I deliberately steered clear of most other sites because I only knew the south east although I do remember :
Kirton in Lindsey; a VGS co located with No 2 Gliding Centre before that moved to Spitalgate.
Catterick Right next to the A1 and deliberately ruined by the army building houses close to the runway.
Lindholme only in use for a short time.
Wittering mooted as a VGS but then the AEF/UAS people moved in.
Binbrook Closed when the RAF disposed of it.
and many (too many) more.

I was that soldier
 

Early Feb 1963 643 GS Kirton in Lindsey. Course been staggering on through foul and fouler weather since before Christmas 1962. C.O getting fed up with the sight of us miserable reprobates 3 in number who seem to becoming permanent fixtures and decides todays the day. Mates scramble 3 solos in deteriorating weather, snow flurries etc making life difficult. I scuttle 2 solos then sit in the cockpit for 40minutes waiting for a decent break in the clag. Suffice to say the last one was hairy in the extreme (I finished up sandwiched between two cloud layers) Age 16yrs and 2 months. Join the ATC and be frightened witless! Somehow groped back down whistling Dixie.

At 125 Gliding School Langley it took me 1hour 25 mins to get to first solo.

Clyffe Pypard
age 90

I obviously was an hours hog….:p

Land on the Airfield
 

I well remember the 'briefing' at Swanton in 63 for a continuous A&B Course on the Monday morn.
Given by the 'Boss' who was sporting a DFC still a Flt Lt.
' The Airfield is all yours this week I dont care where you land on it but keep it on the Airfield.' !!!

Did my A&B certificates 11/03/54 at 105 GS Cambridge in a Cadet Mk1.
Did my last solo August last year in a DG500 along the South Downs ridge. Had hoped to make 70 years but decided to be old not bold.

My '16th' was midweek so I commenced my course asap on saturday 3 Oct 1964 . Attended weekends only (mostly saturdays) until 7 Nov with a couple of days lost due bad weather: 35 launches incl solo checks then my final 3 solos so 38 in total; time overall was 1 hr 56 min.

Presumably K. E. BAILEY, DFC (156694) ?
I think Ian Ladley perhaps had the dubious distinction of being the oldest Flt Lt at one time ?

But by the 1950's/60's most of the full time Gliding Centre Instructors held possibly RAFRO 'J' class commissions ? perhaps with the CO and Adj still being regulars ?
Ian Ladley ceased being a regular in 1954 (medically unfit) according to London Gazette,unless he was reinstated later - no mention of that in the LG but LG search results are patchy at the best of times.

regards LR

Ian Ladley signed my P2 chitty on 30 Jul 1966.

Yep David Ince DFC and Derek Piggot also lost their RAF Aircrew medical category but it did not preclude them from Gliding (istr they were both sinus related but have not read their autobios for many years).

Dont play with the Very pistol
 

We had good weather on my March 63 course so no chance for any chat about Typhoons or Tempests, but during a tea break IL caught me looking at the Very Pistol and I got a mild rebuke, until I pointed out I had unloaded it before inspection, and normally 'played' with a Lee Enfield .303. We had a great course, and all of it out on the field other than the first day when we had the :- Please land on the airfield bit. In the evenings the Norfolk and Norwich Aero club were flying Tiger Moths, and I could not wait to order that little blue enamel badge from the BGA. It was a fabulous start in aviation and of course the organisation was at its peak. Having 'Soloed' on the Tues I thought that was my lot, but on the Friday I was put back in MK3 as I was 2 launches short of the min required. I was allowed the launches but then Douggie King took over and proceeded to have a 'time warp' moment and thought he was back in the 2nd TAF. The second launch was a repeat but included a mock rocket attack on the main hangar followed by a rather low level turn to land by the doors. In my 3822 I recorded this as ground attack practice, and a couple of years later back at Kenley after a rather 'spirited' P2 'mission' was accosted by the B Cat (not Frelon) and had the cheek to say I had been checked out on this exercise by one of the 'Gods' at the centre (and got away with it) !!! My goodness we had some fun, which (in the summer) included stripping everything off our MK 1 SWB Landrover, folding the screen down and having a real hoot (up to lunch time when we were told to put it all back again) by the 'seniors'. Our escapades in the evening after most had gone home, and we were finished with checking the cables for the next day, are still covered by the official secrets act and will not be released until 2030. 'Bill Bailey' later turned up running a Pub in Thornton Heath, (I think the DFC was on Lancs) but we never saw him at Kenley, (which was a shame)

Thanks for all the feedback boys - and I hope you'll all be pleased to hear that WT900 flew 12 launches (mostly Loughborough 'freshers') at Saltby last Saturday.

