Restored glider to skylark again

MARTIN DE RUYTER/Nelson Mail

GOOD AS NEW: Nelson Gliding Club members Ray Sharland, left, Dave Frost and Miles Hursthouse with the fuselage of the club's oldest aircraft, a Rhonlerche II glider, which has been rebuilt after hitting a bullock while landing two years ago.

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A faithful old glider smashed after it hit a bullock during an "unplanned landing" two years ago has been fully restored in Nelson and is about to be relaunched.

The German-designed Rhonlerche II, bought by the Nelson Gliding Club in 1960 as its flagship glider, is fondly referred to as BW, because of the registration emblazoned on the tail.

Two years ago, gliding club founding member Miles Hursthouse watched in horror as BW landed short of the airstrip used by the club at the Lake Station near St Arnaud and hit a grazing bullock.

"It was the saddest accident we've had," Dr Hursthouse said.

"It was just a change of wind or something, but it bowled the bullock over, and then the glider went through the fence.

"The bullock disappeared, but after we told the farmer and he went to look for it, he told us he couldn't tell which animal had been hit. None were hurt," Dr Hursthouse said.

He saw the glider's wing break and then fly off, and wondered what state he would find the pilot and passenger in, but only their pride was hurt.

The restoration has been overseen by Dr Hursthouse and carried out by early gliding club member and retired cabinetmaker David Frost and club founding member Arthur Jordan.

About 75 per cent of one of the timber and plywood wings was demolished in the accident, and the steel fuselage was bent.

The other wing suffered minor damage.

Those involved in the almost full-time restoration project would not say who was flying BW at the time, but the accident happened during an instructor check, Mr Frost said.

Another founding member, Ray Sharland, whose Vanguard St property was being used as the repair site, started flying in BW when it arrived at the club almost 50 years ago.

He described it as a "nice, easy, safe machine".

The Rhonlerche (skylark) had achieved 17,638 landings and 4998 hours of flying before the November 2007 crash. Dr Hursthouse said the three accidents it had been involved in during 47 years of flying with the club had all been a result of human error, not any fault or weakness in the aircraft. All were non-injury.

He said there had been some resistance within the club to repairing the shattered glider, but five of the club's most experienced instructors had wanted it back for training.

"It's a remarkable machine. BW has had a great old life, and still will have."

No special relaunch ceremony was planned but it was likely that veteran glider pilot Ivan Evans would take the controls for the test flight, he said.

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