The SRFC glider guiders fly at Coombes, Ashurst and at local slope soaring sites. E-gliding thermal soarers are the most popular at Coombes and Ashurst, varying from 1500mm to 4000mm span. They come in a variety of materials; traditional balsa, EPP, moulded glass and carbon fibre.

The aim in the group is to encourage participation in the art of gliding and it doesn’t matter what it is you are flying, just enjoy yourself, try to improve and join in the competitions when we run them.

In 2025 there will be three gliding competition days each month and one general flying day. See the calendar here: Gliding Calendar 2025

  1. The midweek competitions will take place twice a month at 13:00 on Thursday at Coombes, with electrically launched thermal soarers of up to 2.5m span. Target time is 10 minutes, with extra points for spot landing accuracy. The current rules may be found here: EGlider Rules
  2. The Sunday competitions will be run once a month at Ashurst. There will be a class for 2m span, rudder, elevator and spoiler equipped models, based around the BMFA F5-RES class (electric self-launching glider). On calmer days there will also be a contest for radio control and electric power converted KeilKraft Caprice, a classic free-flight model.

Notes

For contest flying, a simple height limiter and motor run timer must be fitted to the model, set to 150m altitude and 30 seconds. The club has spares available and they are easily fitted on the day. Contact the glider representative if you need to borrow one.

‘F5-RES’ (F5L) is a competition class for radio-controlled glider models with a maximum of two-metre projected wingspan constructed predominately of wood. Control is via elevator, rudder and spoiler. Launch phase power is provided is by electric motor-driven propellor.

 

Slope soaring has been popular in the club and we are lucky to have so many locations on our doorstep. The Slopehunter website is a very good source for finding slopes throughout the UK but particularly so for Sussex and the South of England. Our main local slopes on the South Downs are:

  • Chantry
  • Beeding Hill
  • Mill Hill

Further afield to our east are:

  • Devil’s Dyke
  • Ditchling Beacon
  • Itford – Flying is at the discretion of the farmer. Please land and leave if asked to.
  • Firle Beacon
  • Bopeep
  • Long Man (licence required)

A little bit of gliding history