of 16
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
1/16
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
2/16
E
s
s
e
x
S
u
f
fo
l
k
G
li
d
in
g
l
u
b
T
h
e
S
t
o
r
y
A
s
t
o
ld
by
Bo
b
A
da
m
s
T
he A
ut
hor
toa
sts
the P
res
ide
nt,
Eri
c
R ic
har
ds,
on
his
8
0th
Bi
rthd
ay
19
97
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
3/16
C
h
a
p
te
r
C
o
n
t
e
n
ts
1
Fo
u
nd
in
g
Fa
th
e
r
2
G
l
id
in
g
G
r
ou
p
s
3
M
a
rs
ha
ll
's
4
Whatfield
5
W
o
od
en
G
l
id
er
E
r
a
6
T
ig
e
r
a
nd
A
u
ste
r
T
ug
s
7
H
ur
ri
ca
n
e
8
W
ha
tf
ie
ld
M
e
m
b
er
s
9
A
d
va
n
ce
s in
G
lid
e
r
es
ig
n
1
0
Farmer
Obstructs
Runway
1
1
Th
e
L
as
tT
ug
P
la
ne
s
1
2
M
u
rd
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r
1
3
T
h
e
W
i
ld
er
ne
ss
Y
e
ar
s
14
S
e
ar
ch
fo
r
A
no
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it
1
5
W
or
m
in
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rd
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nc
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a
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lu
b
ho
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ew
e
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W
o
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to
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1
9
"
Fr
ee
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om
to
Fl
y"
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nq
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2
0
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u
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ic
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et
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2
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G
li
de
rs
W
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'v
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n
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wn
23
Publications
2
4
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or
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in
gf
or
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lo
p
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t
2
5
R
e
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tla
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26
T
he
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m
ba
rr
as
se
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ue
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n
27
Lo
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28
Tr
o
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s
29
Expeditions
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7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
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Chapter
1
Founding Father
In
the local
paper, "Essex County Standard"
o
5th
August 1960,
Tony Sutton describes Wing
Commander Percy
Hatfield as
"Father o
the
Gliding Club".
Percy
Hatfield had a extraordinary wartime
flying career, as
his
medals confirm. I choose only one i llustrative incident in
1941
when he was
ordered to 'Find the Bismark'
in
his
Catalina
flying boat.
A t
midnight, his
crew
spotted a
huge
naval force,
so he
sought cloud
cover and
took
the
Catalina in for a closer identification. On breaking
cover,
he was
immediately above Germany's most
powerful
battleship
and
was met by a
barrage o
multi-coloured
tracer. He took violent evasive
action
that threw
the
aircraft's
fitter
out
o
the rest
bunk,
which
was
just
as
well,
as
bullet holes
appeared along the full length o the bunk. Hatfield got
clear
to relay
confirmation o the sighting from a shadowing posit ion
and
waited
until
the
Royal
Navy
arrived
to
commence its
final epic
duel.
Th e Bismark
had
been
sunk by
the
time Percy alighted back in Scotland
after
flying 27 hours, an
endurance
record
to this
day
for a Catal ina an d
crew. He
flew
anti-submarine
patrols,
VIP
flights to Russia, survived 240 operational sorties, test f l ew 6
types
o f flying boats and f loatplane Spitfires. Throughout his 20 years in the
RAF he f lew over 5000
hours taking
every
opportunity to
fly
almost
every
type o f flying
boat in ad dition to fighters and
the early jets.
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
5/16
P
e
r
c
y
h
a
d
g
a
i
n
e
d
h
is
g
li
d
i
n
g
c
e
r
t
if
i
c
a
t
e
i
n
1
9
4
6
w
h
e
n
st
i
ll
i
n
th
e
R
A
F
T
h
is
o
r
i
g
in
a
l
c
e
rt
i
f
ic
a
t
e
is
d
i
sp
la
y
e
d
w
i
t
h
o
th
e
r
a
r
c
h
i
v
e
s
i
n
t
h
e
c
l
u
b
h
o
u
s
e
F
E
D
E
R
A
T
IO
N
A
E
R
O
N
A
U
T
IQ
U
E
IN
T
E
R
N
A
T
IO
N
A
L
E
B
R
I
TI
S
H
E
M
P
IR
E
W
E
TH
E
U
N
D
E
R
SI
G
N
ED
.
RE
C
O
G
N
IS
ED
B
Y
T
H
E
FE
D
E
RA
T
IO
N
A
E
R
ON
A
U
T
IQ
U
E
IN
T
E
R-
.
