Oxford Gliding Club (OGC) is a UK

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 al ...

club, and is one of the oldest still in operation in the UK. Currently it operates from RAF Weston-on-the-Green, north of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In 2012, the club celebrated its 75th anniversary.

History

Formation

The pre-war ancestor to the club was the "Oxford University and City Gliding Club" which had its inaugural meeting at Christchurch College on Thursday 2 December 1937. The founders were predominantly Oxford academics, including author and anthropologist

Robert Sutherland Rattray Robert Sutherland Rattray, , known as Captain R. S. Rattray (1881 in India – 1938), was a barrister and held a diploma in Anthropology from Oxford. He was an early Africanist and student of the Ashanti. He was one of the early writers on Owa ...

, Professor H H Price, philosopher Professor

Gilbert Ryle Gilbert Ryle (19 August 1900 – 6 October 1976) was a British philosopher, principally known for his critique of Cartesian dualism, for which he coined the phrase "ghost in the machine." He was a representative of the generation of British ord ...

and physicist Professor

Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...

(later Lord Cherwell). They were helped in their search for a suitable site by aviator

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records duri ...

Frederick Lindemann Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell, ( ; 5 April 18863 July 1957) was a British physicist who was prime scientific adviser to Winston Churchill in World War II. Lindemann was a brilliant intellectual, who cut through bureauc ...

went on to become scientific advisor to Winston Churchill and was paymaster general during World War II.

Historical Operations

Flying began on Saturday, 7 May 1938, at a site known as Cumnor meadow, which is now on the bed of

Farmoor Reservoir Farmoor Reservoir is a reservoir at Farmoor, Oxfordshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) outside the city of Oxford. It is close to the east bank of the River Thames. Like most of the reservoirs in the Thames Valley, it was not formed by ...

. The Club fleet consisted of two open

primary glider Primary gliders are a category of aircraft that enjoyed worldwide popularity during the 1920s and 1930s as people strove for simple and inexpensive ways to learn to fly.Schweizer, Paul A: ''Wings Like Eagles, The Story of Soaring in the United Sta ...

s, one of which had a streamlined nacelle. Club members had to build an access road to the site, including a bridge over a ditch, and a basic hangar. The famous Austrian gliding pioneer,

Robert Kronfeld Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC (5 May 1904 – 12 February 1948) was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot. He was killed testing a glider in 1948 ...

became manager and CFI (Chief Flying Instructor) of the Club in June 1938. Club pilots and gliders took part in a public Air Show at

RAF Upper Heyford RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. In the Second World War the airfield was used by Bomber Command. During the Cold War, Upper Heyford was one ...

in the summer of 1938. The Club moved from Cumnor to the Chiltern ridge at Aston Rowant, close to the Lambert Arms pub, for the 1939 season. The formation of the Oxford Gliding Co. Ltd. dates from 1939, including the original £4,000 share capital which is still on the books to this day. On the outbreak of war in 1939, all recreational aviation ceased, and the club was eventually reformed at Kidlington (

London Oxford Airport London Oxford Airport , formerly known as Kidlington Airport, is a privately owned airport located near Kidlington in Cherwell (district), Cherwell District, Oxfordshire, northwest by north of Oxford, from Central London. It specialises in ...

)in 1951. An increase in powered aircraft activity at Kidlington resulted in the club relocating to RAF Weston-on-the-Green in 1956.

Modern history

In July 2020, Oxford University Gliding Club returned to RAF Weston-on-the-Green. It operates as an independent organisation, however OGC facilitates its operations by providing the necessary operational capacity. It was a part of OGC until 1970 when it became a separate entity and moved to

RAF Bicester Bicester Aerodrome, formerly RAF Bicester, is an airfield on the outskirts of the English town of Bicester in Oxfordshire. Dating back to 1916, this military airfield is notable as the location of the first flight of the prototype Handley Page ...

under the predecessor to Windrushers Gliding Club, the RAF Gliding and Soaring Association.

Club operations

Whilst the club operates from an RAF airfield, it is not affiliated with nor is it a military organisation. The club operates mainly on weekends and

bank holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

s, however may occasionally operate on weekdays when the airfield is not otherwise in use, and when there are sufficient members available to commence operations. Like most UK gliding clubs, there are no paid employees and all members (subject to age and regulatory requirements) are trained in the various elements of airfield operation. In addition to the day-to-day operations, the club also undertakes various maintenance tasks including grass-cutting, aircraft inspection as per BGA requirements and general upkeep of the facilities. As part of the agreement with OUGC, members of each club are able to use the fleet of both clubs. The club's instructors operate under the BGA training system, and do not charge for their time. This is common (but not universal) in gliding, unlike other

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

areas. The club uses a self-manufactured winch, powered by

Liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

which can give launches 1400 feet or higher. On windy days, due to the length of some of the launching runs, lightweight gliders can reach heights of up to 2500 feet. The club has recently switched to

dyneema Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE, UHMW) is a subset of the thermoplastic polyethylene. Also known as high-modulus polyethylene, (HMPE), it has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 3.5 and 7.5 million amu. T ...

cable, away from the traditional steel, which offers a stronger cable at a lighter weight.

Glider fleet

OGC operates a varied fleet, consisting of both single and dual seat aircraft. In addition to the aircraft that it owns, it has access to the fleet of OUGC as part of the facilities agreement.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Oxford Gliding Club Website

Images of the club fleet on ABPIC

Gliding in the snow - UK Airshow Review

British Gliding Association
Gliderports in the United Kingdom Gliding in England Sport in Oxfordshire