Oxford University Gliding Club
Encyclopedia
The Oxford University Gliding Club (OUGC) is the gliding
club of Oxford University, flying from the historic Bicester Airfield
.
The club was founded as part of the Oxford University and City Gliding Club in December 1937, and the illustrious German pilot Robert Kronfeld
was its first chief flying instructor (CFI). The club started flying from Cumnor Meadow in the spring of 1938, but the site is now lost, lying at the bottom of Farmoor Reservoir
. Later that year, the club flew from a site between Aston Rowant
and Lewknor
at the Chiltern ridge. At the outbreak of war in 1939, all sport flying stopped in the UK, but the club reformed in 1951 at Kidlington before moving to Weston on the Green, an RAF airfield, in 1956.
By the early 1980s it had moved to Bicester Airfield (sharing facilities with the RAFGSA and their gliding operation) and had just one glider, a Schleicher Ka 7 from the German manufacturer Alexander Schleicher
, obtained thanks to the generosity of a local dentist, Peter Pratelli. This wood and fabric glider was soon supplemented by a Grob G103 Twin II glass fibre two-seater, EGN, again via a loan from Pratelli, and the Ka 7 eventually moved on to another club.
In early January 1986 the club acquired FEF, a then ten-year-old Grob Astir CS
(and thus promptly became the first "all glass" club in the UK and probably the world). EGN, the Twin II, was sold to Enstone Eagles Gliding Club, and departed the airfield on 27 October 1990. It was replaced with the lower performance but easier to fly ASK 21, GAM. Like all the club's gliders, it was paid for by using the membership fees collected from student members to pay off any loans received.
OUGC currently owns one ASK 21 two-seat glider, GAM, one single-seat Schleicher K 8 glider, HYX, and one Grob Astir CS, FEF, although members can also use gliders belonging to the Windrushers Gliding Club
, the civilian gliding club that took over Bicester Airfield when the RAF left in 2004.
Gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...
club of Oxford University, flying from the historic Bicester Airfield
Bicester Airfield
Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is an airfield on the outskirts of the English town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. The RAF left in 2004....
.
The club was founded as part of the Oxford University and City Gliding Club in December 1937, and the illustrious German pilot Robert Kronfeld
Robert Kronfeld
Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC, was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot...
was its first chief flying instructor (CFI). The club started flying from Cumnor Meadow in the spring of 1938, but the site is now lost, lying at the bottom of Farmoor Reservoir
Farmoor Reservoir
Farmoor Reservoir is a reservoir at Farmoor, Oxfordshire, England, about 8 km west of the city of Oxford. It is close to the left bank of the River Thames. Like most of the reservoirs in the Thames Valley, it was not formed by damming a valley...
. Later that year, the club flew from a site between Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount, and adjoins Buckinghamshire to the southeast....
and Lewknor
Lewknor
Lewknor is a village and civil parish south of Thame in Oxfordshire. The civil parish includes the village of Postcombe.-Iron Age and Roman periods:...
at the Chiltern ridge. At the outbreak of war in 1939, all sport flying stopped in the UK, but the club reformed in 1951 at Kidlington before moving to Weston on the Green, an RAF airfield, in 1956.
By the early 1980s it had moved to Bicester Airfield (sharing facilities with the RAFGSA and their gliding operation) and had just one glider, a Schleicher Ka 7 from the German manufacturer Alexander Schleicher
Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co
Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co is a major manufacturer of sailplanes located in Poppenhausen, near Fulda in Germany. It is also the oldest sailplane manufacturer in the world....
, obtained thanks to the generosity of a local dentist, Peter Pratelli. This wood and fabric glider was soon supplemented by a Grob G103 Twin II glass fibre two-seater, EGN, again via a loan from Pratelli, and the Ka 7 eventually moved on to another club.
In early January 1986 the club acquired FEF, a then ten-year-old Grob Astir CS
Grob G-102 Astir
-References:**Hardy, M. Gliders & Sailplanes of the World. Ian Allan, 1982*...
(and thus promptly became the first "all glass" club in the UK and probably the world). EGN, the Twin II, was sold to Enstone Eagles Gliding Club, and departed the airfield on 27 October 1990. It was replaced with the lower performance but easier to fly ASK 21, GAM. Like all the club's gliders, it was paid for by using the membership fees collected from student members to pay off any loans received.
OUGC currently owns one ASK 21 two-seat glider, GAM, one single-seat Schleicher K 8 glider, HYX, and one Grob Astir CS, FEF, although members can also use gliders belonging to the Windrushers Gliding Club
Windrushers Gliding Club
Windrushers Gliding Club is a gliding club flying from Bicester Airfield, where it moved to from Little Rissington in 1956, later merging with the Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association....
, the civilian gliding club that took over Bicester Airfield when the RAF left in 2004.