ATC glider solos
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I look at Reach for the Sky now and then stand on Whyteleafe Rec and marvel that it's the film's cricket location. The near bare hill side of the film is covered with impenetrable scrubby hazel, blackthorn and whatever else!
Anybody who didn't quite make it back in a Viking could probably squeeze it in between the play pen and the tennis courts but there ain't much room, and trees along the railway embankment. Nowhere else in the valley, though the northern half of Bourne Park might just be doable. Early decision and land on Riddlesdown above the quarry (or Farthing Downs if southwest of the airfield)! I've never seen anyone get that low though.
Speaking of T-21s, Surrey Hills had one a few years ago, remember watching it overhead, nearly stationery in a strong north-easterly, and I could hear the control surfaces creaking from a few hundred feet below!
Anybody who didn't quite make it back in a Viking could probably squeeze it in between the play pen and the tennis courts but there ain't much room, and trees along the railway embankment. Nowhere else in the valley, though the northern half of Bourne Park might just be doable. Early decision and land on Riddlesdown above the quarry (or Farthing Downs if southwest of the airfield)! I've never seen anyone get that low though.
Speaking of T-21s, Surrey Hills had one a few years ago, remember watching it overhead, nearly stationery in a strong north-easterly, and I could hear the control surfaces creaking from a few hundred feet below!
As far as Kenley was concerned a MK3 jaunt was normally booked as 3 miins and the T21 poss 5.
It was interesting visiting other local units :- Tangmere, Manston, and West Malling, as it brought home how 'quaint' Kenley was compared to these other 'Jet Fields'. Actually Whyteleafe Cricket pitch had featured in Reach for the sky (filmed at Kenley) so my defence would have revolved around that. As Chev remarks Kenley 'is not large', so why did the nerds at HQ allow a substantial wooden fence to built on the peri track as this reduced its safety margin even more, it beggars belief.
It was interesting visiting other local units :- Tangmere, Manston, and West Malling, as it brought home how 'quaint' Kenley was compared to these other 'Jet Fields'. Actually Whyteleafe Cricket pitch had featured in Reach for the sky (filmed at Kenley) so my defence would have revolved around that. As Chev remarks Kenley 'is not large', so why did the nerds at HQ allow a substantial wooden fence to built on the peri track as this reduced its safety margin even more, it beggars belief.
As for the wooden fence recently constructed round Kenley, surely it needs to be 'frangible' so that if anyone overruns they won't cause too much damage but having said that, there are probably idiots living in the vicinity (no I'm not talking about you treadigraph) who think it's perfectly safe to wander all over the airfield irrespective of the fact it is active with cable launching 7 days a week and there are warning signs posted.
I only encountered 617's operation at Manston briefly when I ran an Easter Camp at Manston in 1988 however I understand in spite of all that space, their operations were restricted to a small area called the 'Northern Grass' which was north of the public road running across the airfield; this even applied when the main grass strips south of the road were in use for Chipmunk and PPL flying. Of course this may have all changed after RAF moved out in 1999 and the airfield was 'privatised'.
I did similarly from Halton back in the '90s while flying 3 - axis AX3 microlights. Surface wind was around about 20 kts so I flew overhead at about 2000ft agl into the headwind and reduced air speed until my groundspeed reduced to zero, about 35 kts indicated, stalling speed being about 26kts. No creaking of control surfaces; all you could hear was the Rotax 2 -stroke just above tickover!
Gnome de PPRuNe
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As for the wooden fence recently constructed round Kenley, surely it needs to be 'frangible' so that if anyone overruns they won't cause too much damage but having said that, there are probably idiots living in the vicinity (no I'm not talking about you treadigraph) who think it's perfectly safe to wander all over the airfield irrespective of the fact it is active with cable launching 7 days a week and there are warning signs posted.
My gliding experience is extremely limited! In 1961 I returned from RAF Bahrain and joined the Coastal Command Comunications Flight. In November 61 I was given a secondary duty! O/C Coastal Command Gliding! I tried to escape the duty because I knew nothing about it, but I failed and I was sent to RAF Hawkinge in December to learn how to glide! I did not know Hawkinge was the WRAF Officer Cadet training base, so I was outnumbered by female Officers when having a pint in the evening! My one week gliding course was a total disaster! I think I did three launches and spent the rest of the time sheltering from the wind and rain! The Officers mess was a very lonely place for a young Flying Officer and I was glad to get back my proper job! I also managed to shed my secondary duty!
