The FS-24 Phonix is the first sailplane design to be built using a moulded fiberglass sandwich technique. It was designed by Hermann Nagele and Richard Eppler leading a group setup for the purpose at Stuttgart Technical University in the early 1950s. Initial construction was undertaken at workshops of Wolf Hirth and the first prototype was completed at the Bolkow Aircraft Company where Nagele and another member of the group, Rudi Lindner, had gained employment. It flew on 27 November 1957. Two further prototypes were built incorporating a T-tail and other refinements. Eight in all were built before production was stopped in 1961. A number of gliding records were broken in Phonix sailplanes in Germany in 1962-1963. It was found to have a best glide ratio of 40:1. The Museum’s example, No. 403 was originally a prototype built on 25 May 1960 [Registration D-8354]. It was converted at Bolkow to a Phonix T in 1963 and sold to a private owner in Switzerland [Registration HB-746] and later then to gliding club Segelfluggruppe Solothurn in 1965. The glider returned to Germany in 1971 (Meersburg) and re-registered as D-0738. It moved to a new owner in Allershausen in 1976, and again to Lindhoft in 1982. In 1983 the glider was sold to owners at Hasselt, Belgium and given registration OO-ZQD. In 1989 a further change of ownership occurred and the glider went to Leusden in the Netherlands where it was registered as PH-949. In 2006 the Phonix No.403 was imported into Australia by John Ashford of the Geelong Gliding Club. On 30 January 2007, it was registered as VH-GRP. However, as at January 2016 it has not been flown in Australia. In the course of its flying history the glider was damaged several times and repaired. At one stage a larger rudder was fitted and later on this modification was reversed. With the original conversion to a Phonix T and subsequent repairs and changes to equipment the weight of the airframe increased from 182 kg to approximately 220 kg. Nevertheless, the wing loading is a modest 20kg/square metre. As at January 2016, minor repairs and airworthiness certification are required to return the glider to flying condition. This exhibit is highly significant as it is one of only eight of this pioneering sailplane design. It is the only one in Australia. Glassfibre single seat sailplane, finished white with blue stripes on fin and rudder.Australian registration GRP on rudder; Serial Number 403 and Vintage glider club of Netherlands plaque in cockpitaustralian gliding, sailplane, glider, fs-24, phonix, nagele, eppler, lindner, stuttgart technical university, bolkov aircraft company, segelfluggruppe solothurn, ashford, geelong gliding club.

The Ka 8 was designed by Rudolf Kaiser in 1957 and built by Alexander Schleicher. It has been described as the single seat version of the Ka 7 Rhonadler. The Ka 8 proved popular with clubs in its role as a sailplane for early solo flying. Over 1100 were produced. The Museum’s example is a Ka 8B which is the second variant of the design, distinguishable by a larger blown Plexiglas canopy and improved ailerons. The particular glider was built by the RAAF Williamtown Gliding Club from kit supplied by Edmund Schneider Ltd of South Australia as agent for Alexander Schleicher. It was test flown on 8 July 1967. For a period from August 1994 it was owned by a syndicate at the Bendigo Gliding Club. The last entry in the log book is dated January 1995 at which time the glider had accumulated 1148 hours from 2303 flights. From 1967 to 1994, the glider was flown at numerous places including Williamtown, Bellata, Warkworth, Dubbo, Waikerie, Quirindi, Tamworth, Redding, Narromine, Leeton and Keepit. During 1994 and 1995 it was flown a small number of times at Bendigo. A notable flight recorded in the logbook is dated 31 October 1971 when W. Kenny reached 11,000 feet in height during a flight of 5 hours 10 minutes. The last owner prior to the transfer of the glider to the Australian Gliding Museum in 2015 was John Ashford of the Geelong Gliding Club. The glider carries Serial Number 8478-SH and appears to have been registered firstly as VH-GPA and secondly as VH-GMA. The last registration (VH-GMA) was cancelled in 2011.This Kaiser Ka8B sailplane, when fully restored, will be an airworthy example of a popular 1960s German club sailplane type. It is a rarity in Australia as only 4 of the type have been registered and flown here.Single seat sailplane made with a steel tube framed fuselage and wooden wings. A glass plastic moulding has been used to form the top of the fuselage forward of the cockpit. The structure is fabric covered.The glider serial number 8478-SH and the registration VH-GMA.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, schleicher, kaiser, ka 8, schneider, raaf williamtown gliding club, bendigo gliding club, geelong gliding club, ashford

