BOOKER GLIDING CLUB

Chairman’s report

It being only a short while since becoming chairman I have little to report. I do however thank the previous committee and especially those who retired at the AGM, for the time and effort they have put in on behalf of the club.

I wish to see a truly members club where the activities of the club are run wherever possible by rank and file members not just the committee or paid staff. A good start has already been made with the support given to Jane Moore with the London Air Show at Earls Court and Aero/Expo which will be held at Booker 23 & 25th June.

The financial problems we have experienced over the winter have not totally gone away and it is essential for all members to settle their accounts without delay, especially membership fees. If we have a reasonably good season, the sale of the Pawnee PR should ensure that last autumns problems are not repeated.

The previous committee in its efforts to ensure good management of the club’s resources introduced a system for monitoring the trailer park. I know there have been many comments and objections, but that would be true of any system. Now that we have a system I ask that members co-operate to ensure its successful operation. Alan Smith has agreed to administer the system on behalf of the committee.

Richard Gerrard is currently carrying out an inventory check on parachutes, batteries, radios and loggers. If you know of any items which have gone astray please let Richard know. Nick Storer is dealing with health and safety issues. Jane Moore and William Parker are looking into giving the newsletter a face lift in the coming months and Symeon Economou has been active with Marketing initiatives. Gary Nuttall has been working on the web site and has set up our on-line shop which has already made its first sale of a trial lesson. I have been dealing with staff matters while Jim White has handled statutory matters to ensure the company operates legally. Tom Moutrie is liaising with AAA and has been talking to Red Letter Days with a view to some joint advertising. Richard Garner has been looking into the state of repair of the club house and the future requirement to meet government energy saving initiatives.

The tug insurance issues relating to us geriatric pilots have been resolved with the help of Graham Saw. Pilots up to and including 79 years of age are insured to fly our tugs providing they have the necessary medical certificates. Anyone wishing to discuss the matter should talk to Graham.

If you have any club issues which you think should be addressed, please talk to me. I am usually at the club several times a week. I do not guarantee that all matters will be attended to or that the results will always be to your liking.

I wish you all a very successful flying season.

Roland Wales.

WHERE’S OUR KIT?

The club has 33 parachutes listed, but an audit has only located 19. If you have one of the missing chutes, please return it to the clubhouse as soon as possible, no questions asked. We cannot afford to mislay our equipment.

WHOSE TRAILER IS THAT?

There are three very good reasons for putting your glider ID on your trailer:

· when you come back from a x-c and forget to check that you are logged back, the log-keeper can make sure that you are not stuck in a field by finding your trailer to see if it is empty – leaving it unlocked helps here

· if you are relying on strangers to retrieve you, they can find your trailer

· we can check who has paid their dues to the club - no reason for other club members to subsidise non-payers

Please make sure your trailer is identified with the glider fin ID.

EARLS COURT AIR SHOW 21-23 APRIL

Booker GC scrubbed up nicely for its appearance on the BGA stand at the Air Show. 14 people between them covered the 3 days of the show talking to visitors, handing out literature and helping them answer the questions in the quiz to win a flight in the Falke. The other clubs represented were Windrushers, who put on a good show, and Lasham. Booker looked the most professional, with BGC polo shirts and name badges, and of course our brand new leaflets and display panels. We sold an intensive course and an intro course, noted some very keen interest from a number of people, and collected lots of names and addresses for a follow up mailing. And we had a lot of fun.

The event was a useful practice run for the AeroExpo on 23-25 June, when we hope to put on an even better show. Many thanks to all those club members who gave up their time to help make this a success.

And if you would like a tasteful new BGC polo shirt, they are a very reasonable £12.50. Buy now while stocks last.

AERO EXPO 23-25 JUNE

This exhibition, right on our doorstep, presents us with a great opportunity to promote gliding as a sport, and Booker as the place to do it. We will be putting together a stand including the BGA sim and will need lots of people to help out. If you would like to join in, call Jane Moore on 07990 760781.

The event will also disrupt our operation for a few days. It is not yet clear quite what will be happening but Tom Moutrie has been told verbally that :

· We will not be able to fly from the Wednesday evening (21 June) until the following Tuesday morning (27 June)

· If you want to take your glider away for the duration, you will need to take it on the Wednesday morning, after that there is no guarantee that you will be able to get at it

· The trailer park will be cordoned off and patrolled by 24 hour security staff

· The area behind the trailer park and the undershoot for 35 will be used for visitor parking

· There will be a huge amount of coming and going in the week before the exhibition as the organisers set up the hangars as exhibition halls and exhibitors bring in their materials and aircraft. This will happen again on the Monday and Tuesday afterwards as the exhibition is taken down

We will provide more information on the situation when matters become clearer.

Treasurer’s column

Pricing

The new pricing for the season seems to have been received well by the members. Certainly there have been more members out on the field in the last month or so, although that may have had something to do with the weather.