N
A
TI
O
NA
L
E
AS
T
H
E
S
P
O
RT
IN
G
A
U
TH
O
R
I
TY
CH
E
B
RI
T
IS
H
^E
M
P
IR
E
C
ER
T
IF
Y
T
HA
T
G
L
I
D
IN
G
C
E
R
T
IF
I
C
A
T
E
S
T
H
E
H
O
L
D
E
R
H
A
S
Q
U
A
LI
FI
E
D
F
O
R
TH
E
F
O
L
LO
W
I
N
G
C
E
RT
I
FI
CA
T
E
S
:
A
C
E
R
T
IF
IC
A
T
E
.
R
O
Y
A
L
A
E
R
O
C
L
U
B
B
O
RN
O
N
A
T
S
E
C
R
ET
A
R
Y
HA
V
IN
G
F
U
LF
IL
L
E
D
A
L
L
T
H
E
C
O
N
D
IT
IO
N
S
S
T
IP
U
L
AT
E
D
B
Y
T
H
E
rf
o
^R
A
T
IO
N
A
ER
O
-
N
A
U
TI
Q
U
E
IN
T
ER
N
A
T
IO
N
A
LE
HA
S
BE
E
N
G
R
AN
T
E
D
A
G
L
ID
I
N
G
C
E
R
T
IF
IC
A
T
E
C
E
R
T
IF
I
C
A
TE
R
O
Y
A
L
A
E
R
O
C
L
U
B
S
EC
R
E
T
AR
Y
T
H
E
R
O
Y
A
L
A
E
R
O
C
L
U
B
9
P
IC
CA
D
IL L
Y
L O
N D
O
N
w
.i
C
C
E
R
T
IF
IC
A
T
E
D
A
T
E
R
O
Y
A
L
A
E
R
O
C
L
U
B
SE
C
R
E
TA
R
Y
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
6/16
It
w a
s
no
surprise th
at within a
m onth
o
his
last
R A F
flight
he was
airborne
again
having started a crop
sprayin
g company
, A irsp
ray Ltd, w ith
a
T
iger Moth from
Box
ted
in
1958.
It
was
to
Boxted and Percy
H
atfield th
at
Tony
Sutton an
d J
ohn
Francis came
lookin
g for a gliding
site.
Percy ask
ed
them
where
they were
g
oing to get a
glide
r
and
how much
more
cash they needed.
They only
had
8
0
between
them . G i
ve th
at
to
me said
Percy and in
return
gave
them a
cheque
for the
full
cost o a
glider and told them
to
go get a
British
Slingsby
Cadet. Tha
t
was
within
minutes
o
their firs
t
meeting.
A 1946
catalogue
cover and C a
det descr
iption is
shown
, and
by 1960
the price w
ould
ha
ve risenconside
rably.
p c
u
Tl I irlV
Callrl T original rty Cidel
designed
to
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
7/16
Percy
Hatfield enthusiast
ically
suppor
te d them and housed t
heir pride
and
jo
y a
single-seater silve
r
and
red Cadet glide
r,
in
one of
h
is hangars.
The
idea of
gliding had com e fro
m
John
Fisher,
a
pilot with 9 years
power
f
lying
experience,
a
nd T ony Sutto
n,
a racin
g m
otorcyclist with
none
whatsoever. Launching
w a
s
by wire
behind one
of
Tony s
vans, a For
d
Prefect with si
de w indow
s. f
t
he other original
members,
only
Lionel
Collins (tallest in phot o) and John
Osborne
had
any flying
experience. Also
in the photo are
Vie Chilvers (2nd left),
Harry Ch
ilvers
and John
Fem ley.
Geo
ff Stacey, P
ercy s ground
engineer
m
ay
als
o h
ave
be
en
a
member.
MB
fe
Training of new pilots
on the
single-seater was by ground
slides
followed
by
su
ccessively higher hops and g
lides straight ahead. Tony
Sutton
was the only person
to persevere and
learn to
fly
in this
w
ay.
Just
as
the single-seater
was
u
nsuitable for teaching, so
was the van
im
practical fo
r launching exper
ienced
pilo
ts . As soon as
the glider got to
even a m
odest height, it
lifted
the
van s back
driving w heels of
f
the ground.
The
196
newspaper report
was headed and cont inues,
O N
E
PL
ANE, LITTLE
CASH,
B
U T
P L E N T Y
O
F
R O
O M IN T H
E
SK Y
Thei
r
cu
rrent
boast is one pla
ne-wing
span 39
fee
t, no
money a
nd
a great
dealo enthusiasm.
