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BOOKER GLIDING CLUB

WYCOMBE AIR PARK, MARLOW, BUCKS SL7 3DP

INFORMATION SHEET MAY 2001

The formal business of the AGM was completed on 29th April, thank you to the twenty or so members who showed up.

Your committee’s thoughts have largely been directed at dealing with the problems caused by foot and mouth, which at least diverts our attention away from the terrible weather. I shall try to make clear Booker GC’s position on this matter:

We support the BGA’s ban on cross-country flying, however trying. Under the terms of this ban gliders must stay within gliding range of their base; at the moment ‘airfield hopping’ is NOT approved.

The club can offer NO support to a member who flies cross country and lands out - you are on your own if this happens. Additionally,

NO TRAILER WHICH HAS BEEN INTO AN INFECTED/RESTRICTED AREA TO EFFECT A RETRIEVE WILL BE ALLOWED BACK ON SITE.

The reason for this is that we do not wish to be prevented later in the year from flying cross country by farmers’ fears that the equipment at Booker may be contaminated.

All very gloomy I know. Be assured that we are making strenuous representations to the BGA to arrive at a more sensible solution. The whole situation is, unfortunately, politically - and media-sensitive and an outlanding, even in an uninfected area, could have dire repercussions at the moment. (There's an update to this click here to read it. Ed.)

The following is really a flying matter, but I trust G and Jed will not mind if I note here that it goes without saying that if you screw up and can’t get back to Booker then for goodness’ sake pick a field and land in it. No sanctions will be taken against anyone who makes an honest mistake and lands out nearby - it does happen. (For clarity, ‘nearby’ is within a couple of miles NOT half way to Chievely).

It IS possible to have fun without getting out of gliding range of Booker (I’m told), and this could be a good year to get that Basic/Assistant/Full Instructor’s rating or hone your aero’s. Bring your mates in the evening this year while you know you won’t be still on task….For the incurable cross country addict, 316 will be in Spain until it is more useful back at Booker. Enquire at the office.

Finally, for obvious reasons we have deferred allocation of Club gliders for comps, but this will now take place in late May. If you think you may want one drop a line to the office sharpish, there’s no deposit so you won’t lose out if your comp doesn’t happen.

Every year we take on new tug pilots, and it always takes a while for them to learn where you want to be towed. Please use your radio (129.975) if, during the tow you need, say, a bit more speed or want to go to a particular cloud or area. It should speed up the operation and make life easier for all of us.

Now we are starting to get out and fly again there are a few things that come up every year that I should mention.

Some new members will not even have seen the launch point bus yet, as the airfield has been too wet. When we can bring it out you’ll find it a convenient place to keep all the airfield stuff - radios, flight logs, fire extinguishers, etc.

It is your responsibility, as a pilot, to ensure that your flight is correctly logged both up and down. Please make the effort to ensure that this happens. Last year we had so little help with log keeping that we ended up having to impose a surcharge on unlogged flights. This is to pay for the extra time the office staff spend finding out who has actually flown.

Log yourself back as well - otherwise the flying staff have to spend extra time making sure you have returned. I am personally very unimpressed when I find myself doing this after work ....

It is absolutely vital that everyone flying with us signs a membership form. There is information in the bus, at the office and in the evening group information pack on which form to sign. Please ensure that it happens. The evening groups are the biggest offenders, as during the day the office handles the problem. No form means no membership and therefore no insurance for the club or instructor flying the glider. If you are an instructor you are right in the firing line....make sure everyone you fly with is a member!!

With the possibility of more visitors than usual from other clubs this year the chance of getting this bit wrong is higher than usual. I say again – everyone flying from Booker must have some kind of membership.

Due to the current state of the airfield often precluding the use of 35 as the preferable runway we frequently find ourselves having to take-off on 07 and land on either 07 or 35 when the surface wind is quite strong from the north. This could present a safety hazard for the less experienced pilots. The view from the Super Cub’s cockpit is also slightly restricted above and to the side. In future, when conditions are such that it is preferable to land on 35, having taken off on 07, then the person who is in charge of running the airfield will brief pilots to ‘plan their approach’ in order to land on 35. This will reduce the possibility of a conflict occurring on the approach. Should you, however, find that you are too low to complete a normal circuit then just LAND WHEREVER it is SAFE. Finally, always land in the same direction as take off unless briefed otherwise, conditions change or you ‘get caught short’.

Whilst on the subject of avoiding conflicts on approach: I am concerned to see pilots allowing the glider to drift onto the 'power side' of the approach path, especially on 25. Please avoid this practise and stay well to the side of the orange safety markers. You don’t know where they are? Shame on you - find out! This means you will often have to land further down the airfield than is convenient.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, I have not been able to organise an expedition to Jaca this Spring. We will start planning soon for a trip next year at the same time.

Meanwhile one of the club gliders (Discus 316) is heading off south to be based at Ontur for at least the first part of the season. I hope members will take advantage of this opportunity to fly cross country at minimum inconvenience and reasonable cost.

Information is available at the office. If you don’t go and fly it then don’t expect it to go abroad again.

I am looking for a volunteer to bring the glider back, probably in August. Any offers?

As you have no doubt noticed, the cost of insuring cars has increased enormously over the last few years. In order to reduce this, I am going to propose a measure that most of us have been using anyway!

Instead of leaving your car parked by the trailer with the keys "hidden" in an obvious place, (bad security risk, anyhow) why don't we all just agree to use our own car when retrieving each other from fields? Not only are we using a more familiar vehicle, you don't need to pay the extra premium by having to insure it for any driver. (I have just saved £120 by insuring this year for self & wife only).

There is another very grey area for those pilots that use company cars. Not only would other people be unlikely to be insured to drive it, but company car drivers will probably not even have 3rd party liability cover to drive somebody else's.

Wouldn't it just ruin your whole season to find that your car and trailer has jacknifed on the M4 while you're waiting in a field ..... only to discover that the insurance won't pay out?

When flying cross country it is essential that pilots have a basic understanding of the effect on their flight of the various altimeter settings. Departure airfield 510ft AMSL. QFE 1000mb.

1: Assuming that the altimeter is left on the departure QFE and the base of controlled airspace is FL45 what is the clearance from airspace when flying at a height of 3700ft?

2: Again assuming that the altimeter is left on the departure QFE and there is a land-out at an airfield 200nm away. The airfield height is 210ft AMSL and the airfield QNH is 1011mb. What will the altimeter read after landing?

3: A landing airfield also has an elevation of 510ft but a QFE of 995mb. On landing will the altimeter under or over read by 150ft? Back to Newsletter Index Page |