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It is with regret
that we have been informed by Keith’s parents and sister that
he died peacefully on 2nd February 2003. We have no further details
at the present time, but we will post them on the website and
in the clubhouse as soon as we do.
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From the committee
Tugs
Tugs seem to be like busses, you wait for ages for one to come
and two come along together! Our Pawnee arrived last week and a syndicate
Robin is expected next week, we look forward to a good launch rate this
year when the weather improves.
Flying in the Alps
Jacques Noel will be here next weekend and will be flying with
the people who have booked so that he can issue their French gliding
licences. At 6 pm on Saturday the 8th Feb (next Saturday!!) Jacques
will be giving a slide show and talk in the club house about mountain
flying, all members are welcome.
AGM
The AGM is a little over 4 weeks away, if you wish to stand
for the committee or have a member’s resolution, now is the time to
act.
George Moffat
George gave a great talk in the Memorial Hall last Sunday, it was nice
to see over 30 members turn up.
New hangar?
Rumours around the airfield suggest that Flightworks, the helicopter
people, might have some spare accommodation that may be available for
rent. We have approached them to see if we can enter in to talks with
a view to us, perhaps, taking over one of their hangars and associated
office space. It is too early to say what our chances are but we will
keep members advised of any progress. If you have any views please e-mail
them to me at bruce.cooper68@virgin.net. In the meantime, please don’t
draw attention by looking and pointing in their direction! There are
other people on the airfield that would also like that site.
Newsletters
Do you read the newsletter? If so could you e-mail me at the above address
so I can judge how many people do read it. Also would you like your
newsletter e-mailed to you? Is there anything that we could do better
with the newsletter?
Jaca
We are still trying to find some one to supervise the trip, and by the
time you read this the decision on whether or not we can run it will
have been made. If we do end up cancelling (at this stage we only have
two members actually signed up, although I know there are many others
keen to go) Andy Perkins will still give a briefing next month for all
those who want to go “ under their own steam”, and we will liaise with
the local CFI to help get the appropriate level of supervision from
their local instructors. The problem we have is that Andy has found
an airline job earlier than we expected and we cannot release “G” for
such a long period of time with new instructors and tug pilots to supervise,
Matt is also on holiday that week! We must concentrate on getting a
good start to the season at Booker and look after the interests of the
majority of our members. Anyone who is still interested in going,
please contact the office or Roger Neal at rogerneal@beeb.net immediately.
Instructor’s meeting
We are intending to have an instructors meeting on the 29th March, so
if you are a current or lapsed instructor put that date in your diary.
I am very concerned about the shortage of Full cat. instructors at Booker
and the committee will be encouraging any instructor to upgrade or revalidate
over the coming year. We will discuss all aspects of instructing, including
how we run the launch point, instructor progression, how the mixture
of professional and amateur can be improved, in fact I think we should
talk about everything that affects our club instructors and how we can
make it fun for them. I would like us to discuss how club instructors
see themselves contributing and what they want out of their instructing.
So if you have views, be there.
Booker Regional
Entry forms are available in the office.
The Platypus Papers
Signed copies are available in the office.
Trophies
If you have a trophy from last year please return it to the office ASAP.
Bank Charges!
In a recent review it was found that the club spends over £3000
on bank fees every year. We have identified a way to save over £2500
of these yearly charges, but to achieve this we require help from YOU!
Every time the office processes a credit or debit card transaction,
the bank charges a processing fee. For CREDIT card transactions (Visa,
MasterCard), the fee is 1.7% of the amount cleared. DEBIT card (Switch,
Delta, Solo) fees are a flat rate of 25p per transaction irrespective
of the amount cleared. Over the last 12 months the average amount paid
per single credit card transaction by the club is £2.47, whereas the
amount paid per single debit card transaction is 25p. It does not take
much to see that if everyone used their debit cards instead of credit
cards we would save a fortune – the savings will be put to use benefiting
the club rather than the bank!
To assist with this we are encouraging club members to
use their debit cards to pay whenever possible – if you use the monthly
automatic credit card payment facility please consider calling the office
and changing over to your debit card. Subject to the current review
the automatic credit card facility may be withdrawn before May 1st 2003
Automatic debit card payments will be unaffected.
It is important to state that none of this affects the
ability to pay by credit or debit card at all.
WATCH THIS SPACE
The club is moving into the 21st century! Along with a
number of projects we are developing an email statement and newsletter
facility that will hopefully be in operation by the summer. Club members
who register their email addresses will be able to receive their monthly
statements and newsletters over the net. The conventional “snail mail”
statement system will still remain for those who wish to receive their
statements in the traditional manner.
If you wish to sign up please contact the office with
your email address.
Shobdon – 1st – 9th March
Those of you who have booked for the Shobdon expedition,
or who wish to book, are reminded that there is a £20 deposit to be
paid. Please contact the office to pay.
If any current Pawnee tug pilots or full instructors who
can help, please contact me.
It has become apparent that we are a number of wing tip
trestles missing from club single seater trailers. If you have borrowed
them please return them immediately.
DR
Would the person who has borrowed the spare headset please
return it as it is difficult to talk to the Tower when it is in your
boot.
Dave Sarney
From Wendy in the Office
Unfortunately my application was accepted and I will therefore
be joining numerous other confused people, with nothing better to do,
pounding the streets of London on Sunday 13th April.
For my pains I am hoping to raise some money for the Anthony Nolan Trust.
The Trust operates a register of over 300,000 volunteers willing to
donate some of there bone marrow for patients suffering from leukaemia
and other bone marrow related diseases. These patients have reached
a stage when only a bone marrow transplant can save them. It costs £50
to fully tissue type each new donor, but no government or lottery funding
is received to help pay for their tissue typing or research into these
potential fatal diseases.
As some of you may be aware in July 2000 I was matched with a patient
in need of a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately the first transplant
was unsuccessful, and 8 weeks later I returned to hospital to donate
for a second time. Fortunately this time it was a success and now over
two years later the recipient of my bone marrow is still alive and kicking.
One of my sponsorship forms is in the office, and any offers of sponsorship
would be most gratefully accepted.
There was a blue sky with untidy cloud streets broken
by the wind. The tower reported a west wind gusting to 27 knots. A test
flight in EBZ (looking very smart after it’s C of A) demonstrated that
it was not too turbulent to fly a pupil. The next flight released from
tow at 2500’ then rapidly climbed to 3300’ in relatively smooth conditions
just by flying at 45 knots along the cloud street towards the ridge.
During the 40 minute flight 6 knots up and down showed
on the variometer. It didn’t require any skill to stay in the lift and
the flight ended by using brakes all the way down from 2000’.
Geoff Boswell
Does anyone fancy three weeks in the beautiful Czech Republic,
approximately 60 miles east of Prague, surrounded by a bevy of gliding
babes?
Crew needed for the 2nd Women’s World Gliding Championships
at Jihlava Airfield, 9th May – 3rd June 2003
All expenses paid, etc., etc., I will be flying my LS8
as part of the 6 strong British Team. If interested please call me (Jan
McCoshim) on 01844 214402