FEAT OF WOMAN GLIDER PILOT

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27547, 3 January 1955, Page 8

FEAT OF WOMAN GLIDER PILOT

DISTANCE TEST COMPLETED INTERNATIONAL AWARD OBTAINED Soaring for 36 miles over the Mackenzie Country on Friday, Mrs S. H. Georgeson completed her last qualification for the Silver C award, an international gliding award of the Federation Aeronautlque InternationaleMrs Georgeson is the first woman in New Zealand to qualify for the award, and is the only person who has completed all the qualifying tests in New Zealand.

Mrs Georgeson, who is the wife of Mr S. H. Georgeson, of Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s foremost glider pilots, is attending the Canterbury Gliding Club’s third annual instructional camp at Simons HilL The conditions lor qualifying for the ajvard are that the pilot must fly 31.4 air miles, stay in the air for more than five hours, and obtain a gain-in-height of 3200 feet. These conditions do not have to be met on the one flight, however.

Mrs Georgeson Had completed the endurance and gain-in-height tests a month previously. Mrs Georgeson said last evening that the flight had been made from Simons Hill to the Claydon station over Burke’s Pass. The flight was made in thermal conditions with a following southerly wind, and took 1 hour 20 minutes to complete. Mrs Georgeson reached a maximum height of 8000 feet on the flight, but while passing over Burke’s Pass she had a struggle to get lift. At one stage while gliding over the pass she dropped to 3500 feet, but she struck another thermal and gained height to 5000 feet and had no difficulty with lift for the rest of the flight., Mr Fred Dunn, the club’s chief flying instructor, was not so lucky as Mrs Georgeson. however. He had considerable difficulty in obtaining lift and when he was within 12 miles of the necessary distance, was forced to land.