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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0863.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 July 1956 "AT the heart of France," the Vichy**• Tourist Bureau's leaflet began, "among the fertile regions of Burgundyand Beaujolais and the rich countryside surrounding Charolles and Nevers, betweenthe Mont de Morvan, the Massif Central and the plains of the Loire and the Allier"—with here a pause for dramatic effect— "lies a great open tract of land: SAINT-YAN." Which, as readers of Flight should be already aware, is where the 1956 WorldGliding Championships are being held. The championships were officially openedon June 29 by M. Roger Duveau, Sec- retaire d'Etat a la Marine, after the teamshad been presented, their national anthems played and their respective flags unfurled.As the total number of countries repre- sented is 27, this ceremony took some time.It had been preceded by a stimulating dis- play of solo and formation aerobatics bythe four Stampes of St. Yan's own aerobatic team. On the first morning, I was able to samplethe thermals of the St. Yan area—and also to check the Vichy Tourist Bureau's know-ledge of geography—during a flight of over an hour in the Slingsby T.42, the Britishtwo-seater entry, with Frank Foster in the front seat. Conditions were similar to thoseof the latter part of the practice-flying week, with good convection but requiring a fairamount of work to find the lift and stay in it. As we circled over Paray-le-Monial,we were joined by one of the French Breguet 901s and a non-competing FauvelAV. 36. The British team at St. Yan consists ofMrs. Ann Welch (team captain); Philip Wills and Geoffrey Stephenson, each flyinga Slingsby Skylark 3 in the single-seater class; and H. C. N. "Nick" Goodhart andFrank Foster with the second prototype T.42 in the two-seater class. During thepractice week, Wills established a British national single-seat record for speed over a200 km triangular course; and British national two-seater records for speed over The contestants' park, wherein grace and beauty (as always on these occasions) abounded. World Gliding at St. Yan from Kenneth Owen a 100 km triangle and for out-and-return distance (141 miles) wereset up by Goodhart and Foster. Although the British team is all-Slingsby equipped in this year'scontests, Elliotts' Olympia is being flown by Bill Ivans, Jr., of the United States. A total of five Skylark 3s is included in the single-seater entry list, and among the two-seaters is the French Bre*guet 904, which made its first flight only one month ago. In the first competition, for a flight inside France, on June 30,the longest distance was achieved by Jose Cuadrado of the Argen- tine. He flew 267 miles to Maubergein his Skylark 3. Paul Mac-Cready, of the U.S., came second with 242 miles in his Breguet 901 and several other pilots exceeded 230 miles. All the gliderswere released from aircraft at 2,000ft. Monday's event, a race to St. Etienne—62 miles south—startedlate owing to unfavourable weather. Many pilots, including Philip Wills, who climbed to 22,000ft, took advantage of an afternoonthunderstorm to gain height. "Nick" Goodhart and Frank Foster were first to reach the objective. Further details of the competing sailplanes, together with anaccount of the first week's flying, will be included in next week's report from St. Yan. (Left) Living quarters for the contestants from 27 nations. (Lower left) Some of the 20 Stampe tugs provided bv the French School of Aerobatics for which St. Yan is famed (Below) The British team.
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