High-flying Brackley youngster to take to the skies as part of British team for Junior European Gliding Championships

For the second year on the trot, Oliver Ramsay has been called up to represent Britain and face off against the best junior glider racers in Europe.

The 19-year-old, who is currently studying economics at Bristol University, hopes to beat his performance at last year’s competition in Poland, where he placed 13th.

Oliver first became interested in flying at age 13, after visiting Turweston Flight Centre for a trial flight in a powered plane.

He was then recommended to try gliding and found himself training along with the Banbury Gliding Club at Hinton-in-the-Hedges Airfield.

Since completing his first solo flight at age 14, Oliver has not looked back and is now considered one of the best young glider racers in the country.

Oliver will join three other young British gliders at the upcoming championships in the mountainous region of Prievidza in July.

Speaking about his selection, Oliver said: “It is incredibly cool to be selected again, and I feel privileged to be chosen.”

The championships will pose new challenges to Oliver, as he is used to flying on the flatlands of central England, not the mountains of central Europe.

He said: “It will be a completely different style of flying to what I’m used to, as we don’t have much of that terrain in England to practise on.

“The way we will have to race fast is incredibly difficult; the routing through the mountains will give off different hotspots. So we will have to pick exactly the right route, which can throw up some challenges.”

In the race, Oliver and the other pilots will be launched into the skies at the same time and then told that the start line is open to commence racing.

The race is scored on a time trial basis, so Oliver will have to concentrate on getting to the finish line as fast as possible, as well as staying out of the way of other racers.

Speaking about Britain’s hopes for the competition, Oliver said: “We have put in a lot of preparation work, so hopefully we have high chances of picking up some silverware.”

Gliding is one of the very few sports that doesn’t receive funding from UK government bodies, so to help support Oliver and Team Britain prepare for and travel to the tournament, visit an online fundraising page that has been set up here:https://tinyurl.com/43kjrnap