Moonrakers Gliding and Soaring Club - RAFGSA

Portmoak soaring I flew here in March 2004. A great site. My other ridge flights as a young man were at "Huish" near Upavon, Westbury White Horse, Doing my five hours at Devizes, a failed attempt at Halton, and at a ridge near Kemble, all with encouragement of John Williamson. Take a look here.

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.) Sometime in 1962 it must have been. For some reason we were flying from Biscester probably the time I was towed to Halton to try for my 5hours. The highlight of my few days there was the honor of flying with Sir Theodore MCEVOY in the Eagle two seater as his safety pilot!!! As it was only my second trip in this aircraft .... The moment the aircraft started to move on the launch it was like being on rails. Perfection. What a great gentleman. obituarys thanks to http://oldhabs.com   ACM Sir Theodore MCEVOY (1915-25) died on 29 September 1991, at the age of 86. In spite of his illness, he was an outstanding fighter leader. As Station Commander of RAF Northolt, he formed the Polish Fighter Wing in 1941, after they had fought magnifice...

ref John Willi and ref; the calculator. This is the latest reference I can find for Him. T his link gave me the quote below. "Ref "John Willy" - John Williamson - I remember him well and the calculator. Back in 1966 when he was a Flt Lt at RAF Locking he taught me to fly gliders in the then "Mendips" RAF Gliding Club. Wonderful days, T21, Tutor, Prefect, Oly 2b and a Grunau 2 (with its original German markings). Rotten site though, sea breeze front used to wipe out all thermal lift."

This where I found the reference to John Willi gain of height award. I remember him talking about this one day and saying how he was all iced up in the cockpit and it took an hour to get down as the  Weihe had no air brakes. de Havilland Cup (gain of height): JS.Williamson 26,500f

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.) Carrying Passengers in a T21. On 4 August 1963 John Williamson signed me off as fit to carry passenger in the T21. As this meant sitting in the left hand seat, it meant using the left hand for the stick and right hand for the spoilers. As in all other gliders it was the opposite hand, it took some getting used too. I was helped a lot as at the time I was in the process of getting my PPL flying Austers at Wolverhampton, and in the Auster it was Left  hand seat flying so I had got used to it. Later that day I took my first passenger, a Mr Hicks, the second was a Mrs White so indicates my log book, both 4 minute circuits. The next day (Sunday 5th August) another 16 passenger flights, all short with one exception of 17 mins thanks to the cook house therma...

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.) Olympia 463 Hot Ship? 8 June 1962 I converted to the Olympia 463 which was a fairly new machine for the club as far as I can remember. It was a 35 minute flight and I enjoyed something that had a bit more penetration than the Oly 2. As It happens this was the only flight I ever had in this machine as someone broke it a week or two later in a competition. So I was back to an Oly 2 again next time out. Love vintage gliders and classic sailplanes? Check out: Gliding & Soaring Books on Amazon | Sailplane Pilot Equipment

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.) As far as I can remember, Wally did the weather for the UK Championships in 1961 and 62. He also came over to Upavon a few times and John Willi called him for advice when doing something special. He was a lovely man and I had a copy of his book (now lost) and read it more than once. A  read I recommend.