Flying a Vintage Glider | Flying Simon

[@michaelrussell5346]

A six foot plus gliding friend of mine did his 5 hour endurance Silver C task flight in such an aircraft. We had to unfold him when he arrived back after a successful task.That was back in the mid 70s. I have flown an H17 Hutter twice. That is certainly an experience to not miss. Cheers from Downunder👍🇦🇺🇬🇧

[@premde]

I agree completely with your comments about feeling alive and needing to challenge one's self. Well done! I'm jealous!

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

I feel very fortunate that my first flights were in aircraft like the Chipmunk and Gliders like the Kirby Cadet mk3 and the Sedberg, nicknamed the Barge due to it's great size. This was the joys of the Air Cadets in the early 80s. 20 years ago I was on the team that designed the Typhoon. Both ends of the technology spectrum.

[@michaelrussell5346]

Ah! The DHC1 Chippy. On my first solo I was treated to the wonderful feeling of occupying the centre of gravity in the aircraft. Then realising that I had my backside situated upon the main spar . The absence of the instructor in the back put me right there. It made me feel as thoughI was wearing the aircraft and not just sitting on a chair. What a wonderfully designed trainer it is. That was back in 1963 but vividly remembered. Cheers from Downunder

[@annerobinson2086]

Been there, done that at Camphill in my case in a Slingsby Prefect - -bloody marvellous!

[@martinNmr]

Another great Video with nice air to air footage! I am glad you enjoyed the grunau baby as much as I did in my club.

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

In 1982 I learned to fly gliders. While the rest of the world had moved onto fibreglass construction, these were wood and Canvas. If you get a chance, get a front seat in a Kirby Cadet mk3 and see what I experienced back then, and what my first solo at 16 years old with only 23 launches, experienced.

[@cobboldblue]

Great video Simon. I'm currently doing some work (when the CV19 lockdown lifts!) with my syndicate partner on our recently acquired Slingsby Skylark 3F. There's just something really special about the vintage aircraft, compared to the usual ASK's and SDZ's. We need to keep these kinds of aircraft flying for as long as possible. It is after all where it all started for the gliding world. I'm also lucky enough to sample our club K13 from time to time, which is 52 years old and still going well.

[@johnfrensch9879]

Back in 1963 I started gliding with the Barossa Valley Gliding Club and our training glider was called a kookaburra. I soloed in it a year later then converted to a single seater which was called a kingfisher which looked similar to the Grunau Baby only it didn’t have wing struts plus it had an enclosed cockpit. I have many great memories from those days . Due to marriage and work and leaving the Barossa I stopped gliding. I still fly but now I own a single engine Jabiru and being retired at 75 it’s two to three times a week. I’ve got nearly three and a half thousand hours up now .

[@nuil501]

Yes, they were built in Brazil too, both in São Paulo and in Porto Alegre on Vae, the VARIG's sport club branch;

[@jonkje]

Nice! Got a 1:2.5 scale Baby. The best option besides the real deal 😁

[@wilkoone9155]

I have 35 types in my log book, the most obscure of which was a 2 seat glider called the Pelican flying at Waikerie in South Australia. I did my 5 hour flight in an Oly 2B on a cold day in October from a car beach launch.

[@NaBaseVooaVela]

Awesome!! Cheers from Brasil! Na Base Gliding!

[@1silvervespa]

Well maintained ....... hope it survives for many more years !

[@jamesparry8733]

Hi there, lovely video!! My father flew a Grunau baby 2A at Brandkop in the Free State here in South Africa in 1948. It had no air brakes and he did S turns upwind of the field and a forward slip to lose the last bit of height for landing. Once, a large soaring bird formated off his wingtip and flew along with him for quite a bit. The people on the ground thought something had parted company and was dangling, so good was the formation between the bird and the glider!! The lift in the Free State is exceptional and many visiting pilots from Europe come and glide here. Much later I flew a Schleicher Ka-6e with the Cape Gliding Club - a wonderful light glider to fly - closed canopy though. I had many lovely flights in that, but penetration with these older gliders is not so good.

[@maxinegray1587]

I owned a Slingsby Prefect just over 30 years ago. The English version of the Grunau Baby. It included a wheel behind the skid and also had a straight lined fin and rudder. an absolute delight to fly For a short time it flew with the Cambridge University Gliding Club at Duxford Cambridgeshire. John. Maxine husband.

[@davesgliding]

My glider is only 51 years old. The Libelle 201 is still a respectful glider for club flying though. I don't think it's quite vintage yet. It is also the oldest glider that I have flown. I'm afraid that you have flown both older and newer gliders than I have. I fully agree with you. There's a bit of terror involved in flying a single-seater for the first time with no-more than the absolute best briefing you can get, right? Then again, I also agree that every new glider you fly, you gain insight that transfers towards flying something else new. You gain insight into what is different about your flight in being able to distinguish what is due to aircraft, due to atmosphere, and due to yourself. I've only flown 7 different models, and I have learned something with each one. I quite enjoy the learning, but that first flight is "exciting". Being outside of your comfort zone (within reason) is also being in the "learning" zone, and thankfully the more we learn, the better pilots we become.

