Adelaide Soaring Club History
Soaring Through Time: Our Legacy in the Skies
1944
In November of 1944 the Adelaide Soaring Club (then known as the Gliding and Soaring Club of South Australia) was formed. Flying initially from an airstrip at Virginia this group of enthusiastic pilots quickly developed a tradition of soaring excellence and safety that has seen the club flourish for 60 years. From it’s inception the club has always strove to be at the leading edge of flight technology and club members have constructed a number of ground breaking aircraft. The S.A.5, the club’s first two seater, was an example of such a sailplane. Two seat trainers were not available at that time so to promote safer and more efficient pilot training, the ASC built the S.A.5 in 1946. The S.A.5 was ASC’s first two seat trainer.
1950
The Adelaide Soaring Club moved to the Gawler Aerodrome in 1950. This airfield was constructed in 1941 by the Royal Australian Air Force and for a short period was used by No. 86 Squadron, flying P-40 Kittyhawk fighters.
After 1945 and until the construction of Adelaide Airport (at West Beach) this aerodrome was used by commercial aircraft as an alternative to Parafield when the latter was unserviceable due to bad weather.
2009
Over the last half century the club has introduced thousands of people to the thrill of flight and trained hundreds of pilots. In the last decade alone we have conducted some 50,000 glider flights which represents 32,000 hours of soaring. This reflects the club’s promotion of enjoyable and safe flying. The club’s enthusiasm for the sport of gliding has also seen us host numerous state and national competitions and even a world championship.
In recent decades the club embraced powered ultra light flying, moving since 2009 to modern and larger Light Sport Aircraft with a fleet of Australian built Jabiru J170 series aircraft. and is now introducing hundreds of people to the thrill of powered flight.
Today
While ASC has enjoyed great success and growth in the past, today the club is stronger than ever, with more members, more aircraft and better facilities, being arguably one of the most successful gliding and flying clubs in Australia.
In the last few years many exciting things have happened at the Adelaide Soaring Club. In 2024 we celebrated our 80th Birthday with a Fly In and lunch followed by a dinner with a band. This was a great celebration.
In early 2025 we had a couple of our members (Dave and Max Scutchings) set a new World Record for the greatest number of consecutive loops in a glider. The 2-seat club glider (DG 1000) was towed to 10,000 feet and released then they performed 45 loops in a row. This was a great achievement for the father and son team.
In late 2025 one of our members, Karl Faeth was very generous in donating
a brand new Jabiru 230D to the club. This has been a great additional asset to the club and is being enjoyed by many of our LSA Members.
Our pilots have had recent success in the Australian gliding championships, and all club members can continue to enjoy flying club aircraft to all parts of the country either for competitions, aerobatic displays, or just for fun.
With a long-term lease on the airfield, great infrastructure and a modern fleet of aircraft, there is a lot to look forward to flying at ASC.
Why not come and make some history of your own.