racing_best racing_aircraft birth_place first_race air_force full_name nationality relatives rank spouse known_for image article_title education name
three 1981 times world champion : 1976 , 1978 & schempp-hirth nimbus-3 dublin , ireland 1974 british national gliding championship royal air force douglas george lee born irish , naturalised british , now australian sonja lee and brian lee - children squadron leader maren lee multiple open-class gliding world championship winner file : george lee -lrb- pilot -rrb- . jpg george lee -lrb- pilot -rrb-
 royal air force engineering apprenticeship in aircraft electrical systems george lee mbe
george lee -lrb- pilot -rrb-

douglas george lee mbe -lrb- b 7 november 1945 -rrb- is a glider pilot who was world gliding champion on three consecutive occasions .
he was born in dublin , ireland .
he joined the royal air force as an engineering apprentice at the age of sixteen in 1962 , becoming a british subject .
he completed his training as an electrical fitter and in 1967 he was selected for officer and pilot training .
he joined an operational squadron in 1971 flying phantoms .
he left the raf in 1983 as a squadron leader and joined cathay pacific to fly boeing 747s .
during his apprenticeship he began gliding with the royal air force gliding & soaring association , winning his first british national championship in 1974 in an asw17 .
he was selected for the british team for the world gliding championships at räyskälä in finland in 1976 and won the open class in an asw17 .
he then won the following two world championships at châteauroux in france 1978 -lrb- also in an asw17 -rrb- and at paderborn in germany 1981 in a nimbus-3 , becoming the first person to win three successive world championships titles .
he flew in two more world championships but his home in hong kong had reduced his opportunities for gliding and so he was out of practice .
he received several awards including the mbe , the royal aero club 's gold medal , the britannia trophy -lrb- twice -rrb- and the lilienthal gliding medal .
in 1978 he took prince charles for his first flight in a glider .
he bought a farm near dalby in queensland in 1996 in anticipation of his retirement in 1999 .
he established a small airfield there and is now an australian citizen .
with his schempp-hirth nimbus-4dm , he taught advanced pilots for ten years .
he and his wife , maren , are now active in their church and in politics in queensland .
they have two children , sonja and brian .
he published his autobiography , `` hold fast to your dreams '' , in 2013 , which was also published in polish in 2015 as `` uwierz w marzenia '' .
