Not a lot of news this month. I’ve been away and I gather the weather has been dreadful (as usual?)

The expedition to Spain was a success. The Duo did about 30 hours in the first two weeks and 47 at the Overseas Nationals – all without any snags. We will be doing something along the same lines next year; if you want to go and fly abroad with a club expedition, talk to me and we’ll see what people want to do.

Cadets: We now have almost a full complement of new cadets. They are learning the ropes at the moment – please make them welcome.

Regionals: At the moment we do not have enough entries to run a competition! I suspect that many members are intending to fly but have not yet entered. Please do so, and if you are entered but not confirmed please do that. A lot of effort goes into running this competition for the members, it’s free and if you don’t use it you will lose it.

We will be flying the Duo every day in the comp so there are P2 seats available. See me.

Tug pilots: We’ve been a bit short at weekends due to one of our seasonal pilots letting us down. Thanks to those club members who’ve been helping out. We hope to improve the situation right away.

Remove the tray from the aircraft before de-rigging.

This is the current tug pilot list. If you think your name should be on it – please bring your log book, licence with JAR C of E and current medical certificate.

I will put your name on the list if you are OK with JAROPS.

The 3^rd & 4^th June saw Booker host the Inter Club League. This was well attended by Ringmer, Lasham, Parham and a few Bookerites! The first day showed weather typical of this season (Naff). However, in the spirit of the competition the Pundits were sent off on a 128km task. John White was the most courageous out of the Pundits and made it past the 1^st turn, whereas the 2^nd place only made it to Chalgrove.

The Sunday showed more promise and with the forecast saying some high cover later I thought some gaps would remain with the unstable air giving way to some good decision critical cross-country flying. The legendary forecast said that the North was going to suffer the most from the top cover so I decided to set all the tasks down to the South-West. The Novices were set 150kms, Intermediates 240kms and the Pundits 303 kms.

At about 11.00 the sky was looking good so with the help of a few kind people the grid launched quickly with quite a few Booker onlookers talking about it and watching people dash about the place. The majority of people started quite soon after launch. Then by midday the cumulus started to spread out. By 12.30 there was overcast as far as the eye could see. What happened to my gaps in the top cover then? Well they were still there but everything had spread out to cover them up. The forecast hadn’t mentioned the spread out at all, but hey! Why did I listen to the forecast at all I hear you cry. Everyone on task then made haste to the nearest field, but all successful. The furthest distance was Lasham the second turn on the 300 which was a good effort.

A special mention goes to John White for his efforts over the weekend who "Kept the Flag Flying For Booker" and even though he arrived after the grid launch, rigged and launched into a dead sky, he managed the second furthest distance of the Pundits. Well done that man.

All in all the weekend went well, with several visitors commenting that they were made very welcome and enjoyed their visit. However, they were surprised at how much pushing around of aircraft is required to keep the place running, and at how few of the Booker members were helping at the launch point…...

Andy

We have an opportunity to send a Discus (316) to S Africa for the benefit of club members but we must act very quickly to secure a place in the container. This will be the last ever chance as Brian Spreckley will not be going to SA after this year.

The flying will be in one week slots Sun-Sat and start on the 5th of Nov.

The Nov starting dates will be 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th.

This give 10 weeks flying.

Costs: On the assumption that all 10 weeks are filled, in order to cover the costs of freight and preparation we need a non-refundable* deposit from everyone of £250 and a weekly flying fee of £200. This will still represent a significant saving over the rental cost of a glider in SA for an independent trip.

We have a very narrow window of opportunity to take up this possibility so please respond quickly to me or the office.

Phil Jarvis. 01635 254 422

Sixth shares in this high performance two seater turbo glider.

It would live rigged on the airfield with Jaxida covers on.

The combination of no rigging/de-rigging, high performance, two seats and the turbo to get home opens up fantastic fun flying.

Shares would be circa £11,000 in 954 which has been completely re-finished and has full competition and oxygen kit.

If interested in this type of flying then phone me soon.

Bernie Morris 01494 564802

Built in 1978 15 m3543 (carbon wings), flapped glider with large comfortable cockpit. Instruments include Cambridge M-NAV; Garmin GPS; Becker 720 radio; fitted large capacity oxygen system; Schofield trailer with AMF fittings. Strong parachute.

The glider is light to rig with self connecting controls; approach control is superb on trailing edge flap/brakes: this makes for much less stress in field landing situations and at sites like Talgarth.

The kit comes with a reasonably affable syndicate partner.

Call Mike Beattie Work - 01494 525552

One of our very experienced cross country pilots recently managed to fly into a piece of controlled airspace at Dunstable, causing an upset with the local gliding club, and a bit of trouble with the CAA.

We can all make mistakes, but it is your responsibility to ensure that you are fully updated with the necessary information to avoid this kind of thing. The consequences of getting it wrong could be serious for all of us. You will find up-to-date information in the bus and in the clubhouse and as usual if not sure, just ask me. If I don’t know the answer I will find out!