MIDLAND GLIDING CLUB

Hi everyone,  this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and give you highlights of the last week and tell you the results of last week’s committee meeting.

New Members

Welcome to new members Alfred Yeoward (junior) and George Wilson (full).  Please do ensure you introduce yourselves and guide them through our activities and ensure they get lots of flying and ground work.

Launch directors

We had a volunteer from the last call but it still isn’t enough.  This vital job is falling on too few volunteers.  To alleviate the situation we will be inviting members on an individual basis to help out.  The more that volunteer the less onerous it will be.  It can be an extremely satisfying day and don’t forget you get priority flying!

Last week:

Another good week at Llanbedr though the weather was somewhat different from the March expedition with very little wave apparent this time.  However the team flew on almost every day and had the chance to learn more about flying in Snowdonia in different wind directions.  3 Duos went from the Mynd with Mike, Phil, Allen, Nigel, Geoff, Martin and Jon.  They struggled with some very weak southerly wave on one day, had a good thermal day with south westerly winds, soared the ridges in a westerly, explored the Barmouth ridge and slope soared Snowdon.  The mountain soaring skills learned in Jaca served us well as it is very similar, just several thousand feet lower down and nowhere near as far away.  There are rumours of another expedition opportunity with Talgarth at the end of October.  Grateful thanks to the London Gliding Club (Dunstable) for allowing us to join their trip and for their warm and friendly hospitality.

Here at the Mynd we had fabulous wave yesterday, flights to 16 000!

Weekend outlook:

The weather looks ok with a possibility of a nice westerly

Your team this weekend is Mark Sanders, Alasdair Lewis, Dave D’arcy and Glyn Macarthur Peter Orchard.

Forthcoming events:

Half term for Juniors

Just a reminder

The Club will be running  a non-residential course during half term in October (24th to 28th) for junior members of the Club.  There will be lots of flying if the weather is good, and briefings and lectures if not, but October weather often brings westerly winds with ridge soaring and wave, and even the odd thermal. This will be a great opportunity to have some concentrated flying training to prepare you for going solo, that once in a lifetime moment!

If you are interested, please call or email the office to book a place.  You can join the course just for one day or all five.

You will need to arrange transport (a lift may be available from Church Stretton mornings and evenings) plus food.

If you are under 18 years, the consent of a parent or guardian is required.

Bonfire night

Coming up very soon, please reserve the 5th of November in your diary.  This is always a fantastic evening but this year it is going to be spectacular.   The office is now ready to accept donations for the fireworks.  Denise Hughes is coordinating the evening entertainment and refreshments so please let her know if you can help out.

Christmas dinner

Please don’t forget to put December the 10th into your diary for this wonderful evening.  More details will follow but please get the date secured now.

Calendar

We have chosen the calendar photos now, as soon as they are printed I will let you know.

Winter lectures

We have a firm booking with Hugh Browning on the 4th of March and Pete Harvey the Chair of the BGA has kindly volunteered.  Please liaise with Denise Hughes if you have any ideas of speakers.  The more the merrier,  these lectures help keep us active over the Winter.

Bar owner

I haven’t had a rush of volunteers for the above,  it is not a particularly onerous position but nonetheless it is important.  If you feel you could help us out please drop me an email at the address below.

Chair.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Hi everyone,  this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and give you highlights of the last week and tell you the results of last week’s committee meeting.

New Members

Welcome to Karl Webster who has joined us as a new full flying member.   Please remember to show all new members the ropes, especially introduce them to the Launch Director at the weekends and make sure they get on the flying list straight away.

Last week:

The first aid course was a great success, many members found it useful and the club gains by having trained first aiders.

Marketing

Glyn McArthur has volunteered to own our “open/marketing” day in June,  similar to the longest day we used to hold but targeted on recruitment.  Glyn and Sarah will be inviting instructors and helpers so please if you can, help out.  I find it absolutely fantastic the way that members are so willing to volunteer and help our club.  On a similar note, Jared Forte a new member, as well as performing a perfect landing has volunteered to do the internal photos for our gallery.

Now is the perfect time to be thinking of getting those gifts which will take the strain out of choosing at  the last minute.  There is nothing better than an item of Mynd clothing or the calendar.   Unfortunately the clothing has been so successful that we are running out!   Never mind, the simple solution is to email or call the office, let Martin or Sue know what you would like and we will order some so you won’t be disappointed.

Access Road

Howard Bradley has kindly volunteered to co-ordinate the improvement project.  David Rance and Fiona Argyll have also offered help and Howard will be coordinating.  In the meantime, Steve Alexander and his friend have been filling in the pot holes, 1 ton at a time which is already making a significant difference.

Aim Higher

Kevin Atkinson has agreed to run a ground school Aim Higher course in March.  Kevin is a real expert in both cross country flying and also how to teach cross country flying.  This course will be a weekend and we will be offering it to surrounding clubs as well.  The date will be the 18^th and 19^th of March so I suggest you book now, (get behind me in the queue).  Kevin gave us a winter lecture this year and is the only speaker to be asked to speak both before and after dinner.

