January saw the launch of the newly formed 'British Hang Glider Association’s' new magazine, known as ‘Wings’. This was produced by Nick Regan and co editor Dave Tait and was well accepted as a means of bringing all sides of the sport together. To explain who was doing what, pages one and two will give you a little idea. The B.H.G.A. also released a 'Newsletter' setting out and explain what had been agreed by all who attended the Coventry meeting chaired by Anne Welch on the 8th December 1974. The front cover carried a photo of Miles Handley flying an early Skyhook glider from Devils Dyke near Brighton.
Brian Gaskin was signed up as BHGA's very 1st member.
January. Mark Woodhams designed
and organised the manufacture of the BHGA cloth badge, an item that most of the early flyers took to wearing some where on their clothing or harness.
The newly formed B.H.G.A. committee decides to co-op Tony Fuell as the National Public Relations Officer. His principle function being to assist clubs in their fight to retain sites.
Waspair announce that a full spares service will be available at the Kossen World Championships being held in March.
9th January. The inaugural meeting of the Cumbria Hang Gliding Club was held at the Globe Hotel, Cockermouth on the 9th January 1975.
The B.H.G.A. selects 6 pilots to represent them at the upcoming Kossen World Championships to be held in March. 1) Brian Woods. 2) Dick Bickel. 3) Gerry Breen. 4) Malcolm Hawkesworth. 5) Robin Payne. 6) Bob Calvert. The team was to be sponsored by Van Heusen the shirt manufacturers. While Anglian Marine Exports were to provide 'Helly Hansen' suits and ski mitts.
12th February. The 'Evening Argus' Newspaper runs an article about the banning of Hang Gliding from Mill Hill on the South Downs.
February No 2 Edition of Wings.
The February edition of the 'Wings' magazine carried an article from Mark Woodhams and of how he designed the B.H.G.A. badge. There was also a report of the 8th December 1974's meeting at Coventry that was chaired by Anne Welch.
Rob Haynes from 'Waspair' is running the 'British Hang Gliding School' from Thornton Heath Surrey.
Early in the year, the Norfolk Hang Gliding Club was formed and it became the first and only club in East Anglia. Started by a bunch of guys who used to meet at Muckleburgh Hill (Weybourne), they then pioneered the cliff sites along the North Norfolk coast. The three founding members were, Rod Pace (Secretary) Greg Thompson (Flying Safety) Mike Lake (Technical Safety), these positions being the minimum requirements for a club to become affiliated to the BHGA.
March No 3 Edition of Wings.
20th March. World Championships held at Kossen in Austria. Ken Messenger wins the best soaring time by a British Flexwing while flying an Albartross. The British flyers were place as follows, 13th Tony Beresford, 20th Ken Messenger, 26th Brian Woods, 30th Bob Calvert, 34th Robin Payne, 38th Robin Haynes, and 56th Steve hunt.
April No 4 Edition of Wings.
10th April. 'Flight International' runs a short article informing would be competitors about the up coming Steyning Bowl Hang Gliding competition and that there will be two different classes.
May No 5 Edition of Wings.
May. Geoff McBroom published details of an anti-luffing system which in essence was the application of luff lines from the kingpost to points near the trailing edge of the sail of a standard flexwing. This idea was later copied by other manufactures.
May. John Amor, BHGA’s South Midlands and East Anglia representative crashes fatally. The cause is attributed to his wearing climbing boots with hooks for the laces, one of which caught in the flying wires. BHGA issues a strong safety advisory against this type of footwear.
June No 6 Edition of Wings
15th June. John Smith is involved in an accident while flying and crashing a home built Quicksilver B. at Doddington Near Wooler Northumberland. He later died from his injuries.
20th June. 'Waspair' send their price list and Glider details to Greg Stokes.
June. BHGA distributes the final version of its new Constitution to all members. Work starts on Pilot Grading Scheme by a sub-committee consisting of Anne Welch, Malcom Hawkesworth, Geoff Shine and Tony Fuell.
June Alex Cowie dies at Rhossili.
