Cotswold Gliding Club  The Cotswold Gliding Club (CGC) is based at Aston Down airfield, between Cirencester and Stroud in Gloucestershire, South West England. The club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for cross-country gliding and competitions. CGC was formed in 1964. It was initially based at Long Newnton airfield near Tetbury, but in 1967 moved to its current home, Aston Down—at that time still a military airfield. In 1980-1, with the help of Sports Council grants and other loans, the club purchased a large part of the airfield when it was auctioned off by the Ministry of Defence. Having since acquired further land, CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track. CGC has some 200 members, including 80 students from the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol. There are about 30 associate members: these include both pilots (with limited flying rights) and aeromodellers. In 2007 the CGC widened its membership to include Blokarters. Aston Down is, by gliding standards, a large airfield. The 1500 m main runway (about one mile) offers scope for launches of —and sometimes up to when the wind direction is straight down the runway. For many years most launches at Aston Down were by the reverse pulley method, but since the year 2000 the principal method of launch has been by winch. The high launches make it easy to contact the abundant thermals that rise from the well-drained Cotswold limestone to give excellent soaring conditions. Aerotow launching is increasingly available, particularly in competitions and when westerly or north-westerly winds generate lift off the Cotswold ridge (or "Edge") or wave lift downwind of the Welsh mountains. The picture shows Aston Down taken from the south. The main (northeast-southwest) runway runs from bottom left to top right, while the shorter east-west runway runs left to right. The disused runway in the distance has been partly removed to allow more room for gliders landing on the grass. Blokarting and aeromodelling are restricted to the runway not currently in use for gliding (which varies according to wind direction). The club's fleet of aircraft includes two recently acquired modern ASK-21 all-round two-seat training gliders, a DG 500 advanced cross-country trainer which can also be used for aerobatics training, and two ASK-13 two-seat trainers.