The Slingsby T31 is a two seat training glider that came available in 1951. It is, in effect, a two seat version of the single seat Kirby Tutor. The T31 was marketed by Slingsby Sailplanes both as complete aircraft and kits of parts for assembly. The Australian Gliding Museum’s example (currently registered as VH-GDB) is one of five of this type to grace Australian skies. Three including GDB were assembled in Australia from kits supplied by Slingsby’s in England, the other two were delivered as completed airframes. To date only four remain of which two are airworthy. This aircraft began flying in at Caversham in Western Australia (the then home of the Gliding Club of Western Australia) in July 1956. It was badly damaged in a crash in June 1958. The wreckage was sent to Schneiders in Adelaide for repair. However, the Club decided against having the repairs done, opting instead to buy a new ES52 Kookaburra. After a couple of years, the wreck was purchased by a member of the Waikerie Gliding Club whereupon the glider was rebuilt with some modifications, including a more rounded and better streamlined fuselage nose. It returned to the air in October 1961 at Clare in South Australia. The ownership of VH-GDB passed through a number of clubs, including at Dubbo in New South Wales, Wimmera in Victoria and Pioneer Valley at Mackay in Queensland. Eventually, it came into the hands of Bill Riley of Tocumwal in New South Wales who held it in storage for many years. Riley donated the aircraft to the Museum. It has been restored to airworthiness and is flown at vintage glider rallies and on Museum open days. This exhibit is an excellent example of a Slingsby T31 Tandem Tutor, a type of glider that was used by a number of clubs in the 1950s and 1960s for dual training of pilots to the solo capability.The Slingsby T31b Tandem Tutor is an open cockpit, tandem, two-seater glider with high, pylon mounted two piece wing supported by double, wire braced, steel tube struts. The glider is fitted with a main wheel, rubber-block sprung, wooden nose skid and steel leaf sprung, brass shod tailskid. The basic controls of aileron, rudder and elevator are not supplemented with pitch trim. Wing lift spoilers and both aerotow and winch releases are fitted. The instrument panels in both cockpits are fitted with an airspeed indicator, cosim variometer and altimeter. This red and silver painted wood and fabric covered aircraft is in excellent condition having been restored to full airworthy status by the Australian Gliding Museum. SLINGSBY – T31b (nose – both sides) DB Australian Gliding Museum (rudder – both sides) It has been given Serial Number GFA/HB/12 and is registered as VH-GDBaustralian gliding, glider, sailplane, slingsby, tandem tutor, t31, gliding club of western australia, waikerie gliding club, wimmera soaring club, pioneer valley soaring club

Set of five BTPS or BTM forms used to summarise the pay in to the bank. Printed by laser printer. 1683.1 - 10/1995 version by WAD on an A4 size sheet of paper. Has tram 33 logo in top left hand corner. 1683.2 - 6/1989 version, printed by Milldean Press - photocopied version of 1683.3 on A4 size sheet, form T31/(5). 1683.3 - 6/1989 version, printed by Milldean Press in green ink on an A4 size sheet of white paper. 1683.4 - 1/78 version, printed by Milldean Press in green ink on white quarto size white paper form T31(2) with additional lines for adult and child fares and no line for who paid in. 1683.5 - as for 1683.4 but without additional lines for charters or for adult and child fares. On 1683.4 and 1683.5 - "Staff No." has been crossed out in red or blue ink.trams, tramways, btps, pay-in forms, accounting

The T35 Austral was developed by Slingsby Aviation from the Slingsby T31 with the wing span increased and a larger rudder to improve performance. This was done in response to an order from an Australian gliding club. The Museum’s glider was built from a Slingsby kit imported from the UK in 1952 and assembled by the Waikerie Gliding Club. The glider came on the Australian register as VH-GFX in May 1956. It was later transferred to the Renmark Gliding Club. In 1968 it was acquired by the RAAF Gliding Club at Laverton, Victoria. The existing log book records for the Museum’s T35 Austral are incomplete. Nevertheless the information at hand shows that it was launched over 17000 times and spent about 2400 hours in the air. It would appear that the glider has not been used for many years, the last flight recorded by the RAAF Gliding Club for this aircraft being in September 1971. As far as is known VH-GFX is the only example of the type to be built. The Slingsby T35 is a modified Tandem Tutor two seat glider that had extensive service at a number of Australian gliding clubs over a period of approximately 15 years from the mid 1950s. The Slingsby T35 is an open cockpit, tandem, two-seater glider with high, pylon mounted two piece wing supported by double, wire braced, steel tube struts. australian gliding, glider, sailplane, slingsby, waikerie gliding club, renmark gliding club, raaf gliding club

The Laister-Kauffman 10A (LK10A) is a 2 seat a military training glider developed from a successful Jack Laister single seat glider called Yankee Doodle that first flew in 1938 and was exhibited at the Paris Air Show of 1939. The two seater variation was ordered in 1941 by the US Army for training glider pilots of troop carrying gliders. The military designation was XTG-4. The LK 10A glider was a simpler, more robust design than Yankee Doodle. A longer canopy enclosed both seating positions. The top of the fuselage formed a straight ridge from the top of the canopy to the point where the fin – rudder connected. Also, the design was simplified by adopting straight spar wings of 15.2 metres in place of gull wings of 14.170 metres. During the war years 156 LK10As were produced before the contracts to supply the US Army were terminated. Many of these were later sold as surplus. The Museum’s exhibit (serial number 122) was built in 1943. It was imported into Australia in the 1950s by Ric New, a member of the Gliding Club of Western Australia. Ric New modified the glider by “flat topping” the fuselage and making other aerodynamic changes. This kind of modification of the LK10A was a well tried strategy in United States for extracting better performance from the glider. It is understood that the reduction in weight and cleaner aerodynamics from the changes could increase the glide ratio from 1:24 to something like 1:30. The LK10A was located at the Gliding Club of Western Australia for many years. Records reveal that it was kept airworthy until about 1975. The LK10A is an important acquisition in that it allows one to compare the state of two seat glider design in United States and the United Kingdom in the immediate post war period. It is interesting to note that at that time a number of clubs in Australia who acquired a two seat glider for training chose the United Kingdom open cockpit high strutted wing offerings from Slingsby (e.g. T31) instead of more innovative military surplus gliders from America. Modified LK10A glider consisting of tubular steel fuselage with a combination of fabric and metal covering, fabric covered wooden wings and other flying surfaces.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, laister, kauffman, ric new, gliding club of western australia, lk10a, yankee doodle, xtg-4