An introductory flight lasts 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the weather conditions, and will offer you a nice flying experience over beautiful landscapes… Admire the Ottawa river, the hills of the Laurentians… and if the visibility is good, even the Mont Tremblant.
The price of an Introductory Flight is $195 per person (tax included). The maximum weight of a passenger is 230 lbs. Gift certificates are electronic, and redeemable on-site via your smart phone, or they can be printed.
Q&A
What is soaring?
Soaring is the unique experience of flying without any motor other than that of rising air currents. It is to fly sometimes for hours and for hundreds of kilometres, navigating the sky silently at the controls of a “sailboat in the sky”.
Some MSC pilots can fly for more than 8 hours at a time without landing, and cover more than 500 kilometres! Soaring is an exciting stimulating sport, open to all.
Please follow this link to the excellent “What is soaring” presentation from our friends at the York Soaring Club
How can a glider stay in the air without a motor?
A glider is always sinking slowly towards the ground at its designed rate of descent. To stay in the air we have to find rising air currents, called thermals, and stay within them. If the upward force from the thermals is stronger than the descent rate of the glider, the glider will gain altitude. By flying from one thermal to another it is possible to stay in the air for hours and to cover hundreds of kilometres.
How do glider pilots find thermals?
All gliders have an instrument called a variometer; sometimes they have two. These instruments show the pilot how quickly the glider is ascending or descending relative to the surrounding air mass. These instruments are very sensitive and can indicate tiny variations in the vertical ascent or descent rate of the glider.
Also the glider pilot can get a good idea of where the thermals are by observing the clouds or the nature of the ground below. An experienced pilot can therefore find thermals more easily than a beginner.
Is soaring dangerous?
Like all flying activities, soaring has certain risks, which is why we only allow our qualified pilots to do introductory flights. In all our activities, safety comes first!
What happens if the wind drops?
Nothing happens if the wind drops. The wind has no influence on the capacity of the glider to stay in the air. A glider flies whether or not there is wind.