Trent Valley Gliding Club

Trent Valley Gliding Club (TVGC) is a club near Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire devoted to the sport of gliding.
Structure
It is based at Kirton in Lindsey airfield just to the south of Kirton, next to the A15, but the main entrance is on the B1398 road. The large orange windsock will usually be visible if the airfield is active.
It is open on weekends and Wednesdays.
History
An airfield at the site was first established in 1916 but reverted to agriculture at the end of World War I. A new airfield was created in 1940 as a fighter base in World War II. Many of the original fittings and tie-downs for the Spitfires are still in place as well as many original photos in the club-house.
Trent Valley Gliding Club was formed at Sturgate Airfield near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in 1965 by twelve members of the Lincolnshire Gliding Club. The club's first glider was a Slingsby T.21B which was acquired with a £50 deposit. In the early days of the club this had to be de-rigged and transported to a barn in Collingham every evening for storage. It was several months before a building became available at Sturgate in which the glider could be left.
Launching was achieved through auto-towing initially but later the club purchased a Jaguar car to provide reverse pulley launches (see article on gliding). Aerotow launches were sometimes provided by the Lincolnshire Aero Club. Nowadays the club has its own tug and also uses a Supacat winch launching gliders up to 1800 feet.
Present day
The current active fleet consists of:
* Grob Twin Acro - EXA
* Puchacz - HFH
* Schleicher ASK 13 - CCX
* Grob G-102 Astir - HTG
* Schleicher K 6 E - DMQ
* Piper PA-25 Pawnee towplane G-BVEF
The Club also has a motor-glider which is used for club training and experience flights.
Three other aircraft are 'moth-balled' at present: a K6cr, a Swallow and an SF-26. Since starting, other gliders owned by the club have also included: Olympia 2b; Grunau; Bergfalke; Blanik; Pirat; Schleicher K 8; Ka 6 CR, and a K 7.

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