On being enrolled, any cadet in the ATC is eligible for Air Experience Gliding (AEG). As in flying, the cadet will get a chance to fly the glider, and help out with the launch. All AEG is done at the closest Voluntary Gliding School (VGS). 

The Valient is the ATC's powered gliding trainer

Cadets of 2296 (Dunoon) Squadron usually use 661 VGS at RAF Kir Newton, Near Edinburgh. At 661 the Viking glider is used, with winch take-off.

Gliding Courses

From age 14, cadets can take a Gliding Induction Course.  The course provides familiarisation with the controls of a glider with instruction. Turning, stalling and effects of controls are all included.

For those who have shown themselves to be good pilots and passed the Gliding Induction Course, the next stage is the Gliding Scholarship.   The course covers more advanced skills such as landing and being launched. The culmination of the often week long course, is a solo flight - comprising a launch, circuit and landing. On completion of this flight wings are awarded

Gliding Scholarship - Combined IGT and BGT courses now renamed GS. The GS is undertaken at the age the age of 16 after the cadet has completed a GIC ( Gliding Induction Course ) and been recommended for a GS. At the end of a GS there is the chance to go solo if the gliding school staff think you are good enough, if you fly solo you are awarded silver solo wings if not you receive dark blue GS wings. At the competion of a GS you can be recommended for AGT ( Advanced Glider Training )

aircadet.net would like to thank Robert Walker for the following information

The Gliders

Launching

Apart from the Vigilant, which is self launching, there are three main ways of getting a glider into the air.

Bungee

This basically involves attaching the glider to a system that works much like a child's catapult to throw a glider up in the air.

Although it works, it is not possible with most modern gliders due to the dangers and the lack of real height gain. It is also quite dangerous and is not often found in use.

Winch

This is the most common method of launching gliders. It involves a vehicle known as the winch being placed at one end of a field and a glider at the other. The winch then tows a cable in very quickly, pulling the glider towards it.

The effect of this is that the glider has air flowing over its wings, creating lift and raising it off the ground. It will quickly rise as it is towed in up to a point where the cable is pulling in exact opposition to the lift from the wings, at which point the pilot will release the cable and will then fly normally.

This type of launching typically takes the aircraft to between 1000 and 1250ft, although the length of cable, type of aircraft, weather conditions and piloting skill all effect the exact figure.

Aero Tow

This is the best known of the methods of launching gliders, and is acheived by attaching a glider to the back of a powered aircraft via a short cable, and the powered aircraft simply towing the glider into the sky, much as a boat tows a water-skiier across the water.

When the glider reaches the necessary height, it will simply release the cable, and both aircraft will fly their separate ways

There is no maximum height to which an aircraft can be towed, although 5000ft is a fairly typical figure for aerotow to go up to.

The only problem with this type of launching is that two aircraft and their pilots are necessary

Circuit

In the interests of safety, a standard system of flying is taught and this is known as the circuit.

A typical cicruit from a winch launch is as follows.

1..Launch

The aircraft starts from the ground, and is winched to the top of the launch. The height a launch should be completed at is 1000ft for the purposes of the "Normal Circuit"

2..Fly into wind

The glider is flown into wind until it reaches 900ft or a predetermined position over the ground. This position can be altered according to conditions, but for learning pilots, it is best kept as a fixed position

3..Crosswind leg

The aircraft turns to move across from the airfield so that it does not obstruct the launch line on it's way downwind. There is again a height bracket for this part, and must be left when 800ft is achieved. There is also a predetermined point that must not be flown past, but if it is reached before 800ft is achieved then the pilot may circle until he loses height to 800ft.

4..Downwind leg

The pilot turns downwind to pass the airfield. Height brackets for this section are 700ft past the winch(the vehicle that towed you into the air) and in the bracket 700-500ft past the launch point(where the glider started). It is common to pass these points with very little height loss since your ground speed can be much higher than usual since the wind is behind you.

5..Base leg

The pilot turns onto base leg, back towards the airfield. This should be done at the latest at 400ft and MUST NOT go beyond the downwind boundary, beyond which there is doubt that the glider would make it back to the airfield. It is also standard practice to increase speed during this section since it makes the aircraft more responsive, and thus easier to fly in these last critical stages.

6..Final Turn

This is done in time so that the glider is aligned with the landing strip. It is vital that this is done well if a good landing is to be achieved as it reduces the workload during the landing run. The minimum height for the final turn is 250ft.

7..The landing

The aircraft has its descent controlled by a combination of airbrakes and elevator controls. As the aircraft approaches the ground, the pilot starts to round out, making the glider float just above the ground until it settles on the ground. It is vital that the aircraft is not flown into the ground because at best it will bounce violently, and at worst it will break up.