Welcome to the home of the Lakes Gliding Club

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December 2008. A good start with two flying days and the 'Combe working. A new member from Bowland, we welcome Nigel Dickenson who has brought a Slingsby Gull with him. We are having an incredible month for mice, so far we have caught 13 in the bus and 1 in the club house. There are many more mice that will not be visiting the new hangar. Tom Sturgeon, 8 year old son of Graham, had his first flight in a glider which included aerobatics - certainly put a smile on his face.

November 2008 The 1st kicks off with a good flying day and new members. Lewis Alderson from the Kendal Air Cadets and his grandfather Sid. Lewis is particularly welcome as he now picks up the title of our youngest member and he will benefit from ours and the BGA's reduced rates for junior members. The 2nd produced wave to 12000ft. The Annual Dinner that should have been on the 8th of November is being rescheduled, probably to February 2009. Two new photo galleries added, one is Jill & Peter Gillett's old Club photos. See if you can say who the pilot and current member is in the photo on the right. The clue is he still has the same taste in shirts and sunglasses. The missing timber has turned up, been borrowed by the UAV team. The month finished with a no-airbrake spot landing competition, one didn't even make it to the right runway.

October 2008. There is an airspace restriction over the site from 24th Sept to 24th Dec to allow the BAE UAV team to carry out trial flights. From the Club perspective it should not affect us unless they need to fly at weekends. If they do, the tower will be manned and we fly under the control of the tower as normal. The gate will be manned 24hrs a day during this period. We welcome Marijn Wijbenga from Holland as a new member. Len Redshaw's old  Photo albums of our Gliding Club from 1930 to 1970 included in History and Photo Album pages. The trip to Portmoak was a success with the weather being kinder than experienced in the last few years. Team Capstan has a new crew member. Corentin, who helped 23 rig in France, is seen wearing his Capstan jacket in his F16 on his way to the UK. Note the missiles on the wing tip, these are expected to come in handy at the next two seater competition.

See the Web Diaries within the Archive section for previous months updates on activities.

The Lakes Gliding Club is over 75 years old. The Club was founded in July 1930 and was originally called The Furness Gliding Club. Some 50 clubs were started in 1930. The Lakes Gliding Club was in there early and was considered to be the Wasserkuppe (German gliding centre) of England due to the numerous hills and their gentle slopes. The club was formally operated as The Furness Gliding Propriety Ltd. The original brass plaque is hanging behind our bar. We are still the same Ltd Company but with a different trading name ----- The Lakes Gliding Club. To record our history in more detail and in electronic format, the club's regular contributions to the Sailplane and Gliding magazine that started in September 1930 are being scanned and converted to PDF format. See the new section on Sailplane and Gliding News within the Archive section.

Wondering what to do for some excitement? This is what gliding is all about. Read the story of a wonderful flight from Walney by Justin Wills, an internationally renowned glider pilot. 

Click the picture. 

IMPORTANT ____Airfield access, Visitors and Members, for security reasons our landlords now require that the airfield gate is kept  locked at all times. All members will be given a key for the gate following an airfield briefing and once a BAE pass has been issued.  Contact the Webmaster for details. Until you have a key you will need to phone the club mobile as you get to the gate to have a  member come and let you in. Bring some change because if you forget your mobile or don’t have one there is a payphone at the airfield end of North Scale. The number to phone is on a notice on the gate. It is 07860 135447.

Check the What's New page if you are a regular visitor, or go directly to  Members Only.  Contact the Webmaster if you need a password. 

We are an enthusiastic friendly group of people all dedicated to flying, mainly gliding but we also have power and hang gliding types in our midst. Our club is based at Walney Airfield, Walney Island, adjacent to Barrow in Furness in Cumbria, on the edge of the English Lake District. Walney Island is in the Irish Sea on the West coast of England, about half-way between Wales and Scotland. The area provides us with some spectacular flying as well as spectacular views. If you've explored this area on the ground and thought it was awe-inspiring, imagine what it's like from the air! Have a look at the Scafell picture.

Coniston Water      Wast Water     Ullswater     Scafell

If you're already a pilot and want to find out more about the Lakes Gliding Club then start at "The Club" section. If you're new to gliding and want to find out how you could learn to fly, or have a TRIAL FLIGHT to find out what it's like, then start at the "Beginners" section.

The Lakes Gliding Club is a year round training and soaring site, has a range of gliders available for club members and a well proven training programme. So whatever flying experience you have, you will be more than welcome to experience soaring flight in a glider at the friendliest gliding club in the UK.

The Lakes Gliding Club, Walney Airfield, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, UK. LA14 3YJ  If you have any problems viewing this site please e-mail       The 'Webmaster'