Shalbourne Gliding Club History & Shalmag Archive
The Inkpen Gliding Club, Southern Soaring & the Thruxton Gliding Club
There has been gliding activity on the ridge to the south of Shalbourne since the late 1940s, when a nomadic group of glider pilots would bring their gliders and a winch, to soar the Inkpen ridge from a field below the Gibbett when the wind was right. In 1972 a group negotiated the use of a farm strip at the top of the hill above Shalbourne and set up a permanent operation, calling themselves the Inkpen Gliding Club. In 1973 Southern Soaring moved its operations from Compton Abbas airfield in Dorset to the Inkpen airfield. The club carried on at Inkpen until 1976, but due to a failed aerotow planning application the club was unable to continue and moved to Thruxton airfield in Hampshire. The Inkpen gliding club was later renamed as the Thruxton gliding club, but gliding activities ceased there in 1995.
Shalbourne Soaring Group, 1979 – Present
Shalbourne Soaring group, was formed in 1978 and commenced flying as a winch-only operation in 1979, renaming the airfield to Rivar Hill. Today the club is known as Shalbourne Gliding. The following report was published in Sailplane & Gliding in 1978:
In the winter of 1978 a small group of keen gliding people talked over the idea of starting a new club at the old Inkpen site near Hungerford. The idea was put to Mr M. Hine and we couldn’t have wished for a better landowner. He said he would be delighted to see the gliders back and immediately helped us to get the club started. With the kind help of Mr and Mrs Hine and Mr W. Sheppard we bought a K-7 and reconditioned a winch. We started flying on May 12, 1979 with two instuctors and four solo pilots and the club was born, We now have 45 members with one full Cat instructor and two assistant instructors. We have an Oly 2B and already syndicates are forming and a Mini Nimbus, Std Libelle and Bocian are flying with us. Another Oly 2B and a Kranich are on their way. Congratulations to Mr Eastman for being the first member to go solo with Mr J. Jones a close second!; Mr G. Wells and Mr J. Mace for re-soloing and Mr G. Nicholls who has gained his assistant instructor’s rating. We are looking forward to the winter to bring north winds to enable us to use the superb ridge which runs from Shalbourne to Highclere.
The angry farmer incident
Shalbourne Soaring Society: (alias Rivar Hill): Gliding activity has been in the area since 1968, however, the current club was formed in 1979. A winch only site, their claim to fame is based on local legend. A local farmer took exception to the previous club at the site and took pot shots at a glider. Folk tales has it a Blanik was peppered with shotgun pellets.
Shalmag Archive
Shalmag Archive
Shalmag was the old club magazine. This internal publication ran from around 1984 to 2009. Click on the PDF links to view each individual edition of Shalmag.
Media
S & G Volume 24 No 5 Oct Nov 1973
Club Aircraft
Schleicher K-7 EMV
Schleicher K-13 JMX (2011)
Schleicher K-13 R51, now JPC (2004)
SZD 50-3 Puchacz HCF (2011)
Mechta Me-7 JFY (2008)
Grob Astir FJH (2007)
Schleicher Ka-8 DLD (2004)
Schleicher Ka-8 EAZ
References
club started. With the kind help of Mr and Mrs Hine and Mr W. Sheppard we bought a K-7 and reconditioned a winch. We started flying on May 12, 1979 with two instuctors and four solo pilots and the club was born, We now have 45 members with one full Cat instructor and two assistant instructors. We have an Oly 28 and already syndicates are forming and a, Mini Nimbus, Std Libe’lle and Bocian are flying with us. Another Oly 28 and a Kranich are on their way. Congratulations 10 Mr Eastman for being the first member to go solo with Mr J. Jones a close second!; Mr G. Wells and Mr J. Mace for re-soloing and Mr G. Nicholls who has gained his assistant instructors’ rating. We are looking forward to the winter to bring north winds to enable us to use the superb ridge which runs from Shalbourne to Highclere.We welcome anyone who wishes to use the ridge and our launching facilities, so why not come with your glider and enjoy flying from a site that will give exciting ridge flying and some excellent field landing practice ready for next spring? But please no aeroplanes.
J.D