Club member profile - Stuart
We asked our Club members how they started gliding, what they enjoy and have achieved at Devon and Somerset Gliding Club.
Stuart Proctor
| Why did you start gliding? | I've always been interested in flying , but I thought power flying would be outside my budget. So I took up gliding 28 years ago. | |
| What is your most memorable flight? | I stayed up for 5 hours in the K13. I had only gone to the field because I had agreed to pick up a friend if he landed away from the club. While he was flying, I took off and when he rang to ask me to fetch him, I was aloft. I was still up 2 hours later when he rang to to ask me where I was. | |
| What drives your motivation? | You can easily get hooked on the challenges of gliding, but I also like the social side, the atmosphere - spending time at the club with other members. | |
| Does gliding influence other areas of your life? | Away from the club, I find myself talking to other people about gliding wherever I go - possibly more than I should! | |
| What single word sums up gliding for you? | Challenge | |
| Why do you enjoy instructing? | As an instructor I like to pass on to other people what I have learned and I like to see them make progress. | |
| What is your best flight? | The longest flight I have made so far was 370 km; one of the nice things about gliding cross-country is just paying £7 to launch and then flying for miles and miles. | |
| Age: | 51 years | |
| Occupation: | Fuel tanker driver | |
| Years gliding: | 28 years | |
| Number of launches: | 4000 launches | |
| Number of hours: | 1500 hours gliding, 850 hours powered planes |
