The Scottish Gliding Centre is a 7 day a week year-round operation^* with professional instruction available. Winch launching facilities are available at any time (daylight permitting). Aerotow launching is normally available at weekends and available during the week, subject to prior arrangement. We have a club house restaurant serving hot meals all day, comfortable accommodation for your overnight stay and a range of other facilities. If you intend to arrange a group visit or even come on your own to Portmoak, please contact the club to book your place. The Scottish Gliding Centre has been awarded a commendation by the Scottish Tourist Board (an Activity Centre award with a rating) and is widely advertised (and signposted) as a significant local attraction. You can see a plan view of Portmoak airfield here.

Activities
Please see the current activity schedule for details. This is subject to change depending on weather, equipment downtime etc. so if you are planning on making a special journey it is wise to contact the club before setting off. Casual ab-initio training is generally available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year by flying-list order. There are Tuesday and Wednesday day groups particularly for members who prefer to fly during the quieter mid-week times. Expeditions are organised from time to time to various clubs around the country and these will normally be announced in the 'Notices' section of this site and on the club notice-boards. The club runs an annual local ladder (competition) currently administered by . During the winter months various lecture series are organised particularly for aspiring bronze candidates though of interest to all. The club has run several successful radio courses for those who want or need to fly in controlled airspace or competition. During the summer months trial flights and holiday courses are popular. A few members and syndicates retain powered aircraft on site but from consideration to our neighbours and safety reasons this is a restricted privilege avalable only to bona fide gliding members and with board approval. Frequent visitors during the summer months are the Royal Air Force Cadets who for many years have used Portmoak for glider pilot training and Portmoak is a popular holiday destination for gliding clubs from around the UK and Ireland.

Flying Visitors
Visiting glider pilots are especially welcome and are frequent during the wave season when flying in England-shire has wound down for the year. Portmoak is a hill site with extensive ridges and whilst generally very safe (the airfield is at the bottom of the hills) may present different flying conditions to pilots from flatter sites. Visiting pilots will understand the need to familiarise themselves with the site briefing notes especially with regard to ridge-soaring rules and local airspace and to be cleared to fly by an SGC instructor. The proximity of the hills can lead to turbulent conditions in strong winds and long shallow approaches are not advised. Portmoak offers good flying in almost all wind conditions with strong wave from the Scottish highlands likely to set up in wind directions from about 270^o to 360^o. Weaker wave conditions can be triggered by hill ranges to the south and west in winds from 180^o to 270^o. For those bringing their own gliders there is a large trailer park with ample room to rig and there is also plenty of space sheltered from the worst of the winds to leave rigged gliders tied down overnight. Hangerage is usually in short supply though.

Accommodation
The clubhouse has a number of bedrooms available (comprising 5 singles, 4 twins and 1 double room) which offer excellent value for money at only £14 per bed per night. Please contact the club for more information and to book. Each bedroom has washing facilities and showers are available. The club has its own caravan site handily located in a wooded area in the centre of the airfield and quite a large number of members especially those from further away make use of this. It is generally quite busy - please contact the club if you wish to bring a caravan to Portmoak. Visitors are generally permitted to erect tents for short stays (small ones please - no giant or gaudy frame tents!). The local area is widely visited not least because of the Vane Farm nature preserve and the huge numbers of migrant geese in winter and as a result there is a large variety of local accommodation some of which is listed here.

The Restaurant and Bar
The clubhouse restaurant offers a full meals service from a cooked breakfast through various hot and cold snacks to a full-blown evening menu most days and everyone is welcome from members and guests to visitors and members of the public who may fancy a cup of tea whilst watching the flying activities. Prices are very reasonable and most of the cooking is done freshly on the spot. The licensed bar (after flying is over for pilots please!) serves a range of beers, spirits and soft drinks at good club prices.

The Fleet
The club has a large and modern glass-fibre glider fleet. Most early training is done using the well-known ASK-21 dual trainer and a DG-505 is available for advanced instruction. For solo pilots the club has 2 Juniors and a more advanced Pegase and for those who want to outsoar the rest on weak days there is an older wood-and-canvas K-8. The club does not own a motor-glider however we have an arrangement with one of the private syndicates which owns a Falke motorglider to make it available for instruction and bronze tests. Most launching is done by winch which is normally easily enough to get you across to one of the local ridges, and tugging is available when the wave is harder to reach or for the rare accasions when the ridge isn't working. A large new hangar accommodates the club gliders as well as some private ships and the original elderly hangars accommodate a few private gliders as well as the launch-point caravan and tow trucks. The tug has its own hanger-cum-workshop.

Getting Here
For instructions as to how to reach us please see this page. If you wish to visit Portmoak in a powered aircraft you are asked to contact the club first.

^* Although this is certainly true during the summer months it is rather more weather-dependent during the 'off-season' from roughly October to March. The SGC has full-time instructors and winch drivers and flying takes place unless prevented by bad weather normally every day except for Christmas Day. There is also a small club staff normally around who will handle queries on membership or trial-flights etc. even if the weather is too bad for flying. Please see the current activity schedule for further details and if you plan on making a long or special journey then please contact the club before setting out.