Moonrakers Gliding and Soaring Club - RAFGSA

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. (UK/EU: affiliate commission may be earned on purchases made through links in this post.) Many thanks for the comment telling me that the club was originally formed at RAF Lynham in 1957. Anyone know who the CFI was at the time and any other details? When did it move to RAF Upavon and when did it close down? Best regards, Chr Interested in RAF and British gliding history? Browse these recommended books: RAF Gliding History Books on Amazon | British Gliding & Soaring Books is

This is the Club membership Card on which was recorded the aircraft one was permitted to fly, and other club tasks that one was checked out to perform. The aircraft in the fleet at that time were; Tutor, Grunau, Olympia 2 and Olympia 419. The training aircraft were a T31 and T21. We also had an occasional tug which was a Chipmunk.

Sunday 30 July was my fifth day at the Moonrakers Gliding club and I was looking forward to flying again. So far I had flown with four different instructors (Dennis, Stains, John Williamson, Colins) and they all seemed to have a magic touch. When I had to work hard all the time to keep the glider flying level or turning smoothly, they could take control and everything instantly become smooth and perfect. Today I was back in the T31 and flying from the front seat with Dennis instructing from the rear. One of the most exciting phases of flight when learning to fly a glider, is the take off. We were being launched by winch using a launching method whereby a cable is attached to the aircraft at a special hook point just under the front of the fuselage. Once this was attached and checked to ensure it would release correctly, a helper held one of the wings of the glider, and the cable (about 3 or 4 thousand feet of it) which was attached to a winch at the other end of the air field, was ...

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.