MIDLAND GLIDING CLUB

A bit murky to start, but set to improve, so we unpacked at 9:30, got it all down to the launch point and retreated for coffee and waited for enough base to start launching. That happened at about 11:00. 10-15WSW but it gave a very buoyant ridge. First shower at about 13:00 (take a wild guess at what we did then!). Another shower around 15:00 but otherwise a belter of a day.

Three two-seaters, K8 and Discus, plenty of instructors on hand for checks and a good turnout. Now you’re going to ask, who else was there? Let’s see, (in no particular order, as Tess would say) … Simon and Liz, Alan S, Allan R, Harris, Darce, Coley, Den, Charles, Clive and Mark W. Jared, Carl and Steve all made excellent progress with their training.

Thanks to Steve L who was No 2, Matt for helping out with the T/L’s and of course Orch for launching us.

Mark

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.

Last week:

New members

I am delighted to say that Richard Bennett has rejoined,  some of you may remember Richard who, as well as being a consummate cross country pilot,  was also the treasurer for many years. 

Staff matters

Unfortunately Dave Crowson has had to have an operation on his knee which will incapacitate him for the next 6 weeks.  Whilst wishing him a speedy recovery we definitely don’t want him to return before he is fit.  We will publish the arrangements for cover as soon as we know, in the meantime please can all instructors who could offer their services on a Thursday or Friday let Steve Male, myself or the office know.

Retrieve winch to skylaunch and clutch failure

One of our retrieve winches is being serviced by Skylaunch and the other had another clutch failure.  Marc is investigating what is going on here but as I have blogged before it is really helpful if you ensure that when retrieving you have the clutch lever very firmly pushed against the stop.

Weekend outlook:

Your team this weekend is :  Mark Sanders, Steve Lewis, Peter Orchard, Alasdair Lewis, Charles Carter, Stephen Alexander, John O’Reilly.

Forthcoming events:

Winter lectures

We now have 3 booked during February and March. We have Hugh Browning the driving force on the safety initiatives, Mike Groves of Skylaunch and the National Trust.  Please do make an effort to attend, it’s a great night and the trick is to fly in the day, have the talk then a really good supper.  

11 Feb National trust

 Patrick Evans.  Patrick is from the National Trust and will give a light hearted talk on The Long Mynd.

4  March Hugh Browning

This is essential for all glider pilots,  believe me Hugh knows everything about every club in the country and will not only inspire you but make you a safer and better pilot.

11 March Mike Groves from Skylaunch.  This will be a fascinating talk about winches and winching.

Juniors

We will be hosting the BGA Juniors Winter expedition on the 1^st weekend of Feb.

The Club will be running a course for junior members over the Easter holidays from 10 to 13 April with a dedicated instructor and glider.  Junior members may attend for just one day or more. Any members interested should book a place through the office

Llanbedr Expedition

Mike Greenwood has booked the week of  11th March in Llanbedr taking the K21 again.  Please contact the office to book a slot.

20 March get checked week

Steve Male is running this popular week,  it’s a great opportunity to come along and make sure you are ready for the soaring season which I guarantee is going to be brilliant this year.   Don’t forget as Andy Holmes told me “April is when all the records are set” so you will be ready for the great weather.  We have circulated the details separately.  Contact the office if you haven’t yet received them

AGM

8 April 17:00.  Please put this into your diary.  We intend a slightly different format this year with the AGM, followed by presentations on the options for going forward.  We have had a couple of good years but we face stormy times ahead.  We must strengthen our position now while we can and your input and feedback are essential.

Aim higher course

18 -19 March.

We are up to 12 attendees but there are still places available. Please put this date in your diary, and book in with the office now.  We are so privileged to have Kevin Atkinson to do this course for us.  He will cover:

 How the sky works

How to work the sky

Going further and faster

Self-teaching skill drills and self-tasking

And will be the best preparation you could think of before the cross country season starts in earnest.  This is proving very attractive to visitors from far and wide so I do encourage Mynd members to book up while you can.

