Golden Wren Bungee Launch 1936 Camphill Vintage Gliding

BGA 302 Golden Wren was an evolution of the Manuel Willow Wren which flew at Camphill in the 1930s. The Sailplane & Glider Magazine from January 1935 said of the aircraft
"The GOLDEN WREN, is a little gem built with loving care by three wizards. Structurally she is streets ahead of the other machines. landing gear is typical of the work put into her. Here there are metal springs inside a case, their tension worked out with precision. They absorb any bang up to immense dimensions. I have proved it. Apart from structural details she is still essentially a WREN, pure and simple. In straight flight she flies dead true with hands and feet off. The lateral control is a joy. She gives the impression of being as true as a hair all over."
Here we see the aircraft being bungee launched the old fashioned way on a cold winters day with a large team of enthusiastic volunteers.

[@havenrich]

Looks like fun!

[@maurices5259]

Smoking a pipe 4 inches from a doped fabric tailplane - H&S what H&S - seriously it's great that old material like this survives. My parents, sister and I used to go to Camphill for Sunday picnics, in those days you could buy a round cardboard badge and go onto the airfield, watch and eat. Many of the gliders, mostly Olympias, had names like "Edale and "Blue John" and a friend of my dad had built one mainly from scrapped parts as I understand it called "Jack O'Winnats" I think his name was Fred Breeze. That was 67/68 years ago but I occasionally go up there to the viewing area to watch the newer composite aircraft flying. It's all fenced off now, as it should be, but the memories quite quickly return. Thanks a lot for posting this. (Just seen another of your videos and "Edale" is featured - I must check them all )

[@brjimbo1]

When I was a kid in the early 60's, there were bungee/tow motor launching of vintage gliders like these at Harvey Young Airport - a small multi hangar grass strip FBO a few miles East of Tulsa, OK. Also Aeronca Champion tow planes took up Schweitzers in the summertime, spending whole afternoons flying over eastern Tulsa.