Australian Gliding Museum
Machine - Glider – Sailplane, 1963
... wollongong gliding club... darling downs soaring club wollongong gliding club ron geake Plate ...
This aircraft is one of 9 single seat ES 59 advanced club sailplanes manufactured by Edmund Schneider Pty Ltd in the 1960s. It was first flown in August 1963 and delivered to the Darling Downs Soaring Club at Toowoomba Queensland. At that Club it had 2603 flights and recorded a total airtime of 1475 hours. In addition to many local circuits and soaring and cross country flying, it was used at gliding competitions, including Nationals at Benalla in December 1964, State Championships at Oakey in April 1965, at Warwick in April 1966, and at (Inverell?) in March 1967. On at least 15 occasions flight times in excess of 5 hours duration were achieved.
On 5 October 1970, the glider had a new life when it was relocated to Wollongong in New South Wales. It recorded 1927 flights with a total airtime of 1179 hours at the club between October 1970 and June 1988. Competition appearances included the State Championships held at Forbes in January 1972. Places away from Wollongong where the glider was launched include Cootamundra, Wagga, Temora, Marulon, Narromine, Leeton, Nowra, Goulburn, Horsham, Greenthorpe.
On 15 June 1988 it was transferred to Ron Geake who transported it to Warrego in Northern Territory (flown once at Alice Springs), and then to Gympie in Queensland where it was flown about 20 times by the end of 1995. It was also flown on a small number of occasions at Forbes in New South Wales in 1996 and 1997. During 1998 and 1999 the glider was sparsely used (9 flights) at locations that have not been recorded. From May 1999 until transfer to the Australian Gliding Museum in May 2011 it apparently was not flown. Aggregate airtime hours for the glider stand at 2702 hours 53 minutes. It has been launched 4569 times. A good example of a Schneider ES59 sailplane from the 1960s. This type is of note because it was the first Australian designed and built sailplane to be used in a world gliding competition (Jack Iggulden in Argentina in 1963). This Schneider ES59 Arrow is a single seat wooden sailplane with one piece wing. The instruments are not present except for altimeter. Fin and rudder are of swept back design. Colour scheme is white with lemon yellow fuselage underbelly.
The aircraft came to the museum on an open trailer that had been designed to carry the one piece wing.
Plate in cockpit with details of manufacturer states; manufactured by E. Schneider Ltd, Adelaide SA; Type ES 59; Serial Number 62; Date August 1963.australian gliding, glider, sailplane, schneider, es59, arrow, darling downs soaring club, wollongong gliding club, ron geake