Miro's System

Some of our more recent club members may be unfamiliar with the name 'Miro Vitek', however, to many, Miro will be fondly remembered as 'The Man in the Tower'

What is beyond dispute is that the club remains operating from Camden solely due to the efforts of this one man, and arguably owes its continuing existence to him too.

Read Miro's account in an extract from his autobiography 'Alive in Australia', in the story Miro's System

The Early History of Southern Cross Gliding Club

For a complete history of the club, click here.

Sydney Button built his Zogling Primary Glider and test flew it in 1941 on the paddocks at Matraville, right next to Mascot Airport. He taught himself to fly by getting a friend to operate his Essex car which had the back wheel jacked up and fitted with a drum full of wire. He learned take-offs and landings first (which is reasonable) before going a bit higher.

The AWA (Amalgamated Wireless Australia) Gliding Club started in July 1944 and purchased Button's Primary Glider, did it up, and test flew it on 1st January 1946 at Doonside. As people from outside AWA were starting to join the club, it was decided to change the name to Southern Cross Gliding Club. The inaugural meeting was held on the 8th January, 1948 at Respins Restaurant, 175 Pitt Street, Sydney.

The club moved from Fleurs Airstrip to Camden in 1953 where student pilots dragged the primary up and down the main strip on a 25m long wire and tried not to crunch it down too hard while they learnt to glide. A picture of the beloved machine is on the clubhouse wall. Power traffic in those days was one Tiger Moth a fortnight.

When Edmund Schneider was helped to set up in South Australia by the GFA, the Kookaburra two-seater glider soon appeared on the market. The 10 club members worked themselves into the ground over a long period, organising bottle drives, raffles and loans to scrape the purchase price together. The Kooka arrived in November 1955.

Membership had always been in the doldrums until then, but with a new Kooka and new winch, people appeared from everywhere and membership had to be limited to 40 in 1957. Well known 'new' members such as Werner Geisler, Roger Woods and George Detto, joined late in the '50s. AWA foundation member Merv Waghorn became the club's first Honorary Life Member.

(This is a brief summary of the full history.)