Black Mountains Gliding Club
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Tony Burton Trophy

Awarded annually in memory of a member who loved wave flying

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The club

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General
The

Tony Burton Trophy


Awarded annually

for the

 Greatest Gain of Height

 in a glider launching from

The Black Mountains Gliding Club, Talgarth


In memory of Tony Burton (1934 to 2002) who reached a maximum altitude of 31,500 ft in his Vega after launching from Talgarth on New Year's Day 1992.

Rules of the Tony Burton Trophy

  1. The TBT will be awarded annually.
  2. The qualifying period for the TBT will be from 1 January to 31 December each year.
  3. To qualify for the TBT, the winner must be a paid up or life member of BMGC on the date that the qualifying flight is made.
  4. Visiting pilots from other clubs do not qualify to win the TBT.
  5. The flight can be made in privately owned or BMGC gliders.
  6. The flight can be made in a single or two seater glider. In the latter case, the TBT will be awarded to the P1.
  7. BMGC will arrange to have the winners name engraved on the TBT prior to its presentation.
  8. It will be the responsibility of the winner to take good care of the TBT whilst in his/her possession and return it to BMGC on request for whatever reason but normally at the end of the qualifying period or at least before its re-presentation is due.
  9. The TBT will normally be awarded at the AGM of BMGC or at another time felt to be more appropriate by the BMGC committee.
  10. The gain of height will be the difference between either the lowest recorded altitude during the flight, or if appropriate, a signed release height statement by the tug pilot and the maximum recorded altitude.
  11. Proof of gain of height for a claim flight will be required. The degree of proof will be as per badge claim flights eg a calibrated trace from a barograph that had been sealed and signed by an OO or an IGC approved data log trace.
  12. Any flights above 12,000amsl must be done using oxygen to qualify.
  13. Any proven violation of airspace during the flight shall render the claim for the TBT null and void.
  14. The BMGC committee shall make all decisions re the awarding of the TBT.
  15. The CFI of BMGC shall have the authority to override the committee decision if, in his opinion, any aspect of the claim flight breached safety or club rules. The CFI's decision shall be final.
RAR  24 March 03

Entries received for 2007

Position Pilot Glider Date Height gain flight data
1 Robbie Robertson ASW20 9/11/2007 10138 7B9_RRobertson.igc

Winners of the trophy

Mike Rossiter 9350 18 Oct 2003
Tony Crowden 12,369 2 April 2004
Martin Pingle 16,765 7 May 2005
Tony Crowden 13,442 7 Oct 2006

Claim form


Black Mountains Gliding Club.

The Tony Burton Trophy is awarded annually to the BMGC pilot making the greatest gain of height in a glider from the BMGC site at Talgarth.

To submit a claim for the Tony Burton Trophy, it is necessary to complete this form and submit it to a BMGC committee member before January 15 in the year following the year for which the claim is being made. Reference should be made to the conditions of award for the TBT.

Submission of entries by email is acceptable

The decision of the CFI of BMGC shall be final in deciding on the validity of this claim.

1 Pilot's name (P1 if 2 seater)  
2 Glider type  
3 Glider comp number  
4 Date of flight  
5 Time of launch  
6 Duration of flight  
7 Claimed gain of height (ft)  
8 Release height (ft)  
9 Lowest altitude achieved (ft)  
10 Greatest altitude achieved (ft)  
11 Was oxygen used if above 12,000amsl?  
12 Was any airspace infringed during the flight?  
13 Was clearance obtained to fly above FL25?  
14 What proof is submitted in support of this claim?  
15 Details of Official Observer  

Any additional comments:





I hereby state that the facts above are true to the best of my knowledge.


Signed:         Dated:




Tony Burton, an appreciation

In April 2002 club members at Talgarth were saddened to hear of the death of one of our most charismatic members, Tony Burton. Tony started gliding in the late 40's with the ATC and, after a layoff until 1964, started in earnest at Lasham often flying with Derek Piggott. Soloing in 1964, he wasted no time by doing his 300km the following year. A holder of all three diamonds, he did a huge amount of cross country over the years and came to Talgarth in 1981.

BMGC members always appreciated his almost boyish enthusiasm for anything to do with gliding …. especially if there was even hint of wave. To see Tony and his wife Sylvie (the best crew a glider pilot could wish for!) arrive in their Landrover mid morning was a sure sign that lenticulars were on the cards that day. As well as holding the current club altitude record of 31,500ft and winning the de Havilland trophy more than once, Tony often was able to sniff out wave when most of us mortals were stuck on the ridges. His last goal was to become the first pilot to do a 750km out of Wales … sadly, time ran out for Tony and he never achieved it.

His electronic and software skills were put to good use through Dinosaur Electronics and several pundits know all too well the excellence of his integrated flight computer designs.

Robbie Robertson