Kookaburra Konvention – Wagga Wagga
Gliding Club – April 2007
Ian Patching
I have been struggling with the
start of this story. Just how can I give you the reader, the whole enjoyment of
the weekend in words and pictures. For once I can truly say that you had to be
there to understand.
The foundation of the Kookaburra Konvention goes back some years. Over 50 in fact as it was
then that Edmund Schneider designed and built the first Kookaburra. This glider
put Australian gliding on its feet. Make no bones about that. He designed a
glider that was perfect for training, was simple to operate and maintain and
delivered performance as good as most
single seaters that were available. Schneiders went
on to produce 35 Shortwings and five Longwings. One was exported to
When Vintage Gliders Australia was
seeking sites for future annual rallies the Wagga Wagga
Gliding Club at Lockhart was approached. Initial conversations were guarded as
the club had really no idea who and what we were. They were also committed to
Joey Glide at Leeton where the bulk of the members were organizing the event.
In 2006, when we were collecting David Howse’s
$25,000 wing rib, we overnighted at Wagga Wagga and met with members of the committee, mainly just to
introduce ourselves and discuss the concept of a rally.
The size of a Vintage Rally was a
major concern so we decided to hold a smaller introductory rally so members
could meet with us and see who and what we did. It was then the idea of holding
a smaller rally started to formulate. We agreed to go away and come up with a
proposal that they could accommodate and spent the rest of the night solving
all the problems of the gliding community.
The concept continued to grow and
discussions between vintage glider members and the group of pilots who operated
Kookaburras put up their hands and agreed to commit to a rally in April of
2007. In truth I don’t think that I have ever seen so much enthusiasm towards
an event for a long time. It wasn’t easy, there were details to finalise and
the club had plenty to do, including dealing with a tragic accident at their
site, but planning proceeded purposefully.
Investigations by Geoff Hearn showed
us where the remaining Kookaburras were and invitations were sent. The new
Vintage Gliders Australia Web Site also had the details of the rally posted.
In weeks leading up to the event
trailers were being restored after many years of neglect and gliders cleaned up
and all those little jobs being seen to. In one case, the glider needed to have
its rebuild finished and this was completed three days before the rally, when
it was test flown for the first time in 17 years.
Of the 11 airworthy Kookaburras
remaining we received confirmation from up to nine owners that they would be
attending which was a very pleasing response. We also sent an invitation to
Harry and Margaret Schneider and were absolutely thrilled when they did attend.
The smiles on their faces summed it all up perfectly.
The rally ended up with eight examples
ES-52 Shortwings
GHN Mk-I
Emilis Prelgauskas and Rachel,
GLF Mk-II
Pete Boreham
GFK Modified Mk-II David and Jennie Goldsmith
Graham Garlick
and George
GHH Mk-III
David and Rosie Howse and Family (ex GLE)
GNZ Mk-IV
Gary Crowley
GRZ Mk-IV
Caleb White
GRX Mk-IV
Geoff Hearn and Ian Patching
ES-52B Longwings.
GRN Mk-II
Ian Patching
Also in attendance, but no doubt
wishing it too was a Kookaburra was the Cherokee 2, GLU with Lyle Whitfield and
“Kenny” Caldwell.
Most arrived on the friday afternoon and we were met by WWGC
President Bruce Harper and Wayne Hadkins who both
made us feel welcome. Their enthusiasm
combined with other.
WWGC members Gabby Hadkins, Nathan and Grant Johnson, Mark O’Dea and others
was a highlight of the weekend. These guys had busted a gut to prepare for the
event and it was so appreciated.
All decided to leave rigging for the
Saturday morning and settled into a meal at the 50’s style Blue Bird Café in
town and then some very well earned liquid refreshments back at the airfield.
A very well oiled machine started
the exercise of rigging and in short time all of the gliders were together and
final preparations completed. The shortwings
definitely have an advantage over the longwing in
putting them together so naturally we started with the latter. 21 safety pins
compared to eight takes time but are very simple really.
The weekend overall was a great
success. We didn’t break any records, we achieved what we wanted to do and that
was to have fun. We also gave the WWGC a chance to
meet with us and see we are reasonably normal people and give them an injection
of enthusiasm.
Hopefully, same again next
year.