June the 3^rd 4^th and 5^th. Aim Higher practical

I am absolutely delighted to tell you that Kevin has agreed to provide a “practical” aim higher course on the above dates.  This means we get the best of both worlds, the theory then followed by the practical after we have all had a chance to practice.  We are really privileged to be able to offer this combination this year so get your bookings in to the office as soon as you can.   We are already getting applications and I think this will be a popular one.

Thinking of summer

Mac is organising the “longest day, open day” recruitment drive on the 24^th of June.  In addition we want to increase the activity and the interest for members.  Years ago we used to run a “dawn to dusk” day and we are going to combine the two.  It is fantastic fun, we run in shifts and do “shedloads” of launches (or words to that effect).   Please drop me an email at the address below if you would like to help out for a shift, everyone is welcome and I guarantee you will have a great day.

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 a summary of the last committee meeting

Last week:

Road

As you know we are in constant battle with our road and we must preserve our precious airfield.  Vehicles are driving off road unnecessarily.  Please keep to the road,  the holes are not deep so if you drive slowly then, a) you will be able to maintain a good lookout for gliders and people and b) keep the airfield in good condition.   Howard is very close to proposing a solution and has done a fantastic job on evaluating the options.  We will be visiting other sites soon to evaluate their solutions.

Weekend outlook:

Your team this weekend is : Chris Alldis, Clive Crocker, Walter Baumann, Denise Hughes, David Brown, Glyn Macarthur, Mark Wakem

Forthcoming events:

Midland Automobile Club

Every year they have a rally which involves them using our road to cross the airfield and this year it will be on the 22^nd of January (weather permitting).  They have been extremely diligent in asking our permission and have confirmed they will stick to the track (see note about the road!!!).   They will try not to disrupt our operation.

Winter lectures

January is the cruellest month.  The only day so far of snow and it  forced us to cancel the Pete Harvey talk.  The BGA chair will be a feature of next years lectures.

We now have 3 booked during February and March. We have Hugh Browning the driving force on the safety initiatives, Mike Groves of Skylaunch and the National Trust.  Please do make an effort to attend, it’s a great night and the trick is to fly in the day, have the talk then a really good supper.  

11 Feb National trust

 Patrick Evans.  Patrick is from the National Trust and will give a light hearted talk on The Long Mynd.

4  March Hugh Browning

This is essential for all glider pilots,  believe me Hugh knows everything about every club in the country and will not only inspire you but make you a safer and better pilot.

11 March Mike Groves from Skylaunch.  This will be a fascinating talk about winches and winching.

Juniors

We will be hosting the BGA Juniors Winter expedition on the 1^st weekend of Feb.

The Club will be running a course for junior members over the Easter holidays from 10 to 13 April with a dedicated instructor and glider.  Junior members may attend for just one day or more. Any members interested should book a place through the office

Llanbedr Expedition

Mike Greenwood has booked the week of  11th March in Llanbedr taking the K21 again.  Please contact the office to book a slot.

20 March get checked week

Steve Male is running this popular week,  it’s a great opportunity to come along and make sure you are ready for the soaring season which I guarantee is going to be brilliant this year.   Don’t forget as Andy Holmes told me “April is when all the records are set” so you will be ready for the great weather.  We have circulated the details separately.  Contact the office if you haven’t yet received them

AGM

8 April 17:00.  Please put this into your diary.  We intend a slightly different format this year with the AGM, followed by presentations on the options for going forward.  We have had a couple of good years but we face stormy times ahead.  We must strengthen our position now while we can and your input and feedback are essential.

15 April Easter Recruitment day

We desperately need an owner for this, please contact myself or Sarah Platt if you would be willing to do this.  You don’t have to do all the work, there will be plenty of help.  You just have to coordinate to make it happen.

Aim higher course

18 -19 March.

Please put this date in your diary, and book in with the office now.  We are so privileged to have Kevin Atkinson to do this course for us.  He will cover:

 How the sky works

How to work the sky

Going further and faster

Self-teaching skill drills and self-tasking

And will be the best preparation you could think of before the cross country season starts in earnest.  This is proving very attractive to visitors from far and wide so I do encourage Mynd members to book up while you can.

