RAF Halton Chilterns Gliding club

06/04/2026

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Daily Summary – A Huge Milestone Day

After more than two years, we are finally back in the air — and what a day it was.

Today marked our return to flying at Colerne, bringing us back to where it all began and making the moment even more special for the club.

We achieved a total of 17 launches, with 1 hour 57 minutes of flying time logged across the day. In total, 18 people flew, making it a fantastic turnout and a brilliant shared moment for everyone involved.

Operations ran smoothly with R20 as the sole aircraft flying, proving both the team and the setup are ready to deliver.

This wasn’t just about the numbers — it was about returning to our roots and getting airborne again, together.

An epic day back at Colerne — and just the beginning.

06/04/2026

Sunday’s ops report from Martin.

A great days flying with a small team. The conditions were fresh but the ridge worked well all day with some really strong convection.. Paul F had the longest in R6 with a 3h40 trip over to Brize Norton. Phil and Mark took 26 over to Banbury and Will had 3h on the ridge. Everyone flew. At one stage all 5 club gliders were airborne. The only problem we had was G-SF still being unservicable.
Thanks to Dan for driving the winch most of the day. All in all a great day.

29/03/2026

Report from Saturday 28th March

We started the day with uncertain wx - forecast 32kt gusts and thunderstorms. However the NW wind promoted exceptional (ridge) soaring conditions that allowed us to operate above 25kt. We opted to rig 26 and leave the K13 in the hangar.

Martin had 2 nervous guests, who had complete faith in him and had fantastic flights in 26!

The first flight was almost stopped after a 29.5kt gust, however Paul and Martin demonstrated the exceptional soaring conditions with both ridge and strong thermal lift. This continued throughout the day with regular 8kt climbs up to 3000ft. The heavy rain/hail showers passed either side of us leaving Halton (almost) dry all day.

The conditions were very challenging, with probably the most significant cross wind possible at Halton, strong wind gradient and the risk of being blown too far down wind. It shows the importance of the Eventuality check, good circuit planning and thinking through TEM before flying.

In total, we completed 15 launches, 11hrs 20mins flight time, with longest being Paul Field & David Flynn with 2hr 25mins. Everyone had a fantastic day!

Thanks to everyone who helped, esp the winch drivers (Paul Flower, Ben King) and Paul Field who helped with instructing.

29/03/2026

05/02/2026

Congratulations Mark. Great effort!

Well done, Mark, from the RAFGSA Chilterns Gliding Club who has qualified as a new BGA inspector and Part66L licence holder.

Mark was mentored through the Part66L required practical experience by another BGA inspector at his club and completed the exams with a BGA invigilator.

12/12/2025

Well done, Mark. Great effort after all those hours of work and studying!

Well done, Mark, from Chilterns Gliding Club, who successfully completed his Part66L exams today at the BGA office!

Mark advises others taking the exams, ‘use the BGA resources, carefully study the relevant information, and make sure you have a good mentor for the practical experience requirement’.

26/11/2025

Many congratulations on your first solo Ben. Really well done. 👍 👏🎉

13/10/2025

Report from the North! The first day at Aboyne was fantastic! The day started with rain and a negative Skysight weather report. With no real expectations we rigged the planes. The local instructor reported wave at 2000 feet. So we decided to give it a go! It turned out to be really good. Phil in R6 reached 12000 feet, Mike Entwisle from Herefordshire GC, who joins us in our expedition reached 13500 feet and got his Gold! Martin in 335 and Paul and me in 26 reached 10000 ft in good wave but we couldn’t get any higher. We didn’t build in the oxygen because of the bad weather forecast, how stupid🫣! With a High pressure area building up above Scotland the weather for the coming days is not very promesing! But you never know……

04/09/2025

Despite the unfavourable weather, our recent task week proved to be great fun, with a host of achievements. The club was kindled loaned the RAFGSA’s LS8 ‘R3’, with Will, Lewis, Gareth & Mark successfully converting to it, and many others racking up hours soaring in it.

Kestrel GC at RAF Odiham were kind enough to loan their Falke to us for the week, enabling many of our members to regain aerotow and TMG currency. Having the Falke also allowed Gareth, Rhys, Lewis, Will and Ben to complete their Field Landing refresher checks.

Rhys also passed his Bronze flight test before converting to the ASW19!

Many UCL, Veteran and other visiting guests were also flown over the two weekends.

Three of the days provided conditions suitable for cross country flying, with Al (VZ), Humza (TC), Phil (R6), Adrian (335), Jono (JD) and Luke (R6) clocking up around 1000km between them.

The club also hosted a BBQ for those participating in the Task Week, which coincided nicely with Gareth’s birthday!

Thank you to all who helped make the week a success!

19/08/2025

A very enjoyable and productive weekend at Halton:

Saturday saw a team of members reassemble the majority of the gliders which were previously de-rigged to make space in the hangar for Station requirements. Sadly the weather was still poor once the rigging was finished, so the day was scrubbed for flying.

Sunday proved to be a much nicer day with blue skies and a busy airfield. Great to see everyone supporting each other. 38 launches, 8 hr 41 total. Congratulations to Dan for becoming our latest winch driver, Dave on his conversion to the K18 (Dan’s first customer as a qualified winch driver!) and Ben Frampton for passing the Bronze C exams.

The club also welcomed a new Serviceman, who enjoyed 6 training flights, and additionally, two veterans were flown.

Humza managed a short cross-country flight, taking his Ventus to Bicester and back in the blue conditions.

Fingers crossed for good weather for the club Task Week, commencing 23rd August.

29/06/2025

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