DARTMOOR Gliding Society, based at Brentor airfield, has been awarded top honours by the British Gliding Association for excellence in the training of new glider pilots during 2012.

Called the Air League Challenge Trophy, it takes the form of a beautifully-crafted silver albatross arising from its nest, mounted on a wooden plinth.  It is awarded annually in recognition of excellence in gliding instructing - the winner being the club achieving the highest ratio of new, fully-licensed pilots compared with the size of its team of instructors.

Against fierce competition from 82 other clubs of all sizes nationwide, Dartmoor Gliding's small team of instructors was deemed by the BGA judging panel to be the winner, having trained six pilots right through to the exacting high standards required during the qualifying period.

Bob Pirie, a club instructor, told the Times: 'Like most gliding clubs we are a voluntary organisation and it is gratifying that a small club such as ours has achieved this prestigious trophy against other such clubs throughout the country.

'The most credit must go to our chief instructor Don Puttock. This award was not just given to our members for just flying when skies were blue, but also for a lot of work spend training in the clubhouse and on the flight simulator.'

Mr Puttock was present at the recent BGA conference dinner when the award was announced, and the trophy was accepted on behalf of club members by Karon Matten, one of several female glider pilots who fly at the club.

Dartmoor Gliding Society was founded in 1983 and has 60 members, who last year achieved 2,500 flights – 300 of which were trial lessons for visitors.

The club is accredited by the BGA as a junior gliding centre, and its members are looking forward to introducing more young people to the sport now that the legal age to become a glider pilot has been lowered to 14.

All of the club's volunteer instructors are BGA-rated and, in recognition of their efforts, each of them will 'share' the trophy until it is returned to the BGA in February 2014.