good weather, good flying, good fun.

Congratulations to Tim Scott for first place in the 15m Nationals at Aston Down. https://www.soaringspot.com/…/15m/task- 7-on-2018-08-25/total
Also to George Hunter for 9th place in the Junior Nationals at Lasham - a very good result in a field of 44.

The latest newsletter is up on the website, take a look at it here: http://www.bookergliding.co.uk/mem…/new sletters/latestnl.pdf

And another solo! 7th in 7 days. Steve went solo at Booker 35 years ago, he came back with his son on a 2-day course and re-soloed. They'd like to carry on gliding but as they live in Birminham it's likely to be at a club closer to home.

We're really on a roll now, another solo today, this time for Air League scholar Brooke, making the total six for the week. She was sent solo by Paul, his first solo student since getting his AssCat rating. Well done both.

And another solo, making 5 in two days - this time another Air League scholar, Gurpal........congratulations!

Here's 14 year old Ossian who went solo yesterday with the Tuesday Evening Group.......

Booker has been training a group of Air League scholarship winner this week and three of them have gone solo - congratulations to Luke, Eric and Mark. Congratulations also to 14 year old Ossian who went solo later in the day with the Tuesday evening group.

Here's an interesting free course for budding Bronze pilots and others: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learn -about-weather…

The new look newsletter is up on the website, packed with pics and stories - read all about it here: http://www.bookergliding.co.uk/mem…/new sletters/latestnl.pdf

The Regionals competitors are having a blast in these amazing conditions. Here are pics of some of today's finishers. This evening they went off for a meal at the local Indian restaurant.

A few more pics from our Regionals. The weather - and Nils the Met Man - is providing some amazing flying, and the HDT format means everyone gets back in time for beer.

Booker Regionals got off to a flying start today with Met Man Nils promising 'interesting' weather. The field romped around a 181k task (using Booker's Handicapped Distance Task system which allows gliders of differing performance to race against each other). The day winner was Denis Campbell, closely followed by Jim White. More of the same tomorrow. You can follow the action here: https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/booker2 018/ with live tracking here: http://glidertracker.org/…

Popular misconceptions about gliding...........

What a fantastic club! When I first enquired I was shown around by a lovely guy named Steve, who answered all of my questions and put me at ease. The whole club was so welcoming and not intimidating in the slightest. All it took was 1 flight with these guys and I was hooked. Now I'm down there every weekend!



A very supportive environment for complete beginners and experienced pilots alike. They have a top notch CFI (Chief Flying Instructor), along with aerobatic champions and many volunteers that keep everything running smoothly. This is an amazing club and a great day out whether you just want to have an experience flight or take Gliding up as a sport. Also London's closest gliding site - give them a call!

I had the best morning Gliding with Bookers!! Gliding is absolutely brilliant and the instructors really love what they do! Everyone was so friendly and happy to help! I'll be coming back again soon �

I had a hugely enjoyable trial flight from 4000ft on a sunny and breezy evening this week. Booker Gliding Club are a friendly, professional outfit, and their strong club spirit was obvious from even a short visit. Now I know why people rave about gliding as a sport and hobby, and I have a feeling I will be back at Booker before long!

Great trial flight today really enjoyed it! Will definitely be back again! Thank you

Great flight with Doug this afternoon. Shame the thermals were not behaving

Great experience, staff very friendly and made the trial flight something to remember. Think I will be going back...thanks Booker Gliding Club �

Got the choice between an 'older' ASK 13 or a newer sleeker model. The older model is better suited if you want to take photo's or video. Paid for a tow to 4000' and lost the tow just shy of that. Controls thoroughly explained on the ground and repeated in the air before I was given control.

Pleased to hear the club is looking into fitting GO-PRO's or similar. It can get bumpy in there!

Fun, Friendly people, Great place to learn to fly!

Excellent people, great fleet and fantastic expeditions to other airfields both in UK and abroad.

Amazing experience. Mike, our instructor, was absolutely fantastic and very friendly! Really enjoyed my day and would definitely recommend! Thank you guys for a lovely day! Special thanks to Mike!

A fabulous trial flight with Graham last week. He was brilliant and everyone was very friendly. It was so serene gliding in clear blue skies and gaining height in the thermals. Great fun taking the controls too! Many thanks for a memorable experience and hopefully one that I will do again. Would definitely recommend this experience to anyone.

What a fantastic club! When I first enquired I was shown around by a lovely guy named Steve, who answered all of my questions and put me at ease. The whole club was so welcoming and not intimidating in the slightest. All it took was 1 flight with these guys and I was hooked. Now I'm down there every weekend!



A very supportive environment for complete beginners and experienced pilots alike. They have a top notch CFI (Chief Flying Instructor), along with aerobatic champions and many volunteers that keep everything running smoothly. This is an amazing club and a great day out whether you just want to have an experience flight or take Gliding up as a sport. Also London's closest gliding site - give them a call!

I had the best morning Gliding with Bookers!! Gliding is absolutely brilliant and the instructors really love what they do! Everyone was so friendly and happy to help! I'll be coming back again soon �

I had a hugely enjoyable trial flight from 4000ft on a sunny and breezy evening this week. Booker Gliding Club are a friendly, professional outfit, and their strong club spirit was obvious from even a short visit. Now I know why people rave about gliding as a sport and hobby, and I have a feeling I will be back at Booker before long!

Great trial flight today really enjoyed it! Will definitely be back again! Thank you

Great flight with Doug this afternoon. Shame the thermals were not behaving

Great experience, staff very friendly and made the trial flight something to remember. Think I will be going back...thanks Booker Gliding Club �

Got the choice between an 'older' ASK 13 or a newer sleeker model. The older model is better suited if you want to take photo's or video. Paid for a tow to 4000' and lost the tow just shy of that. Controls thoroughly explained on the ground and repeated in the air before I was given control.

Pleased to hear the club is looking into fitting GO-PRO's or similar. It can get bumpy in there!

Fun, Friendly people, Great place to learn to fly!

Excellent people, great fleet and fantastic expeditions to other airfields both in UK and abroad.

Amazing experience. Mike, our instructor, was absolutely fantastic and very friendly! Really enjoyed my day and would definitely recommend! Thank you guys for a lovely day! Special thanks to Mike!

A fabulous trial flight with Graham last week. He was brilliant and everyone was very friendly. It was so serene gliding in clear blue skies and gaining height in the thermals. Great fun taking the controls too! Many thanks for a memorable experience and hopefully one that I will do again. Would definitely recommend this experience to anyone.