By Natalie Gallenti
EDWIN Grech-Cumbo always knew he was destined to fly.
Struck down with polio when he was a child and banned from playing sport by his protective parents, the Keilor resident crafted his first model glider when he was only seven.
And 65 years on he continues to create masterpieces, always striving for perfection.
Yet making model aircraft just wasn’t enough, so when he was 18 and studying in England on a scholarship, he learnt how to fly.
In 1963 Mr Grech-Cumbo migrated to Australia and became a member of the Beaufort Gliding Club, which runs from Bacchus Marsh.
He is also a member of the Keilor District Model Aircraft Society.
The now retired civil engineer said his passion for gliders had become an addiction.
“I can’t get them out of my head,” he said.
“My wife says she is a widow, but at least she knows where I am.”
Wife Rosa described the couple’s garage as a mini airport with replica warplanes and gliders as far as the eye can see.
Building his planes from scratch, the grandfather of four said there was no greater satisfaction then creating your own work of art. Capable of flying through the air for hours on end, a model plane could take up to two years to complete.
“I buy a plan; buy the balsa wood and start shaping it. I can be in my garage for hours and hours.”
And when he is not making model gliders, he is almost always in the air flying one.
“For me gliding is a fascination which captures your competitive spirit. It is about me beating the weather and beating myself.”
Made with the finest aerodynamics, gliders are unpowered aircraft that have been recorded to reach up to 50,000 feet.
Mr Grech-Cumbo has reached 25,000 feet and said while there had been hard landings and rough weather, the feeling you get when you were in the air cannot be described.
“It’s just you, the weather and the glider.
“There is nothing like it.”
