Guides
The parts of soaring that nobody hands you a manual for — what your first year actually looks like, what a launch really costs, why the same six people end up doing everything, where students go, and what the outgoing treasurer knew that was never written down.
Written for the people doing the job, with the arithmetic shown. Nothing here is gated and nothing asks for your email.
What a tow should actually cost
Fuel is under half of it. Where the rest goes, and how to set a tow fee on purpose rather than by inheritance.
Learning to fly gliders: an honest first year
Age, medicals, weight limits, how long it takes, what it costs, and the parts that put people off. Written to be useful, not to get you through the door.
Is gliding safe? An honest look
Real numbers, honestly read. Risk concentrates in inexperience — which is exactly when an instructor is sitting behind you.
What actually gets badge claims rejected
They fail on evidence, not on flying — and nearly all of it is decided before you launch.
Buying a glider: where to look, and what to check
Where the market actually is, what the inspection must cover, and the one finding that should end the conversation.
Your 3,000 ft field is performing like 6,000 ft
An aerotow suffers at both ends of the rope. What a hot day at a high field actually does to your launch.
Choosing club management software for a gliding club
Including when the honest answer is a spreadsheet, and where we are the wrong answer. No competitor price table.
The duty roster problem
Why six people end up doing everything, and what a roster is actually for. It is not filling slots.
Why students quit
They rarely lose interest. They lose access. The arithmetic of launch rate, and how to spot the students you are about to lose.
The gliding club treasurer's year
Month by month, what needs doing and when — and the things the outgoing treasurer knows that were never written down.
Turning trial flights into members
The flight is rarely the problem. The fortnight afterwards is, and in most clubs nobody owns it.
When one volunteer holds the club together
Being indispensable is a risk to the club and usually unfair to the person. What gets lost, and how to hand it over.
Where your club's legal documents actually come from
Insurer first, national body second, a lawyer once. Why we do not publish templates, and the checklist of what to ask for.
Run the numbers for your club
Several of these have a calculator behind them — what a launch costs you to provide, and what learning to fly costs a member. Both are free and take your own figures.
See the calculators →Something missing, or something wrong?
These come from watching clubs run and getting the arithmetic checked. If your experience is different, or there is a problem you keep solving that nobody has written up, tell us — that is how the next one gets chosen.
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