Slingsby T.21 Sedbergh TX.1

Slingsby T.21 Sedbergh TX.1 VX275


Registration: VX275
Country of origin: UK
Built: Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, 1948
Manufacturer: Slingsby
Constructor's Number: 539
Engine: Glider

Type: Dual seat training glider

Note: The Sedbergh two seat side-by-side glider, affectionately know as 'The Barge', was used by 621 Volunteer Gliding Squadron and by Air Cadets flying at the gliding school that was based here at Weston airfield.

Details: This aircraft, serial number 539, was the third production airframe built in 1948 originally for civilian use. It was donated to the RAF by its owner Mrs F. D. Heppell from Maidenhead for use by units of Berkshire ATC squadrons. It was officially presented to No.123 Gliding School at White Waltham by H.A. Benyon, the Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire, and registered VX275 in RAF service. VX275 was later based at RAF Halton and with 612 Volunteer Gliding School at RAF Benson.

No 87 Gliding School opened here at Weston Airfield in 1943 to provide training for air cadets and future pilots. In 1955 it became 621 Gliding School and in 1978 621 Volunteer Gliding School (VGS). 621, and the Mendip Gliding Club also based at Weston, used the two-seat Sedberghs to give air cadets their first experience of flight and were a familiar sight in the skies above Weston. They were towed into the air by an ex-WWII barrage balloon winch, releasing the cable at around 1,000 feet to fly a circuit before landing. The Commanding Officer of 621 was Squadron Leader Arthur ‘Robby’ Robinson MBE who was a woodwork teacher at Weston Grammar School. 621 VGS moved to RAF Hullavington in 1993, and the Gliding Club to Halesland near Draycott where it still flies today.

Other teachers and students at the school also instructed at 621 including one of the museum's Trustees Captain Peter Turner who, having retired from a career as a pilot, still flies gliders at Mendip Gliding Club and the 621 VGS Historic Flight at Nympsfield, Gloucestershire where 275 was restored after being in storage at the RAF Museum Store in Stafford. Following its transfer from the Royal Air Force Museums Reserve Collection, it was delivered to the Helicopter Museum for display in the Weston Aviation Heritage Hangar .