[@FlyingSimon]

Hi Dave, I totally agree with your comment! The Libelle is also definitely on my list, probably one of the best looking gliders there is!

[@amelia_glider_pilot16]

I might i have beaten your 70 year old glider! Our T21 is 72! I would love to have a go in one! Great Video!

[@redblack8414]

You said that the span of the Grunau was 39 meters. I am sure that you meant 39 feet. Very nice video. Thank you for posting.

[@wiebebosman]

Superb Simon. Nice flared landing!

[@michimedi]

My first flight on our Cabrio Ka8 was also such a special experience!

[@declde]

I still fly our Ka4 Rhönlerche at EBKH, I like it on a good day

[@bremsenreinigerkonsument3424]

My father learned flying in this thing tho. Pretty solid plane. Also called the Rhöhnstein. ;) Lg aus EDOR

[@andrewnewman6451]

Hi Simon nice, video :-) I was looking forward to the Vintage glider day we were going to have this summer at the Bath Wilts and North Dorset Gliding club near Mere, Wiltshire in England, but it was of course cancelled due to COVID. I was hoping to fly a Slingsby T-21...Perhaps next year I will get a chance.... maybe you would like to come and bring your camera? Keep up the good work you have a good presentation style. Best wishes from the UK Andy :-)

[@howardaskew5042]

I did my 5hrs ridge soaring a grunow 3 at the RAF Mendips Gliding Club. I was scratching for every bit of lift I could get when the late John Willy, who had just taken delivery of a new Dart 17, came back from trip round Somerset at about 2000 ft. He did a high speed pass bellow me and returned to the heights. Grrrr.

[@tinchote]

Between the 1930s and the 1960s, close to 200 Grunau Baby were built in Argentina.

[@ColinMill1]

I read an article recently that said Slingsby would sell you one of these for £137 and 10 Shillings in 1939. That corresponds to less than £6500 in today's money. An amazing amount of fun for that money.

[@julianreynolds9076]

Nice video, Simon!

[@bremsenreinigerkonsument3424]

There is a Grunau Baby from 1952 at my gliding club (EDOR), still able to fly. :D Cool to see this type of plane in a YT video mate.

[@remirkarimov-aviator8125]

Вообще огонь в желтом цвете!

[@rogeriolopes6297]

Nice video!

[@Erik-om6oi]

this made me smile

[@LevPicaresco]

Marvelous

[@1963pipo]

No canopy ? Try the SG38 !

[@DinantRiks]

Great video with the air-to-air shots. Would love to fly the Baby one day, had a few flights in the T21 which were amazing as well. Next on the list: SG-38? :D

[@FlyingSimon]

SG-38 is definitely on the list!

[@robertvanlieshout7147]

Mooi vluchtje Simon op Gilze zo te zien, ik heb er ook gevlogen (ASK13 en Grob102)

[@garyhiggins6718]

When I was very young my Dad took me up in a Slingsby T21 from Paddington Aerodrome

[@FlyingSimon]

Have you ever flown a vintage glider? Let me know which one!

[@kaihorstmann2783]

My Ka 6 CR is becoming 60 this year. Built in 1960. I guess that counts as vintage albeit they are still so common, and in active service in clubs that most do not regard them as such. I bought her primarily for cross-country flying, and fly her as often and as long and as far as I can. Not the usual idea of what to do with 'real' vintage glider pre-'40s. The perception of 'vintage' is for gliders, and also for powered airplanes seriously skewed compared with cars and motorcycles.

[@globesoarer5920]

I flew once a Slingsby T21b really amazing! I had the chance to log many hours in Ka8 and ASK13 sometimes with open canopy, they are vintage but so many of us learned on them that it doesn't feel that way! Hard to beat a Ka8 in light thermals! However the glide ratio of 17 that you experienced would surely made me feel out of my confort zone! Great video Simon!

[@martinsibbe536]

I flew one in Denmark way back in the late 90s. It goes by the name of 2G and was built in the late 1940s if memory serves me right. No cockpit, it's basically like an old fashioned delivery bike with wings, quite the experience. It's still flying to this day as far as I'm aware - you can probably look it up, the reg is OY-XJV. ETA - just looked it up myself, it was manufactured in 1952.

[@FlyingSimon]

@@martinsibbe536 What a cool glider!

[@LS8eighteen]

Have flown a few: Rhonlerche, ASK 13, Ka8, Ka6E, Kranich III, Open Cirrus, Blanik.... Ka 6E was my favorite. Silver C in Ka8, very cramped for a 6'2" guy.

[@Aurmax70]

Famous here in Brazil. Congrats

[@Boekoe12]

Man i mis my Gliding adventures.

[@andysolution62]

i´m flying the Baby too, but a "little" model, it´s 4,6m span & powerfull elektric engine in the nose, so i can safely start in my dolomites in 2.500m ......-:)

[@MauritsHebels]

Prefect :)

[@christopherschrader9798]

Nice video... we just shared on Soaring Society of America's Facebook Page. Thank you!

[@FlyingSimon]

Thanks a lot!

[@patriotpilot]

Hei Simon, where are you from?

[@gardentools2553]

No dihedral.... I like it...

[@craigwall9536]

ahem. You're _easy._