Moonrakers Gliding and Soaring Club - 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 ...

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 ...

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.