About Intro Days

All folks new to OUGC, regardless of whether they have flown before or not, must sign up for an ‘introduction day’ or ‘intro day’ for short.

Introduction days are extremely popular and we sell out each term. We are running Intro Days in Michaelmas Term 2025 and Hilary Term 2026 (Dates TBC). Join our mailing list to get notifications of ticket purchase.

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To attend an OUGC intro day:

1. You must be aged 18 or over.
2. You must be a student enrolled for 2024–2025 at Oxford Uni or Oxford Brookes Uni, OR a staff member working for either University.

2025-2026 INTRO DAY TICKET: £105

The cost of your intro day ‘ticket’ includes the cost of a temporary day membership, as well as transport to/from the airfield. However, it does not include flying fees, which you need to pay by card at the end of your intro day. This is because people do different amounts of flying, depending on the weather, their enjoyment of the flight, and instructor capacity.

During an intro day, you will meet up with your intro day guide somewhere within Oxford city centre, and we will bring you to the airfield in a car/taxi.

We then give you a safety brief, and introduce you to how the airfield operates. You will be assigned an OUGC ‘Intro Day Guide’ who can answer any questions you have. During the day, you will start your flight training with a friendly instructor from the Oxford Gliding Club (don’t worry - you will not be flying by yourself). Intro days take place on Saturdays and Sundays during October, November, February and May. An intro day is a full day commitment and you are expected to stay until all the gliders are packed up at the end of the day.

Gliding is weather dependent though. We will let you know via phone or email if your intro day is going ahead or cancelled the night before or early that morning. Please don’t be disheartened if your intro day is cancelled because of the weather! Your time will come!

If you have not flown with us for a while, we reserve the right to ask you to do another intro day.

Important

YOU MUST BE A PAID MEMBER OF THE CLUB (i.e booked on Fixr) BEFORE YOU ARE ALLOWED TO COME TO THE AIRFIELD.

YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL PAPERWORK ASKED FOR, BEFORE YOU ARE ALLOWED TO FLY.

OGC ONLINE FORM (for our host club, Oxford Gliding Club) select membership type ‘Temporary’ http://application.oxfordgliding.com/

No one is permitted to simply show up at the airfield without prior arrangement with the committee. Please do not bring friends/spectators along to your intro day.

After your intro day, it will be possible to upgrade your trial membership to a full student or staff membership. This will allow you to return to the airfield in the future for more gliding! However, please note that there is usually a waitlist for our membership slots as we have a limit on the number of active members at any given time.

Before your intro day, you need to read this Basic Airfield Safety Information.

What to wear, what to bring

What to wear to the airfield

1. Suitable clothing! You will be outside in the weather for most of the day. Better bring one layer too many than too few. A windproof layer is great. You’ll need to wear trousers of some sort, as you can’t fly a glider in a skirt or dress. Super-skinny jeans are probably not a great plan either. In winter, warm gloves (even skiing gloves), beanies etc are essential.
2. Warm + waterproof shoes (or an extra pair of socks) that you don’t mind getting muddy or wet. You will be walking through (maybe long, probably wet) grass A LOT.
3. Sunglasses

   What you MUST bring to the airfield

4. Your Bod/uni card
5. Credit/ Debit card to pay for your flights and log book.
6. Some snacks/lunch to eat during the day and a bottle of water (there is no food available to purchase there or nearby)
7. Sunscreen if you don’t want to get sun burnt!!!