MIDDELBURG GLIDING CLUB
- Pieter W. Nel

Gerd Borchers and I are both veteraan pilots with the same love for flying. I have in the past wrote a few articles about Gerd and my views on forgotten war pilots. Both our pilot licenses has expired a few years ago. Gerd recently started flying again, but this time with gliders. On the age of 64 years he has now succeeded in qualifyinh for his glider pilot license.

Instructor Neels Joubert, left and Gerd Borchers.

Needless to say that the glider pilots of Middelburg had taken m eup with their gliders a few times which I have enjoyed tremendously. I immediately realized that the gliding sport falls in a totally different category of flying. I then gad a talk with their chief flying instructor, Neels Joubert who informed me all about the Club's activities.

Instructor, Neels Joubert and myself in the Ka7.

According to Neels, there are two methods that can be used to get a glider airborne. One method is by using a launcher with a very long steel cable to pull the glider up into the air as high as a kilometer or even higher. This method is by far the cheapest method to get airborne. Another method is by towing the glider with a powered tug plane into the air and releasing it at a suitable hight. This method is much more expensive especially for training purposes.

Neels elaborated on the Club's history when they bought a glider and gliding equipment during 1985 for gliding and started Club activities and training during 1986. What is most interesting is the fact that the Middelburg Gliding CLub is registered with the "Soaring Society of South Africa" [SSSA] as a non-profitable Organization. That means that the Club is not allowed to charge any fees for instruction on gliders! 

The CLub uses a launcher with a powerful De Soto Fire Flite V8 engine and a large drum with a steel cable that is two kilometers long. The launcher is put at the threshold of the airstrip and the cable pulled to the other side of the airstrip with a Nissan 1400 bakkie. It is at this point that the cable is hooked onto the glider. The launcher driver is then pulling the cable in at very high speeds with the powerful launcher engine causing the glider to climb steeply into the air. At a suitable height the glider pilot brings the glider in level flight and releases the cable. At this stage the pilot must seek out and find sitable rising air currents to take him to whatever heights he can achieve.

Gerd besig om die sweeftuig met die De Soto te lanseer.

In case there are enough air currents during the day, the pilot can fly the whole day without costing him a sent!
For services rendered to get the pilot airborne, the Club only charges R55.00 for the launcehr and the Nissan bakkie which make it extremely cheap to fly. According to Neels it costs in the region of R500.00 to get a glider airborne with a tug pllane which is very expensive when it comes to training. Most of the Club's members are qualified to be launched through th euse of aero tow by tug planes. 

The Club owns two training gliders, a Ka7 two seater and a Ka6 one seater. As soon as a pupil pilot has passed his medical test and has mastered the launchings and landings, he is sent on his first solo flight. To qualify for a glider pilot's license may take betweeen 40 to 60 launches depending on how skillful a pupil pilot is. Appearently, gliding is practiced at level 4.

Gerd in the one seater Ka6 busy to prepare for take off.

To join the Middelburg Gliding Club as a member costs R900-00 per annun which includes Middelburg Flying Clun. What really impressed me when I entered the Club hangar fro the first time was the six gliders with their long wingspans in the hangar. At first hand I couldn't fihure it out, but when they started with four wheeler dollies it became clear to me how it was done. 

It is a well-known fact that glider pilots are of the best and safest pilots in the world. It is also a well-known fact that to convert from powered Aircraft to gliders is much more difficult as other way round.

Committee members:
Neels Joubert, Chief Instructor - 079 874 2251 
Alan Graham, Chairman - 071 181 5106 
Christo Engelbrecht, Secretary/Treasurer
Kobus Kleynhans, Safety Officer
Larry Cronje, Technical Adviser

Congratulations to the club with their 25th Anniversary which was held during 2012. May you go from strength to strength!