Essex Gliding Club

Gliding at this location was an amazing experience! The instructors were excellent and provided excellent feedback for each flight. The facilities and gliders were well-maintained, and the staff welcomed my family and I with open arms. I'm already looking forward to my next flight!
Feb 12th, 2023

Had a family visitor over from the USA who was (as a keen glider pilot stateside), most interested in experiencing a winch launch - which is extremely rare in the US. It was of course, an added attraction that the site was formerly a US Eighth AF location from which those exemplary young men flew B-17's against targets in Germany and occupied Europe, at great cost. One of the available gliders was also painted in the appropriate colours for the 381st BG, which was a nice touch I thought. The email communication was fairly straightforward and this was arranged with minimal difficulty. The club members were one of the most welcoming, friendly and informative bunch one could ever wish to meet. They went out of their way to chat to the 3 spectators (and the dog) and added to our experience enormously - and we were only there in the capacity of chauffeur. The winch launch was a sight to behold and our pilot thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Special thanks to Callum - whose instruction methods were highly praised by our visitor - and to club Legend Dave. If you have any interest in exploring the sport of gliding - and you live within reasonable distance, this is 100% where you should be going. I can't recommend this enough. The only downside is is that if you are relying on GPS to locate the club entrance it will definitely take you round in circles - so you might have to rely on it only to some extent - the final leg will be down to yourself, so the "What 3 words" app might be useful - the information is available on the Contact page of their website. Additionally, there is a Museum (a little way from the Gliding Club) that is specific to the 381st BG & also a memorial to those incredible young men who served in the Eighth Air Force.
Oct 21st, 2022

Callum was brilliant. Friendly and informative, and took me up for 3 winch launches to make sure I got enough flying time.
Jun 25th, 2022

A great place to glide! Instructors were excellent and gave great feed back after each flight. Well maintained facilities and gliders! They made me, my wife and new baby feel very welcome. I can't wait until I can go flying next
Aug 3rd, 2021

Superb club, very friendly, and has an amazing gliding simulator for the days when the weather is too bad to fly.
Oct 21st, 2020