Gliding (April 2006)

    Today a few of our cadets were again taken to MDP Wethersfield to learn to fly in a Grob Viking, a cadet training glider.

    Above you can see one of our cadets coming in to land (he is supervised, don't worry!) and by clicking on the two thumbnails below you can see more great photos!

In April, 2006, 3 cadets – Costen (now corporal), Stevenson, and Parish – went to MDP Wethersfield to participate in some gliding. This was a rescheduled day as the previous time our flights were called off due to bad weather. We were joined by three cadets from London Wing and their Warrant Officer. To start with it didn’t look as though we were going to be able to get a flight due to bad weather once again, but later in the day the weather cleared and we were able to get up. Before we took our flight we were briefed on what we were going to be doing. When cadets go flying they do not just get a flight, they have to assist others getting theirs. This includes attaching the winch to the glider, checking behind and above the glider for any other aircraft in the area, and once all of this is completed you shout to the staff ‘all out’ which means he/she will radio the winch operator at the other end of the airfield to begin winching. Once all of the slack has been taken up the glider begins to move quite quickly along the runway and a cadet must run along, supporting a wing to prevent it from toppling over until it goes fast enough to take off. 

Once the glider lands it eventually comes to a stop and the cadets that had not been gliding have to retrieve it and move it back to the end of the runway ready for the next flight. 

Eventually it was my turn. I put on my flight suit and was assisted into the glider, minding the instruments. Another cadet was then doing what I had been previously. The feeling of being pulled into the air is incredible – it feels like you go up at almost 90° to the ground until the glider is above the winch, and then the glider detaches the winch and gently glides back down to earth.  

I was able to achieve 3 flights of around 7-10 minutes each. 

Gliding is preferred to flying by many cadets as you actually get to do more hands on work – lying on runways, moving the gliders and doing various safety checks. 

Cpl. Costen