SkyWings magazine throughout the year has been full of 50th anniversaries of clubs across the UK. Something really was in the water (or rather the air) in 1975, and Norfolk was no exception.
The NHGC was founded by Greg Thompson, Mike Lake, Rod Pace and Paul Whitley, evolving from a collection of coastal flying hanglider pilots. Towing was a part of the club from the very start, “Mike Lake developed a two leg beginner bridle along with a ‘chest tow’ system for the more experienced pilot. This was the forerunner to the systems now almost universally used in the UK today.”
Mike and the club didn’t only pioneer towing and developing and building gliders, but tried to develop a vario as well with mixed success, here’s how you can try it yourself:
Take a container about a pint and wrap it in tinfoil for insulation.
Stick a bit of white card on the lid with a pin hole in it and in the lid. Stamp some very fine parallel lines onto this card. I made a rubber stamp from (I think) an old hot water bottle.
Get some cling film type stuff and stamp the exact same very fine parallel lines onto this and make a tiny tiny pinhole.
This thin diaphragm detects tiny increases in air pressure between the inside and outside of the pot and the parallel lines magnify this movement using something called the Moiré effect.
This only detected if you were going up or not going up and it was to make my fortune.
Instead when I showed it to (Snowy I think or one of the Suffolk boys) they laughed out loud so I hid it away. – Mike Lane
The club has come a long way since it’s origins and now hosts exclusively paraglider pilots. We’re still pioneering tow technology, with the first fully electric winch in the UK. Pilots regularly fly XC across the county and across the country when blessed with an easterly wind.
If you want a good read about the club history along with a load of laughs and old photographs visit the Norfolk Hang Gliding Club Historical Review site, and if you want to get some flying over the winter, it’s a great time to learn to tow so reach out to the club!