Benalla resident Terry Cubley was just 15 years old when he tried gliding and has never stopped. 

The five-time nationals champion was 22 when he entered the nationals for the first time and represented Australia at age 28.

He has flown in seven world championships.

Cubley said grand prix racing with its fast speed and excitement attracted him to this year’s Horsham event.

He is a well known member of Australia's largest club, the Gliding Club of Victoria, and is a `semi professional' over summer.

Terry had a Vasama, a Kestrel17 then a Nimbus 2,  Jantar std 2 and now has an LS3.

 Awards for the Gliding Federation of Australia life member include the Air Sport Medal, Australia sports medal, GFA awards and the Barron Hilton Cup.

Married to Vicki, he has two daughters and three grandchildren and works part time as GFA executive officer.

Queenslander Andrew Georgeson has been fascinated with gliding from his earliest memories.

The 2002 Standard Class Australian Champion and multiple Queensland State Champion comes from a family of gliders and was just five years old when his father started with Central Queensland Gliding Club.

A Kingaroy Soaring Club member and proud owner of a 21m S1C, he was 15 years old when he took his first solo flight and has competed since 1995. 

His first glider was a Mosquito followed by an LS8 304Shark, Ventus2CX and a JS1C.

Georgeson said the Kingaroy club had a great competition culture and was privileged to have many highly ranked world level competition pilots who flew on a regular basis.

Georgeson said a flight over Omarama, New Zealand stands out in his memory, due to the stunning scenery. 

He  said he enjoys the challenge of top level competition and plans to use the experience as a training opportunity for the Worlds at Benalla next year.

“It is a special sport that few get to experience the beauty and challenge of what this sport has to offer,” he said. 

Retired Royal Australian Air Force pilot David Pietsch was encouraged to enter Horsham’s event by the racehorse start and the first-over-the-line finish. 

Pietsch has flown the F86 Sabre, Mirage 3 and F/A 18 Hornet and remains active in the Army Reserve with his various roles including introducing new gliders to Australian Air Force Cadets. 

While Pietsch was encouraged to fly by a friend, he said these days it’s the joy of the flight, the satisfaction of the cross country flight and thrill of competing. 

He said his favourite flying conditions are high-based cumulus clouds with strong thermals. 

 Pietsch flew a 500km Diamond Distance at the age of 18. 

 He is a member Canberra Gliding Club south of Canberra in the Monaro region between the Great Dividing Range and the Tasman Sea.  

I’ve flown about 70 different sailplane types and whilst many of them hold very pleasant memories for me, two standouts are the H301 Open Class Libelle, which was ahead of its time and the ASW20 with its seductive looks, great handling and exceptional performance for its day,” he said. 

Pietsch and his  wife Heather have a son who is also an Air Force pilot.

Retired seismologist Bill Gawthrop will fly from his Northern Californian home to compete. 

  The US open class national champion and has won the Barron Hilton Cup winner for western North America.

His passions  include gliding and heavy equipment.

He started off with hang gliders before discovering sailplanes were easier on his body. 

Since 2001 he has clocked up 3000 sailplane hours. 

Most of his flying is in an ASH-26E, but has recently upgraded to the JS-1C.

 He's hoping the Horsham competition will prove good practice for the worlds.

Qantas pilot David Jansen's flying record is impressive but it was the possibility of representing Australia again which attracted him to the Horsham competition.

The multi-national and world record holder attended Dubbo Gliding Club in 1972 as an Air Training Corp cadet. 

This was his stepping-stone into a professional flying career, first with the RAAF and now on the Qantas A380.

His home club of Kingaroy is able to boast most of the country's finest competition pilots. The club regularly runs highly successful competitions including the most recent, the Nationals. Jansen placed second in both the Open and 18m classes.

  David says it's the people, the planes and the pure joy of flight that keep him in the sport with `ridge and wave' his favourite conditions.

  It was in his first glider, a Nimbus 2, that he completed his first 1000km flight. The next gliders were an LS6 and a Standard Cirrus. 

His honours in the sport include: Silver/Gold/Diamond C, 1000km, 1250km, 1500km; multiple times national champion; multiple national and world records; first - and so far only - 1000km triangle flight in Queensland and the longest flight in the world using only thermal conditions – 1583km – in January 2015 from Kingaroy to Benalla.

Melbourne pilot David Wilson, who became hooked on gliding when a workplace scholarship to him to the UK,  has been fascinated by the sport for 50 years.

  Wilson was studying welding technology at Cranfield in the UK when he joined a gliding club. He flew solo there and is one of few Australians to hold a British Bronze C. 

 On his return to Melbourne he joined the Victorian Motorless Flight Group and is currently an instructor with the club. 

He is also a member of the  Gliding Club of Victoria. 

“ enjoy seeing the countryside from the air,” Wilson said. 

“I enjoy getting an understanding of the way the air works to provide us with lift.  Even after fifty years, I am still learning more about that.” 

Eight-time Australian gliding champion Pete Temple now works part time in his job as an engineer with the Australian Government to allow more time for gliding and relaxation. 

Previously a flying instructor, he is now a head gliding coach. 

 Hooked for life on the sport, he's owned five gliders in which he's competed over the past 25 years.

At 14-years-old Temple started gliding with Adelaide University Gliding Club, the same time as his father who will be his crew at the Horsham Grand Prix.

This event will be his first Grand Prix in his Schleicher ASG29.

He will fly the same glider when he competes for Australia in the 2017 world championship at Benalla.

Previously he's flown in the world gliding championship in France, Italy, and Slovakia. His best world championship result was a bronze medal, won flying in the Italian mountains.

As well as flying in competitions, Pete enjoys long cross country flights and holds one continental record along with eight national gliding records.