Another Day at the RAF Shawbury Gliding Restoration Club
Well, once again, the weather decided to drown any hopes of flying, and just to rub misfortune into our faces, it made sure Saturday was a glorious day; glorious enough for neighbouring gliding clubs to make the most of the clear skies and enjoy the sensation of unpowered flight…..something we hope to experience sometime this month/year.
Now, enough moping, as the weather provided opportunity to continue with more maintenance tasks. Elizabeth was put to work by the Colonel to aid with cleaning the old tape marks from R66, ready for the aileron hinges and wing roots to be retaped.
Elizabeth under the mental-ship… errrrr… mentorship of the Colonel
Meanwhile, in motor falke corner, Colin and Nigel were giving KE a final once over before it commences its engine running tests next week. A huge thanks to those members who have given up their hours, in particular, Nigel who has led the very demanding task. Also, a sincere thanks to a very understanding Mrs Readman for letting him out to make the progress he has achieved with the annual. Just one final task remained which was to reinflate a rather saggy main wheel tyre. This also gave him opportunity to get his weekly Zumba exertion out of the way with the use of his D.I.Y foot pump.
Colin then recruited the two remaining youths in the hangar, Brad and Jack, to complete the range of movement checks on the Astir’s controls. With the assistance of the Colonel and John, the checks were done in no time, and with great success. Just the tailplane works left to complete and fit before she can become airborne once again.
Pleased to say R66 passed and will soon be ready to land in a field near you.
Back over in the workshop, and with the Astir now rid of it’s old tape marks, Elizabeth was now assisting our CFI, Gally the GOAT, with the installation of the new anti-collision light on the front canopy of R35. The pair had soon got the strobe fitted and wired into the instrument panel. A top job by both!
The CFI’s new simulator set up is now available for hire for those wishing to perfect their skills.
In another corner of the hangar, Will had conscripted Jack into assisting with the repairs to R66’s trailer. With the riveting stage now complete, the trailer nears completion ready for when the Astir next frequents a field.
Whilst Will was putting a Jack in a box, it was beginning to look like an episode of Last of the Summer Wine in the hangar, as the Ventus boys drafted Nick to assist with the detailed checks of the mighty Vespa 2 stroke engine as part of 243’s annual. Some say, the blind were leading the blind…
Back to Jack now, who had now been commandeered by Wing Commander Colin to fill a chip in the gel coat of R66’s wing; that said, it soon turned into Jack commandeering Dad, which the Colonel evidently found to be jaw dropping stuff. The pair had the blemish smoothed out in a jiffy, and with that complete, there was very little left to do, and the day was brought to a close.
With yet another week scrubbed due to poor weather, we pray next week will offer some relief to allow our members to fly off the new runways and generate income for the club.
Now, a key topic of conversation today was the recent news of the conscription age rising. It was during this discussion that our treasurer, John Pike-ard, kindly shared a photo of his first conscription, which I shall leave you with…
“Don’t tell him your name, Pike-ard!”
Club News:
The Annual BGA Conference, Trade Exhibition, Dinner and Awards takes place at the Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough University on 28 Feb 26. More details and how to book at https://members.gliding.co.uk/bga-sporting-conference-2026/
