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Aviation History
1948
1948 - 1041.PDF
JULY 8TH, 1948 International Gliding . . difficulty, having some 10ft more span than %Olympias. All the machines carry oxygen in standard 750-litre bottles. Some remarks on our prospects would not be out of place in conclu- sion, but having no first-hand know- ledge of any of our opponents, except the Swiss, it is impossible to give any really useful forecast. We have first- class equipment and are taking suffi- cient spares to carry out quite con- siderable repairs, with the aid of ground crews who would be prepared to work all night in the event of mis- fortune of this sort. Our pilots are largely "weekonders" who have at |&ast 1,500 hours each behind them, but they have no experience of Alpine soaring at all. We are better at blind flying than many of our opponents, but clouds that do not also contain mountains may be rare. Philip Wills, the team's senior pilot, is, without doubt, one of the finest and most ex- perienced glider pilots in the world. On the other side, the Swiss know the locality backwards, the French have Alpine soaring sites in France, and some members of the other teams have flown at Samedan during last year's competition. Moreover, several of our opponents are subsidized. It •would be incorrect to say that we have more than a sporting chance of being placed. I think we would be very well pleased if we achieved this. Perhaps our greatest asset is the fact that the British glider pilot has been brought up on difficulties and fed on frustration. He is, therefore, used to having to make the best of conditions as he finds them. Notes on members of the British team follow: — Philip Wills: Age 41. Shipping mer- chant. Senior team pilot. First Gold "C" holder in "this country. Holder of British National Category 1 goal flight record (140 miles); height record (15,247ft); U.K. local distance record (208 miles). Clubs: London, Newcastle and Surrey Gliding. ISpharles Wingfield: Age 31. Farmer. Holder of out-and- return record (114 miles) ; Second Gold " C" holder in this country. Club: Midland Gliding. Christopher Nicholson: Age 44. Architect. Joint holder with G. B. Blake of U.K. local height record category 2 (2-seater); British national distance record (118.2 miles); British national goal flight and equivalent U.K. local flights. Clubs: London and Surrey Gliding, R.N. Soaring Associa- tion. Donald Greig: Age 43. Civil Servant. Silver "C" holder. Most experienced British Olympia pilot. Clubs : London and Surrey Gliding. F/L. R. C. Forbes: B.A.F.O. Age 28. Silver "C" holder. Awaiting con- firmation of new British goal flight record of 193 miles. Subject to confirmation is the third British Gold "C" holder. F/L. P. Mallett: B.A.F.O. Age 23. Silver "C" holder. FLIGHT , ,~;. „.. an Olympia wing was taken ove; mion by Mr. Donald Greig- Reference is made to this outstanding flight on page 42. Lome Welch: Age 32. Surrey Club Instructor. ' C" holder. Reserve pilot for British team. Silver Mr. Lome Welch, reserve pilot for the British team. R.Ae.C. HOLIDAY ARRANGEMENTS ROYAL AERO CLUB will be closed from Saturday,-L July 31st to Sunday, August 15th, both dates inclusive, to enable certain work to be carried out and for the purpose£afi holidays. Full club facilities will again be available Monday, August 16th. MECHAN^AL HANDLING EXHIBITION on a non-profit making basis by Mechanicalone of Flight's associated journals, the first Mechanical Handling Exhibition and Conventionat Olympia on July 12th. It will be open each day from o a.m. to 8 p.m. until July 21st.The object of the exhibition is to demonstrate the value of mechanical handling equipment to industry and will include aset of York landing steps as supplied to B.O.A.C. and a baggage trailer as used at civil airports; these latter items willbe shown by Barnards, Ltd., Norwich. Flight and selections of other Associated Iliffe publications will be shown on standnumber E.14 in the gallery. Visitors to the exhibition may obtain full information from the Mechanical Handling islandstand in the centre of the ground floor.
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