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The world’s only surviving Venture glider, VH-GDU, can
now been found in the old Bellman hangar at Narromine as part of the Narromine
Aviation Museum’s historic aircraft display.
Other aircraft on display are a Sabre and the world’s
only flying replica of the Wright Flyer. A restored Tiger Mother is expected to
join these aircraft towards the end of this year.
The Venture was constructed from Hawkridge’s plans by
Dubbo Gliding Club members between 1950 and 1953. The group, headed by Jack
Coomber who built Narromine Aero Club’s first aircraft in 1938, made use of
spruce plywood and Irish linen left over the RAAF bomber production. Built
beneath the Dubbo showground grandstand, the Venture appeared on the Gliding
Federation of Australia’s register as number 47.
Three methods of launching the glider were used:
autotow – by a 1936 Ford V8 car, winch, and aerotow – by a Tiger Moth
aircraft. Most of the Venture’s flights
were short, but there were exceptions. Amongst the most notable was a flight of
five hours 42 minutes, and another to a height of 11 000ft.
Following its 8357th flight the Venture was
bought by the Orange Gliding Club in 1964 for 800 pounds. In 1979 it was bought
back by a local consortium after the Dubbo club moved to Narromine and became
the Orana Soaring Club.
If you would like to learn more about the museum go to http://www.narromineaviationmuseum.org.au