Glider club
The local gliding club rents its own corner of your airfield. Winch launches on good-weather days bring rent, launch fees and visitors – without taking a single slot from your radio hut.
What you build
The glider club is a tier-2 project in the General aviation branch, after the flight school. It consists of four parts:
| Part | Notes |
|---|---|
| Glider strip | Grass, 350 to 900 m long, priced per metre |
| Clubhouse | Within 250 m of the strip |
| Glider hangar | Holds three gliders, also within 250 m |
| Winch | Within 60 m of one end of the strip |
The strip and its approach need at least 150 m of clearance from every runway and its extended centreline. In return, gliding runs completely independently of your main runway and the radio hut – it uses up no movements.
A day at the club
On weekdays the club flies from 9:00, at weekends from 10:00, until 18:00. Gliders are rolled out of the hangar, hooked to the cable and launched; the winch manages one launch every few minutes while the cable is pulled back. Flights last between 8 and 30 minutes, followed by a circuit, the landing and retrieval to the launch point.
You earn:
- 180 € club rent for every day the club is operational,
- 12 € per winch launch,
- a little operating experience per glider landing,
- extra visitors who come to watch.
Weather
Winch launches only happen in good weather: no rain, and wind up to 20 knots. A weather station shows the current wind, so you can tell at a glance whether the club will fly today.