A pilot from the county has won a silver medal at a major world gliding competition.

Claudia Hill, who lives and works in Didcot, won a silver medal at the 11th Women’s World Gliding Championship.

The competition took place at The Gliding Centre, near Lutterworth in Leicestershire over the last two weeks of August.

Mrs Hill has worked incredibly hard around her career as a professional translator to develop her gliding skills.

She first learned to fly as a university student, and is now a highly skilled soaring and glider racing pilot competing at international level as a member of the British Gliding Team.

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The Women’s World Gliding Championship brings together the very best female pilots from across the globe to compete for the ultimate accolade of World Champion.

CEO of the British Gliding Association Pete Stratten said: “We couldn’t be more delighted with Claudia’s medal success in the Women’s World Gliding Championship this August.

“We’re incredibly proud of all the team members. Claudia’s silver medal is an incredible achievement for her, the team, and British Gliding.”

Competitive glider racing is a world away from most people’s idea of glider pilots making their way leisurely around the sky.

At the top level, the world’s best pilots race around courses of similar length to and at similar speeds to Formula 1 motor racing Grand Prix events.

In their state-of-the-art sailplanes, these pilots are constantly reading the sky, trying to establish the best course to take and working out where the strongest thermal climbs will be.

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1

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