Become a GCWA Member

The Gliding Club of Western Australia is a Sporting Club, not a commercial for-profit flight school. As such, flying with us is relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of aviation. It must be noted however, that anyone who flies with us must be a member of the club to receive its benefits. All glider pilots in Australia must also hold a membership with the Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA).

Being a Club-based organisation, we operate on the goodwill of our members – all of whom are volunteers and give their own time to seeing the club run. This is an expectation of membership at GCWA, and as a club member you will gradually acquire skills and the duties that go along with those skills. This can include simple tasks such as keeping logs for a day’s flight, to managing ground operations, assisting with maintenance, and right up to Instructing or flying Towplanes.

If you’re interested in continuing and becoming a member of the club, please see this Letter to Prospective Members and the Membership Application Form.

Membership and Pricing

The Gliding Club of Western Australia is a Sporting Club, not a commercial for-profit flight school.  As such, flying with us is relatively inexpensive compared to other forms of aviation.  It must be noted however, that anyone who flies with us must be a full flying member of the club to receive its benefits.  All glider pilots in Australia must also hold a membership with the Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA).

Being a Club-based organisation, we operate on the goodwill of our members – all of whom are volunteers and give of their own time to ensure the club runs.  This is an expectation of membership at GCWA, and as a club member you will gradually acquire skills and the duties that go along with those skills.  This can include simple tasks such as keeping logs for a day’s flight, to managing ground operations, assisting with maintenance, and right up to Instructing or flying Towplanes.

If you are interested in continuing and becoming a member of the club, please see this Letter to Prospective Members and the Membership Application Form.

Membership Fees

Annual Club membership runs from July 1 to June 30 of the following year and is renewed each July. Fees are reviewed annually and subject to reasonable change on a year-to-year basis.

**PLEASE NOTE**

Prices and Fees listed on this page are valid only for the current membership year being 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024

Membership Type GCWA fees
Annual Flying Membership (Adult) $550
Annual Flying Membership (Student/Youth) $275
Family Membership (2 Flying members – each) $275
3 Month Trial Membership $300

In addition to club fees Members must also hold a valid membership with the Gliding Federation of Australia (trading as ‘Gliding Australia’). The application process is online at https://glidingaustralia.org

Glider Flight Charges

Flights are charged in two parts – the launch plus the glider hire. There is no charge for the instructor’s time.

As an example, a 30-minute training flight in the PW6 trainer with a standard launch to 2,000ft, will cost $86.50… $55.00 for launch to 2,000ft + $31.50 glider hire (30 minutes x $1.05 per min)

Launching Fees

At GCWA our launch method is via aerotow. Our tow-planes are used to take the gliders up to a desired altitude before they release and begin gliding. Launch fees are generally based on 500ft altitude blocks. A standard tow for most purposes is to 2,000 ft.

Glider Launch Release
Height Tow Plane Fee
500 ft $25
1,000 ft $35
1,500 ft $45
2,000 ft $55
2,500 ft $65
3,000 ft $70
4,000 ft (CSN Only) $80
Minute Rate – FSJ $7
Minute Rate – CSN $6

Glider Hire Fees

Use of the club’s gliders is charged at a per minute rate and is dependent on the type of glider. Any single flight charge is capped at 2 hours maximum – this is easy to exceed on strong cross-country flying days when the lift is good!

Something to be aware of is that each pilot is also responsible for covering the cost of any damage up to the insurance excess for the glider. For most of the gliders this is $650. For the PW-6 it is $1000 and for the DG-1001 it is $1,600. Club policy is “cost of repairs or the excess, whichever is the lesser amount”.

Glider Per Minute Per Hour Capped Hours Max Flight Charge
PW6 (2-Seat trainer) $1.05 $63 2 $126
IS28 (2-Seat trainer) $1.05 $63 2 $126
DG-1001 (2-Seat- high performance) $1.25 $75 2 $150
Astir (single-seat medium performance) – 2 aircraft $0.75 $45 2 $90
Jantar Std2 (single-seat high performance) – 2 aircraft $1.05 $63 2 $126

Bulk Scheme – the GCWA unique advantage!

We offer a unique discount to members who wish to pay for their glider hire in advance. For one annual upfront fee of $950 members can have capped (currently at 35 hours) use of the club’s fleet of gliders except for the DG-1001.

As you progress and spend more time aloft, the bulk scheme becomes more and more advantageous. This is especially valuable if you plan to engage in log soaring flights or competition flying. The cost of the Bulk Scheme equates to a little over 15 hours of flying (based on $1.05/Hr) per year. For this you get up to 35 hours of flying potentially saving you in the region of $1,255! If you plan to fly regularly in Club aircraft this is a fantastic must join scheme unique to our Club.