No 616 Volunteer Gliding Squadron

No 616 Volunteer Gliding School was founded in the early summer of 1958 by a telephone call to Peter Bullivant at De Havilland’s from Headquarters Air Cadets asking if he could find enough gliding oriented people to form a school at RAF Henlow. Various enthusiasts at De Havilland’s were rounded up and Peter phoned back to HQ Air Cadets saying: “we can start on Friday”. Over the next few weeks, winches, trucks and aircraft arrived and the school was formed. Instruction was given in the art of winching by Peter to the school members (some were civilian club members) and it was not long before Sedberghs WB978 and WB989 were gracing the skies above Bedfordshire. The aircraft strength grew to 5 with the addition of Kirby Cadets WT901, WT910 and WT918 and was supplemented by the loan of various Prefect or Swallow aircraft. In June 1978 616 was re-equipped with three Venture Mark 2 Motor Gliders, numbered XZ558, XZ559 and ZA625. With these aircraft, 616 catered for cadets from Herts & Bucks Wing, Beds & Cambs Wing and South Midlands Wing, with Combined Cadet Force cadets attending continuous courses at Easter and Summer. About 80 cadets, male and female, qualified solo on the Venture motor glider each year; the average time was 7 hours but some remarkable cadets have “soloed” well below this time and one, in particular, did so in 3 hours 20 minutes!

The Squadron is currently the only flying unit at RAF Henlow and has the use of the airfield for most weekends and holidays, using three grass runways. The airfield is virtually unchanged since its construction in the early 1900s. The control tower at RAF Henlow was built early in the Second World War and is now a listed building. It is unique in that it was made from packing cases originally used to transport Hawker Hurricane parts (the original wood and materials for the tower having gone missing)!

Today 616 VGS is equipped with 5 Vigilant T Mk 1 Motor Gliders – for the aircraft enthusiasts, these are the RAF’s version of the Grob G109B and are powered by 2.5 ltr, 95 hp, air-cooled, 4 cylinder piston engines. Although the Squadron title includes the word “gliding” and although the engine can be stopped in-flight, the majority of the exercises are flown with the engine running, much the same as a conventional aircraft. Our objectives are to provide Gliding Induction Courses (GIC), Gliding Scholarship Courses (G/S) and Advanced Glider Training (AGT) to members of the Air Training Corps and Combined Cadet Force.

Cadets aged 13 years and 3 months are eligible for the GIC, designed to give the cadet their first taste of formal flying instruction. It consists of three parts, or sorties, teaching the cadet the basic effects of the flying controls and culminates in a demonstration of what happens when an aircraft stalls. At age 16, cadets may apply for a G/S. This is an intensive 8 hours of flying instruction involving a variety of upper air and circuit exercises. Successful completion of the course entitles the cadet to wear the blue G/S Wings. For cadets with the required aptitude there may be the opportunity to progress further with an added 20% more flying training culminating with a solo circuit and set of silver G/S Wings – quite an achievement for someone who can’t legally drive a car yet! The AGT provides further training to cadets who have been offered a place on the Squadron, normally as Flight Staff Cadets, with a view to perhaps eventually becoming instructors themselves. Successful completion of the AGT course entitles the cadet to wear the gold AGT wings.

For more information on gliding with 616 VGS, visit the ATC either at your local squadron or via the website.