This aircraft was designed by Edmund Schneider as a single seat medium performance sailplane. Originally designated as the Grunau 3b but later named the Grunau 4. However, it was a new design with fully enclosed cockpit. The main point of difference to earlier Schneider Grunau designs was the tapered wings with the Gottingen 549 aerofoil. This design feature gave the Grunau 4 a better speed range compared to the Grunau Baby 2b or the Grunau 3. The prototype flew on 6 December 1953 and it went to the Waikerie Gliding Club. A second was delivered to the Dubbo Gliding Club in October of the next year and a third (the Australian Gliding Museum’s exhibit) built for the Adelaide Soaring Club in 1959 (registered as VH-GLX on 21 October 1959). Another was built by Josef Brabec from a Schneider supplied kit from 1954 to 1956. The log book indicates that the glider recorded 2362 flying hours over approximately 40 years of active service. There are many long flights recorded. The registration was cancelled on 30 July 2014 as a result of a decision by the Museum to withdraw the glider from service. The exhibit represents the final development of the "Grunau" single seat type by Edmund Schneider Ltd in Australia. Viewed together with the Grunau Baby gliders in the ATO Collection (Two Grunau Baby 2, and a Grunau Baby 3A), the changes to this glider type over a 30 year period can be recognized. Single seat wooden sailplane with fabric covering. Fully enclosed cockpit. The aircraft is white with Linden Green on the wing tips, tailplane and underside of the fuselage and also on the central wing cover. Identification Plate in cockpit showing that glider is serial number 37 built by Edmund Schneider Ltd in 1959 australian gliding, glider, sailplane, grunau, grunau 3a, grunau 3b, grunau 4, schneider, waikerie gliding club, dubbo gliding club, adelaide soaring club, josef brabec

The Hall Cherokee II glider is an American design for amateur construction from plans. The designer was Stan Hall (1915-2009), a professional engineer, who gained extensive experience in the United States aviation industry during World War 2 including the programs for military gliders. He continued to work as an engineer for aircraft manufacturers and as a consultant to the industry after the war. He was active in gliding and, in particular, the home built sailplane movement. The Cherokee II was one of about 10 glider designs that he produced: it came out in 1956. It is understood that over 100 Cherokee gliders have been built. In Australia the number is possibly 10 or 11. The Hall Cherokee VH-GVO was built by R.D Meares of Caringbah, New South Wales. The glider was registered as VH-GVO on 11 October 1973 and given serial number “GFA-HB-82” by the Gliding Federation of Australia. The Logbook for VH-GVO appears to be a complete record of the flying history; in aggregate 210 hours 40 minutes in the air from 331 flights. The first test hop occurred on 29 July 1972 at Camden, New South Wales. VH-GVO was last flown on 22 July 1986. Many of the flights recorded are of one or two hours duration. The glider was last inspected and certified as airworthy and in a reasonable condition at the Hunter Valley Gliding Club in July 1986. Since that time, until transferred to the Australian Gliding Museum, the glider was in storage. Structural restoration work has been completed on the fuselage and one wing. However, inspection of the other wing revealed extensive damage to the ribs and spars and consequently a decision was taken to make it a static exhibit. The exhibit is an example of home built construction of a type that has proved popular amongst amateur glider builders.The Hall Cherokee (formerly registered as VH-GVO) is a single seat wooden home built glider. The glider is constructed from wood, plywood, fabric and metal fittings, all commercial grade except for main wing fittings, pulleys, cables and bolts. The fuselage is simple with four main longerons and bulkheads with diagonal bracing. The wing has two identical solid spars which form a geodetic structure, hence the leading edge is non-structural. Registration VH-GVO – serial number GFA-HB-82 australian gliding, glider, sailplane, hall, cherokee, meares, hunter valley gliding club

The aircraft (Serial Number 159 – registration VH-GNT) was assembled by RAAF Richmond Gliding Club from a kit manufactured by Schweizer Aircraft Corporation, Elmira, New York State, USA, in 1963. First flown 21 December 1963. Served at RAAF Base, Richmond, NSW, until December 1978 at which time it had recorded 1981 hours from 9870 flights. The aircraft was sold to Peter Fitzgerald and moved to Gosford and later on, to Queanbeyan where it was stored under cover until April 1983. It was not flown between 1978 and July 1983. In 1983 the glider was sold to Harold Walton. A Certificate of Airworthiness inspection was done by various members of the Canberra Gliding Club where minor repairs were made. On 24 July 1983, it first flew on the airworthiness certificate test flight at Bunyan, NSW, the home of the Canberra Gliding Club. In service at Bunyan until November 1986 the hours flown increased to 2078 from 10249 flights. A certificate of airworthiness inspection was completed on 11 April 1987 but the aircraft was apparently only recorded a few more hours by 9 January 1998 when it last took to the air. When donated to the Australian Gliding Museum in January 2020, the aircraft was in storage at premises of the donor, Harold Walton, at Walkerville, South Australia.This aircraft is the only one of the 258 SGS 2.22s produced by Schweizer to come to Australia. It is a good representative example of the SGS 2.22 type which featured metal construction for production of a robust club trainer. The aircraft apparently played a useful role over many years at Richmond and Canberra.High wing two seat utility glider of metal construction with fabric covering.Registration letters ‘GNT’ on each side of vertical stabiliseraustralian gliding, sailplane, glider, schweizer, raaf, richmond, fitzgerald, walton, canberra, bunyan.

