VGC News/Newsletters - Lakes Gliding Club

The indefatigable Jack Elliott has since modified another1'21 in the same way, so there was then a Spruce Goose Mark2! This one was crashed and Jack is now working on yetanother one, the third!The engine installation ofthe Spruce Goosetaken by NevilleAshbwnerol1 the day ofits first flight 13-4-91.The procedure when flying these interesting aircraft is tohave the engine running during a winch launch and part wayup to give it full throttle. It can then be flown around the siteeven if the wind is in an unfavourable direction and it will notonly "self sustain" but climb gently in 110 lift conditions. Thegroup is now experimenting with a ground-variable pitch propfor optimum performance.(And )'ou all thought that the Spruce Goose Was a flyingboat designed and builtby Howard Hughes in California! Ed)International NewsBRITISH NEWSWe have once again been bedevilled by the weather. There hasbeen only one, or at the most, two good days at our NationalRally and at the Slingsby Rally on Sutton Bank.Restorations of the two HUller H 28-2s, the Wren, Scud Iand the Weihe BGA 448, have been on 'hold' However, wecan announce the triumphant completion of the restorations ofa Slingsby Cadet at Lasham, a Tutor in the North East and theAvia 40P at Wycombe Air Park, the laller having been deliveredto France.The story of the Htitter H 17a, BGA 490.Chris Wills had believed that this aircraft had been 'built byDon Campbell, the Gliding Doctor, ill 1948 but Nick Newtofl,its new owner has discovered that it is, in fact, far, fa.- older.Here is an extract from his letter to Frederic Fischer of theIGO Albatross: "On page 9 of the notes that you have sent, Ieven found reference to my own glider! There is a list of allthe HUller H l7s that were under construction around theworld in 1936 and I have recently managed to get in touchw:ith the glider constructor, Mr Roy Scott, who had UK manufacturingrights at that time.As the list shows, in 1936 he was building three H 17As inhis workshop at Dunstable and he has sent me some very oldphotographs that he took at the time of the gliders that werebeing Ibuilt.He was also able to send me information about what happenedto these three gliders, which I shall repeat here for yourinterest.The ,first was sold to Sir Alan Coleman who was famousfor the mustard that his company produced. It was paintedyellow(!) and flew for some time after the war at the CambridgeClub. The second was sold to a group which indudedAmy Johnson, the famous English "Aviatrix", which eventuallycrashed near Oxford ill May 1938. (not with her in it!)The third which was 10 have been for Mr Scott's ownprivate use, was alas, never completed as the war came.Instead, he sold all the parts that he had already made ;- fittings,spars, and ribs etc ... to a glider builder in Scotland,called Mr Donald Campbell. However, he did not know whatbecame of the pal'ts Hnd he assumed that the glider had neverbeen completed.Can you imagine his surprise when, nearly 60 years later, 1was able to tell him that the glider had indeed been assembledand finished by Mr Campbell and that, after a dlOroUghresloration (by Southdown Aero Services at Lasham) in 1979,the same glider was still flying today!The date August 1948 was when it gained its first BGACertificate of Airworthiness. (Information from "BritishGliders", a Merseyside Publication by Phil Butler.Hawkridge built Grunau Babies BGA Nos 578 and 615.These received thei,' first BGA Cs of A ,in December '1947 andFebruary 1949 respectively and both of them still exist in, webelieve, good condition. Shordy after the war, Les Moulster wasworking on these aircraft at Dunslable. It seems that Mr Weylwent off to Germany in a mot,or vehicle and returned with it fullof parts for Grunau Baby 2\)s. These included completetailplanes, elevators and wing spars etc. Mr Weyl was sure theold traditional methods of constll.lction Were best, so the G. B.swere built with casein glue (Les can remember that some gluehe had mixed in the evening froze during the following night!)In order to keep the Grunaus light, they had to be finished in varnishedplywood and transparent, doped and varnished fabric.Les helped build the fuselage of BGA 578 but left the firm justas BGA 615's fuselage was being started. He never saw thewings but thinks that they were built by Bolten.This research has been done for Michael Oilier ofGempfingen Strasse 3, 86666 Burgheim, Germany, who hasrecently bought BGA 578. Michael wanted to know about itsoriginal finish. Details of this were provided by CW who discoveredthat he had copies of the late John Pressland's photosof these GBs at Dunstable in 1948. The second HawkridgeGrunau Baby 2b, BGA 615, is in its trailer at Lasham but nooneknows the whereabouts of its owner, Mike Challinor.Does anyone know where he is? This is important becauseBGA 615 used to belong to Rodi Morgan; it is now paintedwhite with red decoration and was in perfect condition whenlast seen.24