News & Stories — Cambridge Gliding Centre

Sat 15 Aug About Gliding

Learning to fly a glider allowed me to forget all the troubles in the world below

This article originally appeared in The Globe And Mail and was written by Barry Rueger. Reproduced here with permission of the author. Barry Rueger is a Canadian writer based in Cambridge. The parachute on my back – tightened up so that it was properly uncomfortable – turned out to also be my back seat cushion … Read more "Learning to fly a glider allowed me to forget all the troubles in the world below"

Wed 12 Aug Competitions

Cambridge Gliding Centre Cloud Rally 2026

Another fantastic Cambridge Cloud Rally came to an end at Gransden Lodge on Sunday 9 August, bringing nine days of flying & competition to a close. And 2026 gave us plenty of flying. Thirty-four pilots and teams took part, with cross-country flying possible on eight of the nine days. Between them they covered 43,100 kilometres, … Read more "Cambridge Gliding Centre Cloud Rally 2026 "

Sun 9 Aug Competitions

What is a gliding competition, anyway?

This week I entered my first gliding competition. Whenever I tell non-gliding people about this their reaction is always "huh?" They don't understand how we compete in a glider. So here's the answer. Again, this was my first ever competition and it was our club's own "Cloud Rally" competition, so much of this may not apply to … Read more "What is a gliding competition, anyway?"

Tue 21 Jul Blog

Learning to fly for less: the gliding route to becoming a pilot

Learning to fly often feels like an exclusive, prohibitively expensive club. If you've always dreamed of taking to the skies but assumed the costs of a Private Pilot's Licence (PPL) were out of reach, it might be time to rethink your flight path. At Cambridge Gliding Centre, we've found there is a more accessible, fun, … Read more "Learning to fly for less: the gliding route to becoming a pilot"

Thu 2 Jul Bluebell

Peak evening event season

Around the summer solstice, druids and revelers gather around sacred sites, such as Stonehenge, or Cambridge Gliding Club, to celebrate the long evenings and the beautiful sunsets. We normally fly every Tuesday evening this time of year, and quite often lots of other evenings for group events or for Cambridge University pilots. If you … Read more "Peak evening event season"

Wed 24 Jun Bluebell

Tuesday evening flying in Bluebell

Rather than edit the video as usual into a snappy minute or so, when I watched the footage back it seemed far better just to trim the ends and publish the whole ten minutes from take-off to recovery back to the launch point as the whole video gives such a lovely taste of evening flying, … Read more "Tuesday evening flying in Bluebell"

Wed 17 Jun

Iris solos!

Congratulations to Iris Black for soloing yesterday! Here she is with her instructor Shaun.

Tue 16 Jun Public Events

Open weekend 2026 – what happened?

Last weekend was our 2026 open weekend. If you came along, thanks! We: Flew 89 flights Flew for 56 hours and 59 minutes Gave (roughly) 65 different people one or more flights Flew four kids in the motor glider who were too small to fit in "normal" gliders Had seven flights in Bluebell Taught dozens … Read more "Open weekend 2026 – what happened?"

Sun 7 Jun Learning

Whether to use thermals in trial flights

Today was a day with lots of activity at the airfield: an inter-club cross-country competition, scouts flying, normal flying lessons, and… the relevant bit… lots of trial flights. We effectively had two gliders occupied by trial flights for most of the day. Today the sky looked like this: So, not a fantastic day – ideally … Read more "Whether to use thermals in trial flights"