An introduction to competitive gliding

An Introduction to Competitive gliding by Al Nunn

It may surprise many people, but it is entirely possible for gliders to compete. In fact, like many sports, it evolved through competition. Ever since man first took to the air, intrepid pilots of heavier-than-air machines have been trying to out-do each other. Initially, it was who could fly the furthest (in the early days this was measured in metres), the highest (also measured in metres) and the longest (measured in minutes). However, as gliders got better, speed became important and duration less so: people ended up soaring hills for days, only stopping when they crashed after falling asleep. Not surprisingly, duration as competitive sport has tended to die out. Although there are still distance, speed and height records to be broken, when competitive gliding is discussed, it is usually referring to pilots racing against each other to see who can complete a cross-country task the fastest.

Cross-country flights are now measured in kilometres (many exceeding 500) and speeds are measured kilometres per hour (100 plus is not uncommon). There are also competitive aerobatic competitions, but these tend to be slightly less popular because of the cost involved (gravity, high speed and flying upside-down tends to make the flights very short!).

Cross-country originated as soon as both glider performance and pilot ability became good enough for gliders to fly away from the airfield. In the early days, it often involved seeing who could fly the furthest from home (called 'free-distance). This resulted in some incredibly long retrieves for the poor crew who had to come and get the pilot, and his machine, from some field many miles away from the base airfield. Modern competitions now comprise of closed tasks where everyone races around an aerial route that brings everybody back to base. The weather forecast and the performance of the machines, as well as the experience level of the pilots, dictate the length of the task.

Next: How gliders fly