The
glider
has
a top
speed
o
62
knots, best
gliding 35-
40 knots.
There are
n
ine
shares. The pilots,
ag
es 16
to 60 have all b
een in
th
e
air.
Expect
a
club will
be
officially
forme
in
the
near
future.
The
next
step
would be
to
obtain
a tw
o-seater for instruction
purposes. Co
nfident
t
hat
in
years
to come
the
sport will
be
well established
in
Colchester. T ony
says,
we believe
that air
tra
vel
is
definitely a
thing o
the future, an
d
th e
re
is
certainly ple
nty
o
oom
in the air'.
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
8/16
Se
en
b
ehi
nd
an
oth
er
o
T
ony
Su
tto
n 's
v
an
s an
d
th
e la
nd
ing
Ca
det
is
the
D
oll
y
ont
o
wh
ich
th
e
glid
er
w
as li f
ted
t
o
tow
i
t
bac
kto
t
he
la u
nch
po
int
.
A m e
m b
er w
ho
d
idn
't a
tte
nd o
fte n
,
J
im
A
pp
leb
y, h
ad
a
h
eav
y l
and
ing
in
th
e
Cad
et.
H
e
w
en
t
th
rou
ght
he se
at
le
avi
ng h
im
w
ith
sp
lint
ere
d p
lyw
oo
d
in
his
bo
tto
m .
H e
h
ad
to
dro
p h
is
tr
ou
sers
for
m
em
ber
s
to r
em
ov
e th
e
spl
inte
rs a
nd w
er
e l
eft w
ith
a
w
rit
te n
o
glid
er.
W
he
n t
hey
to
ld
Per
cy
th
at
t
he
clu b
wa
sfin
ish
ed
, he
a
sk
ed
W h
y?
No
m oney, it
wasn't
insured
they
said.
D o
n't
w
or
ry s
aid
P
erc
y Y o
u
d
idn
't
kno
w
but
I
p
er
son
ally
in
sur
ed
it
fo
r
y
ou
.
Per
cy o
nly
fle w
itonc
e,
a pe
rfe
ct la
un
ch,
a pe
rfec
tc
ircu
it,
a pe
rfec
t
l
and
ing
.
Tragic ally, Percy
H atfie ld was
kille d
on
a crop-spraying
sortie in
1
965
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
9/16
hapter
2
Gliding Groups
O n the fold o
the 96
3
A irm
ap Boxted
is seen four mil
es North of
Co
lchester s one
o
a numbe
r
o dis
used airfiel
ds.
f
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
10/16
Boxted had been
the
American wartime
fighter
base o
the
famous
56th
fighter
group. The
photo
with
the
farm worker and his son at Boxted
watching
a M arauder is
one
o
the
wel l known images
o the
war.
When they did see action, they coped
incredibly well they
became
the
top-scoring
Amer i can
squadron
even
shoot ing
down
300
aircraft
between
them.
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
11/16
T
he
pi
ctu
reo
th
e
in
te
rse
ctio
no
t
he
run
wa
ys
s
ho
ws
it
n
ear
ly
at th
e
end
o
its
l
ife,
th
e
la
st re
m a
ini
ng
bu
ild
ing
s
bei
ng
use
d
by
no
n-
flyi
ng
fir
ms
.
A
s w
el
l
a
s P
er
cy
H a
tf i
eld
ru
nn
in g
hi
s
c
rop
sp
ray
ing
c
om
pa
ny
A
irs
pra
y
L
td
,th
e
ma
chi
ne
t
ool
c
om
pan
y,
W o
od
s
of
C
ol
che
ste
r
ba
sed
its
bu
sin
ess
pla
nes
,
a
B
eec
hc
raf
t
Tr
ave
lai
r,
a
de
-
H avilland
D ove and the
A e
ro
C
om
m
an
der
,
sho
w
n
her
e,a
t
Bo
xte
d.
Th
e ow
ne
r,
G
eo
ffr
ey
W
oo
ds,
a
lso
bou
gh
t
W
orm
in
gfo
rd
Air
fie
ld ,
ano
th
er
Es
sex
w
art
im
e a
irfi
eld
,
s
ix
m
iles
awa
y.
So
, w
he
n ha
rve
stin
g
w
as
ta
kin
g
pla
ce
a
t
Bo
xte
d,
th
e
Gro
up
w a
s ab
le
to
fly
fro
mW o
rm
in g
fo
rd.
