Gliding Is Soaring In Popularity

It is unfortunate in someways that the gliders and almost all their ancillary equipment, except the road trailers, are im­ ported rather than being built in this country. The only com­ pany that has ever produced sailplanes in substantial numbers in Australia, Edmund Schneider Pty Ltd, of Gawler, SA, has ap­ parently given up all manufacturing and now concentrates on repair work and acting as an importing agency. The new two­ seater aircratt, which is at an advanced state of completion in prototype form, had made little progress in the last year or two and seems most unlikely to enter production in the near future. The reason for l_ack of progress is entirely shortage of capital. Modern sailplanes being built, usually, of glass­ reinforced plastic often with carbon fibre spars, require ex- Page 75pensive moulds and careful control during manufacture. They cannot, like the old wooden aircraft used to be, be glued together piece by piece in simple jigs by one or two skilled craftsmen. Neither is it possible to experiment much with a basic design. The moulds, once made with much labour, are not easily modified, so if the aircraft turns out to need substantial alterations, the costs may easily become prohibitive. The industry in Europe is big enough to carry such loads but apparently not here.

At this time, however, some Australian clubs urgently need some new two-seaters. In March this year, to the dismay of the entire movement, the Department of Transport, with whom final authority in matters of airworthiness rests, issued an order grounding all those Blanik two-seaters that had flown for 3000 hours or more and imposing flight limitations forbidding aerobatics on Blaniks with 2500 hours. The order originated in Czechoslovakia where Blaniks are built. The whole story has not been told yet, but the problem is metal fatigue. Further study by the GFA’s technical advisers has allowed an extension of 300 hours for those Blaniks that have been launched by aero-tow rather than winch for 75 per cent or more of their life. The loads in winching are on the whole more severe than in aero-towing, the extension may mean an extra year or more of useful life for those clubs that aero-tow and operate their two-seaters only at weekends. In other cases, however, the difficulties are much more serious. At Waikerie, for example, there are two Blaniks now apparently grounded permanently since both have exceeded the 3300 hour figure by a large margin. No fatigue cracks have ever Page 76been discovered in the primary st ucture of eith_er airc aft, but the wing spars are very hard t inspect. T e _Alic Springs Gliding Club and the club at Darwin are in a similar fix. Other clubs, though not so immediately affected, f_ace he wholly unexpected prospect of having to scrap their existing two­ seaters within a few years and replacing them. Very few club treasurers have allowed for such a rapid depreciation. There are nearly 100 Blaniks in the country, they form the backbone of the training programme in most clubs.

A few Romanian all-metal two seaters have been im­ ported during the past year, five to the Gliding Club of Vic­ toria at Benalla alone. These aircraft have a better perfor­ mance than the Blanik, but for that very reason are not always regarded so highly for primary training purposes. New prototype, glass/plastic two seaters are now flying in Ger­ many, especially the Twis Astir and the H121, but even those clubs who ordered these before the Blanik shock, do not ex­ pect them to arrive before the end of this year. It is feared that some small clubs may be forced to close down all training for some time unless further worthwhile extensions to the life of the Blanik can be made.

The setback, though serious, will be temporary. Australia hasachieved status as one of the leading gliding nations. Four world records are held now by Australian pilots. The latest and most impressive of these was the speed record of 133. 5kph for a flight round a triangle of more than 750km, set by John Rowe in February. Rowe is chief instructor at the Narromine Soaring Centre in NSW. He flew a Nimbus 2. The flight took five hours 46 minutes, the total great circle dis­ tance being 774. 066km. The previous record was set in South Africa, Rowe’sspeed isbetter by about 8kph. More significant than these records was lngo Renner’s win in the Standard Class World Championships, held in Finland l;;. st year.

Renner was forced into second place in the previous World Championships, which were held at Waikerie in 1974, when his Standard Cirrus developed an airbrake defect on the last day. This slowed him down sufficiently to allow the famous German pilot, Helmut Reichmann, to win the world title for the second time. In Finland Renner made up for the bitter disappointment of two years before. As a consequence of his win, he is one of onlr five pilots invited to compete in the annual transcontinenta Smirnoff Derby in the USA. This extraordinary event, run for the first time five years ago, is a series of races to pre-declared goals. If a pilot fails to reach the goal, he loses points heavily, the winner is he who com­ pletes the day’s task in the least time, and the next day all five set off again on the next leg.

