SLOPING OFF...
...the Newsletter of Christchurch and District Model Flying Club for June 2021
REMINISCING
by David Bicker
My very frail elderly retired RAF pilot neighbour dropped in this morning with a flight log for a gliding comp in 1962, so I asked him if he had any other short stories that I could put to press in our club mag. So here's my notes from this morning with some pics of the appropriate gliders.
Short stories recounted by my retired RAF pilot neighbour John.
1 / Glider comp from RAF Benson Airfield (1960’s)
Approx 50 gliders took part, heading out in all directions on endurance flights. Those heading towards the south west encountered a bank of mist around the Exeter area & had no choice but to land at Exeter Airport – which had no choice but to close its runway & divert conventional traffic as around 25 gliders hit a wall of cold air & descended on it, landing all over the airfield.
2 / Glider Nationals endurance competition held in June 1962 from RAF Aston near Gloucestershire.
Shown is the flight log for a competing Polish designed MUCHA glider. Over 10 days of competition it did 18 flights for a total 41.27 hours. The best flight duration was 5 hours 50 minutes, landing at Chilbolton Aerodrome, south of Andover. The pilot called Lefty was Polish & had an unpronounceable surname. Looking at the other names in the list the others weren’t that easy to pronounce either!
3/ Aerobatics in an Olympia.
One of John’s colleagues flew one inverted the entire length of the runway at RAF Benson at about 30 feet above the runway. His casual comment was to remember to reverse the elevator controls for that duration part of the flight!
4/ Flying aerobatics in the Slingsby T21b Sedbergh - not this one, it’s David and his version from the December Sloping Off
John & a passenger flew some stall turns & 2 loops in the T21 one afternoon. After the flight the passenger who was a competition (RAF) pilot said “that was fun! I wonder how many loops we can do (from a height of 4000 feet) in the old bird?” John guessed 10.
They went up again with John as a passenger to 4000 feet & the pilot then proceeded to do 14 loops. Coming out at the bottom of the last loop the skid & wheel scuffed the grass of the airfield, leaving John more than a bit shaken!
Regards,
David Bicker