The VETERAN glider pilot who died when he crashed into a school playing field near Cheltenham almost three weeks ago was 91 year old great-grandad Kenneth Lloyd, the Gloucestershire Coroner has disclosed today.

Mr Lloyd, a member of the Cotswold Gliding Club at Aston Down, nr Stroud for more than 50 years, was piloting his own two seater high performance ASH 25 glider when he died at Charlton Kings on August 26.

Another man in the aircraft with him suffered only minor injuries.

Highly experienced pilot Mr Lloyd, who had more than 4,000 hours of flying time, lived in Randwick, and is survived by his large family of children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, said club chairman Dave Roberts today.

Mr Lloyd's funeral is due to take place on Friday this week.

A spokeswoman for Gloucestershire Coroner Katie Skerrett said today that Mr Lloyd's inquest had been formally opened last Friday, September 11, and adjourned to a date to be fixed. She confirmed his identity but refused to give any further details.

She said the Coroner has decided not to permit any other information being divulged to the media even though it was given at a hearing open to the press and public last week. Usually at an inquest opening the coroner receives evidence of identification of a deceased person from a relative and is also told the results of a pathologist's examination, including cause of death.

As well as the Coroner's inquest, an investigation is also being carried out into the crash by the Air Accident Investigation Branch of the Department of Transport.

Gliding Club spokesman Chris Cooper said today "Ken had been a member of our club for more than fifty years and most of our members had flown with him.

"He had more than four thousand hours of flying time as a pilot. I did not know him well personally because I have not been at the club long but everyone says he was a fantastic chap, a very kind and happy man. He flew most of those 4,000 hours in his Ash 25, which he was flying at the time of the accident..

"As a club we are working on a tribute book to him. People are going to put down their memories of him and at some time in the future we shall hold a celebration of his life. He was a much loved member of our club."

Mr Lloyd's ASH 25 craft was described in a club newsletter recently as 'one of the hottest gliders in the club.'

Mr Lloyd regularly travelled to Australia during the UK winter to fly gliders there.

In 2010 he wrote a lengthy article in the club newsletter about his trips to Benalla in Victoria in which he said "There are many reasons why I go to Benalla. The town is friendly and withinwalking distance of the club.

"It has a whole range of restaurants two golf clubs two bowling clubs a nice park and woodland with a lake and a very good swimming pool. All this in a town of only 14,000 inhabitants and this includes the immediate surroundings. "

He also wrote of the many stopovers he had enjoyed in places including Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, New Zealand, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide during the annual journeys to his gliding holidays Down Under.