What a lovely summer! As I write this on the last day of August the heavens have opened finally and an impressive volume of rain has fallen on the otherwise parched earth, the result of the long summer sunshine.
WORKSHOP
As always, the workshop has been busy all summer with multiple projects underway including Ken Summers and G Dale making the final touches to their beautiful Schempp Hirth SHK, hopefully we will see this glider flying at Lasham soon, I understand Ken and G have another SHK to start work on as soon as they have finished number one.
The work on the Slingsby Falke T61 is now completed, engine runs have been done and it is now back in storage waiting for the paperwork to be finished by the BGA and CAA, once that is done the intention is to sell the aircraft.
Ray Whittaker is continuing the restoration of the K8 which was donated to the GHC from deepest Devon, we still don’t know what we will do with this glider assuming we can get it back to airworthy condition which now looks very likely, we’ll wait and see on that one.
The TG4 is also an ongoing long-term project being led by GHC volunteer Andy Woolley. As mentioned in this article earlier in the year, the TG4 won’t fly again mores the pity, instead Andy is planning a restoration to museum standard as close to the original paintwork as possible for most of the glider leaving other parts clear so the structure can be seen, parts of the fuselage, a tailplane and the underside of one wing perhaps completely uncovered but restored if that makes sense so the glider can be put on display and visitors can easily see the structure of the aircraft under the clear fabric covering the Glider. The likelihood is that the TG4 will be hung from the roof in one of the hangars for the best visitor viewpoint.
The Spalinger. Oh, the troublesome Spalinger. As you may be aware by now following the complete restoration of this glider it was test flown by our intrepid test pilots Gary Pullen and Richard Moyse who both said of it, that’s the worse handing glider they had ever flown! Much head scratching later, a previously unknown issue was found in the internal rudder control system, work was done to fix the problem and the glider was re test flown in August. Unfortunately, although handling was improved a little (probably, said Gary) by the fix, it has been decided that it still isn’t good enough for the general membership to fly.
It might prove possible to improve the handling by redesigning or amending the original design but we really would prefer to keep it in original condition. The plan now is to keep it on a permit to fly, it won’t get a C of A, and then very occasionally bring it out to the airfield and very experienced vintage glider pilots can be briefed and allowed a flight in it. It’s a great pity but we don’t want to risk hurting anyone or damaging the glider.
Over the summer months we have been donated another four gliders which are in the workshop or hangars either awaiting or undergoing inspection to evaluate their condition and what needs to be done to get them up to airworthy or to display condition.
The first, the Torva Sprite is a British designed and built glider which first flew in 1971, it was actually the first British ‘glass’ glider produced and was kindly donated to the GHC by Graham ‘Mouse’ Ackroyd.
This glider was actually flown hors concours in a competition, at the Hus Bos Nationals in June 1971 by the great John Williamson. In its 1971 initial version it was named the Sport (also known as the Sprint) and the flaps and retractable u/c were removed and it was renamed the Sprite, first flying in 1973 (a second Sprite was built). Ours hasn’t flown for many years and unfortunately won’t ever fly again for various reasons, including what it is actually made of and the technique of manufacture. Martin Gilbert another of our GHC volunteers and an expert aero modeller even covered up the tow hook to make sure of that! This is now on static display in the roof of the second hangar.
The second glider is a Swales SD3-15T kindly donated to the GHC by Jerry Henderson-Newton. Built in metal and first flown in 1976 just this one aircraft with a T tail was built, although six V tail Swales gliders were also built. This glider is so far devoid of paperwork which we are expecting at some point soon from Jerry. Hopefully this glider will be restored to flying condition and join our ever expanding fleet.
The third glider that has been donated to us this summer is a Hutter H17a. This glider is no stranger to the GHC hangars and has been a resident for a year or so but privately owned by Nick Newton. He has always allowed GHC members to fly it and many have, indeed it was one of the subjects of The Aeroplane Magazine article on the GHC in June this year. Nick has now very kindly and generously donated the Hutter to the GHC collection to be enjoyed by many more members in the future, thanks Nick.
The fourth glider is another glass glider, probably our last for a while (but you can never say never!) a Swiss Diamant 18. Built in 1968 it was first bought into the UK by Humphrey Dimock a highly respected pilot who flew at Lasham and since then it has always been based in the UK. This glider last flew in 2023 and its ARC expired in November of that year. Donated by David Chapman it arrived at Lasham on the 5th September. We are planning to renew the ARC and hopefully have the glider flying in the Spring of 2026.
THE HANGAR EXTENSION
As you will be well aware by now we are well on the way to completing the initial groundworks for the Hangar Two, 24 metre by 24 metre extension to be built to the west of the second hangar. As you hopefully know, this will be used to store gliders derigged and stacked and racked probably in the roof space too so we can get our vulnerable elderly wooden gliders out of their elderly wooden trailers and really make sure they don’t deteriorate any more than necessary. The trailers need to have their own luck with the weather but at least the gliders will be safe!
