Congratulations to Graham Saw who again secured first place in the intermediate class of the National Aerobatic Championships flying his Lunak, proving that these old things do still have something to offer. Well done, also to Nikki Mills who achieved a very creditable position flying a humble K13.

After many years of hard work Paul Brice has decided to stand down from the committee. Paul is a previous treasurer and chairman of the Club and more recently was the Director/organiser of the 18m Championships. Thanks, Paul, for all your efforts. Mike Emmett has been co-opted to fill the vacant space.

Dave Byass

From the CFI

Paul Brice has volunteered to run basic and intermediate aerobatic courses for members this winter. The dates have not yet been fixed but if you are interested please call at the office and let them know. If we have some interest then we can plan some dates.

We have been experiencing problems with log keeping over the last few months. Quite simply the flying log is not being kept accurately. Both the Chairman and I have mentioned it several times over the last season in the newsletter and I’ve worked hard with the instructors and staff to ensure it gets done – to no avail. You may think it is a trivial problem, but in fact poor log keeping can have serious consequences. For instance, what happens at the end of a soaring day? At the moment whoever is in charge of the airfield has to go around the trailer park asking after pilots – who’s back, who is still out there? Apart from the extra workload, it’s an uncertain procedure. If you are sitting in a wrecked glider miles from anywhere with a broken leg do you really want to rely on someone just noticing that you are missing? If hardly anyone bothers to log their landing then it is difficult to spot who is missing. If you have not been logged at the launch there is very little chance indeed that you will be missed, if someone is not accounted for an hour after it stops being soarable then I will start S& R procedure ……. But if we don’t know you’re out there we cannot help.

In addition bad log entries cause a major headache for the office staff. Each bad log costs us about a day’s work to rectify, and this makes the operation that much more expensive in the long run.

If we don’t see a huge improvement in the standard of the log keeping then the committee has decided that there will be an admin charge levied on those pilots that do not complete their log entries satisfactorily. This charge will be applied from the start of December and will apply to everybody, including instructors, staff, top competition pilots, committee members and CFI’s. Please make life easier and FILL IN THE LOG FOR YOUR FLIGHT!!! One small but vital point about x-c safety. If you land out, phone the office and tell them even if you have called your crew direct. Otherwise …. See above for the havoc you may cause.

All basic, assistant and full rated instructors need to renew their ratings with the BGA or they will lapse on December 31st. Please find enclosed with this newsletter a renewal form, which you should return fully completed ASAP. All Basic Instructors will need a check flight with Andy Perkins, Doug Hilton, Graham Saw, Chris Rollings or myself. Assistant and Full Rated Instructors have all been notified of their renewal requirements already, if you have any questions then please ask me. There has been ample opportunity for all instructors to get enough hours of instructing in this year with the option of booking your instructing days with the office in advance. The weather has been reasonable as well, so I don’t expect anyone to be short of solo or instructing hours or launches. I hope to be proved correct.

We will be running a programme of winter lectures on various subjects starting in November. I have arranged professional tuition in sports psychology and coaching techniques for all our instructors as an attempt to improve our effectiveness and retention of new members. Please make an effort to attend – lecture times and locations will be posted on the notice board and promulgated in the next newsletter. Similar coaching will be available for racing pilots but you’ll have to pay for it if you want to take part – see me for details. Finally, I would welcome any help from those of you that are willing and able to conduct any theory lectures over the winter. Please let me know if you can help.

All the above are possible and you could get some interesting flying as well.

How?

By supporting one or more of the club expeditions next year. We are seeking to increase our involvement with expeditions and the following are up for consideration.

1. Spain in the spring, probably mid April to first half of May. The duo discus will be in Spain for a comp and we could arrange 2/3 additional weeks when it would be available for members to fly at Ontur (near Alicante).

2. Shobdon – We are keen to arrange weekend winter flying expeditions and Shobdon would seem to be a good site. It has plenty of space, an existing but small gliding club who would welcome visitors and good wave potential. It is also very easy to reach for a weekend.

3. South Africa – This would be from November 2000 to end January 2001 and we need to know soon if we are to have any chance of a booking with ESC at Mafeking. If this expedition goes ahead it would involve a solo Discus and to keep the costs within acceptable limits we need commitments (and cash) to cover 10 weeks usage. The weather is generally excellent and where else can you fly cross country in December?

Please contact Phil Jarvis (01635 254422) or sign up on the notice in the clubhouse if you are interested.

Back to Newsletter Index Page |