664 History Section

664 Volunteer Gliding School was originally set up in August 1986 at RAF Bishopscourt. The Officer Commanding (OC) and the Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) were the only two qualified glider pilots on the school roll and their initial task was to train up four other pilots, all of whom had either attained the old “Gliding Proficiency Certificate” or the more recent “Basic Glider Training” qualification. The School was initially equipped with one Slingsby Venture T1 motor glider (ZA 629) and a Landrover and was housed in a fabric-covered, folding-frame Rubb hangar and two portacabins.

RAF Bishopscourt was located in South Down between Strangford and Ardglass. The station was primarily a static radar facility and, apart from the odd rare visit from a Hercules and the occasional refuelling stop by Wessex, Gazelle and Lynx helicopters, no aircraft had operated there since the mid fifties. Nevertheless the runways were maintained in excellent condition and the station enjoyed the best weather pattern of any airfield in Northern Ireland, thus making it ideal for gliding training.

The school was founded at the same time as anti-nuclear protests were taking place at RAF Greenham Common and a local newspaper in Northern Ireland got in on the act by printing a picture of a 664 VGS glider trailer, describing it as a cruise missile launcher! This led to the Soviet military taking a keen interest in just what was going on at Bishopscourt and, when a Soviet spy trawler arrived in the area and anchored off-shore, the school was tasked with taking photographs of it. As our tiny aircraft circled over the Soviet vessel, the crew could just imagine the Russians below scouring their aircraft recognition books for any details of the odd-looking little Venture motor glider!

As the years at Bishopscourt passed, the school maintained steady progress, obtaining another Landrover and another Venture (ZA 655) and gradually increasing the number of trained staff on the school roll. In 1988 our efforts were rewarded when we won the MEL trophy for the most improved school in the whole ATC gliding movement.

Bishopscourt was indeed a happy, friendly base with generous assistance being accorded to the school by all ranks serving there. As there were only twelve regular officers on the camp, we fully participated in many mess events, often supplementing the station team. In August 1990, just as we were about to convert to the new Grob G-109B Vigilant T1 motor glider, the decision was taken to close the airfield. The reason given was that the recently-deployed replacement radar was a mobile system and the cost of “hardening" the station to allow for this mobility was considered too high. As a result, 664 VGS was made homeless and in October 1990 the school’s operations were suspended.

Although 664 VGS was in suspension, options for a new home airfield were nonetheless being considered. School staff and N.I. Wing committee members proposed Newtownards airfield as a viable alternative. This airfield, operated by the Ulster Flying Club, has a wide variety of resident light aircraft including helicopters, U.F.C. “Cessna 172”s and microlights. After considering the proposal for some time, Air Cadet Central Gliding School (ACCGS) eventually agreed that Vigilants could fit into this busy air traffic environment without too much trouble.

There were however to be many delays ahead and problems to overcome, but eventually we were re-formed in February 1996 with a single Vigilant T1 (ZH209). One of the first snags encountered was that, since no hangarage was then available at Newtownards, the school had initially to be housed at Belfast City Airport. There we were allocated a WW1 hangar (behind the Queens University Air Squadron facility), the doors of which were too narrow to accommodate the Vigilant’s large wing span! This meant that the aircraft’s wings had to be folded at the end of each flying day and unfolded at the beginning of the next: an exhausting performance to say the least.

A second aircraft (ZH116) soon arrived and we then commenced a detailed training program, learning to operate alongside aircraft ranging all the way from microlights to the British Aerospace 146 passenger jet. The radio telephony (R/T) and air traffic environments were in truth very demanding and the school staff had to quickly learn the appropriate procedures if they were to operate the aircraft successfully.
Some months later QUAS was disbanded and we then took over their large hangars as well as their accommodation. Although it was proving very difficult to operate the Vigilant in its training role at this busy commercial airfield, “City Airport” did provide the only hangarage available to us and so we continued with what turned out to be a long period of ‘commuting’ between airfields.
 
For four years the school led a somewhat nomadic existence, with both aircraft departing the “City Airport” each morning, operating at Newtownards all day and returning to the “City” in the evening. At Newtownards we conformed to the normal 1000 feet rectangular circuit, whereas at Belfast City we flew a standard QUAS 800 feet “race-track” circuit. During this period regular deployments were made to Ballykelly airfield for cadet gliding training and a considerable number of local cadets were thus enabled to make their first solo flights in the province.

In September 2000 we finally moved to permanent accommodation at Newtownards, consisting of a new hangar and a portacabin. The hangar  was equipped with an electrically operated bi-fold door, which proved to be something of a mixed blessing, sometimes breaking down in the halfway position and trapping our gliders inside! A change to a stronger, lighter motor system remedied the problem to everyone’s relief.

Once established at Newtownards, our productivity increased dramatically, to the extent that in May 2001 we won the RACAL trophy for the most improved school in the ATC gliding-training organisation.

We have been at Newtownards for seven years now and are happy to call it our home. The VGS enjoys a good relationship with the Ulster Flying Club and cooperation between the two organizations remains excellent. The varied mix of aircraft in the circuit requires good situational awareness but the Vigilant can hold its own with all the other traffic and has become a familiar sight to all at Newtownards.

In July 2006 the “powers that be” formally recognised the major contribution to cadet flying training made by the ATC gliding schools and awarded squadron status to all “Volunteer Gliding Schools”. Today, 664 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, as it is now titled, faces the future in a robust, healthy state. Our instructors range from the few who fondly remember the early days at Bishopscourt and Belfast City to young pilots who trained with us as cadets.

At times, over the last twenty one years, we have been faced with all sorts of difficulties, obstacles and ‘growing pains’ but hopefully, now that we have come of age, we can look forward to a more stable future at Newtownards, confident that 664 VGS will continue to provide flying training for the ATC and CCF cadets of Northern Ireland for many years to come.