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What’s In A Name?

Article from Geoff Grayer

The names  PZL Bielsko choose for their gliders is somewhat bizarre. Yes, they are birds, but what birds?

 

We all know that Puchacz is Polish for an owl. But it is not just any owl; it is the Eagle Owl. I happen to have met an Eagle Owl fairly recently; there was one on display at RAF Fairford, when I visited in September 2019 for its 75th anniversary (on invitation). They use one to clear the runway of small birds before the really big ones take off (like the B-52, which we got very close to, and the B-2 Spirit, which I was allowed to admire and photograph, but not approach too closely !). Incidentally, if you take a look at Google Earth, you will see both planes parked there on the latest aerial photos.

I had the offer to hold the owl on my hand; this huge bird (I estimate about 60cm from top to tail) looked very friendly, and was completely unphased by its many admirers; but I declined. This is what Wiki says about this imposing species: “The wings are reportedly the smallest in proportion to the body weight of any European owl, when measured by the weight per area of wing size, was found to be 0.72 g/cm2. Thus, they have quite high wing loading.” I leave you to translate this to glider wing loading yourself ! (Yes, I have done it.)

But what about its successor, the Perkoz? You may not have seen one at Shalbourne, but I am sure you know of it, and I have actually flown one. This translates to “Grebe”. To quote Wiki, “Grebes have narrow wings, and some species are reluctant to fly; indeed, two South American species are completely flightless.”

You may draw your own conclusions.

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Historic Glider Takes to the Sky

Olympia 1 Jacob’s Ladder

Built in 1947 (registered G-ALNB) at Elliotts of Newbury – Production No 14 (EoN/0/014)

One of the first batch produced, the glider initially went to the Derby & Lancs Club Camphill Derbyshire.

 

The glider was built without a wheel and only a skid, but in the late 1950’s a droppable undercarriage was fitted and this made it into a designated Oly 3

As was the custom at the time it was given a name, Jacob’s Ladder, and because the glider was named there are various references to Jacob’s Ladder in S&G over the years i.e.

Gold C distance flight 1957 – (Featured in Sailplane and Glider Feb 58)

The pilot (Michael Stather Hunt (Coventry Gliding Club) landed 20 miles short of his Gold C goal. However, it occurred to him that he must have covered considerably more than 300km on his trip, and a turning point at Gillingham put him well in the distance required. Whilst he couldn’t hope for identification at 5,000ft, there had been some low spots between Devizes and Gillingham and he decided to go down to Wiltshire to investigate. Starting at Devices he located a gentlemen in a pub who positively identified a model of Jacob’s Ladder but was not sure about the date. Remembering that he had crossed the gunnery range on top of the plain just outside Warminster, he was hopeful that if there had been any range wardens on watch there was a fair chance that he may have been spotted. No luck! due to most people being on leave, however the Orderly Officer offered to make investigations. Enquiring at a guard room at another Army Camp, a corporal confirmed that he knew of a fellow who had seen a glider low over the camp, but he was at Earl’s Court playing the pipes and drums for the North Irish Brigade. Worse still he didn’t know his name but he was going bald on top. Further down the road the proprietor of a sweet shop confirmed he had seen a glider flying over recently and went to great lengths to describe it: the length of the wings, the position of the cockpit in front of the wings etc. but when asked the colour it failed to match that of Jacob’s Ladder (carmine and cream). Continuing the search he next spoke to a lad (Brian) in the village who was said to be a keen aircraft spotter. In fact it turns out that Brian was a keep ‘train’ spotter! Back home he dropped a line to Major Mulcahy-Morgan C.O. of the North Irish Brigade at Earl’s Court asking him about the piper with thinning hair who might have seen a glider. Success at last – he received a signed statement from Major Mulcahy-Morgan himself giving all the necessary details for an identification with almost professional accuracy. He had been in the glider regiment himself during the war, and had taken a particular interest in his flight over the camp. He offered to produce a hundred signatures if necessary. Just over 300km was the final distance as checked by Londonderry House (home of the BGA at the time).

Jacob’s Ladder was last flown in 1989 and was then left in a state of decay until rescued by Bill Cook in September 2014 with Ken Reid subsequently becoming half share owner.

Restored over a period of 6 years (would have been quicker had covid and lockdown not interfered!) it is now back to its former glory and was finally launched at Shalbourne Gliding Club on Wednesday 16th June 2021.

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April into May

The lack of a post does not mean lack of flying – just lack of making the effort to provide an update.  12th April saw us moving to ‘step x’ of governmensts roadmap (forgive me but I’ve lost track of which step we are on) – anyway, it was the one that enabled us to start instruction again.  Thus it was that Wednesday the 14th saw Bob B and myself being kept busy in the back seat.  the following Saturday (17th) was an excellent soaring day including Jim C off for a jaunt to the west country (and back!) .

Wednesday 29th was a special day when James H wheeled out the ‘other’  winch to give it a test.  Bob B braved the first cable in the Vega but forgot to return for over an hour to report how the launch was.  I took the second cable and can report an excellent launch.  It was also the start of the Wednesday evening sessions so we managed to clock up 49 launches on that day.

Graham T not backwards in going forward

And so, into May.  A month to look forward to as things warm up, the days warm up and all is right with the world.  Hm, not so this year, overnight frosts, snow and lots of wind and rain.  The result being that of 3 weekends so far, only the first was flyable.   We did fair better midweek but the 5th proved fairly challenging.  As to “all right with the world” the least said the better.  Fingers crossed the the Indian take-away doesn’t take us into reverse.

 

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Back and flying

It’s been a long wait to be able to get our bums back in the air.  Instructors got a chance to fly in February thanks to the realisation from the CAA and Department of Transport that in practice instructors would be needed on the “other side”.  With the first lockdown relaxation at the end of March outdoor sports were permitted so we were able to get flying again but solo only.  Wednesday 31st March saw most of the eligible solo pilots at the club full of anticipation.  The weather co-operated by providing  a gentle breeze down the runway and not much in the way of thermals.   “Whot, no thermals – how’s that good?” do I hear you exclaim?  It meant we were able to concentrate on the tricky bits (launch and landing) and gets lots of launches in.  We crammed in an impressive 45 launches.  All short flights, unless you were flying a K6 or were Bob B in the Vega. Ken R spent an hour trying to get back to launch height.  All the club gliders were flying that day (thanks Andy B) plus private K6 and Swallow rigged.

Launch point on the 31st

On Good Friday there was a modest 18 launches.  Mostly short flights but Tim R managed 41 minutes.  Easter Saturday an even more modest 8 launches.  No flying Easter Sunday but Easter Monday was a cracker with reports of climbs to 6,700′ and climbs of 10 knots showing on the averager.  27 launches of which 6 were an hour or more.

More gliders in the air than at the launch point

On to Wednesday the 7th with a north westerly wind.  Enough to make it flippin’ cold but not enough to tickle the ridge.  Not even a glimpse of sun to clear things up a little.  Despite this there was lots of soaring on offer with cloudbase at 4,200′.  I don’t think my toes have ever been as cold as they were during my flight in HCF.  How Jim C endured two and a half hours in EFF is a mystery to me.  32 launches and almost 16 hours flown.

At the end of the day a real "birds nest" found in the winch