Johnny Carr claimes a 4hr 15min record flying prone on board a Hiway 260.
Steve Meredith and Greg Burgess flying a 2 man Hiway 260 claim a record of 2hr 1min that included 4 360degree turns.
That same year Geoff McBroom also brought out two new gliders, the Argus and the Cobra. The Argus was offered with a new enlarged ‘A’ frame suitable for prone flying, its fittings were black anodised. Its price including VAT and tuition for the 17ft (10st or less) was £250.00, while the 18ft (10-15st) was £262.50. The 19ft (12st or more) was £287.50, and the 20ft 6in (two seater) was £325.00. Kits and plans were also still made available for sale at that time. The Cobra was what became known as a second generation glider with a distinctive bird-like shape. Although without deflexors, the design incorporated truncated tips and battens. The Cobra was reported to have been a pleasant and docile glider to fly, and was produced in two sizes. It had a sail area of 222sq-ft designed for pilots of 11st and above. With a leading edge of 19ft, a keel length of 17ft, and was priced at £300.00 including VAT and tuition. The 17ft leading edge model for lighter pilots costs £290.00 including VAT and tuition.
July No 7 Edition of Wings.
13th and 14th July. The 'Southern Hang Gliding Club' holds a competition at Steyning Bowl and an article appeared in the 'Flight International' magazine with all the results. Further
innovations this year were a Team
Prize and a Ladies Cup, which both
produced triumphs for the visiting
Irish Association pilots. They carried
off the four-pilot Team Prize, led by
Tom Hudson, whose wife Jennifer
took the Ladies Cup. The Hudsons'
daughter, Sandra, was third. Team
member Patrick Davitt, who had
bought a new hang glider that morning,
won a Ridge Rider hang glider in
the raffle, complete with free lessons. Class A was won by Steve Hunt,
designer of the Hiway gliders which
carried their pilots into all the top
places in Classes A and B. The Class
B winner was Brian Wood, defending
champion, who retained his title as
the overall winner with 242 points. All Class C entries at Steyning had
single surface-battened wings. The
newest, the Miles Wing Gulp, could be
collapsed and rolled up in less than a
minute after landing, and with a
weight of only 401b could be carried
back up the hill without help. The Gulp,
flown by its designer, Miles Handley,
won Class C, with a Tweetie, manned by
Lt Cdr Michael Collis, coming second. A third
aircraft in this group was Ian Partington's
Tweetie derivative with stick controlled
wing warping. The event was photographed by Don Liddard.
July. BHGA issues its Code of Good Practice, Flying Recommendations and Flying Rules, prepared by John Amor and Bob Mackay, finalised by Bob.
Geoff McBroom and Norman Millhouse flying a two seater Argus glider became the first to undertake a drop from a balloon in the United Kingdom. Photo
A selection of photos taken by Don Liddard during 1975.
By 1975 Greg Stokes was flying a Hiway 204 (Gregs Photo Gallery) (Gregs Log book and ratings)
The Thames Valley Hang Gliding club is formed. Roy Hill is elected as chairman (later to become Chairman of the BHGA), other committee members were Jim Taggart, Ron Jerome, Tony Keefe, Alec Caley, and Rick Wilson.
Ann Welch and Gerry Breen co-authored the first British book about hang gliding. Ann Welch later became the President of the BMAA. (British Microlight Aircraft Association}.
Len Gabriels Skyhook Sailwing Company launched the Cloud 9, this was a higher aspect ratio glider than its predecessor, the 3A, and it had super performance and excellent handling.
August No 8 edition of Wings.
August. Don Liddard has a collection of photos taken around this time.
Early Video footage taken from 'Agnew's Hill', an easterly facing ridge near the port of Larne, Co Antrim - one of the very few sites in Northern Ireland that does not have a road to the top!
