Experience one of the most thrilling aero sports in the world – soaring alongside the majestic mountains of the Drakensberg or the Western Cape, or whizzing high above the flat Highveld landscape.
Inside a Perspex bubble with a seemingly limitless view from horizon to horizon, flying a glider is as close as it gets to soaring like an eagle. Surf air currents down a valley, catch a lift inside a rising hot air thermal, using the power of nature to cover vast distances, or loop a dizzying loop, before touching gently down at the airfield again.
This is the excitement of gliding – and it’s more accessible than you think. Clubs across South Africa offer passenger flights in a twin-seater gilder with qualified pilots, and structured training to get you going solo and entering the world of competitive cross-country flying. Whether it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, or the start of a life-long passion, your first glider flight will be unforgettable. To find a club that offers passenger flights, contact us.
What is gliding?
Gliders are aerodynamic craft that use the lift created by air currents to fly, often distances of several hundred kilometres. Because they have no engines, they are towed up into the air by a powered light aircraft and released, or are launched into the air using a winch and a long cable. Once airborne, glider pilots fly along mountain ridges using rising air to gain height, or in flatter areas use columns of hot air to thermal higher and higher before flying on.