June the 3^rd 4^th and 5^th. Aim Higher practical

I am absolutely delighted to tell you that Kevin has agreed to provide a “practical” aim higher course on the above dates.  This means we get the best of both worlds, the theory then followed by the practical after we have all had a chance to practice.  We are really privileged to be able to offer this combination this year so get your bookings in to the office as soon as you can.

Thinking of summer

Mac is organising the “longest day, open day” recruitment drive on the 24^th of June.  In addition we want to increase the activity and the interest for members.  Years ago we used to run a “dawn to dusk” day and we are going to combine the two.  It is fantastic fun, we run in shifts and do “shedloads” of launches (or words to that effect).   Please drop me an email at the address below if you would like to help out for a shift, everyone is welcome and I guarantee you will have a great day.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Mgc committee meeting 13 Jan 17

Account and AGM. The accounts are approved and the questions of detail and understanding for the new treasurer will be covered in a conference call with the accountant. The MT shed costs are now final

The ESA grant will need to be processed. Charle Carter kindly does this for the club each year.

At the AGM we will be proposing a change to the quoracy rules to increase the chances of a committee meeting being quorate. Currently it is half the number of members + 1 which is very restrictive.

Running projects

The MT shed is complete except for smoke alarms which need investigating. The financial report will be given to the AGM.

The caravan park  and campsite bases and meter are now available awaiting suitable weather for installation

The accommodation block roof quotes are significantly higher than expected and we are still looking at ways to address this.

The access road investigation has taken on new energy since Howard Bradley grasped it and he has evaluated several methods that we can use to repair it. We will be looking at these solutions over the next month.

The AGM will be presented with options for capital expenditure. The club fleet improvement is one of these and Steve Male and Simon are well advanced in creating a proposal. Neal is doing the infrastructure  with advice from Dave Crowson and Roger Andrews. Guy Hartland and Simon Adlard are doing the MT proposal.

The BGA safety review last year has led to 3 improvements so far viz. improved incident reporting, introduction of instructors forum and a standardisation programme for instructors I.e ensure we are all saying the same thing about the same subject.

The Vitara’s gas tank is ready to install. Julian has done a fantastic job, he just needs a time slot and some temperature to fit it!

The expansion to the electric fence is being done,  this will make it easier to get gliders in and out, especially for bungey.

Operational plan and areas

The get checked week is in place. See the blog for details

The Easter recruitment day does not have a leader, see the blog for details.  It cannot run without an owner.

We have 3 new instructors in the pipeline.

Fleet. CJM CCW have completed their ARC. CKR is having the tail wheel modification. Next to do is EVV.

Llanbedr need FLARM so we will use a portable for the expedition.

Grounds   2 of the 3 signs at the south have been installed and the new runway markers are in place

This Friday may provide one of those rare winter treats, a flyable day!!! I have one extra instructor ( Mark Sanders ) so if you are available there are two things I would suggest,

Book so we have an idea of numbers, use mgcbooking@gmail.com

Check the wind by phoning the club or checking the web site as there is a difference of opinion over the strength. blip spot says ok and GFS says too strong from the east.

Dave

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. 

Last week:

Road

As you know we are in constant battle with our road and Howard Bradley is well on the way to proposing a resolution.  However in the meantime we must preserve our precious airfield and vehicles are driving off road unnecessarily.  Please keep to the road,  the holes are not deep so if you drive slowly then, a) you will be able to maintain a good lookout for gliders and people and b) keep the airfield in good condition.

Weekend outlook:

Your team this weekend is :   Neal Clements, Guy Hartland, Stephen Alexander, Dave D’Arcy, Mark Sanders, Matthew Cook, Tony Dietrich.  We are keeping our eye on the snow situation and will blog and email if it looks like a problem. 