My gliding experience is extremely limited! In 1961 I returned from RAF Bahrain and joined the Coastal Command Comunications Flight. In November 61 I was given a secondary duty! O/C Coastal Command Gliding! I tried to escape the duty because I knew nothing about it, but I failed and I was sent to RAF Hawkinge in December to learn how to glide! I did not know Hawkinge was the WRAF Officer Cadet training base, so I was outnumbered by female Officers when having a pint in the evening! My one week gliding course was a total disaster! I think I did three launches and spent the rest of the time sheltering from the wind and rain! The Officers mess was a very lonely place for a young Flying Officer and I was glad to get back my proper job! I also managed to shed my secondary duty!
As you were at Bovingdon, you could have finished your gliding training at nearby Halton like my brother did; we lived in Chesham at that time.
My first solo was in 1952 at 5 FTS, R.A.F. Thornhill (Rhodesia) whilst a member of the R.A.F. Thornhill Gliding Club.
The R.A.F. Thornhill Gliding Club was formed with the object of bringing glider flying to those stationed at R.A.F. Thornhill. Two second hand gliders a “Tutor” and a “Primary” were bought from the Rand Flying Club, Johannesburg, and these eventually arrived at Thornhill in 1951. They were assembled, and successfully test flown in March 1952. The club was then in business. The PSI/Station supported the club by allocating a 15cwt truck for glider towing duties, but otherwise the club was self-supporting with funds raised from members. The club had a joining fee of £1 and a monthly subscription of 10/- (50p). There was a further charge of 1/- (5p) for each launch.
Gliders were launched by being towed across the airfield by the truck, using a towing cable of steel wire, up to five hundred yards long. With this method, it was possible to launch the gliders to heights of over a thousand feet.
In the first stage the “Primary” was used and the towing speed kept too low for it to become airborne, but as the pupil became familiar with the controls as it “slid” across the airfield he would after a very short time find himself flying across the airfield, in full control, first at only a few feel, then at greater heights as he gains experience and learns to control the glider in turns. Promotion to the “Tutor” followed with further training in easy stages, leading up to the red-letter day when he soars successfully.
Looking back in 1952 the “Primary,” was probably the most elementary form of flying machine still flying; I’m sure the Wright Brothers would feel very much at home flying it!
I joined the Club in late 1952 and my first ‘flights’ in the “Primary” were hair-raisingly scary. There was no two-seat version so initial “flights” took place as one was tugged along the ground at 30-40 mph, having been told to keep the stick forward to keep the glider on the ground and wings level with the ailerons and use the rudder to follow the towing truck. With only a couple of inches between the seat bottom of the “Primary” and the baked-hard Rhodesian airfield surface, avoiding bumps on the ground, including nascent ant-hills (and there were many) was as much as part of learning to fly a glider as actually getting off the ground. With no instructor alongside to get you out of trouble it was all a bit scary, but one could rely on the duty instructor yelling into a megaphone to shout instructions from the ground!
With eighty or so aircraft on the airfield we regularly ‘acquired’ petrol for the tow trucks by draining a little from an Anson or a Harvard or two! High octane aviation spirit and low-compression vehicle engines which in Rhodesia in 1952 would probably run on fermented porridge juice just don’t mix, with the result that the high-octane aviation spirit played havoc with the low-compression engines of the towing trucks; burnt valve seats etc caused lots of un-serviceability. Luckily two Gliding Club members worked in the MT Section and repairs were usually quickly resolved.
Later as one progressed to short hops things improved and even more so when the instructors allowed flights up to a couple of hundred feet or so: cast off and then do a series of ‘S’-turns, real flying at last, but still very primitive, no ASI, just a piece of string or a ribbon on the spar in front of one’s eyes, as long as it was fluttering in the slip-stream one was OK, however when it stopped fluttering it was time to put the nose down. Unforgettable, but sadly in my case I never did get to fly the ‘Tutor’ as the Rhodesian Air Training Group started to close down shortly afterwards and the Club assets were sold-off. But it was all good fun with fond memories.
Here’s what I looked like in one of my first flights.
Primary in 1952
Tutor Glider copy from RAF Thornhill's BUKA magazine
The R.A.F. Thornhill Gliding Club was formed with the object of bringing glider flying to those stationed at R.A.F. Thornhill. Two second hand gliders a “Tutor” and a “Primary” were bought from the Rand Flying Club, Johannesburg, and these eventually arrived at Thornhill in 1951. They were assembled, and successfully test flown in March 1952. The club was then in business. The PSI/Station supported the club by allocating a 15cwt truck for glider towing duties, but otherwise the club was self-supporting with funds raised from members. The club had a joining fee of £1 and a monthly subscription of 10/- (50p). There was a further charge of 1/- (5p) for each launch.
Gliders were launched by being towed across the airfield by the truck, using a towing cable of steel wire, up to five hundred yards long. With this method, it was possible to launch the gliders to heights of over a thousand feet.
