The gentleman in the photo is Cedrick Veron. He was on the BGA test group at the London Gliding Club and a Handley Page stress engineer. He is now 93 living in Dorking.

Best wishes

Dave:)

My son started flying at 3 months old in Russavia’s Rapide in 1983. He was the youngest crew member we had. At 4 he had been in the BBMF Lancaster for a look. He’s flown G-MOTH sitting on my lap at the same age. Now he’s in his 20’s he’s been to USA and Poland looking at planes. I didnt start till i was 4 flying in Rapides.

I hesitate to say, “what’s yours then” ‘cos I know its going to cost me a pint. 😉

But as I’m totally lacking in Slingsby knowledge, what’s the story behind this camouflaged beauty??

This is our Slingsby Kirby Kite 1 BGA400. It was used by army at Ringway, then Haddenham. The Glider Training Squadron used 15 of them in 1940-41, the first main type use by the army before the larger Hotspur came in.
BGA400 has the wings of the radar Kite. This was used during july 1940 over the channel. To see if radar could pick in comming gliders, as they wanted to know when the German’s where comming. The radar Kite was built with minimal metal fittings.
After looking after the Kite for 19 year’s it is now up for sale.

Dave

I remember the Slingsby T29b Motor Tutor G-AKJD on it last flight at Dunstable 21/6/64. I was 9 years old at the time. It made a big boom as it crashed. My father said most fabric and wood aircraft made that noise when they crash. I think it had flown up from Lasham for an air display. The wings where lifted of in on piece of the wreckage to get the pilot out. There was lots of shouting ‘No smoking’. The pilot nose was bleeding, i dont think he was to badly injured. I still have small bit’s of the motor tutor i picked up weeks afterwards. The Motor Tutor was based on the T8 with a J.A.P J99 engine.

Dave

My father and my self did own Tutor BGA833 ex VW535 for a few years. We got it from Ivor Strech, it had been in the Motive Air Museum at Lytham St Annes. One wing had been cut through. So i got a new one from Cambridge aerodome. My father did the mod 80 to the wings. ( This modifacation was a result of a Tutor braking up in the air.This was then looked at Farnborough). We then sold it. I last saw it at a Vintage Glider Rally at Camphill some years ago. The Vintage Glider Club Has most of the Slingsby glider plans, plus a few other types. I have had some good flights in T31’s.
Dave

I would love to fly in the back of a Hawker Hind. Like my uncle use to do and take pictures as he did with 107sqdn.

This morning i was working on my Triumph Tiger 750 (1973), Then popped up to Twinwoods museum. This afternoon I have been glueing new ply on the fin of my Luton Minor, at last. Yesterday moved a Gruanu Baby 11b out of dads workshop and Slingsby Kirby Kite 1 into its place.

If this is the ex Leisure Sport DH2, its the one we had at Russaiva. When we got it it had a Pobjoy engine. This was taken out and replaced with the Kinner engine, when it was rebuilt for the film “Gunbus”. The Lewis gun was a real one, but not all the metal had been machined out below the magazine drum. The nacell was modified for the film, to make it look like a gunbus. We did fly it in this form. I nearly flew in it, but the oil pressure dropped just before take off. But it did fly next day. Soon after EMK returned it back into the DH2.