It is no secret that women are still a minority in our sport. In Belgian gliding, only a small percentage of members are women. Most female glider pilots know the feeling all too well: arriving at the airfield and once again being one of the only women there — or sometimes the only one.

On Saturday 21 March, we turned that image around for one day.

What started as an idea during a junior pilots’ weekend in September 2025 quickly grew into the first Women’s Flying Day. A small organising team of women from different gliding clubs came together with one main question: what should a day like this look like?

We did not want a formal conference or a heavy programme. Instead, the idea was to create an accessible flying day where female pilots, student pilots and girls interested in aviation could meet each other, fly together and simply experience the sport in a different atmosphere.

The event was organised with the support of Elevate(her) Aviation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and connecting women in aviation. For us, this day fitted perfectly within that mission: not only talking about visibility and representation, but creating a moment where women in gliding could actually come together.

The Kempische Aeroclub in Weelde, Belgium, was immediately willing to host the event. Around 25 women and girls gathered in the clubhouse at 11 o’clock. After a short briefing, the flying day could begin. The weather was on our side, and we were able to fly throughout the day, with the last launch taking place just before sunset.

For many participants, it was the first time they had ever flown with another woman in the cockpit. That might sound like a small detail, but for someone who is usually the only woman at the airfield, it can feel surprisingly special.

That day, many flights were made with only women on board. One of the participants later described the day as “a super fun experience full of atmosphere, lovely people and a unique opportunity to experience flying with only women.” That captured exactly what we had hoped to create.

The initiative also reached beyond the gliding community. The Women’s Flying Day received attention from several Belgian media outlets, including Gazet van Antwerpen, Het Nieuwsblad, VRT NWS and RTV. This meant that we did not only reach people within our own clubs, but also people who may never have thought about gliding before.

That outside visibility matters. If girls never see women in a cockpit, it becomes much harder for them to imagine that this could also be a place for them.

In the evening, the club’s kitchen team provided dinner, and the day ended with a quiz and a drink at the bar. It was a simple but perfect ending to a very successful flying day.

Was a day like this really necessary? We believe it was.

Not because women need to fly separately, and definitely not because gliding is not a welcoming sport. On the contrary. But if we look honestly at the numbers, there is still a lot of room to attract and retain more girls and women in gliding.

Many clubs know the challenge of keeping new students involved throughout their training. For girls and women, it can sometimes be just that little bit harder to feel like they naturally belong in a world where they rarely see others like them.

One day will not solve all of that. Of course not.

But it does help.

It brings people together. It makes female pilots more visible. It shows younger or newer members that they are part of something bigger. And sometimes, that is exactly what someone needs to keep going.

The first Women’s Flying Day was a success. And as far as we are concerned, it will not be the last.