About Us

The University of Nottingham Gliding Club is one of the oldest clubs in the university. We cater for complete beginners to those who have already gone solo elsewhere and want to continue flying at university. Some of our members have gone on to become national, or even international gliding champions, including our founding member, Brian Spreckley. Other members have gone on to pursue careers as airline pilots or roles in big engineering companies, such as Airbus, Rolls Royce and BAE.

NU in the university ESLC building

Founded in the 1970s, the aim of the club is to provide flying training and experience to members as cheaply as possible, regardless of whether someone has flown before. Our club owns two gliders, which you can learn more about on our Club Fleet Page. We are affiliated with Cranwell Gliding Club, who fly from RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire and are themselves affiliated with the RAF Gliding & Soaring Association. The advantage of this relationship is that we have access to their extensive fleet and experienced instructors.

We run several expeditions each year, which are open to all members, including our annual Easter trip to Portmoak in Scotland, the Inter-University competition in the summer and various weekends to other clubs. We are also extremely active in the university gliding community, attending several inter university events throughout the year. We also arrange other regular socials such as ice skating, bar crawls, bowling and BBQs.