The next and imminent, by the time you read this hopefully even completed project is to put the drainage in, both improvement to Hangar Two and new drainage for the new extension. This work is all done by volunteers led by Gary Pullen and Richard Moyse so if you have skill, experience or just enthusiasm for this kind of work and you’d like to get involved please do get in touch with ideally Gary or Richard directly but any of the GHC committee you might bump into and we can get you started!
Whilst we do as much of the preparation work and finishing ourselves all being well, we do have a company that design to our requirements, produce the hangar and put up all the steel work and cladding and other specialist work that is needed. They are waiting for us now to push the go button on the project, get the building regs signed off and they will make a start on the construction of the actual building.
Lots of work ahead on this project and many hands, pointed in the right direction of course make lighter work so please do get involved if you have the time, it would be much appreciated and although hard work, enjoyable and in good company with beer o’clock to look forward to at the end of the day!
VISITING OTHER SITES
Although not actually a GHC glider, Richard Moyse flew his Slingsby Sky AVB with the Dunstable/Lasham ‘perpetual dispute plate’ in the cockpit to give to the good folk of the London Gliding Club in an attempt to reinvigorate that old tradition of the plate going back and forth between Lasham and Dunstable. It has been at Lasham for years uncollected by the other place so we hope that it might restart now and get some hours in the cockpit of a wooden glider going back and forth again!
Richards main reason for his visit to The London Gliding Club on the weekend of the 23rd and 24th August was to help with their 95th birthday celebrations. Richard’s replica Slingsby Falcon was trailered up and then flown by Richard and others over the weekend, it is well known that one of Fred Slingsby’s original Falcons soared the hill at Dunstable in the 1930’s so a very appropriate tribute indeed.
Richard informs me that he spoke to a lot of London Gliding Club vintage sailplane lovers while he was there for the weekend about the GHC, some of whom had never visited!
VISITS
These have been progressing very well this year under the leadership of Roger Marson. As I write this the number of visitors so far is just short of 600. This is from the “Just turn up at 14:00 on a Sunday” tours plus the organised visits. Add in the 400 Investin students we’ve hosted in Jul/Aug and that’s hitting a 1000! Note we get all manner of groups visiting for an organised tour. Very often a presentation in the GHC workshop viewing room is part of their visit. ATC/Scouts, U3A, car clubs, aviation groups, fly-ins, to flag some of them. Some photos below, courtesy of Roger.
Interested in being a guide?
We could do with more to lessen the load on the current 8. Training will be given. If you want to know more contact Roger Marson (rogerfmarson@gmail.com) or Glyn Bradney (FGBradney@outlook.com)
COMMUNICATING
The norm is we send 5 or 6 Newsletters and News updates during the year. We get feedback that some members want to be kept in better touch with what’s going on! OK, here’s some advice.
1.) Look at the Facebook page on the GHC. Do a Google on “Gliding Heritage Centre Facebook”. Note not all of the posted material is GHC related, though the majority is. Also, not all contributions are complementary!
2.) “WhatsApp”. The GHC committee recognised that there was a need for more immediate short-term communication with our members and so set up a GHC News Community WhatsApp group.
The functionality is that a few reliable Admins on the group can post on a purely “announcements only” basis, letting members who join know about ad hoc flying days, hangar repacks, work parties, etc, or anything else that they feel the members might like to come and support or be interested in. There will be no way for anyone other than the Admins to post on this group, so it is not a banter type WhatsApp group.
However, embedded within this WhatsApp group is a second chat group which is open to any member to join separately to post in to ask questions or otherwise communicate with anyone else who decides to join the chat group. To join follow the below link:
THE AGM
This was the 13th AGM and went ahead in the GHC workshop on Sunday 14th September. Given the awful weather a surprisingly good attendance, 40 members and 3 non-members. 5 apologies and 26 valid proxy votes. With 407 paid-up members we just needed one proxy vote to make the votes on passing the previous year’s minutes and agreeing the latest year’s accounts valid! A very straightforward AGM which finished after 55 minutes with Adrian Emck being presented with the Ed Hall cup for the best series of X-country flights in a vintage glider during the year. With the AGM ended there were refreshments, very many thanks to Maureen Pullen for this.
NEXT SERIES OF WINTER TALKS
We’ve held these for the past 2 years and judging by the number of members attending they’ve been a considerable success. The norm is to hold them on one Sunday per month in the GHC workshop viewing room, starting Oct, then Nov, followed by Jan, Feb, and the final one in March – we don’t hold one in December. Start time is 16:00 and the talks normally take 45 mins to one hour. This year the first talk will be on Sunday 26 October and will be given by Izzy de Montet-Guerin. Izzy was until very recently the chief test pilot and CFI at Boscombe Down. In January she will be taking up the position of chief test pilot at Pilatus, Switzerland. Full details of this and the following 4 talks will be sent out to all members by the end of September.
FLYING GHC OWNED GLIDERS – ARE YOU A PAID-UP MEMBER?
This is to flag the fact that if you’re not a paid-up member you’re not insured in the unfortunate situation of your having a flying accident. If a membership has expired the norm is we advise that member no more than 2 – 3 days after the event. However, that doesn’t cover you, not paid-up means not insured. We’ll be repeating this message in the Spring 2026 newsletter.
Graham Garnett and Glyn Bradney 21 September 2025
