The BGA publication ‘Managing Flying Risk’ aims to provide all glider pilots and clubs with practical and hard-learned good practice and guidance about managing risk in gliding collated into one online document. The information is periodically updated following consultation with subject matter experts. A revised version of Managing Flying Risk…

This is the time of year when some pilots are fortunate enough to be flying in wave and along ridges, sometimes in challenging conditions and often at speed. Of course all gliders have limitations including speed limits laid down by the designer, who will have used JAR-22 or more recently…

There have been 60 overflights of gliding sites reported by BGA clubs so far this year, many of which have been followed up with the aim of politely educating the powered aircraft pilots involved. We have updated our winch cable warning poster, which is available here.

The Sailplane Air Operations rules state; “Sailplanes operated over areas in which search and rescue (SAR) would be especially difficult shall be equipped with such life-saving and signalling equipment as appropriate to the area overflown” and “Sailplanes operated across land areas in which search and rescue would be especially difficult…

After many years of not re-appearing in the statistics as a significant issue, tug upsets have re-emerged as a serious concern. The rate of tug upset incidents over the past few years indicates that a tug upset accident is more likely now than has been the case for a long…

There is some really interesting and adventurous gliding taking place around the UK and further afield. In this new safety briefing video, Mike Fox talks to well-known gliding adventurers John Williams and Chris Gill about their approach to managing the risks and so keeping it fun. You can watch it…

As reported in previous years, the ‘Skyway Code’ is a CAA published guide for pilots that is designed to provide easy, quick access to the key information they need, including: pilot responsibilities, flight planning, airspace rules and regulations, using aerodromes, risks and emergencies, flying outside the UK, and links to…

Gliding is an adventurous air sport. Competitions and expedition flying can add additional challenges. The human in us makes us particularly vulnerable and so understanding our own limitations is important. Making a conscious decision to stay within limits and by doing so manage the risk is an important part of…

The BGA encourages the use of electronic conspicuity to assist effective lookout. FLARM equipment is commonly utilised in much of the UK fleet of gliders, powered gliders and tugs. The CAA, which is on the one hand developing a future airspace strategy and on the other is required to safety-regulate…

A paraglider equipment manufacturer is using a paragliding flight instrument which has a built in FLARM transmitter, with the aim of improving safety for gliders and paragliders. The company involved report that its tricky to measure whether the equipment is proving effective in ‘active service’ and have asked if glider…