Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club

The Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club (DLGC) is based at Camphill, Derbyshire, England.

The Airfield

Camphill is a hill top gliding airfield flanked by ridges on the west side and to the south. The airfield is 3/4 mile long North-South and 600 yards wide East-West. It is an all grass airfield with a well kept smooth surface, there is a hard core perimeter track for easy access to all parts of the airfield.

Ordnance Survey Coordinates are 418.15E : 378.71N.

The hangar is BGA turning point CPH at 53 degrees 18.287N : 001 degrees 43.656W.

The airfield elevation is approx 1350 feet AMSL.

Launching

At Camphill gliders are launched by winching. There are three twin drum winches, (including a modern "Skylaunch") each with high capacity power units capable of launching gliders to over 1200 feet, even in nil wind conditions. During the summer months a winch driver is employed to ensure an effective and efficient winch launching operation 7 days a week.

Circuits and Landings

All pilots will want to be aware of the principles of hill site flying and this is not a difficult site to fly from in most conditions - in fact it is very rewarding. A familiarisation flight and site briefing is all that is needed for most visiting solo pilots.

History

Named after the Iron Age enclosure at the south end of the airfield, Camphill has been the home of The Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club since 1935. The airfield was formed from the fields of Camphill Farm and the clubhouse was once the farmhouse. It is now a listed building.

In early days Camphill was noted as a good site for soaring in hill lift. As gliding developed the site became equally well known for thermal soaring and for lee wave lift triggered by the Pennine Hills.

The site is famous in the history of gliding. It was one of only a handful of centres for early gliding in the UK. Most of glidings' pioneers were at one time members or flew at Camphill. Many National and Regional meets were held here. In 1954, the site hosted the World Gliding Championships.

At the heart of the Peak District, this is an idyllic gliding site, in beautiful surroundings.

External links

* [http://www.skylaunchuk.com/ Skylaunch website]
* [http://www.dlgc.org.uk/ Official website]