As there already has been some competition for the use of the fleet, we shall have to consider the reintroduction of ‘glider allocation’. We have asked Andy, therefore, to come up with a scheme that is workable and fair for allocation of gliders whilst at the same time maximising their utilisation and the club’s income. Please try to fit in with and support whatever scheme Andy comes up with.

Finances

We have had further interest in the Pawnee PR and hope to reach a deal for its sale once all three Robins are back in service. It is still necessary to release the cash tied up in this asset to make sure that we are able to meet our commitments next winter without having to ask the membership for financial favours as we did last year.

Members Accounts

As a members’ club, it is important that each of us settle our account promptly. There are a number of things going on to make this easier:

First, we have the ability to pay by direct debit. DD is both easier to administer and cheaper to perform than cheques and credit / debit cards. If you are happy to sign a mandate, we will send you your statement in the first week of the month and debit your account in the third.

Secondly, I heard a suggestion at the AGM that some members might like to set up a standing order that pays an amount into their account every month so that when the flying season began they were already in credit. This is a good idea and could be combined with monthly membership fees for those members who would like to do this.

Third, those of you that bank on the internet can pay your accounts by internet transfer direct into our bank account. This is both cheap and efficient.

Finally, we have been charging ‘admin’ fees for accounts that are not settled promptly. We have decided to drop these charges as they are unwieldy and cause problems. We still do, however, need members accounts to be settled promptly for cash flow reasons (we have to pay the bills whether you pay on time or not) and frankly it is not fair for some members to take advantage of the good nature of others. In future, therefore, we have decided to ask members not to request a launch unless their accounts are up to date. I shall provide the instructors and tuggies with a (hopefully very short) list of accounts that are more than 30 days overdue. If you are on it, please do not ask them for a launch as it may embarrass them to tell you no.

Finally, we have an ambition to make members accounts accessible on line so that you can view your up to date account that way and make payments yourself either by card or transfer. This is a major undertaking but one that could save a huge amount of admin effort and make life easier for you. Watch this space.

From the CFI

At last the weather is improving and we can start flying cross country again. Already there have been several Bicester-Didcot 100k’s. A number of 300k’s and some attempts at 500’s. Rod Christie did a 300km at 102kph in the club discus!

Congratulations to Mark Sempers, Jim Pengelly and Arnie Jorgenson for their 50Km badges. Also to Mark Sempers for the first leg of his 100km diploma. Noel Rabouhans re-solo’ed. Roy Glayzer solo’ed, well done!

Currency

The season is starting to get under way, the weather is improving and the days are getting longer. It’s not a bad idea for those who haven’t stayed current to have a flight with an instructor. Alternatively book yourself some time in the motor glider.

Booker Regionals

The regionals dates are 10/06/06 – 18/06/06. Places are starting to go so get yours now to avoid disappointment!

Evening groups

The mid-week evening groups have started up again so if you want to do some flying after work feel free to come along. It helps if you can let the office know you are coming but not essential. Evening group flying is generally less hurried and flying into the night is a rather nice experience.

Notams

Now that the X/C season is in full swing it is timely to remind everyone that it is each individual pilots responsibility to read and understand the Notams for the day and avoid any notam’ed areas. The notams will usually be printed in the morning and posted in the clubhouse above the weather. If they are not there they can be downloaded from the back room computer. Instructions are on the back wall.

Glider allocation

Club glider allocation will take place in the clubhouse at the start of the day by the DUTY INSTRUCTOR. If no allocation is made at that time then go to the DUTY INSTRUCTOR and allocation will be carried out on the field. The purpose is to give fair and reasonable access to all members. Bearing in mind individual requirements some prioritisation may be made for badge claims, X/C practise, etc., over local flying.

Hangar rash

CFA has suffered some hangar rash to the nose with no report of the damage do The amount of damage could not have been done without someone knowing about it. This is totally unacceptable. Please make sure you report all damage, however insignificant!

Andy

EXPEDITIONS

Shobdon

19 club members took 12 gliders and a tug to Shobdon airfield for a spring visit over the Easter holiday.

On the four flying days we enjoyed cloud bases in excess of 4500ft AGL and an enjoyable wave day, most reaching 6000ft, two pilots got to 7000ft in both a morning and evening session. We were made very welcome and will repeat the exercise next Easter.

There is a demand for us to position a tug at Shobdon again during the Air Expo week. If you are interested in spending some time at Shobdon during that period, please let me know. If there is enough interest we will be there.

Aboyne

The list is now open for this years’ Aboyne visit: from September 24th until October 14th. Dog free accommodation available in the log cabin for the first two weeks. K21, Duo and some single seaters, depending on demand. Everyone can take part from non-flying partners down to world champions.

The only qualification is a tow bar on your car as we cannot fly without getting the kit there and back

From the Office

As the season is just starting can we remind members that entry to the office is strictly for staff and committee members only. If you require batteries or loggers please ask at the office window – please don’t just help yourself.