Murray Bridge Gliding Club is flying high at 65 years old
The club, founded in 1958, will celebrate the anniversary with a get-together on Saturday.
The Murray Bridge Gliding Club has reached 65 years old but is far from retirement and will celebrate its birthday at Littlehampton’s Great Eastern Hotel on December 9.
The birthday gathering will recognise the efforts of current and past gliding club members who’ve grown the club and kept it running.
The club’s motorgliders operate from the Pallamana airfield on the northern side of Murray Bridge.
The club held a formation meeting at said Great Eastern Hotel in November 1958 under the name Great Eastern Gliding Club.
The Great Eastern pilots first flew the Australian ES-52 Mk II Kookaburra VH-GLJ at Gawler until March, 1959.
On May 10, 1959, the club held an opening day at C.B. Thiele’s land at Pallamana.
In 1961, the club moved to land on the northern side of Callington but returned to Pallamana between crop rotations, then moved to the eastern side of Tailem Bend in 1965.
In 1970, the club moved back to Pallamana, and in the mid 70s, the club changed its name to the Murray Bridge Gliding Club.
The club acquired a Pawnee tow plane (VH-IGR) of its own in 1979 and years later self-launched motorgliders.
By the 1990s, Pallamana was becoming an aviation centre, attracting general aviation and ultralight flying schools and privately owned power aircraft of all types.
Club activities expanded to include regular excursions to other sites of interest, including wave and ridge soaring in the Flinders Ranges and excursions to Burketown, north Queensland, to fly the ‘Morning Glory’ weather phenomenon.
The club has also added G-109s (VH-GUD, VH-FFN) to its fleet.
- More information: Visit www.murraybridgegc.com or search for Murray Bridge Gliding Club on Facebook.
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