July 2010 - On a beautiful balmy summer's evening where better to be than in a field high in the Cotswolds? And if that field is home to 100 gliders and 2 lovely noisy tug aircraft then the pleasure is multiplied many times over.

This week, our Cubs had the opportunity to visit the Bristol and Gloucester Gliding Club at Nympsfield.

We were given a warm welcome and a safety briefing about how to move around the airfield (quickly, in a tight pack and always with an escort, whilst keeping a good look out for landing aircraft), what to look out for, like gliders landing from any direction, tow ropes and vehicles.

After we had been shown the hangers, where some of the gliders are stored and shown a glider tucked away in its trailer (the wings come off and pack next to the fuselage like a giant kit in its box), we were introduced to two young pilots, Frank and Matt, who guided us across the airfield and took us over to the launch site.

Here we watched a tug aircraft taxi up and wait while a tow rope was attached to a glider. The glider's wing was being held off the ground by another person, who gave hand signals to the tug 'plane's pilot. When everything was ready, and a student glider pilot had landed and been towed away from the airstrip, the wingman gave the 'all out' signal and the tug and glider set off into the evening sky.

Whilst other gliders landed and took off, Frank kindly answered a huge number of questions about gliders, ranging from what happens when the tow rope breaks (you land, very quickly), to how high can a glider fly (to just below the edge of space - 50,000 feet).

After we had seen a winch launched glider rocket off at an astonishingly steep angle, we hurried back across (in a nice tight group) to the other side of the the airfield. and answered yet more questions about how a glider is flown and how far you can travel in one (thousands of kilometers, or as far as you like, just don't fall asleep).

As the sun began to sink behind the trees, it was time for us to leave. We thanked out hosts for a fascinating visit and who knows, perhaps one day some of our Cub pack will also become world champion glider pilots at Nympsfield.