Shortly after the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles placed strict regulations on the production of powered aircraft in Germany's Weimar Republic. While the rest of the world continued to develop powered flight,

Germany perfected its powerless flight technology and deepened its understanding of how natural forces could be harnessed to achieve greater and greater flights, and thus, gliding was born.

Today's gliders are incredibly efficient machines, as capable as they are elegant.

Typically, gliders are launched into the air by attaching a powerful winch to the aircraft, which accelerates it from 0 to 60 mph in just a few seconds. The glider then rapidly climbs to around 1,000 feet before the winch detaches, leaving the pilot alone in a silent sky. Nature's energy, in the form of rising columns of warm air (thermals) or wind flowing over mountain ranges (ridge and wave lift) is all the pilot has at their disposal to climb higher and fly further.

In this issue of Happiness Found, we chat to the men and women of the Stratford-Upon-Avon Gliding Club (celebrating its 50th anniversary) to discover what drew them to the sport, what keeps them coming back, and where they see this unique pastime heading in the future.

We hope you're sitting comfortably and are ready for take-off, enjoy your flight!