We are easily reachable by car from the following Cambridgshire towns Cambridge, Huntingdon,St Neots, and Peterborough. So call now and book your gliding trial ride lesson with us.

There are 2-seater gliders which can be used for instructional purposes or flown solo, as well as dedicated single seaters for solo flying.

Grob TWIN ASTIR  Training Aircraft G-CLSR
This is our GrobTwin Astir G-CLSR. We purchased this Twin Astir from the Netherlands and having completed all the paperwork, are now flying it.

K13 Training Aircraft

This glider is known as a K13, which is also a tandem 2-seat training aircraft. The NVGC owns two of this type of aircraft. You can see that the wings join the fuselage in the middle, so it is referred to as a mid-winged aircraft (ie. the wings join the fuselage body in the middle) this allows good all-round visibility from the front seat and rear seat.  The glider has a performance glide angle ratio of 25:1, that means that in a straight glide the glider loses one foot of altitude for every 25 feet it travels forward. Obviously the higher the glide angle ratio of a glider the better performance it is, as it will be able to travel a greater distance for the same amount of altitude loss.

At NVGC, trainee pilots are taught to fly using the Twin Astir or K13 as the cockpit/control layout are very similar. On completion of training, the pilot is sent on their first solo in either a Twin Astir or K13. The 'fledgling' solo pilot will then continue to fly solo in a 2-seater glider to build up some experience. The next progression is to convert to a single seater.

K8 Single Seater club glider

The glider in this picture is a K8. It is of similar construction to the K7 / K13, and on the inside there is little difference in cockpit layout. This makes it a fairly easy transition for the early solo pilots. The NVGC owns one of this type of glider. The K8 is more responsive on the controls that the 2-seaters and with a best glide angle ratio of 28:1, is slightly better in performance. Many of the club pilots will gain a lot of their early single seat flying in the K8, with many pilots completing Bronze and Silver badge awards. Once the pilot has gained suitable experience in the K8, the next progression is onto a higher performance glider.

Junior Single Seater

This glider is known as a 'Junior' and as you can see is a lot more streamlined and aerodynamic in comparison to the other club aircraft. This results in a best glide angle ratio of about 34:1. The NVGC owns one Junior type glider. The Junior is an excellent glider for undertaking cross country flights and is a popular glider amongst the club members.

Although club gliders are available for use by any club members, many members decide to join a sydicate and purchase a private glider. Although there is the expense of insurance and other running coats, the advantage is having a glider that is available when you want it. Private owners pay the usual launch fee but do not have to pay any form of soaring fee.

Within the club there was also a privately owned Sedberg T21(Click here for it's Story). The T21 (affectionately nicknamed 'the barge') is an open topped, side by side 2 seat glider and on a calm, hot summer day is great fun to fly in. What the 'barge' lacks in performance it more than makes up for in character and charm!! This Glider now resides at Four Counties Gliding Club Wittering.