Sailplane & Gliding 1966 - Lakes Gliding Club

a most interesting visit to the Soaring
Society of America's offices.
Richard then kindly took us to see
Jack Laister in his workshops. Jack designed
some Army gliders in the ·Iast
war. He is now busy on a high-performance
sailplane and actually building the
prototype; helping him with this, in their
spare· time, were two airline pilots! The
machine has a plastic fuselage made in
two halves lengthwise and a high aspect
ratio wing. Jack Laister knows his stuff.
and I await the completion of his "latest"
with interest.
One Sunday morning we caHed to see
Ray Parker, who has a workshop in his
backyard and. like the other enthusiasts
I have mentioned, is never contented
unless he is doing something with sailplanes.
His latest T-tail ship is a charming
sight. Ray has done sQme wonderful
work in sailplane design and construction.
Of course, I have known people in
our own .coun'try who have built sailplanes
from kits ef parts and drawings
supplied commercially, and they have
done some good work too. But I have
yet to recall or know of people of the
same scale of achievement as those I
bave mentioned who have designed, and
built from scratch, complete sailplanes
and obtained aircraft type approval-aJl
in spare time. I wonder why this is so.
The Americans have no more spare time
than we have in Britain-less, I imagine
-so they must work harder and enjoy
their hobhy work more than we do.
Speaking to a prominent member of
the Southern Californian Soaring Society
en the organisation of gliding in Britain
compared with America, I asked why
they did not have dubs like we have in
Britain. He said they got on very well
as private groups and fraternisation as a
Society. Clubs, he said, were always busy
making rules and regulations and having
meetings, appointing impressively named
officials, and creating a sort of political
atmosphere. "In America we would rather
make sailplanes than lots of club
rules," he said. Pondering his reply, J
would not entirely agree, but there is
quite a lot of sense showing through his
remarks.
Nevertheless, it does perhaps explain
Why the gliding movement in the States
Mrs. Slingsby ("FluO") and Richa.rd
Miller, Editor of "Soaring".
is small cQmpared with other countries
on a basis of pcpulation.
I was invited to attend the April
Meeting of the Soaring Society of
Southern California (S.S.S.c.) in Hollywood.
Moreover, I was asked to get up
and talk a,bout sailplanes and their
development in Britain over the many
years I have been thus engaged. The
evolution of the Dart had to be outlined.
r explained that all our types had been
evolved from the experience we had
gained from our earlier efforts, and when
one carefully examines our types in
detail. this becomes evident. The allmoving
tail of the Dart is inherited from
the Hjordis of 1934-35. The detachable
root-fairing cover from the Gul) of 1937
and later types; wing taper ratio from
a much earlier type still. The rake of the
fin is certainly new, and follows modern
trend, as the dress designers ~ay. Anyway,
the end product is a good, sound
job.
It was a sad morning for us when we
left Dick and Lucy Lyon on the Inglewood
Airport at Los Angeles. They had
made a wonderful holiday for us in a
beautiful part of the world, and what is
more. with gliding folks. who understand
one another-l think so, an.yhow.
Where do we want to go ne"t for our
sunshine holiday? Need you say it?
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