February Len Gabriels finally gets his hang glider airborne, but quickly alters the design progressively until by the Mk3 version he is satisfied with its performance. In Len’s words “It handled well and was easy to fly”.
The Daily Telegraph writes an article about Gerry Breen breaking Geoff McBroom’s duration record, by raising the bar to 17 minute in early 1973. Gerry has the newspaper cuttings of the event that I hope I can add at some time.
April. The Pilot magazine runs an article about the latest craze of Hang Gliding. Although the article is basicaly American it also mentions the Australians Bill Bennett and Bill Moyes, however towards the end Geoff Mcbroom is given a short mention .
April. Geoff McBroom revised the dimensions of his glider and based it on a 17ft boom length. This became known as the Arion, for which he produced two instruction manuals, one to build the machine and one on how to fly it. It had a nose angle of 80 degrees, and a wing boom length of 16ft 9in, with a span of 22ft. The 18swg version weighed 37lbs, the 16swg version 44lbs (including seat). It had a performance that included an approx take-off speed of 15mph with a glide angle of 4:1. Min sink speed was 7.5ft per second at around 25mph. Its recommended speed range was between 15 to 35mph. Geoff also offered plans of this particular model and claims to have sold several hundred copies.
The Arion 'Manual' and 'Plans' dated April 1973 that Mark purchased from Geoff McBroom.
April Len Gabriels happy with his Mk3, produces plans and advertised in the ‘Aeromodeller’ magazine and was inundated with orders. About 1800 sets were sold. He was also inundated with phone calls and letters asking where would be flyers could purchase the materials, could he supply ready made parts, sails etc, but mainly could he do training. It took a couple of his modeler friends to deal with all this working from home. They formed the Skyhook Sailwings Company. They rented a large garage to store materials and make the parts. I’ve also discovered that some people, who later became manufactures, also purchased sets of these plans.
April. Mike Lake from Norfolk purchases a set of Mk3 plans from Len Gabriels, and starts work immediately on building his glider. Its believed that Mike was the first in East Anglia to own a completed glider, he went on to make his first flight early 1974.
April. Brian Griffths from Ipswich purchased a set of Arion Plans from Geoff McBroom and within a couple of weeks starts building his glider. Brian went on to make his first flight some time during the summer of 1973.
April. Miles Handley gets in touch with Len Gabriels and purchases one of his Mk3 Skyhooks and takes his very first flight from Steyning Bowl.
April. Mark Woodhams reports, Quote "I bought the April 1973 issue of 'Pilot' and read the article that was to change his life. There were the Rogallo wings like the models I had been experimenting with, but instead of being radio controlled, they had people hanging off them and controlling them by moving their weight around. As I read on I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - of course, I would build my own personal aeroplane and I would be the pilot! All around Britain that day there must have been hundreds of like-minded people all setting off on a journey that would lead some to their ultimate dream of personal flight.
I contacted Geoff McBroom who was featured in the article flying an early version of his 'Arion' at Westbury White Horse. I bought plans and flying instructions from him and I also got hold of plans of Dave Kilbourne's 'Kilbokite', which was the first Rogallo to soar for over an hour, at Mission Ridge, San Jose" Unquote.
Tony Prentice flys his first aluminium framed hang glider on the South Downs, using parachute material for the sail (Film Footage).
Ken Messenger took delivery of his first Hang Glider, sent from the USA from Bill Bennett and taught himself to fly from the hills around Marlborough in Wiltshire. A few stunts followed that generated a lot of publicity in the national press and on television. As a result Ken received well over 2000 letters from all over the country. This was an opportunity not to be missed and he was soon involved with importing gliders on a regular basis from Bill Bennett in California. However, there were a few problems when several of the gliders arrived with vital parts missing. Therefore a few changes had to be made and Ken started manufacturing parts himself. Finally Ken formed Birdman Sports and brought out the Grass Hopper. Working for Birdman Sports at that time was David Walling an ex European tow kiting champion and a UK national water ski coach and later Dave Raymond an ex mountaineer and qualified engineer, who supervised the building and development program. The meet up of Ken and Bill Bennett also links Ken’s first hang glider design back to The Dickenson Wing in Australia. It’s also worth noting that the early “Grass Hopper” had no king post and was fitted with a plastic bucket seat, later to be abandoned after a few back injuries. It did not take Ken long to start notching up many firsts in the sport, like endurance records, first to offer instruction, and first to set up a training school.
14th June Anne Welch publishes an article called Like A Bird On A Breeze in the 'Flight International' magazine about her views on the fast growing sport of hang gliding. This is the very first time that Hang Gliding is mention in the 'Flight International' magazine.
While on the Isle of white Peter Scott had read an article in a Post Office engineering magazine that Tony Prentice had submitted about his hang gliding activities on the main land. Peter invited him to the Island for a holiday along with his first aluminium built hang glider during the summer of 1973. There is a film in existence of the event, that I believe Tony still has. It clearly shows Peter stalling with his arms fully outstretch on takeoff. They spent much of their holiday together searching out sites to fly from. Tony thinks the first club to be formed on the Isle of White was the Britton Norman Sky Surfers.
