In 1945, the
British Air Forces of Occupation (BAFO) in Germany began using captured German gliders to provide recreational flying for RAF personnel. This resulted in a demand for similar facilities in the United Kingdom, and the Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association was founded in 1949. The first aircraft, a
Slingsby T.21 and a
Prefect, were bought in March 1950 and stationed at
RAF Detling. By 1952 27 gliders were being operated at seven clubs around the UK. In October 1963 the RAFGSA Centre was established at
RAF Bicester, absorbing the
Windrushers Gliding Club which had been formed in January 1956 at RAF Little Rissington, later moving to Bicester. In June 2004 the Centre moved to RAF Halton.
Andy Gough Warrant Officer Arthur William Charles Gough
BEM, (b. 2 June 1924), known as "Andy Gough", for some 20 years ran the RAF gliding centre at Bicester as its
Chief Flying Instructor. In 1975 in the RAFGSA Championships he flew from
Aston Down Airfield, near Cirencester, across the English Channel to Holland, beating the previous distance record of 315 miles by a further 3 miles. On 12 June 1982 he was giving an
aerobatic display in a
LET L-13 Blaník glider at
RAF Brize Norton, but under high-G a wing came off and Andy was killed. He was then 58 years old. The 'Andy Gough Memorial Trophy' is awarded annually to an outstanding RAFGSA member. WO Gough is also included on the armed forces memorial and armed forces roll of honour.
Other notable Bicester glider pilots Jock Wishart, Ron Newall, Ian Strachan, Con Greaves, & Paddy Kearon were gliding instructors and competition pilots representing the RAFGSA in UK National Championships and some also the British Gliding Association (
BGA) in International events.
Dick Stratton Richard B Stratton (1923 - 2007)
FRAeS was a skilled aircraft engineer and a licensed
CAA inspector. He joined the RAF with a wartime commission and served as a
flight engineer on
Short Sunderland flying boats until 1949 when he joined Saunders Roe as a flight engineer for flight tests of the
Saunders Roe Princess large flying boat. Later he was involved in the development of the
Saunders-Roe SR.53 rocket plane. He was skilled in
aviation engineering and was an innovative influence in
light aircraft and
gliding practices These included safe
aerotowing, winching and
scroll-gear machining and elastic rope bungee launching. He also successfully converted military
de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunks to the civil register for aerotowing gliders, which were used by the RAFGSA and other gliding organisations from the late 1960s.
Chipmunk Military to Civil conversion The Chipmunk conversion from military to civil certification was unusual because military chipmunks had
Coffman cartridge starters which required the services of a qualified armourer and a licensed pyrotechnic store to keep the cartridges safely. Dick Stratton's innovation was to disconnect the cartridge linkage, but not the assembly, as it would have altered the balance of the aircraft. Without "cartridge start" the propeller would has to be swung manually to start the engine, and the CAA was initially reluctant to certify the modification, until Dick pointed out that "swinging the prop" was normal procedure with many other types of light aircraft. Other modifications included a plywood seat panel over what had been space for a parachute (not essential for aero towing). Another addition was an
dymotape embossed plastic label inscribed IAS VNE 120KT (Indicated Airspeed "Never Exceed" is 120 knots) (222Km/h), which was a lower speed than RAF Chipmunks that were also qualified to carry out aerobatics, not needed in an Aero-tow aircraft. Dick later converted some Chipmunks to accept Lycoming engines. He also enabled MOGAS (MOtive GASoline) to be used in some cases where the AVGAS (AViation GASoline) had originally been specified, which reduced fuel costs. Into the 1980s, He continued to instruct and carry out aerotows. ==Clubs==