Does anyone know of a photograph and/or GA drawing of the Dunning Lancia sailplane, which I believe to have been designed and built, post-WWII, by Herbert John Dunning of 36 Chester Avenue, Lancing, East Sussex and used by the Portsmouth Gliding Club. There are references to it being flown by club members in the immediate post-war years but I have not yet found any references to it postdating Dunning’s death on 14 February 1947.
With my thanks in hope and anticipation.
AA
By: avion ancien - 29th May 2023 at 16:02
Thank you, Oracal.
By: Arabella-Cox - 29th May 2023 at 09:28
I can tell you that Mr Dunning’s probate shows he left nearly £4500 – today that is about £130,000.
There is reference to him in the West Sussex Record Office Archive too: http://185.121.204.173/searchonline/
By: avion ancien - 28th May 2023 at 15:37
I don’t think so, Oracal. The Cloudcraft Dickson, which Bert Dunning converted by adding an enclosed nacelle, was the subject of a fatal crash at Lancing on 21 May 1934 (q.v. S&G June 1934). I don’t think that this primary glider was rebuilt after the crash. Subsequently, it appears that Bert Dunning was in partnership as Rubick & Dunning, at 64 Marine Parade, Worthing, trading as sailplane constructors (q.v. S&G July 1937). They were then offering, for sale, a Super Dagling, described as being in ‘as new condition’, having a ‘beautifully streamlined nacelle’, equipped with ‘ball bearing pulleys’, having been tested and supplied with a new CoA , all for the princely sum of £45! S&G makes no further reference to Bert Dunning in the pre-war years or any mention of his Lancia sailplane until the post-war years (q.v. S&G June 1946 and April 1947). The June 1946 mention of the Lancia is in the following terms:
‘This machine, built by Dunning, the veteran constructor and pilot, has been recently completed and this flight was the first time it has been soared. It is a cabin machine possessing clean, straight forward lines, a great weight and a performance better than the most optimistic of us thought possible. Its stability and general handling are of a very high order and with this flight it has proved itself in no uncertain manner’.
I think it fair to say that this does not appear to be a description of a Cloudcraft Dickson, however adapted!
By: bazv - 28th May 2023 at 15:33
No the ‘Lancia’ was later and much more advanced + it had enclosed canopy.
By: Arabella-Cox - 28th May 2023 at 12:29
AA. Could you possibly be confusing the aircraft you seek with Mr Dunning primary glider that was first flown at Lacing in 1934? I think it crashed in 1934 too. This glider was built using the plans of the Cloudcraft Dickson primary glider.
By: avion ancien - 27th May 2023 at 14:23
Yes, Oracal. The few references that I have found, mentioned in my initial post, are in Sailplane & Glider magazine of 1946/47. But thank you, nonetheless, for your suggestion.
By: Arabella-Cox - 27th May 2023 at 13:28
AA, have you tried the online collection of gliding magazines?
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May 27, 2023 at 12:07 pm