Booked Flying

For those learning to glide, a combination of flying practice and ground briefing is needed, and we aim to provide that within the booked slots. More experienced pilots may only require flying time. The other consideration is that the club needs to cover the cost of providing a professional instructor, and it is only fair that this cost is largely borne by the users of the service.

With these factors in mind the following arrangements have been implemented:

Booked Flying sessions will be for the whole day throughout the year from January 2010.
Throughout the Summer (March to October) there will be 3 students per day.
During the shorter daylight hours from November to February there will be 2 students for the day.
The booked flying fee will be charged in two parts:

Booking fee of £25 payable by students attending for flying and/or ground school.
Launch and Flying Fee surcharge of 15% payable on all flights with the professional instructor - this is expected to average £10 for a full session, thus making around £35 in total.
No booking fee will be payable if the student attends (or makes contact) and agrees with the instructor that the weather is unflyable and no ground school would be productive.
A cancellation fee of £30 will be chargeable in the event of cancellation by the student if we are unable to fill the slot (or in the event of no-show).

Students are expected to attend for the whole session in order to allow them to work together as a team and achieve the maximum flying from the day. A team is needed to achieve launching and retrieving.
When a booking is made for motor glider exercises, the booking fee will be £30 and no flying surcharge will apply. This is necessary because the club is unable to cover any costs from flying fees, which are paid directly to the Falke syndicate.

Questions and Answers

What if it's unflyable?
Ground briefings will be organised by the professional instructor during unflyable weather. Anyone learning to glide needs to learn theory to help them progress faster. If no flying is possible the fee will be £25.

What if I don't need any ground school?
If it's unflyable, and you make contact with the instructor and agree with him that briefings would not be useful, then no fee will be levied. If you don't make contact the full £30 fee will be charged – the weather may be different at the club from where you are and the club is having to pay the instructor to hang around waiting for you. If you mutually agree to scrub he can get on with other work.

What if the professional instructor happens to be free and I just need a check flight or something similar?
A 15% surcharge on normal club launch and flying fees will apply. It makes sense to accommodate ad hoc requests when possible, but while the instructor is flying he can't be doing other things, and the costs of employing him still have to be covered.