If I remember Derek Piggot earned a place on the Empire Test Pilots School but his medical showed him to be high tone deaf (like many wartime pilots) so he went to ATD Gliding at Detling.

Thanks for the correction Paul,I did ponder after I posted that it might be deafness,as I said - I have not read the book for some years.
ISTR it was similar for David Ince - I think he had actually completed the ETPS course when he found out about his sinus problem,I should have a check through his book,but it is a little late now and I do not want to disturb the boss as she is at work early tomorrow.

regards LR

D H G INCE,RAF ,No4 Cse,ETPS 1946......Nothing on Piggott; H C N Goodhart RN ,Same Cse.

Only 12?
More than once I flew 8 AEG trips in a Mk3 in about 1.5 hours, then other pilots would take over and do the same until dark.
That was the thing with Air Cadet gliding; get as many people airborne as possible but by all means do a bit of soaring if the chance occured. I did try a few civil clubs but it was so slow and time wasting I couldn't be bothered.

We did have quite a few other gliders out as well Chevron! With only one winch and one tug you just have to wait your turn for a launch.

I have no record of the number of launches or flight time during my training at Hendon in 1960 but it must have been similar to yours, all done in the Mk3. Winch, crosswind, downwind, base leg, finals, spoilers out, land .... no time for anything else and definitely no soaring. How on earth did you record your airborne time, with a stopwatch with a second hand? I wish that I could remember the maximum height we achieved, I seem to remember about 600ft and I doubt it could have been more than about 800ft., but it was a long time ago.

Don't know what system was used at other schools but at Halton, White Waltham and Bovingdon there was a log sheet which had to be filled in then initialled by the pilot before takeoff along with takeoff and landing times which were recorded at the launch point. Most instructors/AEG pilots also noted their times on their own kneepads in order to cross check.
As for maximum height in the circuit, the proximity of Hendon to Runway 23L approaches at Heathrow and Runway 25 approaches to Northolt would put stringent limits on that irrespective of cloud base or height gained off the launch and it would also limit Runway 05R departures from Heathrow and Runway 07 departures from Northolt; the height limit I mentioned earlier regarding Kenley (5000ft amsl if VFR) would not have applied at Hendon as it was in a different type of airspace where IFR control started at the surface.

Timing the flights !!
 

As far as Kenley was concerned a MK3 jaunt was normally booked as 3 miins and the T21 poss 5 (The BGA used to describe our activity as Aerial Tobogganing but were happy to take our money for the Badge and Cert). Frelons 'escape' to the west was a rare one, and indeed I do not recall ever seeing a chart at Kenley let alone a briefing on airspace. The usual issue for us was traffic heading for Biggin Hill which was getting very busy after it replaced Croydon for club flying. Kenley was not really the ideal spot for an 'out landing' but again I do not recall ever having a briefing on that situation and indeed I had decided that if one got clobbered by some severe 'sink' it would be down the hill to land on the Whyteleafe common (or cricket pitch) and then flee the Country. Local knowledge would have made this a safe option but no doubt excommunication from the system would have followed,(after 'the system' recovered from such an event). 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.

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!

Looks like it was 'rule of thumb' for times then because at Halton, if in doubt we also booked 3 min in a Mk 3 and 5 in a Sed.
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 had a couple of flights in a privately owned T21 at Kenley in 1992,we even 'got away' from a bad launch (logged as 600') for a 12 minute evening flight - not bad little trip with a cosim vario on which the 'green ball' was not working at all :)

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!

Saw a kid run out onto the airfield a few years ago while launching was taking place despite the implorings of his elderly granddad. I had my bike with me and sprinted round to the launch point... also saw a pair of rottweilers chase a very low and high speed Viking rounding off the days gliding with a sizzle across the airfield. Then there were the kite fliers just off the airfield, and under the approach, someone from 615 arrived there just before I did!

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!

You may have been on the same course as my older brother who was also sent to Hawkinge in Dec '61 but as a cadet; he too did about 3 launches then the airfield closed at the end of that month and No 1 GC re-located to Swanton Morley.
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.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9f829d8aea.jpg
Primary in 1952

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....0e8a17f7a1.jpg
Tutor Glider copy from RAF Thornhill's BUKA magazine

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.

Kenley's fence can be seen during its erection in 2018 in this thread: https://www.pprune.org/military-avia...l#post10334658

Thought I had posted some more recently but can't find them...

Not Over Yet
 

Now that was a thread that did not pull any punches. (still going ) unlike most of the 'Schools'

Obviously designed as a deterrent measure rather than a preventive one; you can easliy climb over the fence ignoring the prominent notices.
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.

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...