The meeting was largely a publicity stunt by the Daily Mail newspaper which had offered a prize of one thousand pounds for the longest flight.

However little gliding happened in the UK for several years after until reports of long flights in thunderstorms in Germany appeared in The Aeroplane magazine.

Douglas Culver suggested a lunch meeting at the Comedy Restaurant in London on 4 December 1929 for anybody who was interested.

The patron of the BGA was Prince Philip[4] who was introduced to the sport by a former chairman, Peter Scott.

Since September 2008 all gliders have a full CAA registration and airworthiness checks to EASA standards, except for a number of mainly vintage and one-off types which remain under BGA control.

[12] The BGA employs a Chief Executive (Pete Stratten) who is based at the Leicester headquarters with five administrative staff.