AberdeenBikers

I can recommend their hearty home made broth for hungry bikers.

All day breakfasts available as well!

i can second that

And the gliding club (just west of Aboyne) wants your business in the summer too !
If you want I can organise an ABZ bikers nite there (you may find me as one of the "instructors" tho . . . .)

anyone interested?

airwave wrote:And the gliding club (just west of Aboyne) wants your business in the summer too !
If you want I can organise an ABZ bikers nite there (you may find me as one of the "instructors" tho . . . .)

anyone interested?

Not sure about a bikers nite but may be in gliding.
Could you post up or PM details like costs, best time of year etc.
Cheers.

That would be a fairly expensive taxi home for a night out....

Would be interested in the gliding too though....

A basic lesson is £53.
Better if you go with someone you know. Always delighted to see people turn up on spec, but if you know someone makes it all a bit more friendly.
best time of year is Spring or autumn.
Summer can be a bit naff or a bit rough, winter is a bit cold.

Highest anyone has been at the club is 33,000' (airliner hieght)
furthest (in a straight line) anyone has gone was from Aboyne to Lasham (just west of London)

Most of the gliders are fully aerobatic, top speed on the training ones is about 135mph

pm me if you want more details

Great, thanks.
I would PM you but as there seems to be more than myself interested I'll ask on here.
I looked into this a few years back after getting a flight lesson as a gift, getting bitten by the bug then realising I couldn't afford to go any further.
At the time an hours lesson was £100. 30 hours being the average for a PPL and thats £3000 for a license which is very limited.
Gliding seemed a cheaper option so I phoned your club and by memory was told the price depended on what altitude you were towed to. 1000' or 2000' I think were the options. You then payed for every minute you were in the air.
Am I right in saying it's down to pure luck with thermals how long your up for so for £53 what would I get.

A ride out to Aboyne, flight lesson then a ride home seems like an outstanding day out to me.

I'd be up for a ride flight ride day!
Bikes would be safe enough dumped at the side of the road?


I take it we get a shot at flying? or is it a purely passenger thing?

speedaddictedberk wrote: Bikes would be safe enough dumped at the side of the road?

Hope so.
If not you could always just watch the tosser taking it away with you not being able to do much about it.

I did a days gliding about 4 -5 years ago at Aboyne. Did 3 flights with an instructor with me flying the thing then the last flight some stunt pilot turned up & took me up for a ride..........Brilliant You wouldn't believe the things gliders can do - I came out green :I can't believe it's not butter!

We have a car park, bikes are not left at the side of the road.
we have a clubhouse (with beer / whisky / plonk for the gurlz)
sandwiches, sweeties, pool table, tv.

Current instructions to instructors is to keep you in the air for 15 mins from a 2000' tow.
As there are no "pleasure" flights in gliders, you are under instruction, which means you do some of the flying (we have found that it's best if you don't do the bits of flying close to the ground, too early on . . . :I can't believe it's not butter! )

a ride, fly, ride day is easy.
who wants to go? I'll organise it. we can put on a barbie in the evening if we get more than 10 (I think, I'll check the numbers required) costs and extra 3-5 quid for Mike Law to put on a barbie.
If the weather is on, it's a lovely evening.

You can pitch up a tent and stay the night or with a bit of forward booking we have some rooms in the clubhouse you can stay in.

http://www.deesideglidingclub.co.uk

Count me in - depending on Rota of course

And me- depending on rota of course

keep you in the air for 15 mins from a 2000' tow.

Am I being thick ?
£53 for 15mins = £212 for 1 hour.
Thats got to be way more than a flying lesson at Pegasus in a Cessna.

crankcase wrote:

keep you in the air for 15 mins from a 2000' tow.

Am I being thick ?
£53 for 15mins = £212 for 1 hour.
Thats got to be way more than a flying lesson at Pegasus in a Cessna.

In a word . . . ."Yes"

a little under 1 in 1000 people who get a "trial lesson" ever come back and learn to fly properly.
There is absolutely no point in keeping people up for more than 15 minutes, they have no concept of time whilst up there and the sensation is pretty much the same irrespective of time in the air.

Learning to fly with the club is a different bucket of worms entirely. I think the charges (it's been a while since I flew club gliders) are around 27-30p/minute or (30*60= £18/hour) + tow charges. the instructor is free (you are expected to buy or offer to buy a beer for him/her at the end of the day)

Learning to fly a glider teaches you "proper" control, you can tell people who have time in cessnas instantly. I had a South African Airways training captian come flying with me one day and despite having more hours as pilot in command of 747 400's than I've actually been alive, he still required lessons in basic use of controls (the big airliners do most of it for them) really nice guy though. I had him up for just over an hour (Rules are there to be bent) and when he landed he said that it had been the best 20 minutes of his life ! (Even he had no concept of time as there was so much going on)

learning to fly in a glider is a (relatively) cheap way to learn to fly.
there is no _cheap_ way to learn to fly.
I flew hanggliders for 16 years before I got seriously into gliders and hanggliding cost more per hour than gliding.

Gliding is like riding a bike, it is what you want it to be and it is as rewarding as the amount of time and effort you put into it.
getting better (and having more fun) means spending time working at it.
(watch Dickie / Matt / Joan on their bikes, more time = more skill)

however (having checked the website) £60 for (what turns out to be) half a day at the gliding club is something you will remember for a very long time. £60 quid spent on booze in the pub over 6 hours is something you can't remember the next day.
'snot cheap, but you only get to live once, make some of it memorable.

I'll put some pictures in the gallery and link to them later.

airwave wrote:(watch Dickie / Matt / Joan on their bikes, more time = more skill)

And with that he secures another customer, i'm in too.

Was there a few years back when a lady you'll probably know, Robin Cutts got the air traffic guys and their famililes there for the day, I never went up and regretted it immediately.

Robin is an ATCo, she has her PPL and is a lovely pilot to watch.

I will come along and watch...

...they wont let me pilot

Zathos wrote:I will come along and watch...

...they wont let me pilot

only two reasons we wont let you fly
1) you are a bloater (over 16 stone)
2) we consider your mental state to be such that it would be unwise to allow you control.

you should be fine . . . ?


(runs and ducks for cover from Mods on the loose)

Medical condition unfortunately prohibits piloting....and truck driving

Am I being thick ?

In a word . . . ."Yes"

Cheeky bar steward :I can't believe it's not butter!

Seriously though.
The answer if you like gliding seems too be too join your club.
Whats the costs for doing that and an approximate cost for a tow.

When I took my flying lesson then wasn't able to take any more I wasn't too happy. I loved it that much.
I go up in a glider and the same thing happens again I'll no be happy again so if it's a non starter I'll think before saying I'll come along.
Youre right though. Everyone should try flying......if allowed.
It's an experience you'll never forget.

http://www.deesideglidingclub.co.uk/priceList.php

read the prices and see.

like I said, there is no cheap way to fly,
Like a wise man one said "If god had meant man to fly, he'd have given him more money"

Zathos wrote:Medical condition unfortunately prohibits piloting....and truck driving

Aah. So that's why you ride a Honda. :I can't believe it's not butter!

airwave wrote:[only two reasons we wont let you fly
1) you are a bloater (over 16 stone)
2) we consider your mental state to be such that it would be unwise to allow you control.

Thats me out.
Ah well, back to the bar....

Gazza wrote:

Zathos wrote:Medical condition unfortunately prohibits piloting....and truck driving

Aah. So that's why you ride a <span style="color: violet">Honda</span>. :I can't believe it's not butter!

Exactly....much more refined that those 'truck' type twins