1956 World Gliding Championships
Over the weekend of 4/5 July 2026 a celebration was held to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the World gliding championships held at Saint Yan airfield in France in 1956.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be a low-key affair as there was little publicity other than by word-of-mouth and a few local posters.
However, it was a good effort by the local gliding club with much preparation of superb photographic material and documentation being on display in the airfield's museum.
Very few gliders were on display along the 'crowd' line but again, poorly documented for the few visitors who did attend, and hardly anyone around to ask for information.
It is interesting to note that the Championship was won by an American aeronautical engineer, Paul McCready, who has many inventions to his name. One of which is the McCready Speed Ring; a device which probably helped him win this event.
His device, that calculates the best speed for the pilot to fly a glider, is based on the predicted rate of climb or sink to the next thermal and the glider's rate of sink at different air-speeds. Sailplane pilots still use the "MacCready speed ring" to this day on their rate-of-climb instrument to optimise their flying speed between areas of 'lift'.
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It was a disappointing few hours, but at least some effort was made to commemorate such an important milestone in aviation history.
Let's hope there will be a much improved and better attended 75th Anniversary from lessons being learned at this years event.
However, I was pleased I went along as you always make new friends.
A crowded flightline!
Reverse of Flyer/poster with translation
Breguet Glider from 1956 which won the Championship flown by Paul McCready, the World famous American Aeronautical Engineer.
July 2026