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.

Incident reporting

You all know it is extremely important that we report all incidents as quickly as possible so that the CFI can  note and take action accordingly.   To make it even easier to record an incident we have added a form  to the website under the members tab so that you can quickly record an incident when you get home or if the office is closed. Please do make sure you record any incident either using paper or email or via this new web service.

Junior opportunity

A quick heads up for any Juniors who want a career as an aviation “fixer”.  A fantastic opportunity to build their CV…
Maddog Composites situated in Brisbane are looking for a Junior to work on a 6-12 month contract in their glider repair facility near Brisbane, QLD.
If anyone is interested can they email steve.pozerskis@gmail.com<mailto:steve.pozerskis@gmail.com>

Whats app flying group

This is now working well, and for those who have forgotten the detail I am reproducing the instructions below :-

“The idea is that it will be another way for us to let you know quickly about flying prospects coming up in the very near future, and for you to find out prospects the night before you set out. This is in addition to & will complement the blog. We anticipate that the No 1 may use it the night before (and even from first light on the day maybe!), to say perhaps, “brilliant/busy day, come early”; “low cloud base to begin with, hangar doors will open at …”, “rain predicted all day, don’t bother”, so that (time-poor) members and the duty team may make the best use of their day. If, for you, the Mynd is as much a social club as a flying club (and there are many), then this will probably be of little interest, but as it develops we hope that this may be a useful service for members juggling many demands on their time, to help ensure that their visits to the club are as productive as possible.

If members of our flying community would like to join, obviously you need to have WhatsApp installed on your mobile phone.

For us to add you to the group you need to be in one of the Administrators’ contact lists, so please text “MGC Group request” plus your first and last name (and membership number if known …don’t worry if you don’t know it just say so!) to Rob Shepherd on 07709352826 or to Sarah Platt on 07754070357.

Rob or Sarah will store the contact and add you to the group. By requesting access, you give your consent for MGC to use your name & mobile data for this purpose only. You may withdraw your consent at any time by removing yourself from the group, and also by requesting Rob/myself to remove you from the list of contacts.

All group members should create a (recognisable) photo of themselves in the WhatsApp Settings, together with their name in the About field (where it probably says “I’m using WhatsApp”), so that we can all associate names and faces with the telephone numbers. Also in Settings>Account>Privacy, make sure “Profile Photo” and “About” are set to “Everyone”.

We are also considering setting up other secure Whatsapp groups, for example for Instructors and for Winch Drivers and so on. If these are of interest, please let me know so that we can liaise with CFI & Chair, & if there’s sufficient interest then we will set this up too.

Mark Sanders (XC Lead) and Sarah Platt (Marketing & Membership)”

The Juniors are coming!

Feb 3^rd and 4^th weekend. We will be hosting the juniors again. It is always a great pleasure to do this so please make them welcome.

Your team this weekend is:

Saturday:  Guy Hartland, Nigel Lassetter, Geoff Dailey

Sunday:  Alasdair Lewis, Charles Carter, Geoff Dailey, Glyn MacArthur

Forthcoming events

Winter talks

Denise has worked out a superb schedule for this winter’s lectures. They all start at 18:00 and if we have a speaker then we do ask for a small donation on the night to cover their expenses.  Book the date,  have a few flights, enjoy the talk then have a superb evening meal.

January 27  – Euroglide. Julian Fack and Diana King have very kindly offered to talk to us about Euroglide.  This is a unique and fascinating event and I urge you to come along and be inspired. Please note that this talk will start at 17:45  

Feb 10

Pilot Aware.  Electronic conspicuity. 

This topic is becoming more and more important and Roger Ellis has very kindly volunteered to explain all about it at a Winter lecture on the 10^th  This is going to be good,  Roger is a commercial pilot and an expert on all aspects of the topic and the rules and regulations as well as how it works.  He will cover:-

Why GA and gliders might be forced to have transponders.  History and function of different transponders.  How the Pilot Aware (PAW) transponder works (with practical demonstration)

March 10 – Hugh Browning the BGA safety wizard.  Please ensure that this is in your diary.  For those of you who haven’t heard Hugh speak before it is essential listening and for those that have heard him before, even more so.  This is the perfect start to our season,  we want to keep safe and Hugh’s analysis and insight will help us do that.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Given the webcam image from this morning, possibly the right decision

Well I must be the only one to have believed the Thursday / Friday weather forecast for today, and well there was the fact that I was on duty also, but sadly it was another non-flyable day. (sad face) Good exercise walking up the ill though.

Darce. P.S. Happy Birthdays to Den & Cole’y (22nd)

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

This week.

Roof on Old MT shed

Our thanks to Richard Bennett who has clambered up the old MT shed roof and cleared the gutter.  This gutter was last cleared in 1934 and has caused us flooding problems ever since.  The next step is to improve the lighting in the old workshop and then we can use it for members trailer maintenance.

Road Tarmac

We were made an offer we couldn’t refuse on tarmac for the road so we bit the bullet and have had 3 areas covered in tarmac.  It isn’t the total solution to the problems of the road but we do hope and believe it will go a long way to alleviating it.