In the first stage the “Primary” was used and the towing speed kept too low for it to become airborne, but as the pupil became familiar with the controls as it “slid” across the airfield he would after a very short time find himself flying across the airfield, in full control, first at only a few feel, then at greater heights as he gains experience and learns to control the glider in turns. Promotion to the “Tutor” followed with further training in easy stages, leading up to the red-letter day when he soars successfully.
Looking back in 1952 the “Primary,” was probably the most elementary form of flying machine still flying; I’m sure the Wright Brothers would feel very much at home flying it!
I joined the Club in late 1952 and my first ‘flights’ in the “Primary” were hair-raisingly scary. There was no two-seat version so initial “flights” took place as one was tugged along the ground at 30-40 mph, having been told to keep the stick forward to keep the glider on the ground and wings level with the ailerons and use the rudder to follow the towing truck. With only a couple of inches between the seat bottom of the “Primary” and the baked-hard Rhodesian airfield surface, avoiding bumps on the ground, including nascent ant-hills (and there were many) was as much as part of learning to fly a glider as actually getting off the ground. With no instructor alongside to get you out of trouble it was all a bit scary, but one could rely on the duty instructor yelling into a megaphone to shout instructions from the ground!
With eighty or so aircraft on the airfield we regularly ‘acquired’ petrol for the tow trucks by draining a little from an Anson or a Harvard or two! High octane aviation spirit and low-compression vehicle engines which in Rhodesia in 1952 would probably run on fermented porridge juice just don’t mix, with the result that the high-octane aviation spirit played havoc with the low-compression engines of the towing trucks; burnt valve seats etc caused lots of un-serviceability. Luckily two Gliding Club members worked in the MT Section and repairs were usually quickly resolved.
Later as one progressed to short hops things improved and even more so when the instructors allowed flights up to a couple of hundred feet or so: cast off and then do a series of ‘S’-turns, real flying at last, but still very primitive, no ASI, just a piece of string or a ribbon on the spar in front of one’s eyes, as long as it was fluttering in the slip-stream one was OK, however when it stopped fluttering it was time to put the nose down. Unforgettable, but sadly in my case I never did get to fly the ‘Tutor’ as the Rhodesian Air Training Group started to close down shortly afterwards and the Club assets were sold-off. But it was all good fun with fond memories.
Here’s what I looked like in one of my first flights.
Primary in 1952
Tutor Glider copy from RAF Thornhill's BUKA magazine
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Hi Chev 'The Fence' around the Kenley peri track is 'substantial' and not glider friendly. Treads will know but there are a multitude of gates built in which are supposed to be locked when gliding takes place. Apart from it being a danger for overruns it defaced the original wartime peri track which served through the BoB until they built the B..... fence. Nerds in control again, had Kenley stayed in Surrey it would not have happened. Surrey was proud of Kenley (A common that became a battleground ) 'especially on 18th Aug 1940'. History has shown us that the B O B was a defining point in WW2 because its outcome determined all that followed, and Kenley was an example of how fragile our defences were, relying on prewar stations with few defences or bomb proof buildings. Well, Kenley survived 1940, and then hit back in 41 on when we started on the over the channel raids. It deserves better.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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Kenley's fence can be seen during its erection in 2018 in this thread: Air Cadets grounded?
Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...
Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...
Not Over Yet
Kenley's fence can be seen during its erection in 2018 in this thread: Air Cadets grounded?
Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...
Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...
Kenley's fence can be seen during its erection in 2018 in this thread: Air Cadets grounded?
Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...
Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...
I presume it was installed by MOD and no 'hazard analysis' was carried out because the CAA would never have allowed it without proper airside/groundside demarcation probably including a 2m high fence much further away from areas to which aircraft have access.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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There are plenty of gates in the fence which are left open when there is no gliding - currently 615 generally fly Saturday and Sunday, Surrey Hills GC on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays (there's an unfortunate acronym for that!); otherwise the general public are welcome to wander hither and yon. Signs remind them to clear up after their canine companions but I gather that doesn't always happen...
Fence certainly MOD installation, the airfield is still Defence property, most of the area outside the peritrack belongs to Corporation of London as part of Kenley Common, other than the SE corner where the hangar and new ATC building is. If gliding ceases, the rest of the airfield returns to common land; however the area around the derelict Officer's mess is subject of a planning application. Or that's my understanding...
Fence certainly MOD installation, the airfield is still Defence property, most of the area outside the peritrack belongs to Corporation of London as part of Kenley Common, other than the SE corner where the hangar and new ATC building is. If gliding ceases, the rest of the airfield returns to common land; however the area around the derelict Officer's mess is subject of a planning application. Or that's my understanding...
