The inaugural meeting of the “Cambridge Gliding Club” was held on 12 February 1935, the Club’s formation having been sanctioned by the Proctors of the University on the previous day. Since becoming the Cambridge University Gliding Club later that year, CUGC has consistently produced impressive glider pilots and contributed significantly to the British gliding scene.

The Club’s influence on British gliding has been considerable. In the early days, many undergraduates whom it trained went on to positions of responsibility in other clubs, taking Cambridge’s training methods with them. It was well-known for its camps and expeditions flying, and for its contributions to gliding theory and to test-flying. Year after year it produced about a tenth of all British Silver C’s and has always been one of the principal clubs in terms of cross-country flying.

Nowadays, a strong contingent of CUGC’s roughly 40 members can regularly be seen training and developing at the local Cambridge Gliding Centre, from which CUGC operates. Our more experienced pilots will fly our own high-performance ASW-19b glider, ‘CU’, even taking CU to our annual Varsity Match against Oxford. CU is regularly seen on CUGC expeditions to mountain sites across the UK, where our pilots can experience the joys of mountain soaring with the birds.

CUGC relies on annual subscriptions of £120 from its members to cover facility and equipment access. CUGC members must pay for instruction and glider rental at an hourly rate. While these costs are heavily discounted from the public rates, the keenest students can easily spend hundreds of pounds per month just to pursue our sport. We are seeking alumni support to help meet our ongoing expenses and keep subscription costs down. Your regular support ensures that CUGC can remain financially sustainable and continue to help our members go from strength to strength.

• £30 per year would cover transport to/from the airfield for members on a standard flying day, an invaluable service the club has previously struggled to provide
• £70 per year would help cover the costs of running a trial flight day to introduce more students to gliding and attract prospective members to the club
• £200 per year would cover CU’s annual inspection costs, so we can continue to offer reduced rates to students flying our high-performance glider

Campaign to purchase a 2-seater glider

Our long-term goal as a club is to own a 2-seater. Every year our members take more than 1200 launches with instructors. Our club has also been growing rapidly — from just 20 members in 2017 to more than 80 members in 2023. Owning a 2-seater would make flying cheaper for our members, allow us to organise more expeditions, as well as giving us more chances to fly in Varsity and inter-university competitions. 

A second-hand K21 costs approximately £80,000. These gliders are incredibly durable and will last more than 50 years. At the same time, it will only take 8-10 years for the initial investment to be entirely recovered in savings.  

It would only take a handful of large donations to enable the purchase of a 2-seater.  CUGC is currently able to contribute £15,000. This leaves us £65,000 short of the target. With 25% gift aid, we would need donations of £50,000.  

If you are considering making a donation towards our 2-seater, regardless of the amount,  please email us at president@cugc.org.uk for more details (and cc Derek Wilson at derek.wilson@admin.cam.ac.uk).

Visit the CUGC website