The Pilatus B4 is an all metal intermediate sailplane meeting Standard Class rules that was designed in 1966 by Ingo Herbst, Manfred Küppers and Rudolf Reinke. It did not immediately go into production. In 1972 Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland acquired a licence to build the aircraft and began production. The PCII and PCIIA versions were semi-aerobatic. The PC11AF released in 1975 was rated as fully aerobatic. By 1980, when Pilatus sold the rights to manufacture of the aircraft to Nippi Aircraft of Japan, 322 of the Pilatus B4 had been produced. Nippi Aircraft built a further 13 and also one two seat version. The Pilatus B4 proved popular in Australia with 26 appearing on the Australian register. The Museum’s example is a basic semi-aerobatic type (Serial Number 092) that was built in 1974. It is registered as VH-GID on 8 July 1974 by H.G. Sutton of Mandura, Western Australia and flown out of the Narrogin Gliding Club in Western Australia until September 1986 when it was sold to the Albury – Corowa Gliding Club, New South Wales. In 1999 it was acquired by Michael Green and moved to Townsville, Queensland. The aircraft changed ownership again in 2004 and fell out of use for nearly 4 years. By then it had recorded 4377 hours in the air from 4304 flights. It returned to service briefly in January 2008 (5 flights totalling about 5 hours). It was donated to the Museum by David Millward of the Geelong Gliding Club, Victoria, on 10 April 2017. The aircraft is representative of a popular imported 1970s intermediate single seat sailplane design of aluminium alloy construction.Single seat sailplane of metal alloy constructionWhite colour scheme with yellow fuselage underside highlighted by blue stripe – “Pilatus B4” in black lettering on starboard side of cockpit – black anti-glare paint on the fuselage nose – Registration “GID” on the underside of port wing.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, pilatus b4, sutton, narrogin, albury, corowa, green, townsville, millward, geelong

History of object is unknown. Member's name is not recorded on the ticket.Ticket dates from the club's first premiership year:1891. Club subsequently won another three consecutive premierships, becoming still the only VFA club to do so. Ticket is one of a run of tickets from 1880 to 2012 (complete except for 1915 and 1916 when the club withdrew from competition and 1899 and 1900 which are missing from the set).Rectangular card covered in black leather with fold in middle and small punched hole lined with metal intop right corner. Card has gold embossed border and two diagonal lines running top left to bottom right filled with red with 'ESSENDON' in capital letters. Date '1891' embossed in gold in top right and 'F.C'. embossed in gold on bottom left. Some wear on right hand edge. Reverse of card is the same as the front. Inside reads: Essendon Football Club/ SEASON 1891/MEMBER'S TICKET/. Numbers: 769 is printed in large type to the left of SEASON 1891. Left side is printed with names of club administrators and righ side is printed with words: FIRST TWENTY and SECOND TWENTY.essendon football club, 1891, premiership, ticket, vfa, victorian football association

This is the scorecard for the home-and-away game between Essendon and North Melbourne Kangaroos at the MCG which Essendon won 27.9.171 to Kangaroos 25.9.159This item is of great significance for it is the official record of the greatest comeback in VFL/AFL history. Essendon came from 69 points down in the second quarter to defeat the Kangaroos by 12 points. It has been hailed as one of the greatest games ever.White cardboard card ruled into sectionsScores for each team for each quarter have been entered in blue ink and card has been signed by three umpiresessendon football club, north melbourne kangaroos, comebacks, significant events

Essendon celebrated 1972 as its centenary year although the exact date of the club's founding is not certain. It played its first recorded game against a Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873 (and won).Folded cardboard Essendon Football Club membership ticket; ticket has black and red border with Essendon logo at top with "100 years" in gold box between flags, "Essendon / Football Club / Centenary / 1972" in black and red print with "Essendon" and "Centenary" in a stylised scroll; "Suaviter in modo, fortitier in re" in small black print at bottom. Inside has details of Club and office bearers and Essendon's fixture for 1972.