The Winnipeg Gliding Club

The Winnipeg Gliding Club is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of gliding and soaring. The club operates from its own airfield located approximately 30 kilometers southwest of the city of Winnipeg near the village of Starbuck . 

The club flies from early April through the end of October depending on airfield conditions and the weather. Discovery Flights are offered throughout the flying season. Click "Rates" for further information. Arrangements can be made in advance by calling the  Club's Winnipeg telephone number, (204) 735-2868.

Motorless Flight

Gliders are motorless aircraft. There are several different types of glider.  Training gliders used for flight instruction are strongly built but tend to be less efficient in gliding flight. High-performance gliders, often referred to as "sailplanes", are carefully designed to minimize aerodynamic drag to improve their gliding performance.  The prairies are a great location for generating thermals, which can be ultilized to keep a glider aloft. The flight of longest duration at the Winnipeg Gliding Club is about 8 hours. The highest altitude  attained is 13,800 feet, 13,000 feet above the field elevation of 800 feet above sea level.  The greatest distance covered is 500 kilometers.

The long summer evenings, when the day's thermals have subsided, are great for short training flights. As pilots gain experience in finding and flying in thermals, their flights become longer. A typical glider flights lasts from about 15 minutes to an hour.

Club Benefits

The Winnipeg Gliding Club provides flight training for student members. Because the Club is a volunteer organization, compared to training for a power license, gliding training is relatively inexpensive.

For the use of its members, the Club owns two two-person gliders and one single seat glider . Two tow planes are operated by the Club. All flights are launched by aerotow.  In addition to the joys of flying, there are also social events. These include  a wine and cheese party, barbecues, pot-luck suppers, a corn roast, and an awards banquet. There are special flying events. Members visit other gliding clubs, and members from other gliding clubs also visit the Winnipeg club.

To maintain a high quality in its operation and beauty in the surroundings, there is always work of one kind or another to be done around the Club's field, be it with flight operations or with the facilities.

Becoming a Glider Pilot

To fly at the Winnipeg Gliding Club, a person must be 12 years of age or older. To obtain a license, a student must be at least sixteen years of age, and obtain a License Validation Certificate (medical). An on line ground school class must be completed. Flight training consists of dual flight instruction and solo flying. A candidate must demonstrate competence as a pilot and pass the Department of Transport written examination before a license is issued. For more information about any aspect of gliding in general or the Club in particular contact:

Becoming a Tow Pilot

The Winnipeg Gliding Club operates one 1977 Bellanca 8GCBC Scout (180 hp) and one 1966 Piper PA-25-235 Pawnee for glider towing purposes.

The towing operations are staffed by volunteer pilots who meet the club's criteria for operations. The criteria for tow pilots is listed below:

• Both the Winnipeg Gliding Club aircraft are tail wheel aircraft.  Consequently, the club only accepts people with prior experience flying tail wheel aircraft. We recommend between 20 to 30 hours of Bellanca Citabria flying time. In addition, we recommend pilots have about 100 hours of pilot in command time. The more tailwheel experience, the better! The Club also recommends the pilot receive a detailed, complete checkout from a local flying school that operates a Citabria.
• The club offers to instruct prospective tow pilots on how to tow gliders. The club does not have flying instructors on staff, and will not perform type checks on the Scout.
• All tow pilots at the Winnipeg Gliding Club are unpaid volunteers. In addition to volunteering their time, each tow pilot is required to join the Soaring Association of Canada as a tow pilot member. This enables the tow pilot to be insured on our aircraft.
• Glider towing at the club usually takes place on weekday evenings as required for flight training, and all weekend (including holidays), with training flights in the morning, and members flying in the afternoon. The weekend days are broken up into two shifts.
• Prospective tow pilots must have a private license or better, with a current medical. In addition, the pilot must comply with all CARS regarding pilot recurrency training.

If you feel you have these flying skills and want to volunteer, please send a note to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your qualifications or call the club phone number, (204) 735-2868, and leave a message.