Weekend outlook:

Your team for this weekend is Mark Sanders, Chris Alldis, Paul Fowler, Guy Hartland, Laurent Couval and Tony Dietrich.  Dave Brown is providing the winching.  Once again it looks as if we might be lucky last weekend and be between fronts.

Forthcoming events:

Bonfire night

Coming up very soon, please reserve the 5th of November in your diary.  This is always a fantastic evening but this year it is going to be spectacular.  Several members spent many hours moving trees from the caravan park to the bonfire!

Christmas dinner

Please don’t forget to put December the 10th into your diary for this wonderful evening.  More details will follow but please get the date secured now.

Calendar

Please can you send your pictures to the office to be considered for publication in the prestigious club calendar.   I shall be judging them this month.

Winter lectures

These will be starting up soon and we would love some suggestions as to who and what you would like talks on this season.  Last season was absolutely superb with one speaker having to speak before and after dinner (see Aim Higher)!!   Denise Hughes is , once again, doing a superb job coordinating this and please give her your ideas or email them directly to me.

Bar owner

After too many years to mention Peter Turner is stepping down from running the bar.  We all owe Peter a great deal of thanks for doing this.  If you would be willing to take this on please drop me an email.  Fundamentally the role involves making sure that the right things are happening and thinking of how the bar can develop.

Chair.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Results of committee meeting on the 9^th of September

Insurance

The insurance underwriters wanted assurance that the club electrical system had been inspected and passed as satisfactory and that the kitchen duct had been de greased. Both of these are complete and Martin is chasing the certificates.   Neal and Clive have met the broker and await the requote.

Running projects

New MT shed.

Waiting final electrics then the transfer project starts.  We are anxious to get this moving before the Winter as the heater depends on the electrical installation.

Caravan park.

We are waiting the electrics to the building then we can move everyone back.

Access road.

Howard Bradley is organizing with Dave Rance, Fiona Argyll and Hughes the contractor who laid the road next to the MT shed.  Howard believes there is an issue with drainage.  In the meantime Steve Alexander is filling potholes, one ton at a time.

Staff pension scheme.

A Nest scheme being opened, then the staff will be sent a letter.

Land rover replacements.

The Vitara test will be completed when Julian returns.  The Landrovers are to be put into running order and Marc Williams will produce a schedule.

Operational  plan and dashboards

All of the indicators look healthy.  The Membership is slightly above the plan.

Complaints from members during the period:-

Visitors crowding out the catering.

There have been occasions when the dining room was occupied by a majority of non member visitors making it difficult to get food.

3 options were discussed.  1) do nothing.  2) ban all visitors. 3) have a control system for when we are busy.  We will work up option 3 in discussion with all the interested parties.

Visiting clubs booking accommodation.

A member has complained that they could not book accommodation because a visiting club had provisionally block booked all of it.

Resolved:  We will demand a non refundable deposit on bookings from visiting clubs.

To be decided: 1) how far ahead can they book 2) what percentage of the accommodation or fleet can they book.

Visitors to the campsite.

A member has complained that non members are camping and are claiming that this is custom and practice.

Resolved: we will always charge a temporary membership fee in addition to the campsite charge.

to be agreed. Sarah and Neal will propose packages, including camping. They will always have an element of flying within them.

Finance

The cash is 8k down compared to last year. This is because of the winch repairs. The Chair and the Treasurer will produce an operational budget for the October meeting then we can decide on the available capital expenditure.

Electric

We have monitors on all the circuits except the sockets and the results are starting to make sense. Martin is getting another line meter so that all of the circuits are covered

Credit cards

We have designed a credit card process that is secure and we will implement it in October. From then we will demand that ALL visitors give us their credit card details.

Marketing

Membership

We have introduced a calling system for new members.  All new flying members receive a phone call from the Chair and the CFI. In addition we are creating welcome packs. This year we have attracted 10 new flying members.

Fleet

Roger is scheduling the ARCs for the club fleet and has asked permission to install a tail wheel on the K13. This reduces the damage caused when it is pushed in and out of the hangar and makes ground handling easier. Approved.

Buildings

We have a contract with a rodent prevention company and over the past couple of years this has proved to be extremely successful   We will renew it

IT

Glidex

The current membership system is now causing significant difficulties so we have an evaluation copy of Glidex which Martin is evaluating, if approved we will transfer over.

Health and safety

The safety officer and the Chair have walked the premises and performed the risk assessments. The safety officer is now prioritising them for action. This exercise needs to be completed annually.

Hi everyone,  this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and give you highlights of the last week and tell you the results of last week’s committee meeting.

