Everyone, who flies in a glider, sooner or later tries his or her hand at simple aerobatic manoeuvres. It may be a loop, a hesitant chandelle, a hammerhead stall or a determined spin. Whatever it is they either frighten themselves and vow never to do anything like that again or they quite enjoy it and falter their way through, usually with little knowledge of how to perform figures correctly and oblivious of safety considerations.

A New Dimension
What ever the reason there can be no doubt that training in aerobatics adds a new dimension. The confidence gained in handling the aircraft results in increased pilot performance with obvious implications for flight safety.

Aerobatics provide a pilot with a better understanding of the handling characteristics of aircraft across the whole flight envelope and an excellent yardstick with which to monitor flying skills.

Whether you are a raw recruit to the world of glider aerobatics or an aerobatic competition pilot wishing to polish and perfect already acquired skills, at Lasham we have the aircraft, the launch facility, the environment and the expertise to help.

Courses to suit your needs
Usually courses for up to four pilots are run over two days with one dedicated instructor. Tuition can be provided to suit your requirements, from basic to advanced level as well as training for competition flying.

Basic
At basic level you will be shown how to fly accurate lines, loops and Chandelles. Be taught how to read Aresti diagrams (shorthand to describe aerobatic figures and be introduced to the principles of aerobatic program design. The principle elements covered in the basic course are: -

Diving and climbing 45° lines
Basic +ve 'g' loop
Chandelle
Climbing turns
Tight turns
Spins

Emphasis is on safety, airmanship and handling skills, as well as an understanding of relevant glider design features and limitations.

By the end of the course you should be able to plan and execute a short aerobatic program linking all the elements contained in the syllabus. For Basic Level courses your flying experience should be around Bronze C standard but we may take pilots with less experience than this. A quick assessment flight should be arranged to see how you cope with some of the figures and then we can work out a plan to suit you.

Advanced

An Advanced course will suit those who have some experience of basic aerobatics and are interested in improving technique. We can gear the course to improving lines an angles, sequence design and then move on to inverted and rolling manoeuvres. The advanced syllabus includes the following; -

Looping and rolling manoeuvres
Inverted flight
Stall turn
Clover leaf
Humpty bump
Cuban eight
Inverted turns

If you have less than 100 hours P1 you are unlikely to achieve solo standard at rolling and inverted flight but you will gain valuable experience and skills performing the demanding manoeuvres. This figure of 100 hours is not a rule however; it is just a guideline dictated by experience. Pilots with less flying time have flown the advanced and negative 'g' figures solo.

Throughout the course you will be flying an ASK21. A glider ideally suited to aerobatic training. Launches, weather permitting will be to 4000 feet, with a maximum soaring charge of twelve minutes. We aim to achieve a minimum of three launches per person per day (more if your body and wallet can take it). Each day there will be a ground school intended to cover all you need to know about flying aerobatics safely, precisely and enjoyably.

Formation Loop

See Club Calendar for dates of courses