La
ter
,
W
o
rm
ing
for
d
wa
st
op
lay
a
vi
ta l
ro
le
in
th
eh
ist
ory
o
the
C
lub
A
ft
er re
adi
ng
th
e
n
ew
sp
ape
r arti
cle
,
J
oh
n Th
url
ow
w
ho
ha
d
b
ee
n
th r
ou
gh
an
a
dv
an
ced
g
lid
in
g
cou
rse
wit
h
A T
C
G
lid
ing
Sc
hoo
l
M a
rtl
esh
am
H
ea
th ,
i
m m
ed
ia t
ely
jo
ine
th
e
Gr
ou
p.
E
ric
Ri
ch
ard
s j
oin
ed
soo
n
aft
er,
g
uid
ing
the
clu
bin t
o t
he
n
ex
t
m
il
le n
niu
m
, e
ve
ntu
all
ya
sPre
sid
ent
.
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
12/16
O
r
ig
i
n
a
l
l
y
t
h
e
la
u
n
c
h
i
n
g
m
e
t
h
o
d
u
s
e
d
a
n
y
l
o
n
ro
p
e
b
e
h
i
n
d
m
e
m
b
e
r
s
'
a
r
s
a
n
d
v
a
n
s
,
w
h
i
c
h
g
o
t
t
h
e
g
l
id
e
r
u
p
t
o
5
0
0
f
e
e
t
in
a
g
o
o
d
w
i
n
d
.
In
e
p
t
e
m
b
e
r
1
9
6
0
th
e
y
p
r
o
g
r
e
s
s
e
d
to
l
a
u
n
c
h
in
g
w
i
t
h
p
i
a
n
o
w
i
re
,
b
u
y
in
g
a
n
o
l
d
a
g
u
a
r
to
u
s
e
a
s
a
t
o
w
c
a
r
,
i
n
c
r
e
a
s
in
g
l
a
u
n
c
h
h
e
ig
h
t
s
in
t
h
e
C
a
d
e
t
to
8
0
0
f
e
e
t
.
T
h
e
y
w
e
r
e
e
n
t
h
u
s
ia
s
t
ic
f
l
y
e
rs
.
A
ft
e
r
f
l
y
i
n
g
l
a
t
e
i
n
t
o
t
h
e
e
v
e
n
in
g
,
t
h
e
y
ould
towtheglidertothehangarand
if
thedriverwentfastenoughand
l
o
w
e
d
d
o
w
n
g
e
n
tl
y
,
w
o
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p
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7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
13/16
W
ith
t
he in
sura
nce
m on
ey f
rom
the
cr
ashe
d
C
ade
t a
nd
incr
ease
d
c
ont
ribu
tion
s f
rom
t
he m e
m be
rs
a Tu
tor
w
as pur
cha
sed.
T
his g
lide
r h
ad
bet
ter
aile
ron
s an
d thus
w as
sign
ifica
ntly
eas
ie r
tofl
y.
The
Tu
tor V M
653
is
sh
ow n
w
ith
E
ric R
ich
ards
and
hi
s so
nR u
sse
ll,
ye
ars la
te ra
lso
to bec
om e
a
n
in st
ruct
or,
in the
c
ock
pit. Th
eA u
ste
r
G -A
H A
P in
th
e bac
kgr
oun
d belo
nge
d
toC
olc
hest
er
and
Nor
th
Esse
x Fly
in g
C
lub
a
nd
be
in g
un
derp
ow e
red
wa
s
nev
er a
tow
air
craf
t.
H ow
eve
r,
Perc
y H at
fiel
d a
llow ed
C NEEFC qualifie d
m
em b
ers
to
ae
roto
w
in
hisow
n
Tig
erM o
th
G-
AIR
K . To
eco
nom
ise
on
fue
l
and
onen
gine
t
im e
,
th
e p
ilots
w
ould
c
ut th
e
eng
ine o
n ro
llou
t
after
la
ndi
ng
a
nd
som
eti
m es
e
ven
be
fore
land
in g.
R at
her
th
an ta
xi
th e
m
achi
ne,
m em
ber
s
w o
uld w
alk
th
eT
ig er
bac
k with
its
ta
il
u
p.
Of cou
rse m
ost
train
eeg
lide
r
pilots
w ere
restricted to auto-tow
in
th e single-seate r
Tutor. Tony
Sutton
w as
th e
on
ly m
em
ber
t
o
c
onv
ert
to
a
ero
-to w
in
th
e Tuto
r w
itho
ut
any
tw
o-se
ater
in
stru
ctio
n.
