THREE GLIDERS SOON

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26126, 31 May 1950, Page 3

THREE GLIDERS SOON

ACTIVITIES IN CANTERBURY Several gliders or sailplanes may soon be in flight over Canterbury. An Ashburton man is building a glider of his own and application is being made through the New Zealand Gliding Association for permission to fly it. The Canterbury Gliding Club is in process of placing an order for a glider which it is hoped will be in the air about Christmas time, and a few months ago two Christchurch men placed an order for a glider which is expected shortly. The Canterbury Gliding Club is ordering a T3l two-seater tandem training glider from an English firm. It is specially designed to facilitate training at a reasonable cost, and the glider coming to Christchurch is thought to be the first of its type to come to New Zealand. It is expected to arrive during October or November. The club is now launching an appeal to raise £lOOO. It has hopes of later purchasing a higher performance glider to cater for members who have passed out of the training stage. The Canterbury Gliding Club was formed in 1947, but its objective of obtaining gliders and starting flying training have been seriously handicapped by regulations. Within the last six months the civil aviation authorities and the New Zealand Gliding Association have reached agreement on new regulations, and the way is now open for the club to bring into the country suitable gliders. The club has made tentative arrangements for use of a field at Norwood for its flying. The glider which is being imported privately from England is a singleseater Prefect, from the same firm as the T3l. The craft under construction at Ashburton is based on the singleseater Kestral, which has been flown in Australia for several years.