Upavon was and as far as I know still is the home of the Army Gliding Association’s Wyvern Gliding Club. A very friendly and welcoming band of brothers and sisters they were when I flew with them.
Clubs fleet consisted of T31-402 T21-403 Tutor-298 and Swallow-400
It was a great time for flying gliders then.
Jock Pilch
Ex 847Sqd
Jock, I concur -somehow when Slingsby gliders began to fade away from Club fleets, to be replaced by ‘glass’ – Puchaz and K-21 and even Blaniks, something, somehow, was never the same again.
I hope you don’t mind my photoshopping these using the histogram tool, no intention of offending original owners or copyright, but in the interest of clarity:
The head gear is I am sure the traditional flat cap worn by civilian workers of all industries, but being Cornish I associate the flat cap with fishermen and farm workers. The people in the photograph all seem to be wearing uniform underneath the overalls, which as stated above seem to have a specific purpose. The chap nearest the camera seems to have a collar inflated and I suspect that this is something to do with life preservation in the event of ditching. Would they have work that for trans-atlantic ferry work?
Phew!!! Well done Matt Curtis! In all my 40 plus years a war bird nut I have never heard of this machine!!! You never know everything in this hobby – that’s what keeps me fascinated by historic aviation..
Interesting to see that the wheel hubs seem to have gone – would corrosion have done that – considering the apparently reasonable condition of the rest of the airframe?
Nice to see those photographs! My Father was in 3rd Bn AIF, and wounded in the attack on Lone Pine, 8th August 1915. Who knows your Grandfather and my Pa might have met.
The Gallipoli Association is a fine band of brothers and sisters – the web site is a little out of date, but the Association is very vigorous:
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