JOHN BANGE
On 13 March 1932, on the property 'Aviadell' five kilometres west of Clifton, Queensland, a young man by the name of John J Bange climbed into the open cockpit of a frail looking aircraft with a 10-metre wingspan. At 11am with John at the controls and towed by a Chevrolet vehicle, the craft named the ‘Azure Star' made its maiden flight.
Bange’s Azure Star was the first enclosed-fuselage glider to fly on the Darling Downs. He designed and built the it in his spare time and test flew it himself, making many flights and learning as he went, growing ever more confident with the aircraft. The build took three years and the Azure Star was flown for the first time when Bange was 25.
The elusive John Bange hammering round his dirt track at AVIADEL in 1930.
On 13 March 1982 John Bange, at age 75 in the oldest flying glider in Australia, took to the air to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that first flight, towed by the same Chevrolet vehicle at the same time from the same spot where he originally left the earth.
John Bange’s 1925 Chevrolet in Early Birds, Sunshine Coast in 2024.
The 1925 Chevrolet was mounted in Early Birds on January 08, 2023. John Bange’s Azure Star will soon be seen hanging from the void at the front of the warehouse… the pair united again.