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Gliding Heritage Centre

Coordinates: 51°11′07″N 1°01′23″W / 51.1854°N 1.0231°W / 51.1854; -1.0231
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Gliding Heritage Centre
Gliding Heritage Centre is located in Hampshire
Gliding Heritage Centre
Location within Hampshire
LocationLasham Airfield, Hampshire
Coordinates51°11′07″N 1°01′23″W / 51.1854°N 1.0231°W / 51.1854; -1.0231
TypeAviation museum
Websitewww.glidingheritage.org.uk

The Gliding Heritage Centre (GHC) is a collection of vintage gliders based at Lasham Airfield, Hampshire, UK.[1][2][3]

Origins

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Christopher Wills, the son of Philip Wills, founded the Vintage Glider Club in 1973. He died on 4 May 2011 but left a bequest of £100,000 to build a hangar to house vintage gliders plus his Steinadler. A group of enthusiasts decided to create a Gliding Heritage Centre which could be visited by members of the public in a building called The Chris Wills Memorial Hangar. It is a registered charity No 1148972.[4]

After raising more money and with much volunteer work, the first hangar was opened on 4 August 2013 during the 41st International Vintage Glider Club rally that was held at Lasham that year. Further fund raising allowed the building of a second hangar to house the ever increasing collection of gliders. Hangar 2 was officially opened on 25 August 2018.[1]

A dedicated workshop was added following a further bequest from Trish Williams. This allows some of the aircraft in the collection to remain airworthy, as well as helping to restore and conserve the rest of the fleet. The workshop is also used for teaching the skills required to restore and repair wooden gliders, as these skills are becoming increasingly scarce. It is planned to add a viewing area in the workshop to allow the public to see work that is being done.[1]

Collection

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Public tours of the museum are scheduled at 2:00 every Sunday with the starting point in the club-house of Lasham Gliding Society,.[1]

Type Manufacturer Date
Scud-I Abbott-Baynes (Replica) 1931
Scud-II Abbott-Baynes 1935
Scud III Abbott-Baynes 1936
Clarke Chanute[5] TWK Clarke & Co 1910
EoN Baby Elliotts of Newbury 1949
EoN Eton Elliotts of Newbury 1951
Olympia 2b Elliotts of Newbury 1958
Olympia 460 Elliotts of Newbury 1960
Olympia 463 Elliotts of Newbury 1965
Grunau Baby Hersteller Flugzeugbau 1952
Lo 100 Wolf Hirth 1953
JSH Scorpion[6][7] J. Halford 1977
Weihe Jacobs Schweyer 1943
Kaiser Ka3 Kaiser 1958
Drone Kronfeld Ltd 1936
TG-3a Schweizer 1942
Spalinger S-21h J. Lemp 1943
Willow Wren Manuel 1932
Hawk Manuel 1969
Crested Wren Manuel 1986
Steinadler MG19A Oberlerchner 1955
Colditz Cock Replica 2000
MU13-D Scheibe 1957
Zugvogel 3b Scheibe 1963
Zugvogel 3b Scheibe 1964
Bergfalk 55 - II Scheibe 1963
KA 6E Schleicher 1968
Scott Viking 1 Scott Light Aviation 1938
Gull-III Slingsby 1939
Grasshopper Slingsby 1953
Grasshopper Slingsby 1962
T8 Tutor Slingsby 1946
Prefect T30A Slingsby 1948
Prefect T30B Slingsby 1958
Skylark 2 Slingsby 1955
Skylark 3b Slingsby 1959
Skylark 3f Slingsby 1961
Dart 15 Slingsby 1964
Swallow Slingsby 1967
Foka 4 SZD Poland 1963
YS 53 Yorkshire Sailplanes 1974
Zlín Z-24[8] Zlin 1946

Other gliders in private ownership are also made available to the collection from time to time.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "GHC Home page". Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  2. ^ "List of aviation museums". Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  3. ^ "British Gliding Association". Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Charity Commission". Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  5. ^ "RAF Museum's description" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  6. ^ "ABPic Photo library". Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  7. ^ "All-Aero.com web site". Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  8. ^ Bezouska, Paul (2007). "Zlín - The success story of the Moravian aircraft manufacturer". Fliegerrevue Extra (19). Möller: 29. ISSN 0941-889X.
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