What to Expect

Duty Instructor

The Duty Instructor is the person in overall charge of the operations for that day, so please ensure you report to him/her upon your arrival. He/She will want the Cadets F3822 and the GPS. They will direct you to the briefing area and any other relevant information.

Briefings

Before anyone is allowed near the aircraft or onto the airfield there will be comprehensive briefings to ensure the Safety of all personnel.

Health & Safety

This is a mandatory brief, covered in the visitors arrival book, to ensure everybody is aware of where they can go and not go, what to do in case of a Fire and the nearest Fire exits.

Flying

The briefing will mostly covered by a video, which will explain about the aircraft and how it flies. The cadets will then be shown the aircraft and told how to get in/out, hold wing tips and where they can and can not touch.

Abandonment

The video also covers what to do in an emergency. The abandonment procedure from the aircraft is very important, please ask questions on anything that is not understood.

Parachute Certificate

If a cadet has flown before (AEF or Gliding) they should already hold a parachute certificate in their F3822 (stapled inside the back cover). If not, they will have to prove they can pull the parachute ripcord by using a simple device at the Gliding School. If this is satisfactory (it is very rare for anybody to fail) a parachute certificate will be issued to the cadet. Please ensure this is put into the F3822 for future flying.

Main School Briefing

Every morning there is one main briefing for everybody. This briefing contains the Met, Airfield layout, Task to be completed, Royal flight information and any relevant information that will or might effect the flying operation. The ringing of a bell indicates the start of this briefing in the main crew room. All personnel must be present for this briefing.

Role of escorting staff.

On first arriving at the school the Escort needs to find and introduce themselves to the Duty Instructor. He will instruct them as to the plan for the day etc. The escort will know his/her cadets much better than the Gliding school staff, so please let us know if any cadets are likely to have a problem.

On the airfield the cadets will be supervised by the Gliding school staff but it would make things easier if the escort helped around the launch point and watched out for any problems with his/her cadets. If any problems do arise then please liase with the Duty Instructor.