What can we offer

Trial flights

Trial flights are available to different heights for different lengths of time. This gives someone the chance to experience what it's like to view the world the way the birds do from above. You are also given the opportunity to have a go on the controls with an experienced instructor, you might enjoy it that much you might want to learn to glide.

If you are having trouble looking for that ideal birthday present for that someone, Why not give them one of our Trial flight gift vouchers, it is something totally different they won't be expecting it. Click here for prices

Vouchers available from us, or various outlets in Timaru, just talk to one of our contacts for details.

 

Starter flight training package

After your trial flight and you have decided to take up gliding, we can offer a starter training package of 5 training flights at a cost of Click here for price, where our instructors will teach you what the controls do, how they work, and to fly the glider safely in the air. You will also receive a information folder with details on how to join our club, temporary membership, costs and what's involved in becoming a qualified glider pilot, along with answers to commonly asked questions.

This training package is available from us, just talk to one of our contacts for details. This is also available as a gift voucher too.

 

Training

The training that we can offer starts from 'The first flight' to 'solo' after this there is advance training which involves learning to use sources of lift, paddock landings, cross country flying, and much more, untill becoming a fully qualified glider pilot. This then entitles the pilot to carry passengers and to gain a rating to fly our single seat glider, which is used mainly for cross country badges. see Challenges and Goals.

Toward solo package Click here for a price

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View some of the most beautiful scenery in New Zealand

During our Christmas camp at Omarama we are in the midst of the worlds most beautiful scenery, Omarama is situated in a basin of tall mountains at a junction of several long flat valleys, riddled with safe places to land if needed. On suitable days you can head North over snow capped mountains to Mt Cook (NZ tallest mountain) or head West over valleys and lakes to Mt Aspiring.

 

Cheaper flying

How can we offer cheaper flying you ask? Well for the following reasons.

Instructor and tow pilots are volunteers, they give there time to the sport they love. They may be volunteers but they are trained to a highest standard and are required to prove there abilities very second year to senior gliding instructors some of whom are Air Force training instructors or Air Line pilot training captains which they in turn volunteer there time.

Also a couple of our members are licensed engineers that maintain our gliders, one of which maintains and repairs gliders for a living. They have been known to give some of there time to the club. Both happen to be gliding instructors as well.

One of the above engineers was a aircraft tradesman, helping the maintenance organization to maintain the tow plane where possible.

Other members pitching in where they can, some make or repair ground equipment some use their management and accounting skills to run the club smoothly as possible, other who sit listening to the aircraft radio frequency checking up on us while we fly and writing down flight times in the flying sheets. Even this web site was constructed by one of our club members at no cost.

All in all every member contributes in there own way which all helps to keep costs down without any compromise to safety.

After all we are a club, our goal is fly and to have fun, that is what we can offer.