Steve Martin, Graham Erickson, Yvonne Loader and Stella Martin
OMARAMA GLIDING CLUB REUNION By Yvonne Loader
The Omarama Gliding Club (originally the Wigram Aviation Sports Club) celebrated its 50th anniversary at Omarama in early February, joined by some who had been members of the North Otago Gliding Club which amalgamated with the Omarama Gliding Club a few years ago. Many ex-‘Wiggie’ members turned up - Godfrey and Margaret Reid from Auckland probably travelled the longest distance to attend. Dick Georgeson, who is held in high regard by all the gliding community, was our honoured guest. The founder of the Wigram Gliding Club (which was the club’s first title, before being changed to the Wigram Aviation Sports Club) Len Thompson, had to make a last minute apology, when his wife was hospitalised unexpectedly. The occasion started with drinks and a session of ‘Tall Tales and True’ in the terminal, which certainly raised a few laughs and forgotten memories. Mark Squire had put together two videos, portraying the past and present activities of the club. Eion Coutts (Coutsie), CFI and Tow Pilot for many years, took a bit of a ribbing as a photo was shown of a very bent glider and stories were told, but he took it in good heart. Those who were no longer with us, among which were well known ‘Wiggies’ Ray Lynskey and Steve (Chook) Morrissey, were remembered. There were a lot of images showing a very active club over many years and it will be nice to have these for future celebrations. 24
April 2011
The evening dinner was held at the famous Kahu Café, beautifully cooked by Dagmar and her helpers, as the sun set in all its glory on the Benmore range. It was such a perfect evening to spread ourselves around the deck to reminisce and it got hotter and hotter, turning out to be the hottest night ever at Omarama. Chalet and caravan doors and windows were to be left open all night. Celebrations went on well into the early hours. A very convivial social evening with lots of talking, laughing and catch ups – everyone thoroughly enjoying the very balmy temperatures and excellent company. A tour of the cleanly swept hangar to see the modern Omarama Gliding Club fleet of a DUO, LS6 and Discus CS was popular, as was browsing through the many photo albums all showing ridiculously young looking members. What happened to all that hair and those waistlines? There were photos of various makes and models of gliders that had been flown in past years, some no doubt ‘state of the art’ at the time. The memorabilia table was also a popular attraction. Although the soaring conditions weren’t the best, looking as though it was a bit rough up there, several took soaring flights in the Omarama Gliding Club DUO, which was something of an eyeopener as to how glider design and technology has moved on from the Blaniks and K13s in their day, and what on earth did SPOTS, Flarms and flight computers do? The turbulence didn’t matter a bit, as they found it a great thrill to be gliding again in a place that held a very special place in their hearts and memories.
