Where We Fly - The Park

Our affiliate gliding club, Bath Wilts and North Dorset GC, flies from a small airfield about 40mins south of Bath called The Park.  Situated on the top of a hill on the very edge of Salisbury Plain the club commands beautiful views over the Wiltshire countryside.  The view from the ground is beautiful, the view from the air is spectacular.  On a clear day at about 2500-3000ft you can clearly see both the Bristol Channel and the south coast, with famous landmarks such as Longleat and Stourhead within range of the airfield.

BWN formed in 1963 and has 7 gliders, a winch and tug plane all based in a large hanger sat off to one side of a 1300m long grass runway.  Bordered at one end by trees and the other by open fields, the runway is one of the best grass strips in the south of England and certainly one of the smoothest.

Weather

The runway at The Park is almost perfectly East to West, so there is often a cross wind to contend with. Below is a link to RASP, a common weather forecasting website used by glider pilots. 

https://rasp.stratus.org.uk/index.php/blipspot-maker

Simply select The Park (PRK) as the BGA turning point and the day of the week (in the next 7 days) you are wanting the forecast for, and several "Blipspots" will generate. These show important things like cloud base, surface and upper wind speeds, rainfall and thermal potential.