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that the majority of their fleet is unavailable for use by either their own members or those in the local area following advice from the
British Gliding Association and the insurers. The club has leased some of the aircraft to some clubs, however the terms of the leases are not clear as they are not in the public domain. The cost of storing and insuring he fleet forced the Management to sell of some of the aircraft. Following different attempts to find an alternative location to restart the club, it was decided at a members meeting in 2023 that all attempts had come to nothing and that Windrushers Gliding Club would have to fold. Following CASC rules it was decided to monetise any assets left and pass the proceeds to the governing body, namely the British Gliding Associoation
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174:, Bicester Heritage, sought to change the lease that allowed WGC to operate on the airfield. WGC would have lost privileges they enjoyed over other users of the airfield, which would have resulted in increased cost and reduced independence to run competitions or expand operations. Bicester Heritage also looked to take over WGC property within the airfield, including the recently renovated clubrooms and workshops. In July 2020, the club left the airfield, with members leaving for various different gliding clubs in the local area such as
182:, Banbury Gliding Club and others further afield. The club states its lease was terminated on December 12th, 2019 and it would have been impossible for them to stay at the airfield under the new proposed terms which meant that no new lease was on offer, the club would have to book the airfield for the day if they wanted to fly and would become just another "airfield user" rather than the leaseholder.
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When the club ceased operations, it maintained that it was not being dissolved and was instead entering a state of "hibernation", which meant they did not need to follow the CASC guidelines on disposing of assets (such as aircraft) to other eligible CASC organisations in the local area. This meant
102:. The following year it hosted the UK Junior National Championship and its own Regional championship. It also later achieved the British Gliding Association's accreditation as a Junior Gliding Centre. During their operation, Windrushers hosted the following competitions;
57:. During their tenancy, the gliding Varsity match between Oxford University Gliding Club and Cambridge University Gliding Club was held at Bicester Airfield every other year, the other years it was held at
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until late June 2020. At its heyday, the club was one of the biggest gliding clubs in the UK, hosting various competitions throughout the year and maintaining the physical presence of the
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50:'s shop as well as numerous BGA staff members. The club operated seven days a week, with paid staff running various elements of the club's operations.
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The club also hosted Oxford
University Gliding Club at their site until Windrusher's closure, where OUGC then relocated to
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these competitions were not held but in the early summer of 2022 the series was restarted and held at
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34:(also known as Bicester Gliding Club or simply "Bicester" within gliding circles) was a
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532:"Glider flights. Trial gliding lessons at Bicester Gliding Centre Oxfordshire"
482:"Glider flights. Trial gliding lessons at Bicester Gliding Centre Oxfordshire"
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69:. Prior to its closure, and since operations ceased the club has maintained
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94:. In July 2004 the club was reformed as a separate entity after the
368:"Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Match | Cambridge University Gliding Club"
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After discussions that took place in early 2020, the new owners of
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before moving to
Bicester in 1956, later merging with the
92:Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association
507:"Running a community amateur sports club (CASC)"
86:Windrushers originally started at operations at
432:"Junior Gliding - British Gliding Association"
457:"Flying club reveals how it was 'forced out'"
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421:Sailplane & Gliding, Aug-Sept 2004, p51
343:"Gliding Varsity - Oxford University Sport"
16:Gliding club in Bicester, Oxfordshire, UK
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124:UK Junior Gliding National Championship
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156:UK Gliding Grand Prix (18 metre class)
140:18 Metre Class National Championships
132:Standard Class National Championships
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201:Number owned and Registration Marks
71:Community amateur sports club (CASC)
27:, the site from which WGC operated.
148:Club Class National Championships
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595:Gliderports in the United Kingdom
565:Cranfield University Gliding Club
73:status, a favourable tax status.
560:Windrushers Gliding Club website
262:Scheibe Falke 2000 Motor Glider
570:Oxford University Gliding Club
116:Regional Gliding Championship
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214:5 (CCZ, HAL, HMV, JXM, KKR)
436:British Gliding Association
210:Alexander-Schleicher ASK 13
48:British Gliding Association
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236:Alexander-Schleicher K 8
32:Windrushers Gliding Club
347:Oxford University Sport
180:Shenington Gliding Club
59:Gransden Lodge Airfield
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378:on 23 September 2015
536:bicestergliding.com
486:bicestergliding.com
176:Oxford Gliding Club
119:Annually 2005–2019
82:Operational history
67:Oxford Gliding Club
55:Oxford Gliding Club
585:Gliding in England
276:Piper PA-25 Pawnee
204:Fate post closure
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63:COVID-19 pandemic
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398:"W, X, Y, Z"
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240:2 (EED, GD)
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108:Competition
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77:Club history
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23:An image of
461:Oxford Mail
441:12 November
382:12 November
352:12 November
290:Robin DR400
227:2 (PX, XH)
198:Glider type
44:Oxfordshire
579:Categories
304:References
186:Club fleet
111:Year held
100:RAF Halton
318:"BGAShop"
98:moved to
253:1 (DFR)
541:27 June
516:27 June
491:27 June
466:27 June
407:27 June
327:27 June
322:BGAShop
294:G-OBIC
280:G-BFPR
266:G-CFMW
166:Closure
36:gliding
511:GOV.UK
402:GOV.UK
283:sold'
96:RAFGSA
297:sold
269:Sold
256:Sold
243:Sold
230:Sold
217:Sold
159:2016
151:2015
543:2022
518:2022
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