In 1975 Edmund Potter motorcycled to Brighton for a weekend with the Hawksworth Hang Gliding School. Malcolm H stood with a radio in a field at the bottom of a very steep hill, whilst the wind blew a huley at the top. Quote "We (the novice pilots) stood at the top, strapped to a Hiway 220 glider (with frantically flapping sail) and launched when the radio said so. Nearing the bottom, when the radio said “flare!!” – if we heard it - we variously made contact with knees/nose/wingtip or whatever and the ground. Then we nursed our bruises, laughed with relief, and helped carry the kite back up the hill for the next victim. Expert pilots at the top took off and beat back and forth above the ridge to our immense envy. They would disappear behind the top to land, to be followed occasionally, moments later, by a pirouette of aluminium tube, coloured sail cloth, and odd arms and legs. Later on ambulances would wind their way up and down the access road. I logged a modest 1 min 30 secs (total) for three intrepid launches. It was clear that you needed a 400’ high steep hill with a 40 mile an hour wind at the top for this form of aviation – not something readily available to East Anglians, alas" Unquote. Taken from Ed's Autobiography that appears on the Norfolk Hang Gliding Club website run by Phil Chett.
Tony & Derek Prentice video footage.
Tony Prentice designes and experiments with his Mk I Splitwing glider by ridge soaring at Brasted on the Northdowns in Kent, 1974 or 1975. (Photos) The Mk I had a jib in front of the Main sail, with the hang point between the two, so it could be classed as a canard. (Video 1 -- Video 2)
Johnny Carr flying a Gulp, .....(video footage)
22/25 August. After a lot of hard work by Chris Corston the newly elected Secretary of the BHGA and a few close friends. The first official British Hang Gliding Championships was held at Mere being sponsored by 'BP'. An event that was well attended by many flyers from all over the country. Brian Griffith's one of the competitors from Ipswich in Suffolk, once mentioned that there were 223 registered flyers that year. Even the American Wills brothers, Chris and Bob, turned up and introduced their Wills Wing Swallowtail to the UK. Bob went on to win one of the events and was overall winner. During the spot landing competition Bob was constantly landing on the Cross marked out on the ground, but for some reason Nick Regan who was a marshal overseeing the event would not give him maximum points. In desperation Bob approached Nick and asked why he was not awarding him maximum points. To which Nick told him that each time he landed his feet straddled either side of the cross, and that in order to get maximum points he would have to land dead center on the cross. Bob went straight up the hill to the take off area and had another flight and this time he landed on one-foot, on the dead center of the cross. Nick had no hesitation and awarded him maximum points. Bob went on to win the Class 2 event. Malcolm Hawkesworth was later to import the Wills Wing Swallowtail, although it performed very well, when compared to the British built hang gliders of the time, the higher price of the Swallowtail placed it beyond the reach most of the early pilots.
The Mere winners for 1975 were as follows
Class 1. 1st Bob Calvert Skyhook 3A. 2nd Miles Handley & Norman Millhouse. 4th Dale Clothier.
Class 2. 1st Bob Wills (USA) Wills Swallowtail. 2nd Chris Wills (USA). Wills Swallowtail. 3rd Robert Wisley.
Class 3. 1st Brian Woods Miles Wing Gulp. 2nd Cdr Mike Collis Tweetie. 3rd Johnny Carr Miles Wing Gulp.
Overall Winner of the event was Bob Wills (USA) flying a Wills Swallowtail, followed up by his brother Chris, and Bob Calvert was 3rd.
Everard Cunion also attended the Mere meeting flying a Skyhook 3a.
30th August. Don Liddard photographs Miles Handley flying a Wasp 229 at Devils Dyke.
By this time most manufacturers in the UK had also introduced the use of battens into their wings.
Another new company that set up in Scotland during 1975 was 'Scotkikes/Eurowing', and run by Brian Harrison. Some of the models offered included, Firefly, Firetail and under licence from Electra-Flyer Corp, the Cirrus2, Cirrus 3, Cirrus 5, Olympus, Dove and Floater.
September No 9 Edition of Wings.
September. BHGA announces its Pilot Grading scheme, comprising two grades, Elementary and Pilot. Progress with the Schools Registration scheme is announced. A subsequent explanatory article appears in Wings! November issue.
