50th Anniversary of Horsham Week Competition

In February 2016 we will be celebrating the 50th occasion of the Horsham Week competition which has been run every year since 1966 without a break.

In the mid-1960's the competing glider types included Ka6, Olympia, ES59 Arrow, ES60 Boomerang,  Bocian and Kookaburra.  Many of the pilots are still around the gliding movement today - Alan Patching, Ian Cohn, Gary Sunderland, David Pietsch, Haydn Dunn, Tony Tabart, Keith Nolan and Max Hedt.  And some of these stalwarts are still flying !

For 2016 the Horsham Week organisers are planning to recreate some of the atmosphere of those years by offering the opportunity for the gliders, their owners and former pilots/crews to join in the celebrations.

First we are adding a vintage class to the competition with suitable tasks to demonstrate the capabilities of those early gliders and offer pilots some fun flying in the open skies and summer soaring of the Wimmera region.

Secondly we will be inviting all owners to bring their vintage gliders and join in the celebrations with local flying and static displays.  Also an opportunity to show today's 'hot shots with their hot ships' how flying was done without GPS, flight computers and mobile phones.

The Victorian Soaring Association have promised financial support for the event and the Australian Museum Group is assisting us to identify gliders, competitors and crews.  
We look forward to inviting you all to our celebrations once we have completed the initial planning.