What Can I Expect

This is gliding in Gloucestershire, but with a difference - you've got power! We are offering vouchers for 30 and 60-minute flights in a modern motor glider out of Aston Down airfield just outside Stroud.

For this sort of gliding, there's no need for a tug plane or a winch, because you get airborne under the aircraft's own power. It's quite a thing to experience being in a self-launching glider, as you trundle along the runway for take off with that large wingspan!

And rather than being released at a certain altitude, you simply fly up to the height you want to achieve, switch off the engine and get soaring. This is the moment you change from manmade to natural, with just the swirling noise of the wind that carries you.

Once you're up there, what can you expect to see? Well, this is another reason why this airfield near Stroud on the edge of the Cotswolds is a popular place. You're on one of Gloucestershire highest ridges here. When you're soaring in your motor glider, you are surrounded by hills, overlooking the Severn Estuary across to the Black Mountains in the west and the Malvern Hills to the north.

And unlike most standard gliders, a motor version has a side-by-side cockpit, so you will be sitting next to your instructor. This gives you the advantage of being able to see everything that the pilot is doing, which we think helps you feel more secure, comfortable and at ease.

Don't forget, if you fancy having a go at the controls for yourself you can do, as these aircraft are dual control. Book your motorised glider flight out of Gloucestershire's Aston Down Airfield now!

When Is It Available

• Mondays to Fridays throughout the year
• All flights are subject to availability and weather conditions

Suitable For

• Minimum age 14
• Under 18s must be accompanied on the airfield by an adult
• Maximum weight 16 stone
• Maximum height 6ft 4ins

Spectators