Gliding Familiarization Flights

Gliding familiarization – better known as glider famil - occurs at over 50 locations across Canada. It takes place on weekends from March to June and from September to December. In addition to flying, junior air cadets become part of the glider ground crew. As cadets, you learn how to position the gliders for take-off and help retrieve them after they land. All Air Cadets are given the chance to go up in a glider.

Familiarization flights are a learning experience. Before getting in the glider, a member of the crew will give you a pre-flight briefing. They will explain how a preflight inspection is done and what all the instruments in the glider are for. During the flight, the pilot will show you how the controls of the aircraft work and what an aerodrome circuit is.

During the summer, junior air cadets attending courses at some of the Air Cadet Summer Training Centres can take part in gliding famils.