626 Volunteer Gliding School formed at RNAS St Merryn and
later moved to RAF St Eval.
The School was commanded by Flight Lieutenant Derek Tapson, whose son,
Bruce, was later also an Instructor at the Air Cadet Central Gliding School,
RAF Syerston. Flight Lieutenant Tapson had handed over Command to Flight
Lieutenant L S (Pip) Phillips by the time it moved from RAF St Eval to RNAS
Culdrose in May 1964.
The runway lighting at Culdrose was replaced during the period from August
1965 to June 1966. As the gliders could not be flown from Culdrose and the
only hangar which remained at Predannack had holes in the roof and no doors
the gliders were taken by road from Culdrose to Predannack for flying each
day.
During this period the Seahawk Gliding Club was formed and commenced flying
at Culdrose under Royal Navy auspices. A conjoint operation was attempted
but was found to be impossible without contravening certain Air Cadet
Gliding Orders. A permanent move to Predannack was negotiated and was
completed on 6 October 1968.
Flight Lieutenant Phillips retired on 2 August 1981 when Flight Lieutenant
(now Squadron Leader) Ross Goldsworthy assumed command.
Up to five T21 Sedbergh and T31 Cadet Mk.3 two seat training gliders were
operated, along with Prefect and Swallow single seat aircraft, until
September 1985 when the Unit was issued with 3 Grob 103 Viking gliders. The
Unit currently operates up to 5 Vikings and has, for short periods, used ASW
19 Valiant and Janus C gliders.
Link to Bessonneau history
A Bessonneau wooden framed, canvas covered hangar was used until 25 January
1990. The hangar had been very reliable when it was being serviced at six
monthly intervals by RAF Sealand. The servicing party disbanded in 1988 and
the condition of the hangar slowly deteriorated. It eventually collapsed
during the third 1989/90 gale of over 100 knots. The runway control caravan
was damaged but the two Eagle twin drum winches and the snow props, which
had been erected as a precaution, gave some protection to the three Viking
gliders. The gliders were too badly damaged for them to be economically
repaired by the RAF and they were written off charge. Subsequently the three
were used to make two serviceable aircraft which continued in civilian use.
The School was unable to fly in the period from 25 January 1990 to 16 April
1990 while the staff spent time clearing the hangar site. Two gliders were
kept in their trailers and rigged on each flying day during the summer of
1990. It was not thought that a viable winter operation would be possible
under these conditions and the School moved temporarily to RAF St Mawgan on
24 November 1990.
The School was the first Unit to keep aircraft in the newly built Hardened
Aircraft Shelter complex at St Mawgan. The limited space available for
launching gliders at St Mawgan brought forward the issue date of the new,
six drum, diesel powered, Munster Van Gelder winch. Even with the more
powerful winch the only flying possible was a restricted amount of
Familiarisation Training and essential staff training.
The School moved back to Predannack and resumed flying with three gliders on
11 July 1991. There was still no hangar and the gliders were rigged and
de-rigged each day.
Headquarters Air Cadets rewarded the School’s efforts by the award of the
MEL trophy for 1991. A formal presentation was made by Air Commodore R P
Skelley who visited the airfield with Mrs Skelley on 17 October 1992.
The School Headquarters building, a cedarwood hut, was condemned on 12
February 1994 when water leaks, brought about by old age, finally made it
uninhabitable. The flying for the remainder of that winter was restricted to
essential staff training as there was nothing that could be used as a cadet
crewroom. Office work was carried out in the runway control caravan until a
replacement hangar was completed on 26 May 1994. The office then moved into
the back of the hangar until three Presco portable buildings were erected in
early 1995, finally enabling the Unit to operate normally after five years
of disruption.
The Racal trophy was awarded in April 2000 to mark the School’s sustained
improvement in performance. The trophy was presented by Mr Bill Walker,
Honorary President of Air Cadet Gliding.
The Sir Arthur Marshall trophy was awarded in April 2001 as the school was
the best performing operator of Air Cadet winch launched gliders during the
year ended 31 March 2001. A formal presentation was made by Group Captain W
M N Cross OBE RAFR, Chief of Staff, Air Cadets at Predannack on 3 November
2001.
