Learning to fly, RAFGSA.

Learning to fly, RAFGSA with the MOONRAKER Gliding Club.

How did it happen? Well it was all rather simple really.

It was a Sunday and I was on an Air Radar Fitters course at RAF Yatesbury in Wiltshire, England and had nothing to do. Come to the gliding club a friend said, and as he had a Jaguar Mark I, it was an invitation that could not be turned down.

Thirty minutes later at about 9:30 I suppose, we were on the Airfield at RAF Upavon, a grass field high on the Wiltshire downs. It supported a couple of large hangars and there were several gliders on the grass ready to be flown. The first thing we did on our arrival was to put our names down on the flying list as this determined the order in which we would fly. That done I did not know what to do next, so I stood about watching some two seater aircraft get hitched to the winch cable and then launched. This was all rather spectacular as I had only ever seen a kite fly like these things were being launched.

It is not possible to stand around doing nothing for long at any gliding club, and soon I was asked to help a couple of other guys wash down the wings of a rather smooth looking glider, a Olympia 419 as it turned out to be. One this task had been completed I saw a rather slim chap having his photo taken next to a blackboard on which his destination was written. I did not take too much notice of it at the time. A little while later the rather swish glider was pulled into the launch area and the slim fellow got in and was launched to about 700 feet so I was informed. He then turned to the east side of the airfield and started circling above the corn fields and drifting away. Eventually, he disappeared and that seemed to be that until two other club members climbed into a ford van and drove off towing a rather long trailer.

My curiosity was aroused by this activity so I asked what was going on. The answer was that the pilot and club CFI, John Williamson, had set his Diamond Goal and was planning to fly some 500km. As far as I remember, he did not get to his planned destination, but did do more than 500km so got his distance target. This all made me think that gliding was quite a serious activity.

And of course later in the day I had my first flight in a T31 glider. In fact I had two flights which my log book shows as Joy rides and totaled 8 minutes in all, and I was hooked.

Some of the People I remember

John Williamson the CFI was a fairly small wiry man, with enormous energy and enthusiasm for Gliding and the Club. He was the person who did the 500km flight the day I first visited, and was the UK champion as well as representing the UK in the World Championships if my memory serves me well.

I flew with him many times and one of the most memorable flights was in the T21 at the end of the day. He was flying and I was just a passenger. My log book shows it as having taken place on the 21st of August 1961. It was a winch launch to 1100 feet, which on releasing the cable pulled up into a half turn of a spin, followed by a loop, a stall turn, a steep turn and a beat up in the valley to the side of the airfield then a spot landing (of course).

John was always looking for the best gliding experience possible given the weather conditions that prevailed. Just to the north of RAF Upavon was a south facing hill called "Huish". And on days when the winds were suitable we de-rigged the T21 and took a winch to a field owned by a friendly farmer (who also flew with us sometimes), and we learned about ridge soaring. As space was pretty restricted for the launch we could only get to about 400feet, but this was enough to make the turn back to the hill and start soaring.

Dick Stratton was the other special character that I had the privilege to fly with. He took me up to learn some aerobatics in the T21 one day. My log book note shows "loop, stall turn. Great".
I remember it now. The loop went fine, but I was a bit late hitting the rudder for the stall turn, so we were only part way round when we stopped flying. It was all a bit topsy turvy for a moment and Dick laughed like a drain. A great man who I know is missed by all he met.

Some of the other characters that I particularly remember (if not their names) include a Scottish fellow who was particularly busy fixing things most of the time. He did fly from time to time and was a stickler for things being done right! So one day when he came back from a trip in the OLY419 and landed very fast well down the field, us onlookers wondered what was the matter with him. In fact he had ice in the pitot head for his air speed indicator and had no reading from it. Just being careful. He had made a climb to over 16000 feet in cloud and got his gold height. Celebrations all round.

Why this blog about the Moonrakers Gliding Club

Well, I had a great time and learned a lot about safe flying at the Moonrakers Gliding and Soaring Club, operating at RAF Upavon in the early 1960's.

Having searched the internet and RAF Gliding and Soaring Association for information and history about it to no avail, I decided to start this blog and see if any of my old friends would pop out of the woodwork and share memories of the good old times, before they are lost.

If you ever flew with the club, or were just a visitor, please get in touch.