New Members

Welcome to Jeremy Hall who has joined us as a new full flying member.   Please remember to show all new members the ropes, especially introduce them to the Launch Director at the weekends and make sure they get on the flying list straight away.

Last week:

MT shed

We have commissioned the doors and we just await the final fitting out of the electrics then I believe we are complete.  Sport England are happy and have closed the project from their end.

Caravan park

Guy has done a tremendous job in moving us around to improve the spacing to bring us up to a more modern standard.  As soon as the building electrics are completed then we can plug in the final station.  We are now in the process of bringing back those who were moved to the campsite and had to endure the Winter in the wilderness.

Marketing

We have applied for an entry on Trip Adviser, which will hopefully be approved within a couple of weeks. Once it’s live, we will be sharing the link with members and people who have visited us recently, and would be most grateful if you could spare 2 minutes to write a short review on there to show potential visitors how you have found your experience at the club. More to follow shortly…..

We were delighted to have been featured as the cover article on the latest edition of Stretton Focus. We have had a great response to this from locals, with a number of enquiries together with some trial lessons sold as a direct result. (See Martin who has a copy). If you know of any similar local publications where we might do the same, please can you let Sarah know at marketing@midlandgliding.club

Weekend outlook:

Once again we have fronts which makes forecasting tricky,  the good news is that it will be Southerly or South Westerly and warm.   If the fronts go through early then we will have some nice flying.  Your team this weekend is Neal Clements, Walter Baumann, Denise Hughes, Mike Greenwood, Peter Orchard, Dave d’Arcy and Glyn Macarthur.  Don’t forget,  even if it isn’t brilliant weather we will be doing ground school so bring your progress books along.

Forthcoming events:

North Hill are with us then we are joined by Lasham from Wednesday

Calendar

Please can you send your pictures to the office to be considered for publication in the prestigious club calendar.

Aerobatics

These 2 weekend courses are to replace the week course we had to postpone earlier in the year.  These courses are now full,  don’t forget if you want to join the reserve list call the office.

Steve Male  is planning to run them (with Dave Crowson) on 17^th 18th September and 24th/25th September (K21 serviceability permitting).   Please check availability with the office,  if they are full then you can be added to the reserve list.

Chair.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Hi everyone,  this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and give you highlights of the last week and tell you the results of last week’s committee meeting.

New Members

Welcome back to Jan Outhwaite, currently as social member and Tim Brunskill who has joined as a full member.

Last week:

“August is the cruelest month”, this famous start to a poem sums up the weather in task week followed by a glorious week of weather.  Never mind, next year will be brilliant.

Weekend outlook:

Saturday looks a bit uncertain,it depends on the arrival of the fronts.  Lasham are with us and your duty team is Steve Foster, Mark Sanders, Charles Carter, Tony Dietrich, Charles Page and Ed Jones on the winch.   There will be a full weather briefing, first thing on both days so turn up early if you can.

Forthcoming events:

Calendar

Please can you send your pictures to the office to be considered for publication in the prestigious club calendar.

Aerobatics

These 2 weekend courses are to replace the week course we had to postpone earlier in the year.

Steve Male  is planning to run them (with Dave Crowson) on 17th18th September and 24th/25th September (K21 serviceability permitting).   Please check availability with the office,  if they are full then you can be added to the reserve list.

Web site events

Steve Foster has very kindly agreed to maintain the events section of the web site and we will be launching the events calendar very soon.  If you are the owner of an event then Steve will be approaching you for a few choice words to put into the calendar.

Access Road

Unfortunately we were not successful in gaining the grant for the road.  We will be looking at the cost of laying tarmac across the rest of the road against the other requirements in the budget.  In the meantime we would like to explore a less permananent solution, i.e planings on the worst affected parts.  If you have knowledge or experience of planings would you be kind enough to contact me on the email address below

Vintage tractor fest

On the 4^th of September 40 vintage tractors will ascend upon the club for a cup of tea.  This is a great chance for us to distribute leaflets and tell the farmers about our operation and make friends with them.

First aid course

On the 7th of September we are offering a first aid course.  This will be run by Mark Rogers a current paramedic and will be £30 a person, for a full course.  Each person will be issued with a certificate which is valid for 3 years and the course lasts a day.  If you are interested in obtaining this certificate then please contact Sian Leavesley  at sianleavesley@yahoo.com to book a place.  We only very occasionally get an opportunity to host beneficial courses like this and places are limited.

Amy Johnson

I have had an offer from an old member, the summary part goes like this “It may come as a surprise to yourself (I hope it does, for it certainly would to Toby Neal) to know that there is someone still alive who met Ms Johnson at your club. This meeting is documented with a signed photograph of their meeting! The gentleman in question is now in failing health. It occurs to me that members of your club may at this late opportunity, like to meet this link with the past.”   If you would like to meet this gentleman then please contact me and I will furnish the remaining information.

Neal Clements

Chair.

chairman@midlandgliding.club