History of BMW.
Manufacturer: Slingsby Sailplanes, Kirbymoreside, Yorkshire.
Type: T51.
BGA number: BGA-1807.
Year of Construction: 1962.
First C of A granted: 1st January 1963.
Hour/launches recorded: End 2000 1422 hours & 1079 launches
End 2001 1438 hours & 1091 launches
End 2002 1491 hours &1148 launches
End 2003 - still working on it, but doing okay....
BMW was first issued with her first C of A the first day of 1963. She was delivered in a rather fetching colour of "Primrose Yellow," and was allocated the competition number "8", and was put to good use, straight away. The Lasham History displays in the clubhouse, shows the 1963 Nationals results with an entry of the late Mr. George Stephenson flying her to good effect.
At some stage, & I suspect when the original owners sold her, she changed her identity from competition number "8" to "511." However, it seems that one of the original owners has kept the competition number."8" for successive gliders, judging from S & G.. However, she remained "511" for many years, and just to confuse folk, she changed colours, a few times from "Primrose Yellow", to a white and red colour scheme. Later on, she changed colours once again to basically red all over, and finally took on the trigraph of BMW.
So, the logbook (and we are still using the original logbook) shows that BMW has spent a fairly gentle life, always having been in private ownership, and not used as a club hack. She appears to have spent all her life in the southern half of the UK, commencing at Lasham, going to Dunstable, towards Somerset, then Norfolk, now currently in Mike'n Mikes' careful hands back at Lasham, where she rests in her warm and dry trailer, between flying days. The previous owner to me, has taken BMW abroad, to the sandy beaches of Ireland, where a bit of sea air, and the odd winch launch must have done the world of good for her. I had a few photographs of her on the beach, but due to a PC crash, these have disappeared. If the "Norfolk" Mike reads this, he may go digging in his PC for these pictures, then they can go onto this website.
So, apart from minor hangar and trailer "rash," she has been carefully treated, and escaped major damage from flying accidents. However, she was sold to a new owner in 1972 in a damaged condition, having been involved in a ground incident. The C of A documentation reports that the hangar BMW was sleeping in, collapsed onto the fuselage and centre section. The centre section had some minor damage to the trailing edge, but the fuselage was destroyed, apart from the nose section, and fin/rudder assembly. Luckily, the other bits were stored in a separate location.
Doncaster Sailplanes rebuilt the fuselage using the manufacturer's drawings. The nose and fin assembly were incorporated, as well as all the metal fittings, but the small bit from the rear of the nose, the front of the tail assembly was rebuilt from scratch. I can only assume that this was the original "Cut & Shut".
How BMW was conned into buying me?
I re-started gliding in March 1999, with a very rusty Silver "C", achieved some twenty years earlier. The first unfortunate instructor to be thrown into the air with me in March, was a NATS ATCO colleague (poor Mark!), who was very surprised that I still showed signs of being able to fly a glider. Before long, I was back into the ranks of solo flying.
It soon became rather apparent, that single-seater flying was going to be problematical. Although Surrey & Hants have a marvellous and wide ranging fleet, ballots for aircraft; a shift-working lifestyle, and other commitments meant that glider availability could be a problem for me. Some initial calculations based on Insurance, C of A, trailerage, etc. meant that any glider I owned would have to fly for some 25 - 27 hours per annum, to cover the fixed charges. Any more flying, & I would be making a "technical" profit.
Next came the financial problem. I wanted something not too expensive, reasonable performance and was fun to fly. My rusty Silver "C" was obtained in a Skylark4 from Lee-on Solent, which brought back very many happy memories. Research in Sailplane and Gliding showed there were still a few about. So, I answered an advert in S & G, and I then took a trip to Tibenham to see BMW. She hadn't flown for about a year or so; I was one of the first folk to see and answer the advert. A bit of time went by, & once the funds were available, I bought her, subject to a hull inspection. Stu Hoy of Anglia Sailplanes, from the depths of Norfolk (email: stu@angliasailplanes.co.uk.), did this for me, and produced a glowing report. Following this inspection, money changed hands, and she was mine. I was keen to have a glider that was in a first class condition, and if BMW received a little bit of TLC, then I would achieve this aim. Stu collected her from Tibenham, and then set about recovering BMW's centre-section, and bits of the fuselage. Following this, all of the airframe was given a brand new coat of paint, which looks very eye-catching. I saw her in her new livery on the 17th November 2000, and arrived just in time to help re-weigh her, (this was fun!) and after all the calculations and duplicate inspections, she was given a shiny new C of A. We then adjourned to Maggie's, for a cuppa, and hand over some cash in return for the documentation and a pretty glider. Well done Stu, brilliant job!
The first year of ownership was a bit of a let down. Due work and other commitments I could not get to Lasham that often. Also, the lack of rigging aids meant that a lot of folk were required to rig the girl. I was aware of this when I purchased her, so that was my fault. Teaming up with T'other Mike was a laugh. Having met and chatted with him on several occasions, I let him fly BMW, and he took a tow to 40000ft. After landing, he spoke so kindly of her, that I thought he was "Taking the Mickey." He then flew her more and more often, and we became a syndicate. A pair of wicked senses of humour was a brilliant catalyst. We produced the rigging aids, polished her, flew her, landed her out, all with the added benefit of greater utilisation of her.
We agreed to have the C of G winch hook added at the 2002/2003 C of A. As this reduces launch fees by two-thirds. we estimate that this modification will pay for itself after some 75 - 90 winch launches (i.e. within 1-2 years).
The result is quite good. For half the price of a Cirrus, we have a good looking glider, which has not been abused. She is very comfortable to fly in, appears to have no vices, and has a reasonable if not spectacular performance (1-36 ish). She is easy to rig and de-rig by just 2 folk, and she keeps getting very positive stroking and complimentary comments from folk at Lasham. We outclimb even K8's, which is always fun, and she can keep up with quite a lot of older generation glass on strong days. Weak days, well, I can stay up, others land. Soarable or not, we fly her as often as possible, winter and summer, as she is so easy to rig. She goes cross-country, declared flights or not, just for the pleasure, and challenges this brings (Yes, Mike!) She is fun to fly, so chaps, go and see if you can cadge a flight in one, or even buy one. You won't be disappointed.......