Windrushers Gliding Club
Windrushers Gliding Club (also known as Bicester Gliding Club or simply "Bicester" within gliding circles) was a gliding club flying from Bicester Airfield in Oxfordshire until late June 2020 after the owners of the airfield, Bicester Heritage, terminated their lease and offered "new arrangements", not a new lease, with significant operational changes and restrictions. Bicester Heritage proposed that the club would become just another airfield user which meant that if they wanted to use the airfield they would just have to book it for the day. Every glider or tug that was to be kept in the hangar would have to have a space rented for it. And the club house facilities that had cost the club a large amount of money were to be turned into a facility for whoever rented the field for the day. The proposal made it totally unviable to run a club from the site.
Windrushers originally started at operations at Little Rissington before moving to Bicester in 1956, later merging with the Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association. In July 2004 [1] the club was reformed as a separate entity after the RAFGSA moved to RAF Halton. The following year it hosted the UK Junior National Championship and its own Regional championship. It also later achieved the British Gliding Association's accreditation as a Junior Gliding Centre.[2]
The club also hosted Oxford University Gliding Club at their site until Windrusher's closure, where OUGC then relocated to Oxford Gliding Club. During their tenancy, the gliding Varsity match between Oxford University Gliding Club and Cambridge University Gliding Club was held at Bicester Airfield every other year, the other years it was held at Gransden Lodge Airfield.[3][4] The future site of these competitions is not currently clear.
At its peak, the club had approximately 50 private gliders on site at their Bicester airfield, with a substantial club fleet. As of July 2020, most of the club fleet has been put into hibernation should the club restart within the near future. The motorglider has been sold to a syndicate that includesBanbury Gliding Club. The skylaunch winch is rented out to another gliding club. The club operated seven days a week year-round with a few paid roles. The club also paid host to a significant number of British Gliding Association staff and functions including the BGA shop.[5]
During their operation, Windrushers hosted the following competitions;
| Competition | Year Held |
|---|---|
| Regional Gliding Championship | Annually 2005–2019 |
| UK Junior Gliding National Championship | 2005 and 2010 |
| Standard Class National Championships | 2006 and 2011 |
| 18 Metre Class National Championships | 2008 and 2013 |
| Club Class National Championships | 2015 |
| UK Gliding Grand Prix (18 metre class) | 2016 |
Club fleet[]
The following was the club fleet of windrushers prior to its closure. Part of he fleet is currently stored in preparation for a potential restart of the club and not available to pilots, however a some have been sold/transferred to other clubs.
| Glider type | Number owned and Registration Marks | Fate post closure |
|---|---|---|
| Alexander-Schleicher ASK13 | 5 (CCZ, HAL, HMV, JXM, KKR) | Storage |
| Grob Twin III | 2 (PX, XH) | Storage |
| Alexander-Schleicher K8 | 2 (EED, GD) | One transferred to OGC, one in storage. |
| Grob Astir CS | 1 (DFR) | Storage |
| Scheibe Falke 2000 Motor Glider | G-CFMW | Transferred to . |
| Tug Aircraft Piper PA-25 Pawnee | G-BFPR | Unclear |
| Tug Aircraft Robin DR400 | G-OBIC | Unclear |
References[]
- ^ Sailplane & Gliding, Aug-Sept 2004, p51
- ^ "Junior Gliding - British Gliding Association". British Gliding Association. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ^ "Gliding Varsity - Oxford University Sport". Oxford University Sport. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ^ "Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Match | Cambridge University Gliding Club". www.cugc.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
- ^ "BGAShop". BGAShop. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
External links[]
 | This aviation-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by . |
- Gliding in England
- Flying clubs
- Gliderports in the United Kingdom
- Aviation stubs