The London Gliding Club (LGC) is a members' club whose airfield is located at the foot of the Dunstable Downs. Many privately owned gliders are based there. It has the facilities to train pilots in powerless flight, and in the skills necessary to fly cross country using nature's sources of energy. Aerobatics and instructor training are also available. The LGC is open 364 days a year and is the second largest and one of the oldest Gliding Clubs in the United Kingdom, smaller only than Lasham Gliding Society. The club provides gliding courses, one day courses and trial lessons for members of the public.
The Glasflügel 401 "Kestrel" is a glider that was developed in 1968 for the open class. It has a wingspan of 17 metres. It is named after the kestrel bird.
Dart Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer during the 1930s. Its facilities were located at 29 High Street North, Dunstable, Bedfordshire.
Cecil Hugh (Chookie) Latimer-Needham was a British aircraft designer, inventor and aviation author. He is best remembered for the series of aircraft he designed for the Luton Aircraft company and his invention of the Hovercraft skirt for which he was granted a patent. His book, Aircraft Design proved to be an invaluable reference work for Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best during their construction of the Colditz glider. The Germans were rather careless in providing a copy of the book in the Colditz prison library.
Frederick 'Fred' Nicholas Slingsby MM was the founder of Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd.
The British Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer based in Maidstone. It was founded by C H Lowe-Wylde and produced gliders and light aircraft during the 1930s.
The Slingsby T.12 Gull was a British single-seat glider designed and built by Slingsby Sailplanes and first flown in 1938.
The Slingsby T.25 Gull 4 is a British glider designed and built by Slingsby that first flew in 1947.
Barton-Le-Clay Airfield was first established in 1935 to the west of the village, on farmland owned by the nearby Brook End Green Farm. Its first residents were the newly formed Luton Aircraft Limited and The Dunstable Sailplane Company, both companies co-owned by W.L. Manuel and C.H. Latimer-Needham.
The Slingsby T.59 Kestrel is a British Open class glider which first flew in August 1970. Of fibreglass construction, it features camber-changing flaps, airbrakes, and a retractable main wheel.
The Abbott-Baynes Scud 2 was a 1930s high-performance sailplane, built in the UK. It was a development of the intermediate-level Scud 1 with a new, high aspect ratio wing.
The Sproule-Ivanoff Camel was a 1930s British single-seat medium performance glider designed by J.S Sproule and Alexander Ivanoff and built by Scott Light Aircraft of Dunstable, Bedfordshire.
The Cloudcraft Dickson Primary was a single-seat primary glider designed in the United Kingdom in 1930 to be constructed from plans. Many glider clubs in the UK and the British Empire flew them in the 1930s.
The Ginn-Lesniak Kestrel is a one-off homebuilt two seat sailplane, designed in the United Kingdom in the 1950s and flown in 1969.
The Hawkridge Venture was a wooden sailplane built shortly after World War II in the UK. It carried two people, in side-by-side configuration. Two Ventures were built, one flying in the UK and the other in Australia.
The Manuel VI Primary was a wire-braced monoplane primary glider designed and built by W L. (Bill) Manuel whilst serving in the RAF in 1930. It flew successfully but only one was built.
The Manuel Crested and Willow Wrens formed a series of wooden, single-seat gliders designed in the UK by W. L. Manuel in the early 1930s, intended for slope soaring. Some were built by the designer, others from plans he supplied. The Dunstable Kestrel was a further development.
The Jacobs Hols der Teufel was a single seat trainer glider produced in complete and plan forms in Germany from 1928. It was built and used worldwide.