FLYING HIGH

The sky's the limit at the Scottish Gliding Centre where Lorraine Wakefield soared the heights to get a bird's eye view of the spectacular scenery.

It is not often that you can find an adventure activity to which age is no barrier but gliding is one pastime that is truly open to everyone whether you are 14 or 94.

I discovered the sport's wide appeal on visiting the Scottish Gliding Centre at Portmoak Airfield near Kinross where I found the clubhouse buzzing with people looking for a change from the usual sedate Sunday afternoon.

Welcoming me to the centre was Fred Joynes, one of the club directors, who along with everyone else involved at Portmoak gives his time free to encourage more people into gliding.

Like most things in Scotland gliding is very much weather dependent and Fred admits that it is "a bit of a waiting game at times". But when the clouds are high and the sun is out the airfield at Portmoak provides some of the best gliding conditions in the whole country.

"This is an excellent site with Bishop Hill on one side and Ben Arty on the other which creates hill lift no matter which direction the winds are," explained Fred.

"Generally the prevailing wind in Scotland tends to be westerly so it makes for an excellent site as there are very, very few hills in Scotland - except Bishop Hill - facing a south westerly direction.

"During the autumn we get a lot of visitors from England coming to fly here as it is quite a unique site for different wind conditions."

As well as hill lift Fred explained how glider pilots ride thermals - hot air rising from the ground - to stay in the air and if flying cross country can catch waves created when air flows over a hill, down the other side and bounces up.

Despite the fact a glider is always descending experienced pilots can make the most of the air conditions to remain airborne for hours or fly hundreds of kilometres across Scotland.

Once the technical side of things had been explained Fred told me it was time I tried gliding out for myself and introduced me to pilot John Henry who was to take me for my first trial lesson.

My first thought was just how tiny the glider cockpit looked with just enough space to fit yourself in between a control panel packed with complicated looking dials and levers controlling direction and the brakes.

My second surprise was the fact that wearing a parachute was compulsory. It had never occurred to me that bailing out at a few thousand feet might be a possibility - no matter how remote - but the fact you could parachute in the event of an emergency was comforting in a strange kind of way.

After carefully strapping myself into the seat in front of John it was time to take off as the tug aeroplane started to trundle along the grass runway gradually picking up speed as we lifted into the air for a tow to 3,500 feet.

Initially the constant droning of the tug's engines provided a psychological safety blanket as I marveled at the amazing views but all too soon the rope was released and we were on our own.

Although we were only a few thousand feet up I could see for miles to the River Tay and Dundee to the north and the Forth bridges, Edinburgh and the expanse of the North Sea in the other direction. Dozens of tiny fishing boats dotted Loch Leven below and fields of many different colours formed a spectacular patchwork interspersed with the streets and houses of surrounding towns.

Just as I was enjoying the views John suggested I should take the controls so I tentatively put my hand on the lever and we kept soaring along nicely towards the River Forth. "You're doing fine," said John and it was not until this point that I realised he had taken his hands and feet completely off the controls and I was indeed flying the glider!

Surprisingly the glider had not gone suddenly out of control or lurched sideways with me at the helm but a few brief minutes were enough to test my nerve and I asked John to take over again rather than tackle a left turn towards the airfield again.

A lack of wind meant that all too soon we were heading into land and although I had been warned it could be bumpy we touched down with reasonable grace returning almost exactly to the spot we had taken off from 20 minutes earlier. My brief sortie into the world of gliding was enough to let me see how it becomes a passion for many people and I will definitely be back.

The Scottish Gliding Centre offers everything from trial lessons to five-day gliding courses and details of their facilities can be found at:
http://www.scottishglidingcentre.co.uk/

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