The Ferries McDonald Technical Gliding Library

The Library is maintained and operated by the Adelaide Hills Soaring Group

for the benefit of Gliding in Australia.

S O A R I N G . I N F O R M A T I O N . S E R V I C E

"Knowledge is power"

Today the library fills that 70m2 building with books, magazines, plans, film, slides, and video. The stock of the Ferries-McDonald Technical Library has evolved almost entirely from donations from surplus material from glider pilots, deceased estates, and similar sources; and this has been catalogued and agreggated by volunteers working with the Library.

In addition to collecting anything connected with the sport of soaring, the library also:-

• searches out information on particular topics requested by glider pilots
• prepares compilations on topics associated with the sport
• prepares research and articles for publication on selected topics
• prepares and publishes information pamphlets, books and computer disks on such topics.

The collection includes extensive editions of 'Australian Gliding', 'Soaring', 'Sailplane & Gliding', other gliding and general aviation magazines; gliding Airworthiness Directives and Notices, and so on.

As a major project, over a period of 7 years, a full index of 'Australian Gliding' 1952 to 1985 was prepared by the late Mrs. Frieda Prelgauskas.
Much of the library collection has been catalogued on PC using 'Inmagic'. This is not accessible by internet.

Since 1985 the Library has also held and expanded the Archives of the South Australian Gliding Association Inc.

In 1986 the Library collaborated in the National Historical Records Search of the National Library in Canberra, and has been listed on L.I.S.S.A. since.
Since 1988 the Library has collaborated with the S.A. Gliding History Trust and its projects.

The library seeks to only keep one copy of everthing in its stocks. Multiple copies are boxed for relocation to other similarly minded organisations.
These include small gliding library collections at some other gliding clubs in South Australia, and similar larger libraries in other Australian states including at the Navy gliding club at Nowra, New South Wales; and Air Training Corps at Laverton, Victoria.
Other recipients of multiple copies from FMcD Library include aviation historians, general public libraries and various gliding associations.

One of the major on-going projects of the library is the aggregation of complete editions of 'Australian Gliding'. Over the years about a dozen extensive collections have been compiled; though in recent years 1950's and 1960's issues have become hard to come by. The former 'Australian Gliding' production committee would assist by making available some spare copies of recent issues. These compiled editions are placed as single collections with appropriate other organisations, mainly public libraries.

The primary role of the Ferries-McDonald Technical Library is to service the strategic information needs of gliding people.

Requests by telephone, mail and email can be searched out and forwarded.
Please remember that this facility is entirely volunteer and that it may take some time for us to get back to you.

• The library is NOT a lending library.
• The single retained copy held in the stocks are not for loan.
• Selected items may be copied and forwarded; or synopses prepared and sent out on the topic requested.
• Frequently requested topics have been compiled into booklets ready to send out.

Topics which are frequently requested have formed the basis of booklets compiled; based on everything on that topic previously published in 'Australian Gliding'.
Some of these topics are:-

• building hangars
• building glider trailers
• wave soaring
• thermal soaring
• electrical systems in sailplanes
• 'minimum' sailplanes
• physiological of flight on the human body
• aerotow launch
• winch launch
• weak links and release systems
• forces acting on the development of gliding sites

Many of these topics have then been summarised in articles published in 'Australian Gliding'.