Buckminster Gliding Club

The Buckminster Gliding Club (BGC) is a gliding club based at Saltby Airfield on the Leicestershire / Lincolnshire border, England. It is affiliated to the British Gliding Association (BGA) and runs a seven-day-a-week operation throughout the year except on Christmas Day.

Saltby Airfield was an active RAF station during World War II, one of many such stations on the eastern side of the country. British, American and Polish squadrons were based there.

The airfield originally had three concrete runways that intersected in the middle. The main entrance was in the village of Saltby. However over the years the airfield has changed. Many of the original buildings have been demolished, and one of the concrete runways was completely removed. Approximately half of the land within the original perimeter track is now used for agriculture. The remaining half of the airfield contains the entire main runway (07/25) and half of the second remaining runway (02/20) which still runs from the start of 02 to its intersection with 07/25. The old hangar now covers just part of the concrete footprint of the original war-time main hangar. Alongside 07/25 is a grass runway of similar width and the same length which is primarily used for the winch launching of gliders, and for most landings, so avoiding the aerotow operation on the concrete runway.

The currently active airfield is much smaller than the original and no longer has direct access to Saltby village, and instead there is a new entrance on the road between the villages of Skillington and Sproxton. The club is named after Buckminster Estate, from which the airfield is rented.

The Viking Way runs across the airfield passing near the start of runway 25. It is a popular route for horse riders, quad bike riders and walkers.

The Buckminster Gliding Club was founded at Saltby in 1971. Today its members fly cross-country and aerobatics and they train new pilots.

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Wikipedia