Reynard primary glider damaged near Halifax.
This Reynard glider was bought by the Halifax Gliding Club and was built to order at a factory in the Leicester area in Autumn 1930. It was delivered in late-October / early-November 1930 and after erection and rigging was test flown but appears to have never had a BGA registration applied for. Where the test flight and then a subsequent flights were made is not stated in local newspapers but by mid-December 1930 the club were using a site at Withens, near Wainstalls. Just prior to 15th November 1930 it was given a series of trial flights, probably at the Withens site, but crashed while on one of these flights. The glider sustained minor damage and the pilot was slightly injured.
Pilot - Name unknown.
The Reynard was repaired by 14th December 1930 when it was again damaged at Withens. I cannot find any reference to the glider being flown again in local newspapers until May 1931. In May 1931 the Halifax Gliding Club joined forces with the Calder Valley Flying Club who had used at site at White Lea before May 1931. Both clubs re-sited to Sykes Farm, Cragg Vale, Mytholmroyd on the edge of Blackstone Edge. Avro 504 G-ABML was bought for the Calder Valley Flying Club use. After August 1931 there is no mention of either club in local newspapers, this came after a public disagreement in the newspapers between members of both clubs. What happened to the Reynard glider is not known. Historian Graham Sharpe has vague information that during October 1931 it sustained damage when it was accidentally launched when the bungee was taught but with the cockpit empty, it was fired into the air, looped and crashed. It was later taken to Saltaire for repair but what happened to it after this date is not known.