UK Mountain Soaring Group
- Graham Kendall
- Jan 4
- 2 min read
The UK Mountain Soaring Group (formerly Eden Soaring Society) fly gliders from a field near to Cross Fell on the Pennines. Their flying season runs from the beginning of April to the end of October. The centre of their flying field is NY 62417 33858 near Skirwith. The field is on a bearing of 070 degrees, 7.15 miles from the centre of Penrith. The landing field can be seen on Google Earth and is outlined in red below.
Note that the runway is aligned in a NW/SE orientation. Although a stone wall bisects the site (with a gap!), operations take up the full width of both fields. The winch will be sited at one end and take off will be at the other end. Circuits normally use the NE side of the landing field. Stored gliders are kept at the SE end - so don't confuse these with the take-off area. The winch is a blue and yellow device that looks like a big trailer. The winch operates 2 cables so don't assume that everything is clear after a glider has launched.
They use a powerful winch which quickly launches gliders to 1200/1500 ft agl depending on the strength of the wind. The rate of climb is fast so don't assume that a glider on the ground isn't going to be a problem. After take-off, in prevailing wind direction conditions, the normal procedure is to fly directly to the Thack Moor/Muska Hill/Brown Hill area and work up the hill to gain height in a similar manner - but faster - to our technique. Note that this is very close to the NHPC site at High Cap, Cross Fell.
One area to definitely avoid is their final approach. Once committed to landing, they don't have many options for avoidance.
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