Interest in gliding is almost as old as the RAF itself. Most noteworthy among our pioneers were Mungo Buxton and Willy Watt. The former, then a squadron leader on the engineering course at RAF Henlow, designed the beautiful Hjordis, a sailplane built for him by Slingsby’s at Kirbymoorside. Willy Watt, then an A1 instructor pilot at the Central Flying School, flew it with considerable success in the international contests in Germany just prior to the outbreak of war in 1939.
 
The 1939-45 War transformed gliding forever. It became the means of getting the all-important Air Training Corps aloft. And later, fleets of large gliders became the spearhead of the allied forces return to Europe via Normandy. 
 
In Occupied Germany, the fleets of superb gliders and sailplanes left there after the war provided gliding and soaring for members of the British Forces of Occupation; and post-war indoctrination into the silent delights of becoming a peaceful bird. As the tour-expired and returned to England, they sought means to continue the sort of flying they had come to love.
 
And this is what led to the foundation of the Royal Air Force Gliding and Soaring Association