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What are they made from?
How safe are they?
Two seat gliders
What equipment will I find in a glider?

Gliders are also known as sailplanes. Generally they come as two-seaters or single-seaters.

What are they made from?

Gliders are made of a wide variety of materials, from wood and fabric, to ultra-modern fibre glass, carbon-fibre and kevlar based materials.
Australia has an active vintage glider movement, with many gliders over 50 years old.
Gliders are often designed for a specific purpose such as training, cross-country flying or aerobatics, but most gliders can do a bit of everything.
High performance gliders are very streamlined with minimum obstructions into the airflow which would otherwise cause drag. Glider design is at the forefront of developments that later find their way into general aviation.

How safe are they?

Gliders are also very safe. They have been designed and built to the same standards as normal passenger aircraft, and undergo regular maintenance according to the requirements of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Gliding Federation of Australia.

The person who takes you for a flight is fully trained and approved according to rigorous standards, in most cases this person will be an instructor with the Gliding Federation of Australia.

All aviation sports have some risks, but the training and procedures that are used are designed to minimise these risks. Each year there are thousands of flights with very few incidents or accidents – Australia has an enviable safety record.

More and more commonly gliders are fitted with engines that enable them to either take off unaided or maintain height when there is no rising air to be found.
The self launchers or motor gliders (as they are called), permit the pilot to operate with total independence, whilst the sustainer versions allow you to get home from a long cross country flight.
Most versions of motor gliders have automatic systems which allow the engine and pylon to be fully retracted and stored inside the existing fuselage.

Two seat gliders

For your first flights you will be flying in a 2 seat glider. While you are training, you will learn basic flight control in a two-seater until you are competent enough to go on your own. Two-seat gliders have the same controls and instruments in the front and back to allow the instructor to demonstrate. This also allows your instructor to take control when needed.

These gliders are usually larger and easier to fly than the sleek single seat gliders. This is to make sure that the student can easily learn the basic skills of flying without having to worry about high performance and complicated controls. Many pilots continue to fly in two seat gliders once they are solo so that they can share the enjoyment with their friends and family.

What equipment will I find in a glider?

All gliders have the same basic flight controls. With the advent of the electronic age there is huge range of impressive wiz bangery that the glider pilot can fit to enhance their performance. Some of these only seem to be limited by their cost! Of course the vintage glider brigade always seems to have just as much fun with a minimum of instrumentation. Your pilot will show the different instruments to you. These will include:
Airspeed Indicator: - shows you the speed of the glider. This is usually in Knots (Nautical miles per hour) which is the aviation standard, If you double this figure it will be close to the speed in Kilometres Per Hour (54 knots is 100kph).
Altimeter: - shows you the height of the glider in Feet. You will typically launch to about 2-3,000 feet above the ground.
Vario: - Probably the most important instrument in the glider. It shows you if the glider is going up or coming down. The glider flies by sinking through the air, so typically the vario will show the glider slowly coming down. If the pilot finds some lift then the vario will start to show the glider climbing. This instrument is used by pilots to help them soar over long distances. Usually this instrument will emit a sound so that the pilot can hear when they are in lift and keep looking out instead of having to watch the instruments.
Yaw String: - Mounted on the outside of the canopy in the airflow is a piece of wool called a yaw string. This simple device allows the pilot to see in an instant whether the glider is flying straight.