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houses a club room, kitchen and residential accommodation; caravan and camping facilities are available on site. A large hangar accommodates the club fleet, most of the private gliders owned by club members being stored in trailers when not being flown. There is a large workshop for maintenance of
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The picture shows Aston Down taken from the south. The main (northeast-southwest) runway runs from bottom left to top right, while the shorter 1000m (3,300 ft) east-west runway runs left to right. The disused runway in the distance has been partly removed to allow more room for gliders landing on
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and well beyond—to advanced cross-country flying. Members of the public can book trial lessons and more intensive one-day courses. During the soaring season (April to
September) many members fly private gliders, usually owned jointly by two or more partners: this flying takes the form of either
435:. Originally known as Minchinhampton Aerodrome, the airfield was renamed Aston Down in 1938 at the request of the residents of Minchinhampton village, which lies about one mile (1.5 km) to the west of the airfield, who feared not enemy attack, but a fall in the value of their houses. During the
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The land surrounding the airfield, including a number of large hangars (visible in the photograph above), continued to be used by the MOD until 2002, when it was sold to the development firm Leda
Properties to be let as warehousing and industrial units. In 2005, following a
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Aston Down is, by gliding standards, a large airfield The 1500m main runway (about one mile) offers scope for high launches, sometimes up to 900m (3000 feet) when the wind direction is straight down the runway. This makes it easy to contact the abundant
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The excellent runway and facilities available at Aston Down make the CGC a frequent choice for hosting regional and national gliding competitions. Recent examples include the following:
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60:. Please do not waste your time correcting spelling and links. The author of this page works erratically, and whole sections are likely to be swept away at whim.
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the grass. Blokarting is restricted to the runway not currently in use (which varies according to wind direction).
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to persuade local government and central government agencies to implement more stringent safety regulations.
501:(MOD). Having since acquired further land, the CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track.
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133:(UWE) in Bristol. In 2007 the CGC widened its membership to include Blokarters (blokart is a form of
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126:. Having since acquired further land, CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track.
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training gliders, the first two of which are due to be delivered in the first quarter of 2008.
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CGC is currently undertaking a phased replacement of all the current Ka13 gliders with modern
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the hard runways and hangars were built. Until early 1941 Aston Down was host to the RAF's
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95:. The Club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for
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In the photograph the main runway appears shorter than the (E-W) cross runway: this
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are available for early solo pilots, while more experienced pilots can fly either a
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grants and other loans, the Club purchased a large part of the airfield from the
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Club. In 2002 the land and hangars surrounding the airfield were sold by the
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CGC was formed in 1964. It was initially based at Long Newton airfield near
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In
November 2007 the British Blokart Championships were held at Aston Down.
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request, the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with
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is also used, particularly when westerly or north-westerly winds generate
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447:. More recently the airfield was used as a satellite airfield for the
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48:. It may be incomplete and some facts at this time may be wrong or not
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241:. All Club gliders have similar instrumentation and are equipped with
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until 1967, since when it has been the home of the
Cotswold
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592:"Blokart Nationals at the Cotswold Gliding Centre, Stroud"
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were also frequent until their departure from the nearby
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CGC has some 200 members, including 30 students from the
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based at Aston Down are available for club members for
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is due to the angle at which the photograph was taken.
443:(Officer Training Unit), after which it was used as a
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If you have arrived at this page via a search engine,
416:to private developers for use as industrial units.
312:2004 Standard Class Nationals (shown on the left)
44:, it should be noted this is a Knowledge article
526:. Since the site is located above a vulnerable
427:Aston Down was first used as an airfield in the
343:WP article on Aston Down (CGC material migrated)
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612:Photographs of the AFC at Aston Down in 1917
304:at 2004 Standard Class Nationals, Aston Down
271:Members receive training from the Club's 20
213:The club's fleet of aircraft includes three
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114:, but in 1967 moved to its current home,
692:The Story Of The Air Transport Auxiliary
663:Stroud News and Journal. 17 August 2005
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455:, with trainee pilots practising their
209:The Club DG-500 being launched by winch
253:and cross-country endorsement checks.
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627:, Minchinhampton Local History Group
404:. It was used by the RAF from the
489:Aston Down airfield from the south
153:Aston Down airfield from the south
67:New article: Cotswold Gliding Club
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625:A Brief History of Minchinhampton
131:University of the West of England
594:. Yachts and Yachting Online Ltd
530:, local residents have formed a
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162:that rise from the well drained
56:until it has been placed in the
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578:Inter University Task Week 2007
318:2007 Inter University Task Week
52:. It should not be treated as
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661:Toxic threat to water supply
636:Historical details from the
505:Industry and the environment
431:, serving as a base for the
229:used by UWE students. Two
38:this author's contributions
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650:MOD contracts & sales
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565:15 Metre Nationals 2006
433:Australian Flying Corps
376:for Ndsg/Aston Down at
335:aircraft, vehicles and
315:2006 15 Metre Nationals
512:Freedom of Information
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217:dual-seat trainers, a
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54:definitive information
677:Cotswold Gliding Club
495:Cotswold Gliding Club
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481:Cotswold Gliding Club
453:RAF Little Rissington
449:Central Flying School
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185:ridge (or "Edge") or
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73:Cotswold Gliding Club
499:Ministry of Defence
414:Ministry of Defence
124:Ministry of Defence
50:reliably referenced
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402:South West England
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284:or more ambitious
245:. Privately owned
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102:and competitions.
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463:. Visits by the
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638:CGC website
373:Map sources
139:land yachts
81:Cirencester
46:in progress
687:Blokarters
598:2007-11-13
465:Red Arrows
445:ferry base
441:No. 55 OTU
386:Aston Down
326:Facilities
235:Pilatus B4
116:Aston Down
77:Aston Down
471:in 1983.
221:advanced
187:wave lift
167:limestone
18:User:Ndsg
457:circuits
288:flying.
183:Cotswold
181:off the
164:Cotswold
160:thermals
106:The Club
528:aquifer
516:arsenic
475:Gliding
423:History
410:Gliding
337:winches
282:soaring
219:DG 500T
171:soaring
112:Tetbury
100:gliding
524:radium
380:SO9101
280:local
237:or an
85:Stroud
42:a link
538:Notes
258:PW-6U
239:Astir
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576:See
563:See
522:and
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277:solo
231:Ka8s
215:Ka13
179:lift
83:and
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
