MIDLAND GLIDING CLUB

Hi everyone,  this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future.

This week.

Shrewsbury school summer camp

Below is an extract from their web site re the camp they held at the Mynd:-

“On the first day of the summer holiday, five cadets from the CCF RAF Section gathered with Mr Wray and instructor Paul Fowler for the annual Gliding Camp.

The camp is a fantastic opportunity to maximise the effectiveness of flying training on account of having five full and consecutive days staying at the Club, with much better weather expected than Thursday afternoons throughout the rest of the year. The weather this year did not disappoint, which meant that each cadet was able to have an average of five hours of flying time, so they all made great progress.

Huge thanks must go to the volunteers at the Club who care for us so thoroughly each year, and to Paul for his continued tutelage.”

You can read the whole article at http://www.shrewsbury.org.uk/page/ccf-news-and-activities

Well done Paul.

Access Road

Please remember to let us know if you will be able help out with the road repairs over the coming months. There is a list on the notice board in the clubhouse so please put your name on it and say whether you can be available during the week, at weekends or both.

Please also remember to drive slowly and carefully to avoid causing any unnecessary damage to the road surface.

Your team this weekend is:

Saturday:  Alasdair Lewis, Walter Baumann, Geoff Dailey, Charles Page

Sunday:  Steve Male, Matthew Cook, Geoff Dailey, William Brewis

Forthcoming events

Classic car tour

On the 7^th of October we will once again welcome the classic car rally.  They will arrive, have a cup of tea, relax and then head off again.  They are a stunning sight and we welcome them every year.  Iin return they take our leaflets and distribute them far and wide for us to aid recruitment.

Winter talks

Denise has worked out a superb schedule for this winter’s lectures. :-

Air traffic control are coming

The first one will be the 21^st of October and the deputy watch manager from Birmingham’s Air traffic will be coming along to fly, talk and have a meal with us.  I cannot over emphasise the importance of us understanding Air traffic’s needs and using every opportunity to communicate ours to them.   As an extremely generous gesture she has offered to reciprocate.  So turn up to the talk and put your name down for a visit to Birmingham ATC.  I have been before, twice, and I can thoroughly recommend it, they really do make you feel welcome and at last you can see what the Balls on the Clee do!  

November 25 will be the members evening when the committee will present our strategy for the next 5 years and invite your input and approval.

January 13 – National Trust.  All of your questions answered (who does own the horses?) and the trust’s plans for the future development of the Mynd.

February (date to be confirmed) – Julian has very kindly offered to talk about Euro Glide with us.  More details closer to the time but I can assure you it is absolutely brilliant and will inspire you.

March 10 – Hugh Browning the BGA safety wizard.

Christmas dinner

This will be on the 9^th of December.  I do urge you to get your name down early, there were several very disappointed people last year as the numbers have to be limited.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Predictions are for light NNE winds and generally showery (which equals v. unstable) air-mass both days, which is good of course unless we are actually precipitated upon! Saturday seems the better of the two days, with a cloud base approaching 4k, perhaps. The weather models have us in the best area of the country (such that it is at this time of year), so it would be churlish really not to turn up and give it a go!

The exact predicted best area keeps changing, and is somewhat different depending on whose interpretation of GFS you are looking at, so I’ll keep my powder dry until tomorrow’s model runs before sticking my neck out with a task suggestion.

If it’s training / local soaring you’re after, it should present some viable opportunities.

Maybe see you there.

Mark

Hi everyone,  this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future.

This week.

Last Saturday

Mark Sanders brilliantly predicted a great day and 15 people headed off for some fantastic cross country flying.  This really is a tribute to the hard work Mark and the coaches have put in this year.  More to come next season!!

We also had a silver distance and a duration (well done Tim and Vincent)

K23 from Germany

I have been asked to remind everyone of the club fleet strategy as outlined by the CFI at the AGM so the K23 purchase can be seen in context.  In summary :- we will train pilots up to syndication and we will replace the “unpopular” gliders with ones that will be flown more.  The K23 is on its way from Germany and now we will start the process of selling the Discus.  Walter Baumann is already gathering interest from members about forming a syndicate so if you are interested then please contact Walter directly at walter.baumann@virgin.net

Aerobatics

As we come to the end of the season we mustn’t forget how well we have done in aeorobatics this year.  Matthew Cooke won the Dan Smith trophy and Harry Entwhistle came second in a class at the National championship.

Access road

Many thanks to Simon Adlard and others who made the effort to fill many of the potholes which have developed again in the access road.

We know that if we want to keep the road serviceable through the winter and beyond, it will need regular maintenance and repairs. We are planning to schedule regular “road repair days” over the coming months and will be looking for volunteers to help out. Howard Bradley has agreed to provide the leadership so if you are prepared to give up a little of your time to assist in this important work, please let us know.

We must all do whatever we can to avoid causing damage to the surface. This means driving slowly and very carefully. Expect to be challenged if you are seen driving too fast and please remind others how important it is.

Your team this weekend is:

Saturday:  Neal Clements, Paul Fowler, Allan Reynolds, Simon Adlard

Sunday:  Mike Witton, Nigel Lassetter, Phil Foster

The ATC will not be coming this weekend.

Forthcoming events

Winter talks

Denise has worked out a superb schedule for this winter’s lectures. :-

The first one will be the 21^st of October and the deputy watch manager from Birmingham’s Air traffic will be coming along to fly, talk and have a meal with us.  I cannot over emphasise the importance of us understanding Air traffic’s needs and using every opportunity to communicate ours to them.

November 25 will be the members evening when the committee will present our strategy for the next 5 years and invite your input and approval.

January 13 – to be announced

February 10 – to be announced

March 10 – Hugh Browning the BGA safety wizard.

chairman@midlandgliding.club