Gliding

"Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned forever skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return" Leonardo Da Vinci

In the early 1970's I became a member of the Blackpool and Fylde Gliding Club based at that time at Samlesbury Aerodrome.

I have always been interested in flying, but at that time the only flying I had done was from Blackpool Airport to the Isle-of-Man.

The training glider used by the club was a Slingsby T21B open cockpit glider. The instructor and trainee were sat side-by-side on wooden seats with just a semi-circular sloped windscreen in front each of them. It was possible to be sat with your elbow resting on the edge of the cockpit and be able to just look straight down at the revolving earth.

At Samlesbury the flying was restricted somewhat by the lack of good thermals, it was not too bad late morning or early afternoon, but after about 3pm, the thermals were dying due to the sea breeze effect coming in from the coast. In fact, those of you who live in this part of, the world will recognise this phenomenon. Many times here, we will have cloudy skies, or in summer, nice white fluffy clouds, but come late afternoon or early evening and the skies are a clear blue with brilliant sunshine. This is caused by the sea breeze effect making its way from the coast killing off the thermals.

It is for this reason that the club started searching for alternative accommodation, because the length of flights was so short due to the lack of lift. Now the club is situated at Cock Hill farm near Chipping, close to Bleasedale fells; they launch from there and use the bowl shaped fell-side where the lift comes not from thermals but by the prevailing wind blowing from the coast onto the fell-side and rising up over it, the gliders use this lift to soar the ridge, just like a seagull would on cliffs. It is possible to stay up soaring for as long as you likes in this manner.

I have only flown from this site once, because by then, I was no longer a club member. But one year I took a group of young people there and we all had flights one evening. I remember it well; this time I wasn’t flying in the T21B trainer, but a much more high performance training glider, with the instructor sat behind me. It was the normal closed cockpit type and it felt to me as if I were alone, the views from there were fantastic looking out to the coast and being able to see the sea and the Ribble Estuary glistening in the distance; very memorable. I would love to experience this once more before I become too old.

As Leonardo Da Vinci once said: “Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned forever skyward, for there you have been, and there you long to return”