Forthcoming events:

Winter lectures

A reminder that  Pete Harvey is coming on the 14^th of Jan.  Below is a short biography.  Can I please urge you to come along to this,  it will be at 18:00 until supper and is open to all, not just our club.  Pete knows everything there is to know about gliding and is a good guide to its future.   If it looks like being snowed off then I will blog on Friday evening.

We now have 4 booked during February and March. We have Pete Harvey the BGA chair, Hugh Browning the driving force on the safety initiatives, Mike Groves of Skylaunch and the National Trust.  We have also had an offer of another interesting talk from a member.  Please do make an effort to attend, it’s a great night and the trick is to fly in the day, have the talk then a really good supper.  

14 Jan Pete Harvey

Below is the extract from the BGA web site.  We are extremely privileged to have Peter as our guest speaker.  This is an interesting time for our sport and as well as entertaining us on how to do it he is a fount of knowledge on all things that affect our sport.

PETE HARVEY – CHAIRMAN

Pete flies from Bicester and York and is a British Team member. After success in international hang-gliding, he won the European Open Class Gliding Championship in 2005, 2007 and 2009 – an unprecedented achievement. He has a Nimbus 4 glider and a small share in a Robin 400.

11 Feb National trust

4  March Hugh Browning

11 March Mike Groves

Juniors

We will be hosting the Juniors Winter expedition on the 1^st weekend of Feb.

Llanbedr Expedition

Mike Greenwood has booked the week of  11th March in Llanbedr taking the K21 again.  Please contact the office to book a slot.

20 March get checked week

Steve Male is running this popular week,  it’s a great opportunity to come along and make sure you are ready for the soaring season which I guarantee is going to be brilliant this year.   Don’t forget as Andy Holmes told me “April is when all the records are set” so you will be ready for the great weather.

AGM

8 April 17:00.  Please put this into your diary.  We intend a slightly different format this year with the AGM, followed by presentations on the options for going forward.  We have had a couple of good years but we face stormy times ahead.  We must strengthen our position now while we can and your input and feedback are essential.

Aim higher course

18 -19 March.

Please put this date in your diary, and book in with the office now.  We are so privileged to have Kevin Atkinson to do this course for us.  He will cover:

 How the sky works

How to work the sky

Going further and faster

Self-teaching skill drills and self-tasking

And will be the best preparation you could think of before the cross country season starts in earnest.  This is proving very attractive to visitors from far and wide so I do encourage Mynd members to book up while you can.

June the 3^rd 4^th and 5^th. Aim Higher practical

I am absolutely delighted to tell you that Kevin has agreed to provide a “practical” aim higher course on the above dates.  This means we get the best of both worlds, the theory then followed by the practical after we have all had a chance to practice.  We are really privileged to be able to offer this combination this year so get your bookings in to the office as soon as you can.

Thinking of summer

Mac is organising the “longest day, open day” recruitment drive on the 24^th of June.  In addition we want to increase the activity and the interest for members.  Years ago we used to run a “dawn to dusk” day and we are going to combine the two.  It is fantastic fun, we run in shifts and do “shedloads” of launches (or words to that effect).   Please drop me an email at the address below if you would like to help out for a shift, everyone is welcome and I guarantee you will have a great day.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Looking very likely for wave on Wednesday (25kt WNW and a good air profile with the required inversion level, windspeed increasing with height, decent cloud base and relatively warm), so we have arranged a winch driver (Orch you’re a star – please bear that in mind if you see him in the bar afterwards!)

The day is really aimed at launching qualified pilots onwards and upwards towards epic adventure – it’s not a circuit day.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO FLY AS P2 it is essential that you LET US KNOW VIA AN EMAIL to mgcbooking@gmail.com well beforehand. We will see what we can do; we have a hatful of Duo’s which may (or may not) have spare seats, and there are of course the K21 and Astir, but we will need to find instructors and we are only going to do that if you tell us that you are intending to be there.

I’d like to be there, but other commitments may get in the way.

Mark

(There is a run of westerlies to follow, but these will be much colder and could present a considerably whiter landscape (if you get my, err, drift!!)

Obviously, quite a lot.

Photo courtesy of Orch