Gliding in Leicestershire

What Can I Expect

Go gliding at Leicestershire's Husband's Bosworth glider club! We are offering two ways for you to get airborne, with motor glider flights and winch launches on offer. Whichever you choose, you'll be treated to a superb soaring experience, with an expert instructor at the helm to show you what gliding is all about.

Established in 1953, this club has been gliding out of Husbands Bosworth near Lutterworth since 1963. It has a real club atmosphere, with upwards of 200 members all pitching in, alongside a core full-time staff, to make sure the club runs smoothly.

There are lots of social activities at Husband's Bosworth airfield and visitors are always welcome. There's even the Hungry Pilot cafe in the clubhouse for a cuppa and bite to eat.

Over the years, the club has expanded. Around 100 privately-owned gliders are now housed in the various hangars on the airfield. Several dual-controlled gliders at Husbands Bosworth make up the dedicated training fleet and you'll be heading up in one of them for your lesson. 

The idea is to give you a taste of what gliding feels like. During the flight, you may be given the opportunity to take the aircraft controls under the guidance of your instructor. Or you can simply choose to sit back and enjoy the ride, while the instructor flies. You can also choose to see some of the following on your route: Market Harborough, Foxton Locks, Wistow Maze, Stanford Hall and Kelmarsh.

For winch launches, your glider is attached to a cable and you're literally winched up into the air at around 1000ft, before being released and away you go. As you might suspect, just getting into the air in a glider using a winch tow is quite an experience!

If you go for motor gliding, you'll be powering yourself up into the Leicestershire skies. These aircraft have long wings like a glider, but have an engine at the front. Once you've reached altitude, the engine can be throttled back and you are flying like a glider. 

With flying all year round, regularly hosting gliding competitions and boasting a very buoyant club scene, with excellent on-site facilities, it's no wonder Husbands Bosworth is so popular. With over 30 British Glider Association qualified instructor pilots in the team too, isn't it time you went gliding in Leicestershire?

Availability

• The gliding centre is open 7 days a week between May and October
• Flights generally operate between 10am and 5.30pm, and continue until dusk on Wednesdays and Thursdays
• All bookings are asked to arrive 15 minutes before their allocated time to do paperwork before they can fly
• All flights are subject to availability and weather conditions

Suitable For

• Minimum age 14
• Under 18s must be accompanied on the airfield by an adult
• Maximum weight 16 stone (101kg)
• Maximum height 6ft 3ins (190cms)
• A good, general level of fitness is required
• Participants must me agile enough to get in and out of the glider

Spectators

• Spectators are welcome

Anything Else

• You can take along a camera or small video camera, but it must use a neck-strap to firmly attach it
• Onsite restaurant providing a range of snacks and home cooked food and bar
• Please note that all flights are at the discretion of the instructor of the day, this also includes letting a student have control of the glider, this is only done if the instructor is happy to hand the controls over