Way back in the early 1950’s the then Department of Civil Aviation was finding that some aeroplanes built during World War 2 were starting to come unglued. This started a general suspicion of all glued wooden structures and for a while it looked as though all our gliders were going to be grounded and destined for the scrapheap!!!
No amount of inspection or discussion could sway those in position of authority until I suggested that we proof load the wings of our oldest gliders and see if they were still strong enough. The rationale being that if we proof loaded to limit loads for the semi-acrobatic category, which the gliders were designed for, they had been loaded to design ultimate load levels for normal category and hence would be quite safe to fly. The first glider to be loaded was the Golden Eagle, being the oldest with 23 years since it had first flown - it is now 62 years. As we expected it passed the test without even a little creak or groan.
The Geelong Club were preparing to put the Coogee back into the air after having purchased it at great expense from VMFG (actually they got a bargain). To remove all doubts David Rees decided that it would be proof loaded in their hangar on Belmont Common. Thanks to members like Howard de Grandi and Peter Carr a suitable dummy fuselage was constructed on which the wings were assembled upside down. I managed to get the loan of enough lead shot bags from the Aeronautical Research Laboratories along with some measuring equipment. Also managed to convince two members of my staff that they would enjoy a day in Geelong to look after and operate the equipment.
Photographs show that a youthful Gary Sunderland was also present to no doubt officially observe that the loads did go on and the structure remained intact.
The tests were done on 27th May 1962 with most of the club members present. They were needed - of course - to place the shot bags on the wing and look for buckles etc. The wing carried the 4.0g CPB and 5.0g CPF loads without any sign of distress. For those pilots who had never seen how the plywood buckles on the top surface under load it was a sobering experience.
The glider was later sold to a group who flew it in the Mallee Sunset Country and it is now being restored by Gerry Downs.
After five more proof loadings of the Zephyrus, Vasama, Kookaburra, Olympia and Gull 1 it was accepted by DCA that the glues used in gliders were satisfactory and only needed to be given the usual non-destructive tests of trying to pull off gussets and smelling for stale glue.
During 1941 Jack Munn designed a tandem two seater of which five were built and used to successfully train many glider pilots. There is an excellent description of the glider given in the book "Gliding in Australia" by Allan Ash.
The Geelong Gliding Club purchased one from the Adelaide Soaring Club and flew it until it needed an annual inspection. At that time the club did not have anyone authorised to sign off the Form 2, so an arrangement was made for work to be done by members under the supervision of their most competent member. Since both Lorna and my parents lived at Queenscliff I was able to make regular inspections when passing through on our visits back home.
As usual the jobs took longer than expected and members were getting itchy feet to get back into the air. However I insisted that there were still a number of things yet to be done before the glider flew again. Nevertheless I was so impressed by the work that had been done that I was prepared to let the glider fly without my inspection on the few remaining items.
This was the first and last time I have ever made such a decision.
On the next Saturday night I got a phone call to tell me that the glider was a heap of wreckage but thankfully both occupants were quite OK.
I had left the glider with two significant tasks to be done:
The urge to fly was so strong that the argument that it had been flying OK before the Form 2 caused some members to take it out and do a winch launch. Unfortunately Mr. Murphy was also present that day and guess what - when the pilot went to move the stick forward shortly after take-off, it would not move. So he released and they stalled into the ground whereupon the rear harness failed allowing the instructor to move forward until stopped by the family jewels coming into contact with the joystick.
I believe it was a first flight for the front person who reckoned that gliding was a bit too rugged to keep going and thanked them for the experience, but no thanks I’m off.
For various reasons the wreckage was used for a barbeque, except the rudder, which hangs on the back wall of the North Hangar at Bacchus Marsh.