September. John Smith dies at Doddington flying a Quicksilver. Investigation reveals that a flying wire attached by bulldog clips over plastic sheathing, had pulled through. BHGA issues a safety advisory to only use swaged ends straight on to steel wire. Wings Article.
Southern HGC raises an 8000-signature petition against a proposed by-law banning hang gliding at Mill Hill, Shoreham and hands it in to the Home Office.
Birdman Sports acquired the UK dealership for Ultralight Products of California. The UP Dragonfly was imported and proved to be of superior performance to the Hawk and Albatross. As an interim measure, updating kits of ‘prone’ ‘A’ frames and deflexors were produced. A high performance conversion for the Hawk reduced the sail billow to near 3%.
Tony Fuell is co-opted by Council as BHGA’s Public Relations Officer to deal with the organisation’s response to the increasing media interest in hang gliding.
A newspaper article appeared high lighting the deaths in the sport. Paper and exact date is missing, if anybody can help, please get in touch.
October No 10 Edition of Wings.
Gerry Breen’s Custom Kites brought out two gliders in 1974, the Kingkite and the Custom Kite. The Custom Kite included wing nuts and safety cross-pins, thus making it possible to rig and de-rig without tools whilst still retaining aircraft approved methods. The Custom kite series was advertised to include the following variants; Butterfly, Firefly, Cirrus, Cumulus, Stratus, Nimbus, each of these in two sizes (+6, presumably six inches longer leading edge). While the Kingkite was advertised in 3 different sizes 20-18, 19-17, 18-16.
Hiway unveiled their second generation glider, the Cloudbase, which incorporates battens and deflexors. Early models had two radial battens. whilst later ones, had chord wise battens. The Cloudbase was supplied in three different sizes to cover pilot weights from 7 to 18st. This was an excellent glider and became one of the first to be used for cross-country flying. The Cloudbase model 20.(medium size for 10-15st pilots) had a leading edge 20ft 2in, a keel of 18ft 2in, with a sail area of 220sq-ft, its aspect ratio was 4, and weight was 43lbs, with a total price tag of £378.00.
Commander Mike Collis introduced hang gliding to the Royal Navy, forming a club in 1975 while he was stationed on board HMS Fyfe. Mike remembers assembling the club’s first hang glider from a kit, bought from a UK distributor and in true naval style it was assembled at sea. Mike and the Commanding Officer of HMS Fyfe sewed the sail. The members of the first club were any of the ships company who expressed an interested in exploring the idea of free flight. Later, Mike left the Royal Navy and went on to become the paid secretary of the BHGA from 1988-1990, before it amalgamated to become the BHPA.
November No 11 Edition of Wings.
November. The Mercian H/G club releases its November Newsletter.
November. The Long Mynd H/G club releases its November Newsletter.
10th November. As of this date the B.H.G.A. have approved the following gliders. The Birdman Hawk and Albatross. The Breen Custom Kites 14 to 19ft models. The Chargus Standard & 18/80, the 200 seated & prone. The 240 seated & prone and the 260 seated & prone. The Kestrel Windhover 2. The McBroom Argus 17 and 18. The Pegasus, Pegasus 2. The Skyhook, Skyhook3A 13ft to 18ft. The Cloud 9 15ft to 19ft. Sailwings Scotland's Osprey 520. Sussex Delta's the Ridge Rider and Waspairs 229B3, and CB240.
November. Bob Bailey sets a Pennine HGC soaring record of 6 hours 7 minutes flying a Skyhook IIIA on the Filey/Scarborough cliffs.
Johnny Carr broke the British endurance record for prone flight on a Hiway 260 at Rhossilli.
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December. A local branch of the Welsh Hang Gliding Club (WHGC) was formed to look after the interests of fliers living within the area bounded by Bridgend to the west, Brecon to the north, and the river Monnow to the east. This was initially known as the Heads of the Valleys Branch. Ewart Jones, who was the first man in Wales to own a hang glider, was elected as Chairman, and Hugh Hutchinson became Secretary.
27th December. The Guardian newspaper runs an article by Martin Walker describing what it's like to fly a hang glider just like 3000 other people in the UK.
