Course Dates & Availability

To book our courses you can find courses and dates below on the calendar and get in touch with us by filling out a contact form and we will get back to you.

Fancy learning to fly but not sure where to start? Book a Gliding Course with us today! Our courses offer an excellent, exciting and affordable way to give it a go!

Winch Course - One Day £290/Two Day £575

Aerotow Course - One Day £350/Two Day £675

Don’t underestimate Gliding!

Have you ever wondered how far, high or manoeuvrable gliders are?! UK Pilots often fly in excess of 500km, exceed heights of 20,000ft and often at average speeds exceeding 100kph!

Our two day intensive gliding courses run from 9am till late afternoon on consecutive non-club flying days. Our one instructor to three students approach ensures we focus the training on you while providing sufficient reflection time between flights! It also means uninterrupted access to the entire airfield and gliders! Expect a full day’s flying with briefings, on good soaring days you may prefer to keep flying rather than landing just to take another launch!

Expectations

Whether you’re a complete novice or pilot developing your skills our friendly and experienced instructor team can tailor the training to your specific needs. You’ll be provided with detailed classroom briefings, a number of planned sorties with pre and post activity reviews and feedback. You should expect to progress through the BGA’s training syllabus quickly and develop those early skills needed to undertake most of the flying yourself.

Book with confidence

Make a reservation today with free cancellation/rescheduling up to 6 weeks beforehand. If we are unfortunate with the weather we offer re-bookable days, or credits towards flying on Club days. Either way we guarantee you’ll get your flying in!

Fees

After you have paid the £150 deposit, the remaining balance is due 6 weeks or more before the course start date. We accept cheques/BACS/PayPal/Credit-Debit Card.

Terms and Conditions

NGC reserves the right to cancel courses.  This may happen when there are insufficient numbers or circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

Full refunds will be made in a timely fashion if alternative arrangements are not acceptable.

Please check Who can fly at the bottom of the page to ensure you don’t fall foul of size and weight limitations (big and small!)

Gliding Courses at Norfolk Gliding Club

If you are considering gliding then a course is by far the best way to start your journey. We offer a variety of tailor-made, intensive courses to show you what you can achieve within gliding.

You can choose between one or two day courses designed around your needs or, for a longer five day course you can include up to two days of club involvement. Not only will you take your first steps to flying on your own but you will experience what it is like being a Member of our Club.

An intensive gliding course at Norfolk Gliding Club – the fastest way to progress your aviation adventure!

Your fully qualified British Gliding Association instructor will tailor each day’s flying to your specific individual experience and aims. Whether you are a complete novice, an experienced power pilot trying gliding for the first time or already part of the way through learning to fly gliders, you will progress through the BGA syllabus towards your first solo flight. The focus will be on fun, safe, hands-on flying, backed up with clear explanations through briefings and debriefings, providing a sound knowledge base.

Get Involved!

Expect to be very involved in all the airfield activities to make the course work efficiently, with as much flying as time and weather permits, all included within the one fixed fee.

We offer winch and aerotow courses. Both courses are very similar in terms of content; the main difference is simply the method of launch and amount of time airborne.

We offer a choice of one, two and five day courses to cater for a variety of interests. Want to try gliding, but not sure where to begin? Try a one day aerotow course; three flights to give you a taste of what gliding is really like. You can always book a longer course later if that works for you.

Give it a Go!

Was a single trial flight just not quite enough? Go for a whole day.

Who might benefit from two days? Perhaps you have had a trial flight and would like to get a head start on your journey towards flying on your own. Two days would immerse you in flying and  then be well on the way to  understanding the jargon of our sport . By the end of the second day you will know the answer to the question “is gliding for me?”

All our short courses are designed to meet the expectations of the course members. We will offer winch or aerotow as requested and have a maximum of three participants and often two instructors.

Schedule

All our courses begin on days when there is no scheduled Club flying and this peaceful environment puts you at the focus of the instructors’ efforts. Many course members elect to continue their training by joining in with Club flying on the days after their course in order to get the full Gliding Club experience.

If you choose a five day course your instructor will remain with you on Club days and you can continue the intense experience while observing the Club at close hand.

Our typical course day consists of the following:

Day 1

09:00 Introductions/Admin
09:30 Airfield Safety Brief
10:00 Gliders Out and Handling Briefing
11:00 Launching/Log Keeping Briefing
12:00 First Launch

Day 2 onwards

09:00 Daily Briefing
10:00 First Flight / Briefings

We aim to finish each day with a short debrief and reflection.
The timing of this is flexible, we finish when we finish!

We have 2 modern two seat training gliders, one of which has a hand-rudder kit installed for use by those with a paraplegic disorder. The glider used on any day will be selected to give you the best chance of developing your skills.

Pupils

Please check out our Who can fly section at the bottom of the page to ensure you’re within the physical limits our fleet of two seat gliders can accommodate!

Accommodation

Whilst the club doesn’t offer any on-site accommodation, our camping/caravan site, along with our recently refurbished shower and wash rooms, are free to use for course members.

Please explore the links below, to see the extensive local hotel and B&B offerings.

Check out Hotels & B&Bs near Tibenham

Airbnbs near Tibenham

Who can fly

Provided you’re reasonable fit and healthy you can normally fly. No upper age limit however we suggest no younger than 12. Please read below to make sure you meet the necessary size/weight/health requirements!

Age

  • Under 18’s require parental consent

  • Even though you must be 14 years old to fly solo there is no reason why you cannot start training with an instructor before this age. However, it is not recommended that someone start before the age of 13 as they may become fustrated by not being able to progress to the solo stage until they reach the age of 14

  • Provided you’re fit & healthy there’s no upper age restriction

Size

  • You’ll generally need to be between 5′ and 6’2″ as a Gliders cockpit is designed for ‘Mr Average’ & as such the taller and shorter pilot can struggle to ‘fit’ – talk to us if you’re ‘marginal’!

  • Gliders have minimum and maximum payloads.

    You’ll need to be between 46kg and 101kg (7st 3lb - 16st) fully clothed with footwear.

Health

  • If you’re fit enough to drive a car you can fly a glider – you may need to take a medical with your GP if you’ve complications health wise

  • A general level of mobility and fitness is required to fully participate and help with the pushing and pulling needed to get someone airborne!

    You can walk a few miles in a day at the airfield!

  • Norfolk Gliding Club owns a K21 glider which has been modified to allow control by hand-control alone.