After their successful Twinkle Tours over Lacombe last Christmas, the Lacombe Flying Club in conjunction with the Central Alberta Gliding Club will be taking people for rides in planes or gliders again this weekend.

The Central Alberta Gliding Club is based out of Innisfail, made up of members from all over Central Alberta who share a common interest in flying planes without an engine. 

President of the Lacombe Flying Club John From says through the Twinkle Tours they were able to raise about $12,000 for the Lacombe Food Bank, with these labour day long weekend flights, a portion of proceeds will support Lacombe Big Brothers Big Sisters, flights cost $150.

“We’re just trying to entice the local community to come out to the airport, utilizing the services the airport provides. We’re just trying to promote aviation in general around the community. We’ll be doing the Twinkle Tours again at Christmas time. But this gives people a chance to try something completely different again, at a different time of year.” 

From says the big difference between a plane and a glider, is the glider has only a small or no engine at all, and relies on the weather conditions to determine how long the flight is.  

“The gliders get towed up behind the tow plane, and then once the glider releases from the tow plane, you are looking at a flight back down to the ground of anywhere from 7 to 8 minutes, or if you manage to catch a thermal, and go up, you may even get a 20-25 minute ride out of it.” 

In terms of the experience, From describes it in one word, serene.

"It's quiet, the only noise you hear is the wind whistling past the cockpit, there's no vibration, there's no mechanical noise, it's just you, the pilot, the glider and the birds".

The flights get started around noon on Saturday (Sept 2) and around 11 on Sunday (Sept 3) at the Lacombe Airport, depending on the weather conditions.