The Sir Arthur Marshall trophy was again awarded in April 2002 together with
the British Aerospace trophy as 626 VGS was the best overall from a total of
14 winch and 14 motor glider schools during the year ended 31 March 2002.
The trophies were presented at RAF College Cranwell by Mr Bill Walker, Honorary
President of Air Cadet Gliding.
The Breitling Trophy was presented by Mr Bill Walker at RAF College Cranwell
on 13 April 2003 as 626 VGS had provided the greatest contribution to youth
development during the two years ended 31 March 2003.
The Sir Arthur Marshall trophy and British Aerospace trophy were again awarded in April 2004 as 626 VGS was the best overall gliding school during the year ended 31 March 2004.
The trophies were presented at RAF College Cranwell by Mr Bill Walker, Honorary
President of Air Cadet Gliding.
The Breitling Trophy and Sir Arthur Marshall Trophy were presented by Mr Bill Walker at RAF College Cranwell
on 24 April 2005 as 626 VGS had again provided the greatest contribution to youth
development during the two years ended 31 March 2005 and was the best of the
11 remaining winch launched schools.
On 15 August 2005 a cadet from 2174 (Estover) Squadron ATC was involved in
an unfortunate and rare incident that resulted in a Flight Safety Award from
RAF Personnel & Training Command. The citation read:
Cadet Best, a 17 year old Air
Cadet, was being taught the winch launch on her 11th sortie as a
Gliding Scholarship Trainee in a Viking T Mk 1. The take off checks had
been completed normally and the Aircraft Commander and Trainee were
satisfied that both canopies were closed and locked. The Aircraft Commander
flew the initial part of the launch with Cadet Best following through on the
controls. During the climb control was passed to Cadet Best who continued
the launch with the speed stable at 55 to 60 knots. At approximately 800
feet she heard an unusual amount of wind noise behind her and, by looking
over her shoulder, realised that the rear canopy had opened. The instructor
asked her to lower the nose, release the launch cable and to adopt a normal
straight gliding attitude at 50 knots. She did so quickly and accurately.
The Aircraft Commander had managed to grab the canopy with one hand but
could not close it, managing only to hold it in a two thirds open position.
Cadet Best was tasked to alter the attitude to fly at 45 knots, still in
level flight. Again she responded quickly and calmly. The reduced pressure
from the airflow enabled the Aircraft Commander to close the canopy, make a
radio call and recover the aircraft with minimal damage and no injury. This
was to a large extent made possible by Cadet Best’s accurate flying and
ability to respond to instructions during an unusual and demanding
emergency.
Throughout
the incident Cadet Best displayed a calm and professional attitude that, for
someone with so little flying experience, was exceptional.
Cadet Hannah Best receiving her RAF Personnel & Training
Command Flight Safety Award from Group Captain Remlinger
In September 2005 the Air Force Board approved the change of title to 626
Volunteer Gliding Squadron.
BBC Radio Cornwall's Nina Davey enjoyed a flight whilst visiting Predannack
on 14 January 2007. Nina recorded a short broadcast about gliding for
cadets to encourage adult recruitment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2007/01/17/gliding_feature.shtml
Nina Davey with MAEOp Mick Headleand and Cadet Bridie Tamblyn
The Sir Arthur Marshall trophy was again awarded on 22 April 2007 as 626 VGS was the best
winch launched gliding squadron during the year ended 31 March 2007.
The trophy was presented at RAF College Cranwell by Mr Bill Walker, Honorary
President of Air Cadet Gliding in the presence of Air Commodore Gordon
Moulds MBE RAF, Commandant Air Cadets.
CGI Mark Wardley
receiving his long service certificate Aug 07
The inaugural George Young
Memorial Trophy for the ‘best engineer in the hangar’, awarded to the VGS
with the best engineering standards in 2007, was presented at RAF College
Cranwell on 22 June 2008.
A total of 67,079 launches were flown in the period from 2 August 1981 to
30 September 2007. 5,765 cadets have received Familiarisation Training,
2,555 have
completed Initial Gliding Training / Gliding Induction Courses, 377 have
been awarded Basic Gliding Training / Gliding Scholarship certificates and
55 have completed Advanced training.
February 2004
June 2004
Sunset
August 2005
Another sunset
Sunset 30 Dec 07
A
visitor
626
Deployment to Canada??
Another
Visitor
A Windy Day
