By Tighe Patching
June 13, 2022 — 3.21pm
(CLAUDE) ALAN PATCHING AM June 6, 1924-March 12, 2022
Alan Patching, who has died aged 97, was involved in all aspects of gliding for almost 80 years and is renowned worldwide for his outstanding contributions. In 2006, this was recognised by his receipt of the highest international award in gliding, the Lilienthal Medal, from the international governing body for world air sports, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI).
Christened Claude Alan, but preferring to be known as Alan, he grew up on the family farm at Queenscliff in Victoria, the eldest of four boys. During his childhood, flying was not the everyday common thing it is today, and it fascinated Alan. He built model aircraft in his spare time and studied mechanical and electrical engineering at Gordon Institute. When he graduated in 1942, he was sent to build planes for the war effort at Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC). Alan was very disappointed, as he had hoped to join the RAAF to become a pilot, but there was an excess of pilots at that time. This began his involvement in gliding.
At CAC Alan worked with several frustrated, would-be pilots and a small group built a Primary glider in their spare time, using wings found at the factory as the starting point. After discussions, the Victorian Motorless Flight Group (now the Melbourne Gliding Club) was formed in September 1944. Alan’s first flight was on December 28, 1944, an instructional flight of just two-and-a-half minutes with the Australian gliding pioneer Percy Pratt at Belmont Common, Geelong. Over his lifetime, he would go on to pilot 140 different glider and 35 powered-aircraft types. Always cognisant of safety, Alan elected to stop flying solo in 2008 at the age of 84 but continued to fly dual as often as his health allowed.
Alan was no ordinary gliding club member, volunteering in numerous ways as instructor and tow pilot, president, and chair of the operations panel, eventually leading to his recognition as a life member. Besides these official positions, he was always generous with his time and expertise. In the early days until the club acquired facilities, the family home at Balwyn was frequently used for glider repairs and meetings. Nostalgic memories are strong of the camaraderie of those times, not least because of the hospitality offered by Alan and his wife of 69 years, Lorna.
Alan Patching: fascinated by flight from an early age.
By 1949, with many disparate gliding operations all around Australia, the Department of Civil Aviation (now Civil Aviation Safety Authority) decided gliding needed to be controlled. This was the impetus for the Gliding Federation of Australia to be formed, to have a voice of authority to speak with DCA, and Alan was present at its inception. As no systematic flying training program existed, the National Gliding School was formed. Alan participated for all its 16 years, initially as a staff member and then as director. It convened annually to continuously refine the instructors’ training handbook, various airworthiness, repair and maintenance manuals and the GFA Manual of Standard Procedures for operating a gliding club. The DCA, and its successors, have approved gliding to operate this way in Australia ever since.
Alan’s work and flying passion were intricately connected, working at Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL), from 1945 until his retirement in 1984, including on several projects with international significance. As a professional aeronautical engineer, Alan specialised in researching aircraft fatigue and this expertise he passed on through investigations into the safety of gliders and pioneering work on fatigue in modern gliders. Alan could explain complex engineering phenomena in everyday terms to anyone, all mixed with lots of his irrepressible humour.
From the view of history, perhaps Alan’s most important career highlight was his work on the F/111C fighter bomber, with his posting to Fort Worth in the US for two years from 1970 and membership of the F-111 Scientific Advisory Panel. In 1968, there was a catastrophic early failure of an F/111 wing attachment beam during fatigue testing at General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas, and in the following year a USAF F/111 lost a wing in flight due to fatigue cracks. All 24 aircraft produced for the RAAF were put into storage for almost five years before the first aircraft were eventually retrofitted, accepted and ferried to Australia. Without Alan’s strong technical understanding and experience of fatigue of high strength metals, and his integrity to speak truth to power, the RAAF may have cancelled the purchase of this remarkable strategic defence asset which the RAAF operated for the next 37 years.
Alan personally regarded the investigation of an accident to a RAAF Sabre near Williamtown, NSW, as the technical highlight of his career. In this case, the pilot had ejected, but did not survive due to a range of factors that allowed his helmet to strike the canopy frame during ejection. The investigation resulted in worldwide changes to ejection sequencing to prevent recurrence of this type of tragedy.
He was founder and program manager of the Janus glider fatigue test at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) from 1985 to 1992. Ultimately, the test provided the necessary data to double the fatigue life limit on gliders around the world from 6000 to 12,000 flying hours, where it remains today.
Alan assiduously maintained and visited annually a network of friends, colleagues and collaborators around the world to collectively advance gliding as much as defence aeronautical research. One of these avenues was as the Australian delegate to the International Scientific and Technical Organisation for Soaring (OSTIV) from 1965 to 1996, as a board member from 1985 to 1999, and as a member of the sailplane development panel from 1976 to 1996.
Along with other pilots, Alan formed Vintage Gliders Australia in 1977, an important part of the worldwide interest in preservation of the fun and history of old wood and fabric gliders, and in 1999, as founding president, he spearheaded the founding of the Australian Gliding Museum at Bacchus Marsh Aerodrome, which now houses more than 60 vintage gliders – one of the largest collections worldwide.
Alan saw the world of gliding evolve from simple wood and fabric gliders, only capable of brief flights like his first in 1944, through to sophisticated aircraft with long wingspans and high performance as a result of advanced manufacturing technology, including fibreglass and carbon fibre construction. As his chosen sport, Alan gave it his all, putting his efforts into club matters, then at the state, national and international levels.
Most importantly, and the greatest measure of his life, Alan was a much-loved family man. He is survived by two daughters, Margaret and Rosemary, daughter-in-law Ruth (widow of Ian), six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was pre-deceased by his wife Lorna, and sons Geoffrey and Ian. Lorna, Geoff and Ian were all very involved in various aspects of gliding and Ruth and his grandson Tighe continue that family tradition.
Tighe Patching is Alan Patching’s grandson.