I can't envisage Cardiff Airport allowing the return of winch-launch gliders to St Athan. They were pulled from there in the early 2000s.
Main reason for losing the winch-launched gliders at Saints was the erection of the White Elephant (sorry - Red Dragon
) Hangar which was in the middle of what was effectively the North/South strip they used.
Being confined to the East/West concrete - shared with all sorts of other stuff at the time - meant Vigis were the better bet......
Still never understood why the Vigis could fly without (professional) ATC in the Tower, but Tutors couldn't ......
