Ground-launched flights that lasted five minutes, in a glider assembled by aircraft modellers - this was the amazing early history of the Tauranga Gliding Club. And it all began 60 years ago after Arthur Robinson put an advertisement in the Bay of Plenty Times.
Tauranga was only a small town of 7000 people in 1954 when Mr Robinson and others who longed to soar through the skies like a gull decided to form the club.
Although their first glider was more like a "flying brick", the foundations were laid for a club that drew people fascinated by the quiet, natural and soothing qualities of powerless flight.
Mr Robinson said the idea for the club originated among friends with a common interest in aviation yarning over a few beers. Some flew with the Tauranga Aero Club, some were ex-RNZAF pilots and others were hobbyists building and flying model aircraft.
An inaugural meeting held in Sam Snowden and Sons Service Station in Spring St was the springboard for the decision to import a T31 Slingsby kitset glider from England. While modellers assembled the glider, those with mechanical and engineering experience set about building a V8-powered winch and cable to get it airborne.