Glider flight gives the aero girls a lift

Women who love flying are having a first physical meet up in Kinross-shire since their group was founded during COVID-19.

The British Women Pilots’ Association (BWPA) was first fired up in 1955 and draws members from all over the UK, but the Scottish branch only got up and running last year.

They met on Zoom but everyone in the Scottish section of BWPA has been anticipating the first physical meet up.

The regional representative for Scotland works at Portmoak Airfield, near Kinross, where the Scottish Gliding Centre is based.

Scottish rep Alison Field made a call-out to all her members from the region and invited them to a barbecue and glider experience day this Saturday, July 10.

Alison anticipates a gathering of 25 women, some of whom are commercial pilots, some who are students and others work in areas like air traffic control or with drones. Even a meteorologist has expressed interest.

The plan is for an evening flight using two-seater gliders, cruising silently over Loch Leven until around 9pm.

The taster flights see newcomers to gliding go up with an instructor and having a try of the dual controls.

“We can either go up by winch launch which gets the glider up to around 1000 feet,” explained Alison who works as an admin assistant at Portmoak Airfield.

“Or you can be launched using another aircraft towing to heights of up to 5000 feet. The flights in a dual control glider will last for around 20 minutes.

Alison shared what it might look like from the tiny glider cabin (submitted by Alison Field)

“The weather’s improving by the day so we hope it will be fair on Saturday evening so everybody gets a totally stunning view over the countryside surrounding Kinross and the loch. In celebration of one year of the Scottish regional group, we hope to get everybody hooked on gliding.

“I’m delighted that we can offer the first real meeting for the BWPA Scotland this weekend. It makes a change from chatting online.

“The BWPA supports and encourages women to get involved in all aspects of aviation, and has provided the opportunity for me to meet other local pilots and share flying experiences.

“It is great to now be able to host members in person at Portmoak Airfield and offer a gliding experience here.”

For more info visit https://bwpa.co.uk/events/scottish-gliding-event/