Oran Nicks trained as an aeronautical engineer at Spartan College of Aeronautical Engineering and at the Universities of Texas, Oklahoma and Southern California. He spent two years in the Army Air Corps, 12 years as an engineer for North American Aviation and Chance Vought companies, 20 years as program-center director for NASA and 16 years as research engineer-center director at Texas A&M University. His publications include two books on space flight and over 100 papers and reports on aerodynamics, aircraft and spacecraft design and applications. He first began flying in 1941 and obtained his pilot's licence in 1945. He was a Certified Flight Instructor and owned and flew a Cessna 182 and a Standard Class Sailplane. An avid soaring enthusiast, he flew in regional and national competitions and was a holder of the FAI silver, gold and diamond badges. He served as Chairman of the Technical Board of the Soaring Society of America, US delegate to the FAI-OSTIV Sailplane Development Panel and member of the World Class Management Committee of the International Gliding Commission. In addition, he was volunteer Director of the Soaring Society of America for many years. He invented a total energy sensor used on sailplanes throughout the world. Having obtained a licence to construct a World Class Glider, he worked for three years to build from scratch a beautiful glider. His handcrafted wing moulds were displayed at the SSA's national convention in Portland, Oregon. Oran Nicks was one of the greatest supporters and proponents of the World Class Glider. It is somehow ironic and yet appropriate that the accident that claimed his life in September 1998 was in the glider he built with so much effort and love.
<p>Terry Delore has always been interested in anything that flew, and started gliding in 1969 at the age of 10. Regulations dictated that he was not permitted to fly a glider solo until the age of 16, so at the age of 13, he started hang gliding. He entered the first New Zealand Hang Gliding Championships at the age of 16 and subsequently entered numerous competitions in New Zealand and Australia. He was New Zealand Hang Gliding Champion for three consecutive years and at the age of 17 won the first World Hang Gliding Championships which were held in 1976 in K�ssen, Austria, competing against pilots from 25 countries. Delore returned to serious gliding in 1979 and completed his Gold "C" Award in 1980. His first gliding championships in 1981 (Sports Class) saw him gain first place, the first of many New Zealand contests that he has won, primarily in the 15 metre and Standard class. Following the footsteps of New Zealand's soaring pioneer Dick Georgeson, he flew a distance flight of 1000 kms for his "1000 km Diploma" in 1984 (Number 48). Delore represented New Zealand at the 1985 World Gliding Championships in Italy. A year and a half of solid training of over 600 hours nearly paid off with a final placing of 12th in the Racing 15m Class. Next came the 1987 World Championships in Australia followed by the pre-world Open Class Championships held in Minden, Nevada 1990, and the World Championships in Texas, USA. With a young family and small retail business, cash resources became limited, so he then started imparting his knowledge and experience back into the New Zealand gliding movement and has been a "B" category gliding instructor for nine years. Many of the pilots he has trained are now out competing against him and winning competitions. On November 5, 1994, he broke the current world record for distance and completed a flight of 15 hours over 2048 kms. He is the second person in the world to have flown in excess of 2000 kms. He flew the highest speed at the 1995 World Championships in Omarama of 148 kph. He is held in the highest esteem by his colleagues in New Zealand.</p>
