Warwick’s soaring success

For the first time, the University of Warwick Gliding Club attended the Inter-University Gliding Competition, held at Aston Down airfield in the Cotswolds between 6th and 13th of August.

Two Warwick students, Malcolm Morgan and Petr Dudin, attended and they achieved 2nd and 3rd place respectively in the progression competition, placing Warwick 5th overall in the university progression competition.

Warwick also performed well in the cross-country and soaring competitions coming 4th and 5th respectively. Warwick’s achievements are particularly impressive considering that only two pilots represented Warwick, while other universities had up to 12.

Both Petr and Malcolm started as complete beginners at Warwick. They competed against 53 students from 11 universities, with a wide range of experience levels.

**The Sport of Gliding**

Gliding is the skill and sport of flying gliders (planes without engines). The sport dates back to the 1930s and today there are around 77,000 glider pilots in the UK alone. Gliders are launched into the air using a winch. Winch launching involves hooking the glider to a long cable; this cable is wound in by a powerful engine at the opposite end of the airfield, pulling the glider into the air.

Once in the air the pilot can keep the glider up by riding warm air currents called thermals. Finding and flying in thermals, known as soaring, requires a great degree of skill. Once the pilot has successfully entered a thermal the glider can rise steadily at speeds from 200 – 1000 ft/min (4 -18 kph) depending on the weather conditions and the skill of the pilot.

The Inter-University competition is comprised of three different competitions: the progression competition, the soaring competition and the cross-country competition. Each completion has its own scoring system and prizes are awarded for the individual and the university with the most points in each category.

**The Progression Competition**

The progression competition rewards pilots for making achievements in gliding. Achievements can range from completing a flight in a new type of glider (50 points) to performing your first solo flight without an instructor (500 points). Points are available for all skill levels allowing pilots with different levels of experience to compete against each other.

This year the progression competition was won by UCL with 3325 points. Warwick scored highly in this competition (1575 points) thanks to Malcolm completing his navigation and field landing training, and Petr performing his first cross-country flight. In addition, both Malcolm and Petr spent most of the week frantically converting to every new glider available to them; Malcolm achieving 5 and Petr 6. Conversions are the lowest scoring achievement; however, they are easy to perform, and is thus a popular way for pilots to boost their scores.

**The Soaring Competition**

The soaring competition rewards pilots for making long flights; one point is awarded for each minute of a flight up to a maximum of 75 minutes, after which, four points are removed for each minute over 75 minutes. Additionally, one point is awarded for each 50 ft of height gained during the flight. Flights under 15 minutes in length score no points.

The soaring competition was also won by UCL with 1200 points: UCL submitted 11 successful soaring flights, an impressive total considering the poor conditions during the week. Warwick submitted four soaring flights.

**The Cross-Country Competition**

The cross-country competition rewards pilots for making long distance flights across the countryside. This is similar to the competitions flown by experienced pilots in the regional, national, and international competitions that took place across the world this summer. Points are awarded based on the distance of the task, the speed at which it is performed, and then scaled based on the performance of the glider flown.

The Inter-University Competition this year was plagued by high winds and low clouds, making cross-country flights impossible on all but a few days of the competition. Petr defied the odds and flew a 100 km task earning Warwick 201 points. The cross-country competition was won by Edinburgh; three pilots submitted flights, one of which scored 1000 points thanks to its impressive average cross-country speed of 93 kph (58 mph). This may not sound particularly fast but it is important to remember that the pilot must stop regularly to thermal and regain height, and that thermals may not be on the pilot’s route, thus necessitating regular diversions.

_The University of Warwick Gliding Club is open to all members of Warwick Sport; no prior experience of gliding is required, and beginners are welcome throughout the year. For more information about the club visit www.warwickgliding.co.uk and for a complete breakdown of the scores visit www.interunis.com._