Badge Rules

See our 'Badges and Missions' page for more information, and to download our award 'Missions' built by UKVGA member Ronald 'Woody' Dandurand to help you gain your Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamonds.

To attain the A Badge:

  • You must launch from a winch launch in one of the Club's official training aircraft. (See below for aircraft information).
  • The launch height must be no more than 2000ft (which is 2000ft above aerodrome level) and the flight must end with a landing back at the same airfield.
  • Following the flight a Pilot Report (PIREP) must be filed on the UKVGA website.
  • You can claim your badge award using the online claim form here.

To attain the B Badge:

  • You must already hold Badge A.
  • You must launch from a winch launch in one of the Club's official training aircraft. (See below for aircraft information).
  • The launch height must be no more than 2000ft (which is 2000ft above aerodrome level) and the flight must end with a landing back at the same airfield.
  • During the flight, a height gain of at least 500 feet must be achieved (See the definition of a height gain below).
  • Following the flight a Pilot Report (PIREP) must be filed on the UKVGA website.
  • You can claim your badge award using the online claim form here.

To attain the Bronze Badge:

  • You must already hold Badge B.
  • You must execute at least 20 flights.
  • You must fly at least a minimum total of 10 hours flight time. Use this time to practise Cross wind landings, correct recovery from cable breaks, thermalling in calm and windy conditions, correct spin and stall recovery
  • The first 20 flights must be launched from either a winch or aerotow launch in one of the Club’s official single-seat or 2-seat training aircraft (See below for aircraft information). After 20 flights any other glider may be used..
  • One of the flights must be a soaring flight of 1 Hour (launches by winch or aerotow must not exceed 2000 feet).
  • Following each flight a Pilot Report (PIREP) must be filed on the UKVGA website.
  • In the comment line of your PIREP, from time to time, enter details of your training exercise / practise as evidence that you are practising part of the Bronze syllabus in the examples noted above. You may wish to read widely from the range of books about Gliding, and study the level of knowledge required by the British Gliding Association for the Bronze award
  • You can claim your badge award using the online claim form here.

Official Club Training aircraft:

  • There are two 2-seat training aircraft, the Schleicher ASK13 and ASK21. The registrations of these are G-VGTC, G-VGTH.
  • There are two single-seat training aircraft, the Schleicher Ka8 AND ASK23. The registrations of these are G-VGTF and G-VGTI.
  • Grateful thanks are due to Wolfgang Piper for his wonderful work in producing the base versions of these gliders.
  • Download a club glider from here. Note - Wolfgang does update his aircraft quite frequently and so UKVGA models may not always offer his latest features. You may prefer to download a more recent version from his pages.

Definition of a Height Gain:

  • A height gain is measured during a soaring flight, i.e. between the end of the launch to the end of the flight.
  • The height gain is the difference between the maximum altitude and a previous minimum altitude during the soaring flight.

To attain the Silver Badge

  • You must already hold the Bronze Badge.
  • Height gain of 1000m (3281ft) or more.
  • Distance flight of 50km or more on at least one straight leg.
  • Duration flight of 2 hours or more.
  • You can claim your badge award using the online claim form here.

To attain the Gold Badge

  • You must already hold the Silver Badge.
  • Height gain of 3000m (9843ft) or more.
  • A declared goal flight of 300km distance over a pre-specified straight out-return or triangular course.
  • Duration flight of 3 hours or more.
  • You can claim your badge award using the online claim form here.

To attain the Diamond Badge

  • You must already hold the Gold Badge.
  • Height gain of 5000m (16405ft) or more.
  • Distance flight of 500km or more in total.
  • You can claim your badge award using the online claim form here.

Notes regarding Silver, Gold and Diamond badges:

  • All qualifying flights must be accompanied by an IGC format flight log file for certification.
  • The height gain, duration and distance flights may be achieved separately or together. For instance, they may be gained in just one flight, or they may be achieved in 2 or 3 separate flights.
  • Badge flights cannot be mixed in one flight I.E. You cannot do both Silver and Gold Badge awards in one flight.
  • A height gain is measured during the soaring flight, i.e. between the end of the launch to the end of the flight. The height gain is the difference between the maximum altitude and a previous minimum altitude during the soaring flight.