Gliding in Australia is regulated by the GFA.

This is a  body which has been delegated by CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) to administrate and regulate all gliding in the country. It is fortunate indeed that we are able to be largely self governing so that we remain relatively free from much of the bureaucracy and costs associated with general aviation in Australia.

To fly a glider, you must be a member of GFA, and to be a member of GFA you must also be a member of a club, association or corporate entity that is affiliated with GFA.

Whilst you do not require a "licence" to fly gliders in Australia, there are still various procedures and conditions that you must be familiar with meet. These are generally administered by voluntary officers of the club that you fly with. Learning to fly a glider is just as demanding as learning to fly a power plane. Even though you don't have to pass theoretical exams to gain the various certificates that you can achieve, you will still need to learn and understand how the glider flies and obtain a reasonable understanding of the theory of flight and basic airworthiness requirements.

To be a member of GFA, you need to pay an annual subscription. This covers administration costs and regulation of airworthiness and training. The GFA has a small staff of paid employees but is still largely reliant on the voluntary efforts of various appointed and elected officers.

Most clubs provide instruction "for free". Instructors provide their time and knowledge to people learning to fly on a voluntary basis. They will generally be very experienced pilots who have gone through substantive training to a level of competence much the same as a power pilot instructor and are periodically revalidated by the GFA. They are also subject to checks by their peers within each club.

Passengers may be charged for "Air Experience" flights. To have an air experience flight, you need to become a temporary member of GFA unless the club you are flying with has obtained a charter licence from CASA. (Very few clubs do this as it entails quite a lot of administration). For many clubs, "Air Experience Flights" are one of the main ways in which they are able to offset the costs of running the operation, purchasing, insuring and maintaining their aircraft.

We cordially invite you to have an air experience flight with one of the two clubs in Tasmania.

Learning to fly a glider in a gliding club

Very few clubs are commercial organisations. However, gliding is still a relatively expensive undertaking and you will need to pay a membership fee to a club, plus charges for flying the gliders and launch costs for being towed by a power plane or launched by a winch or "auto tow" motor vehicle.

The nature of gliding is such that it is very much a cooperative sport. It needs a team of people to run a gliding operation. As a member of a gliding club you will be expected to help out from time to time with the various jobs that need to be done. Your flying is dependent on the people who administer your club, provide instruction, tow you up, maintain the aircraft and make every effort to ensure that your flying is as safe as it can be.

If you take up gliding seriously, you will gain overall confidence and enjoy the pleasure of mastering an aircraft and learning the skills required  to make use of all the natural forces in the air to keep you airborne.

Also - it's a very nice view from up there!