The first man in England to take off and go up and soar, is John James (aka Haynes) sometime during the middle of 1973. This was two years after Dave Kilbournes flight in California USA. Its also reported that John got caught by strong gust of wind that lifted him up into the air above a row of trees that were growing along the top of the take off hill. Its also reported that he went on to take the impact of a very heavy landing breaking his ankle.
July. Gerry Breen stays up for an hour flying a Quicksilver rigid hang glider. Gerry also released a book called 'The Hang Gliding Handbook' that was well recieved by many who bought it.
12th September 2.05pm. Ken Messenger stepped off the summit of Mount Snowden (3560ft) in North Wales to under take a flight that was to take him three quarters of an hour and carry him to a British unassisted flight record, flying a glider that carried 210sq.ft of sail and was controlled by an A frame and a swinging seat.
27th September. Flight International shows Sally Lee's photo flying a hang glider while taking part in the annual Selsey Birdman competition.
John Ivers and Steve hunt formed “Hiway” and operated from Brighton. Their first standard glider did not have a kingpost. Although not in at the very beginning of the sport they wasted no time in catching up to the other manufactures at that time.
25th October. Flight International runs an article about David Walling from 'Birdman Promotions' and the formation of a 'Kite Soaring Association".
Skyhook Sailwing Ltd brought out the Skyhook 3A which became a successful glider and continued to be offered well into 1974. The earlier models could be purchased as a kit or in a completed glider form; extra rigging wires and ‘A’ frames were also available to update them to later specifications. By late1973 'Skyhook Sailwing Ltd' brought out their Mk4 along with instructions. This glider was exactly the same as the Mk3, but had a king post and also top rigging wires. It was sold as a complete kit with all parts being ready made and it only needed assembly.
Waspair brought out the 229B3 while trying to reduce unnecessary weight, its inherent stability enabled the novice pilot to gain experience on junior slopes before progressing to advanced flying, including ridge soaring. Long soaring flights were easily achieved in light winds of 16mph +. The 229B3 had a sail area of 229sq-ft, and a span of 24ft 3in. Its length was 18 ft 6in with an all up weight of 42lbs. The sail was made from 3oz. rip-stop nylon.
Of the Wasp 229, Graham Drinkall from Essex reports purchasing a second hand kit from a group of Air Scouts, whose parents were horrified that their scout leader had bought a 'poisoned butterfly'.
1973 also saw the very first hang glider known as a "Grass Hopper" appear on the Isle of White, owned jointly by Steve Medland, of Totland, and Peter Cole, of Ryde. They had received basic training from the manufacturer, Ken Messenger, and were improving on this. Russ Potter purchased a "Wasp" in February 1974 and, in the process of looking for a suitable site to throw himself off, came across Steve Medland and Peter Cole. They joined forces and through the NHGA (National Hang Gliding Association), made the acquaintance of Peter Scott, Les Pakes and John Cleaver. The following year they formed the very first hang gliding club on the island. Des Norman agreed to be president: Leo Hill Chairman: Peter Scott Treasurer: Les Pakes Secretary: Steve Medland Flying Instructor and Russ Potter Site Management, though soon after Peter and Les reversed roles. Trevor Hutchins is still a member of the IWHGC.
11th November. The British endurance record is stretched to 25 minutes 46 seconds by Len Gabriels, flying one of his Skyhooks. An article about his flight appeared in the first edition of Sailwing the British Kite Soaring Associations first magazine that was released in December 1973
Early December Ken Messenger appears on “Magpie” a Thames Television children’s program demonstrating to one of the hosts how to fly a Hang Glider. Who after a couple of lessons stalls and crashes quite hard to the right after takeoff, although lucky for him the crash was just out of camera shot, but he could quite clearly be heard uttering a few chosen words of pain.
December saw the release of the newly formed British Kite Soaring Association's Sailwing magazine.
29th December. Ken Messenger flying one of his own “Birdman Sports” Albartross gliders breaks the 1-hour record by staying aloft for 1 hour and 18 minutes. An article about the event from Ken appeared in the B.K.S.A. second edition of the Sailwings magazine that was released in March 1974.
John James claims to be the first pilot to fly backwards and of also stopping the most number of cars on a major trunk road, while flying at Wrotham (wind was 20mph+ at the time). The site was one used by novice flyers with a nice gentle slope. He eventually end up in a ploughed field 20 yards from the road. A full detailed article appeared in the No 3 Flypaper that was published in January 1974.
This also means that up until now every glider that has been designed, built and flown in the UK has been based upon one of Bill Bennett’s early gliders. It’s also a possibility that from the end of 1973 the subject was widely published by newspapers, television and magazines, Bill Bennett flew a hang glider in the James Bond Movie “Live and Let Die.” Therefore it’s a foregone conclusion that if others had wanted to design and build their own flexwing hang glider, they would by now know that an 'A' frame and a central hang point would be a major requirement. From now on as designs were altered and pieces and ideas added, we can safely say that all our gliders have been based in one way or another on Bennett’s glider.
There is a videoed interview in existence of Bill Bennett, in which he actually admits to taking John Dickenson’s original idea, without giving him credit. This has now appeared on a DVD called "Big Blue Sky" by Bill Liscomb in the USA. For a Youtube trailer Big Blue Sky, or visit Bills WEB-SITE.
