Thanks for the stories so far Lady and Gents
What got us interested in gliding ??
One of the stories that got me hooked on gliding was the 1953 Derek Piggot T21 height record - 'The Ascent of Red 31' - this is an excerpt from 'The Powerless Ones' by Michael Cummings...
Excitement? Red 31 was being thrown about the sky. She was
being coated with ice. It was bitterly cold in the open cockpit.
She was still climbing. Visibility was nil ahead and to the rear;
only the wing-tips were just in view. The cloud hung round
them like fog beside a river. Yet the only feeling Derek Piggott
transferred to the A.T.C. cadet was one of excitement. Why?
The answer was to be found in the gliding record books. He knew
that Old Red-Nose was coming pretty close to establishing a new
gliding record if there was any more lift to be had from the
towering bank of cloud that still engulfed them. From this
prospect, Piggott drew the strength and the will to carry on.
At 11,000 ft. there was a glimmer of a smile on his face as he
asked the cadet: "Have you got any idea how the gain-of-height
record stands for two-seaters at present?"
Whatley, who knew only that he was bitterly cold and
miserable with nothing to see and nothing to do, mumbled: "I
haven't a clue, Sir."
Unlike the boy, though, Piggott had a fair inkling that Red 31
was already close to the altitude achieved by Austin and Bedford
the previous year when they set up a new British gain-of-height
record. The gain-of-height is the difference between the height
actually reached and the height above sea level from which the
glider was launched; for example, a glider winched up from
Camphill and reaching an altitude of 6,300 ft. would have made a
gain-of-height of 6,300 ft. minus the height of the [/URL]
P165 onwards
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...513dg1kwO4teCQ