Depends what your flying, we flew older K8, and K13's, not the greatest glide ratio, but we had a hill at Bowland, we could top up on the hill if the wind was in the right direction.

Otherwise it's back to the field.

I'd love to have a proper go at gliding. Many years ago I stood ground-crew for a girlfriend's uncle who was competing in a week of championship events flown out of the London Gliding Club on Dunstable Down. I was taken up in a 2-seater, twice, once on an aero-tow launch and once on a winch, for an "air experience flight" as a thanks for the week. The weather was, erm, changeable (only a handful of pilots made it back to home field during the championships, there were people "landing out" all over the place) but I do remember the instructor tipping us back and forth along the ridge of the down to get a bit of height before lettign me have a little go!

It was a busy week for the trailer-toting ground crews. Before the days of GPS and cellphones, it was a case of getting a call from a payphone in a village somewhere in Beds/Bucks/Northants/Oxon, or the kitchen of a nearby farmhouse, and dragging a 30-foot-long trailer down increasingly narrow lanes guided only by an Ordnance Survey map and a 6-figure grid reference. And the road back up to the gliding club was bloody steep, too - needed a good run at it if the road was at all wet and greasy, especially with a relatively heavy Lithuanian glider (a rather beautiful Lak, from memory) on the back of a woefully underpowered Citroen CX.

You should look at SOSA.
One summer I think I'll take a course with them. Meant to really sharpen up your stick and rudder skills.

And seeing as my landings are the first thing to suffer when I haven't flown for a while. It might help with them.
Going around is not an option!

I know that Jossie isn't necessarily the most tactful but I find it ironic that she got nearly flayed alive for "being extravagant "talking about skiing (using day passes on air miles ) -admittedly probably on the wrong thread about someone being unhappy in Canada whilst you guys are happily asking about $130 PER HOUR for your fun stuff.. It just seems a little odd.
Adding to this, I have no problem with how anyone spends their money and I bet you all have a brilliant time in the air- I'm jealous but in a good way, not in a way which exhibits darker undertones which appears from time to time in the forum especially from a certain group of contributors.

That brings back loads of fun memories. Indeed them days before mobile phones and you'd be stuck in a shed with tea and coffee, whilst the weather was detereorating, while your pilot was certain to land out on 300-600km triangle flight... but when would you hear back from her was anyone's guess. Good for working on international relations though, we used to hang out with people from the RAF bases in Germany, Germans, Dutch, French and Belgians. Card games and in between we solved all the trouble in the world. In France it took us over 24 hrs to retrieve a plane and pilot once. Was real fun to take it apart in a field in the middle of the night with only the light of the moon....

You get real good at finding the tiniest thermal.... Usually though you weren't up in the air for longer than 5 mins. Turn left, turn right. Go to down wind. Very good for practicing landings. So great training field. I flew K13, K7 and K8. I used to know the ratio, but not very far indeed. The club is one of the few that can soar along the dunes on the coast during the winter season. (where the 24+hour soar record was set), that is ridge soaring in the extreme. Good fun clearing the beach for the plane to land One could just make the dunes from the field....

Thanks