The whole journey extends over 2900 miles (4666km). It starts at Los Angeles in California and ends at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, some 15 days after the start. Renner com­ peted against George Lee, of Britain, the current world cham­ pion in the Open Class, and George Moffat, twice world champion in that class, as well as two other outstanding American pilots. lngo Renner won the Smirnoff Derby easily – a fine victory for him – which confirms him as the best pilot in the world at present. He beat George Lee, the current Open Class champion, as well as Moffat, who was Open Class champion twice, in 1970 and 1974. Renner won eight of the 10 days, and finished more than 500 points ahead of Lee.

These peak performers represent the tip of an iceberg. A few years ago, only two or three Australians came anywhere near world championship status. The results at the last national championships, held at Renmark, SA, confirmed that a growing number of pilots, especially younger ones, are pressing the current champions hard. Many of the current world leaders, such as Moffat himself, and Dick Johnson also of the USA, George Burton of England, and Hans Werner Grosse of Germany, are men of middle age. It has always been considered that many years of experience, as well as talent, fired by the competitive spirit, are required to bring a glider pilot to the summit. Lee, Reichmann and Renner, however, are much younger, with, even now, most of their flying careers ahead of them. Yet in Australia, several rising stars in their early twenties have shown themselves capable of equall-ing or bettering such pilots on some occasions. Although, for­ tunately, glider pilots commonly continue flying regularly, and even competing, until well into their sixties, it begins now to look as if youth is an advantage after all. If so, the prospects for the Australian teams in future world championships are bright indeed.

That we still have a great deal to learn, especially at the level of the ordinary club pilot, cannot be denied. Startling demonstrations of this have been given by Hans Werner Grosse, who, two years in succession, has visited Waikerie from Germany for the express purpose of setting a new world record for a flight round a large triangle. Grosse, flying his ASW 17 (comparable to the Nimbus 2 in performance), has, time and again, flown great distances in weather conditions that, hitherto, have been thought by Australian pilots to be too poor for cross-country soaring. He has developed a technique of taking off very early in the day, working the weak and shallow convective layers of the atmosphere between the ground and a mere 1500 or 1600 feet, and progressing steadily on the first stages of his long, self­ imposed tasks. Often when club gliders would still be in the hangar waiting for the afternoon to warm up he would be two or three hundred kilometres on his way. He has pioneered routes over difficult and sometimes downright dangerous country, and in both 1976 and 1977 has achieved his aim – the largest triangle ever flown by sailplane is now 1060km from Waikerie to Hay and Warracknabeal with the landing at Waikerie. More than one Australian pilot has resolved to attempt to improve on this figure before next season, when Grosse promises to return again, with a new aircraft, to raise it again. All this, while some beginners still find it hard to achieve the 50km cross-country distance required to qualify for the Silver C Badge.

As a kind of counterpoint to these stupendous, and frankly exhausting achievements, a nostalgia is developing in some hearts for the old days, when a gentle circuit in a Grunau Baby or Olympia was an event to talk about, and athermal flight a near miracle. Not everyone gets his pleasure from racing 40 other gliders round a closed circuit, with seconds ticking away and the whole object to make the flight as short as possible. Many still like a pleasant float in the cool air over the local site, and a comfortable landing in time for tea. A vintage glider movement is already in full swing in Europe, the old-timers are reappearing and the old aircraft, too, are being brought out, restored and flown again. Australia too has its embryonic vintage glider association, and the unforgettable smell of clean wood and doped fabric is returning to some workshops and airfields.

It is one of the great delights of this sport that many of the people who built and flew such types as the Grunau Baby, back before World War II, are, like Hans Werner Grosse, still at the peak of their ability, while some youngsters are rediscovering the open cockpit and the art of bungey launching off a hillside slope.