When people arrive at the site for the first time, often having been bought a flight voucher for their birthday or whatever, they are often accompanied by their friends or relatives who has no intention of flying, and has only come along to see their faces; their banter getting the “victim” more and more nervous. It is a different story when the flight is over, - the intrepid birdman returns to his friends quite ecstatic and in many cases is able to persuade his friends to “Give it a go”. The ladies always seem to be the most impressed with their flight and go into raptures about it. It’s certainly something different to tell their friends about

The questions that most people ask are “What makes a glider go?” and “What keeps them up?” The answer to the first question is – Gravity, just like a toboggan a glider in flight is always coming down; there is nothing the pilot can do which will defy the Laws of Gravity, - however much he might wish it! The trick is for him to find air which is rising faster than he is descending in order to prolong the flight. So to answer the second question, it is the pilot’s skill in looking for, finding, and staying in the air which is rising around him. The statement “What goes up must come down” is just as true of the air as it is of anything else, so if the pilot finds himself in sinking air (“in Sink”, as it is known), he will come down even faster than the glider’s natural rate of descent; that is where the skill comes in.

“How does the pilot know where the air is rising?” is usually the next question. Most people have heard of thermals (though some only in terms of winter underwear), which are rising currents of air set in motion by local heating of the ground; car parks, factory roofs, ploughed fields etc. are frequently good sources of thermal activity. As the air rises it eventually condenses and forms a cloud, so our pilot looks for one of those little fluffy clouds which are so common on summer days, and there is a pretty good chance of him being able to rise under it. This is known as “Finding the lift” (conversely as “Finding sink” if you don’t!).

In winter, thermals are virtually non existent, so our pilot looks for another form of Lift known as Hill Lift. When a fairly constant breeze blows against a hill side, the air must rise to get over it, so provided our pilot can stay in front of the hill, he will be able to track back and forth along the hill staying in the Lift. Finally, and best of all (though for experts only) there is “Wave” flying. Waves are set up in fairly strong winds which have passed over some distant hills or mountains; rather like the waves in a fast flowing stream after the water has passed over an obstruction, a series of waves are set up. The same thing happens in the air but on an immense scale. If the pilot can get into the rising part of the wave, he can reach phenomenal heights, - the British record is over 36,000ft !!