Air Cadet Gliding Program | |
---|---|
Active | 1965–present |
Country | Canada |
Type | Youth Organization |
Part of | Royal Canadian Air Cadets |
Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Aircraft flown | |
Trainer | Schweizer SGS 2-33A Bellanca Scout (Central and NW Regions) Cessna L-19 (Eastern and Atlantic Regions) Cessna 182 (Pacific Region) [1] |
The Air Cadet Gliding Program is a youth gliding program operated by the Canadian Forces (CF) and the Air Cadet League of Canada for the benefit of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
The program is managed by CF officers (most of whom are CIC officers), and is the largest producer of glider pilots in Canada. [2] Cadets aged 16-18 years are trained at the five summer Regional Gliding Schools, and about 320 cadets receive their glider pilot license each year.
Outside of the Regional Gliding Schools, the local headquarters provide the opportunity for cadets to participate in gliding familiarization flying during the spring and fall — approximately 22,000 flights are completed. [3] Senior cadets who have completed the Air Cadet Gliding Program also perform staff duties at glider familiarization flying and at the summer training program.
Following a hiatus in 2020 and 2021 due to the global pandemic, the Glider Pilot Training Course resumed at a limited capacity in Northwest, Central, and Eastern regions, with candidates participating from all 5 regions.
Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Typically the pilot is in a harness suspended from the airframe, and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.
Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot. He was killed testing a glider in 1948.
The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a Canadian national youth program for young individuals aged 12 to 19. Under the authority of the National Defence Act, the program is administered by the Canadian Forces (CF) and funded through the Department of National Defence (DND). Additional support is provided by the civilian Air Cadet League of Canada (ACLC). Together with the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets and Royal Canadian Army Cadets, it forms the "largest federally funded youth program in the country". Cadets are not members of the military and are not obliged to join the Canadian Forces.
Brockville Regional Tackaberry Airport, also known as Brockville Municipal Airport, is a registered aerodrome located in Elizabethtown-Kitley Township, 4.8 nautical miles northwest of the city of Brockville, Ontario, Canada.
Pendleton Airport is located 3 nautical miles northwest of Pendleton, Ontario, Canada, east of Ottawa. The airfield is currently operated by the Gatineau Gliding Club.
Alan Derek Piggott was one of Britain's best known glider pilots and instructors. He had over 5,000 hours on over 153 types of powered aircraft and over 5,000 hours on over 184 types of glider. He was honoured for his work on the instruction and safety of glider pilots. In 1961 he became the first person to make an officially authenticated take-off and flight in a man-powered aircraft. He also worked as a stunt pilot in several feature films.
Some of the pilots in the sport of gliding take part in gliding competitions. These are usually racing competitions, but there are also aerobatic contests and on-line league tables.
The ASK 21 is a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) two-seat glider aircraft with a T-tail. The ASK 21 is designed primarily for beginner instruction, but is also suitable for cross-country flying and aerobatic instruction.
Gimli Industrial Park Airport is a civilian airport and former military field located 2 nautical miles west of Gimli, Manitoba, Canada.
Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport or Welland/Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Aerodrome,, is a registered aerodrome located in Pelham, 3.5 nautical miles west of Welland, Ontario, Canada. Niagara Central accommodates a flight school, skydivers, aerial photographers, itinerant light aircraft and an automatic weather station. It was built in 1940 by the Royal Canadian Air Force as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and served as the relief airfield for the No. 6 Service Flying Training School in nearby Dunnville.
A Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS) is an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which provides flying training in glider aircraft for Royal Air Force Air Cadets. All current operational Volunteer Gliding Squadrons operate a sole type of aircraft, the Grob G103A Twin II Acro, a conventional winch-launched tandem-seat sailplane known by its British military designation, Viking T1.
The Grob G109 is a light aircraft developed by Grob Aircraft AG of Mindelheim Mattsies in Germany. It first flew in 1980. The G109B followed in 1984. It is a two-seat self-launching motor glider in which the pilot and passenger or student sit side by side, with good visibility provided by large windows.
The Air Cadet League of Canada is a volunteer organization that provides financial support and oversight to the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. The Air Cadet League owns all of the aircraft used in the Air Cadet Gliding Program. The League is organized into three levels: the National, the Provincial, and the local level, each of which is responsible for different areas of the League.
Lift is a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by soaring aircraft and soaring birds. The most common human application of lift is in sport and recreation. The three air sports that use soaring flight are: gliding, hang gliding and paragliding.
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.
Echeverria Field is an abandoned airfield, located approximately 15 miles (24 km) west of Wickenburg, Arizona.
During World War II civilian flying schools, under government contract, provided a considerable part of the flying training effort undertaken by the United States Army Air Forces.
Markham Airport or Toronto/Markham Airport is a private aerodrome operating 2.6 nautical miles north of Markham, Ontario, Canada near Toronto.
No.2 Flying Training School is a Flying Training School (FTS) of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It is part of No. 22 (Training) Group that delivers glider flying training to the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. Its headquarters is located at RAF Syerston in Nottinghamshire and gliding takes places from several sites throughout the UK using the Grob Viking T1. The RAF Central Gliding School is also under its command.
621 VGS is a Volunteer Gliding Squadron based at RAF Little Rissington in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. 621 VGS is one of 10 remaining Volunteer Gliding Squadrons and operates under No.2 Flying Training School, within No.22 (Training) Group of the Royal Air Force Air Command.