Kintbury aviation fan restores historic glider, after 1,000 man hours
The Olympia was built in 1947 by Elliotts of Newbury, the furniture manufacturers who were requisitioned during the war to build aircraft including the Horsa glider and parts for the Mosquito fighter bomber and Spitfire.
They were one of the major employers in the town and after the war they produced the Olympia gliders.
In all they produced 150 Olympias, only a handful of which are still flying and Mr Pettitt, a woodwork teacher at St Michaels School in Burghclere, said: “There must be people still alive in this area who remember working on them and I expect it will jog a few memories.
"This particular glider was based at the Empire Test Pilot School (in Boscombe Down, Wiltshire) and held the altitude record of 21,000ft and the distance record of 197 miles in 1951, flown by one of the top test pilots of the time, Bill Bedford, who later went on to be the test pilot for the Harrier jump jet.”
After its useful life was over, the glider was saved by the late Ralph Jones of Southern Sailplanes at Membury, who kept it stored for nearly 30 years because of its historical significance.
Mr Pettitt, aged 62, of Harold Road, Kintbury, said: “It was quite a high performance craft for its day but it was in quite a dilapidated state when Ralph got it and when he died I bought it from his son. I started the restoration two and a half years ago and finally it’s nearly finished.
“Fortunately the Berkshire Museum of Aviation in Woodley was able to help with spares and information, which made the project more manageable.”
In the summer of 1965 the managing director of Elliotts, Horace Buckingham, died. The company reviewed its business and decided that glider production was unprofitable.
Elliotts closed in 1974 and the factory was demolished in the late 1970s to make way for Bayer's UK headquarters.
However the Olympia is set to take to the skies again.
Mr Pettitt hopes to make a test flight from Shalbourne Gliding Club in the next few weeks before participating in the 41st International Vintage Gliding Rally at Lasham, Hampshire, in August.