Westwood Works 1903-2003

Gliding


1965: Adjusting the Winch	1965: Preparing for take off	1965: Ready to go	1966: Westwood Sports Club Gliding Section's new glider	1969: John Hardy tries out the Bocian	1974: Westwood Sports Club Gliding Section	Date?: The Gliding Club on Westwood Airfield

Formed in 1964 by Jack Lovell, the Westwood Works Gliding Section had a working arrangement with Perkins Gliding Club to use their facilities as the Westwood section were still in the process of raising the funds to buy their own glider. Perkins had been flying their two gliders from Westwood Airfield but by 1965, the activity had moved to a disused wartime airfield – Spanhoe - near Laxton in Northamptonshire. The Baker Perkins Section formed a sub-committee to raise the necessary funds and, in June 1966, an eleven-year-old glider – “in very good condition” - was purchased from Long Mynd in Shropshire for £700.

In early 1968, the Section moved home from Spanhoe to Postlands, four miles north of Crowland, which was equipped with launch facilities capable of lifting the Section’s glider to 2,000ft on one runway and to 1,000ft on another. By the end of 1974, the Gliding Section had acquired a new glider – a Polish-built “BOCIAN” two-seat training sailplane – capable of giving an average flight time of over 19 minutes. The section was now operating under the auspices of the Peterborough and Spalding Gliding Club and offering “gliding holidays” with 6 pupils on each course experiencing 10 or 12 flights during the week.