SPORT IN AIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 260, 2 November 1935, Page 7

SPORT IN AIR.

GLIDER IMPORTED. EXHIBITED IN AUCKLAND. EARLY FLIGHT PLANNED. A new Waco glider, which, has been imported by the Auckland Gliding Club, is being exhibited on the third floor of Ashley's establishment, Karangahape Bosd, and it is expected that the machine will be flown for the first time in about a fortnight at Orakei. Since the formation of the club a number of fine performances have been established by newly-trained pupils, and approximately 260 recorded flights have been made without mishap. On Labour Day the club had 97 nights without any hitch. The new machine has been imported by the club to accommodate an increasing membership. It is of a well-tried design, safe and efficient, and is constructed of steel tubing with a very fine finish. The overall length is 21ft, and the wing area 184 square feet. The total weight is only 1751b. The engineers of the Auckland Gliding Club have perfected an entirely new and safe method of launching gliders, which may be claimed to be the only system of its kind in the world. The usual method adopted for launching a glider is by means of a shock cord, but that has been found to be far too sudden in its operation for trainees, and it involved a good deal of laborious handling.

Overseas some surprising records have been put up by members, of gliding clubs. The present record time in the air is 10 hours without aid of power of any kind. A height of over 14,000 ft has been reached, and in a flight 205 miles have been covered. The officials of the club are now looking forward to further progress. They point out that gliding is a very exhilarating sport, and that it can be carried on at very little expense compared with the expenses attaching to aeroplanes.