TURNBULL glider (John Turnbull. Built and flown at Box Hill, near Dorking, Surrey)

   In 1910 a young engineer John Turnbull designed and built a small glider in or near the top of Box Hill in Surrey, an ideal location for making trial flights.
   The framework was of bamboo, braced with wire and covered with sailcloth. The glider was flown as a hang glider controlled by the pilot shifting the weight of his body and was launched from a four-wheel trolley down the steep slope of the hill.
   After some successful glides Turnbull fitted the glider with a one-cylinder Gnome engine; later he decided to fit a more powerful two-cylinder Green (probably a motorcycle engine). Pressure of business and lack of finance forced him to give up his involvement with aviation.
   Turnbull was helped in his experiments by Dolly Shephard, the intrepid balloonist and parachutist.