Aviation logbook.
Glider pilot, SPL holder with a TMG extension. FAI Silver C badge: 1000m height gain, 50km distance, 5 hours. 100km diploma. Gold distance and Diamond goal on a declared 303km triangle. Member of South Wales Gliding Club.
Gold distance & Diamond goal — Usk · Worcester · Lake Vyrnwy · Usk.
- Date
- 19 JUL 2026
- Glider
- PIK-20D · G-DDLY
- Task
- 303 KM TRIANGLE
- Distance flown
- 518 KM
- Max altitude
- 2,102 M
- Duration
- 4h 58m · 11:05Z – 16:03Z
Started with the Air Scouts and back to flying again after 20 years.
My aviation journey.
I first went gliding at 14 with the Air Scouts then life got in the way for two decades. Returning in 2022, I joined South Wales Gliding Club, went solo, got my SPL, achieved the Silver C badge and 100km diploma, and bought my own glider. In July 2026 I flew a declared 303km triangle in it — Usk, Worcester, Lake Vyrnwy, Usk — claiming Gold distance and Diamond goal in a single flight. In August 2026 I passed the TMG skills test, adding motorglider privileges to the licence.
Chronology / logbook entries, big days.
First flight at Aston Down
Started gliding with the Air Scouts at age 14.
Returned to gliding
Resumed training at South Wales Gliding Club after a long break.
First solo
Soloed in April 2023.
Silver duration (5 hours)
Flew for five hours in May 2024 for Silver badge duration.
SPL achieved
Passed the SPL (Sailplane Pilot Licence) in July 2024.
Bought a PIK 20D
Purchased a PIK 20D glider.
Started TMG training
Began motorglider (TMG) training in October 2024.
First TMG solo
First solo flight in a motorglider, January 2025.
Silver distance & height
Completed a 50km flight and 3,281ft height gain for the Silver badge in May 2025.
100km diploma
Flew 100km in June 2025 for the 100k diploma.
TMG cross-country
Completed qualifying cross-country flight in a TMG, June 2025.
Flying in the French Alps
Flew in the French Alps: ridge, wave and thermal soaring among serious terrain.
Masterclass
Attended a masterclass in soaring at Nympsfield run by Andy Davis.
Gold distance & Diamond goal
Flew a declared 303km triangle in the PIK 20D on 19 July — Usk out to Worcester, north-west to Lake Vyrnwy, then the long leg home. Five hours airborne, topping out at 2,102m. The Gold distance leg and the Diamond goal claimed on the same flight; the trace above is that day's log.
SPL TMG extension
Completed my TMG extension.
Side projects
IGC Flight Log Analyser
Drop in a flight log and get a soaring debrief: climbs, circle geometry, wind and airmass.