It
w as
cle
ar t
hat
a tw o
-sea
ter
gl
ider
w
asreq
uire
d. S
o
th e G
rou
p sol
d
t
he Tu
tor
to buy
a
K
a7 f
rom
John
A
dam
s a
ndA r
thur
C la
rke
w
ho
h
ad b
een
fly
ing
it f
rom
M
artl
esh
am
H e
ath .
Bot
h Jo
hn
an
d
A rt
hur
jo
ined
T h
e
C
olc
hest
er G
lidi
ng
G r
oup
'
as
it
call
ed
itsel
f. It
w a
s als
o n
ece
ssar
y to be
com
e
officially recognis ed
as
a
C lub under theBritish Glidin g Association
(th e
B
G A
)
fo
r
tra
inin
g.
T
rev
or
W
are
, G e
offr
eyW
ood
s'
com
pa
ny pi
lot,
ex
RAF
and
RA
F
G li
ding
Sa
ilp l
ane A
sso
cia t
ion,
bec
am
e C
hief
Fly
in g
Inst
ruct
or a
nd
clea
redE
ric R
ich
ards
and
J
ohn
Th
urlo
w
t
o
i
nstr
uct.
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
14/16
Peter
W ilb
y
had
independently form
ed a
flying
group called The
S
uffolk Gliding Group based at
another w ar
time
Suffolk
airfield
ju
st North
of Ipswich, at
Debach, pronounc
ed
'dee-bitch
Before finishing National
Service, Pete
r had heardof
a
sale of R A F g
liders
a
hangar full of Tutors,
Cadets, T31s,T21s and others. H
e and
a f
riend put in
a
tender for a
Tutor
w ith
all
the m oney
they had. H aving made it look as
unattractive
as
possible
to
others
by
kicking
a
hole in the
rudder
and rem
oving
th
e variometer, the
bid
of
50
was
accepted. So,
when
they returned
to Civvy Street, th e
y had their
own
glider.
They
la
unched
it
at Debach w ith an
Austin A40
pickup truc
k
and a solid
cable.
The political fee
ling
at th t
t ime
was
that
flying
should
be
encouraged
in
case
there should ever be
an
other 'Battle
of
B ri
tain'. So a tax rebate was available
on
petrol forflying. A launch
was
costed
at
one shilling and
sixpence
(7.5p)
and / i
still m
ade
a profit.
Rarely
did more than four of the six members of
the S
uffolk Group
turn
up.
However, even cross-countries
with
retrieves were achieved with
only
two people on the site,
the pilot and ground
crewman
. The system
was
as follows. A temporary castor
wheel was f ixed into the
wing
tip
resting
on
the ground,
but would fall out when
the
wing w ent
up. The
wire between the
car and
glider
would
have the slack taken up before the
pilot got in. When
th
e pilot was
ready
he would wave
to the driver and off they
went. The
castor supported
the
wing by r
olling along the runway until the wing
came
up
off
the ground and the castor wheel
fell
out.
f
the launch was successful,
the
driver had to retrieve the tow wire and
castor
and
watch for
a sign
that
th
e pilot w as
se
tting off
cross-country.
The sig
nal was two stalls i
n
succession, whereupon
he
would
hitch up the trailer and,
without radio,
follow
the
glider by eye
wherever itwent. In 4 successive days
in August 58
they
retrieved from near-by Ashlacton, Cret ingham
near Beccles, Caistor-
by-the-Sea
an
dShipmea
dow.
Like
the C olchester
Group,
the Suffolk Group
needed a two-seater
for tr aining, as inexperienced
pilots
dam
aged theT
utor too
often.
So in
1963
,
Peter Wilby flew
from Boxted with Eric Richards
in the
Ka7,
with the
possibility
of an amalgamation in mind. H
owever, the
sigh
t of the Tiger
cutting its engine
and being hauled
back to
the la
unch to save fuel and
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
15/16
Bob
Adams born
in 1934
jo
ine
d an
d l
ear
ned to
fly
w
ith
t
he
clu b
in
19
77
a
nd
r
em
ains
an
ent
hus
iast
ic
m
em
ber
. T
he h
isto
ry
is t
o ld
in a
ligh
t-h
eart
ed no
n
te
chn
ical
sty
le. An
ecd
otes
and
over 200 illustrations
m
ostl
y in
colo
ur
m
ake
a
fas
cin
atin
g st
ory
. A
lim
ited
e
diti
on
prod
uce
d a
t c
ost
.
2
7/25/2019 Essex and Suffolk Gliding Club. The Story
16/16
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