Mains Electric

Our mains electric installation is extremely old and as those of you who came to the members evening will be aware, unreliable.  You will notice a brand new large box outside the kitchen and this houses our new installation which we desperately hope will be more reliable than the old one.

National Trust talk

Patrick from the trust gave us a wonderful talk about the Mynd, and, at last we know who owns the horses!  He has promised to do the same again next year and I really recommend you come along.

The Juniors are coming!

Feb 3^rd and 4^th weekend. We will be hosting the juniors again. It is always a great pleasure to do this so please make them welcome.

Skylaunch winch

We have ordered the work on enhancing the winch. The engine is on its way from America and then Skylaunch will fit it. Once that is complete we will commission the servicing of the other winch.

Calling all Juniors.

the Air League Scholarships are closing on the 26th January and if you apply now you stand a very good chance of getting one,  very worthwhile.  Look at the link below

https://airleague.formstack.com/forms/gliding2018

Your team this weekend is:

Saturday:  Allan Reynolds, Simon Adlard and Dave d’Arcy

Sunday:  Mike Greenwood, Simon Adlard, Tony Dietrich

Forthcoming events

Winter talks

Denise has worked out a superb schedule for this winter’s lectures. They usually start at 18:00 unless otherwise stated and if we have a speaker then we do ask for a small donation on the night to cover their expenses.  Book the date,  have a few flights, enjoy the talk then have a superb evening meal.

January 27  – Euroglide. Julian Fack and Diana King have very kindly offered to talk to us about Euroglide.  This is a unique and fascinating event and I urge you to come along and be inspired. Please note that this talk will start at 17:45  

March 10 – Hugh Browning the BGA safety wizard.  Please ensure that this is in your diary.  For those of you who haven’t heard Hugh speak before it is essential listening and for those that have heard him before, even more so.  This is the perfect start to our season,  we want to keep safe and Hugh’s analysis and insight will help us do that.

chairman@midlandgliding.club

Highlights of the last committee meeting

We will be making improvements to the water supply this year including replacing the tank and securing the pump room.

Our price rises this year will be at the minimum we believe is sustainable to allow us to replace some (but not all) of our ageing kit. 

The Agm this year will be on the 24th of March.

The budget for the next 12 months was agreed,  each major area has a budget and we believe that with the predicted reserves we can replace the twin Astir with a 60 – 75k 2 seater glider.

We have received  the final quote from Skylaunch to upgrade the broken winch to an 8.2 engine and we are commissioning the work.  As soon as it is done we will commission the servicing of the other winches.

We have had little interest in the Discus over the winter and, taking into account the desire of the members to have access to glass single seaters we will add it back to the insurance and fly it.  In the meantime we are still trying to sell it and we are seeking a cheaper, fixed wheel single seater.

The insurance claim for EVV has not yet been settled there has been a delay whilst waiting for paperwork.

Health and safety:  we have been working hard on improving the club to match the desired fire safety requirements.  We are continuing to work on this with our priority always being protecting people

Old MT shed:  the gutter has been cleared (see blog above).  We intend to use it as a trailer facility for members with improved lighting

Membership: The initiatives have generated 60 prospects and 10 leads who we are actively chasing to convert to members.

Business rates: we continue to work with the BGA on this.  It is a complex issue and Charles and the BGA are progressing a clear plan to get us into a good state to appeal

Access road: we have taken advantage of a one off offer and have applied tarmac to the critical areas of the road.

GDPR:  John O’Reilly has a firm grip on this and has produced a clear plan on what has to be done to ensure we are compliant by May.

CFI report:  there has been so little flying in December that there is nothing to report!!  We had a safety review with the BGA and as a result members will see a regular CRFI newsletter, on line incident reporting and improved resource links for instructors on the web site.

After a couple of “fallow” years, Rock Polishers is back for 2018.

Rock Polishers is one of seven geographically based Inter Club leagues around the country. At the end of the season, the winners of each league compete in a National Final. There are six clubs in the Rock Polishers League: Aston Down, Long Mynd, Nympsfield, Shobdon, Talgarth, Usk

Each event comprises three separate competitions within these classes:
Novice: Pilots with at least an XC endorsement, but never completed a 300k XC flight, or competed at Regional level
Intermediate: Pilots who have not flown a 500k flight in the last eight years, or finished in the top 50% at a National in the last eight years
Pundit: Open to all

You can see the full set of rules and requirements here: https://members.gliding.co.uk/library/competitions/inter-club-league-rules/

All six clubs are fielding teams this year. Each team comprises, one Pundit, one Intermediate and one Novice Pilot.

There will be four rounds:

Round 1: 21/22 April at Nympsfield

Round 2: 5/6 May at Long Mynd

Round 3: 26/27/28 May at Aston Down

Round 4: 9/10 June at Usk

If any of these weekends are deemed very likely to be unviable on the Thursday evening before an event, that round will be postponed to one of these fall-back dates:

Fall-back 1: 23/24 June

Fall-back 2: 21/22 July

Fall-back 3: 11/12 August

We shall need novice, intermediate and pundit pilots for each round. We are also hoping to take a number of two-seaters to the events so P2’s can gain some valuable experience. Anyone willing to help out with crewing is always welcome, and it’s the more the merrier, so even if you are not in the team, why not bring your glider along and fly from a different site for a change.

Mark Sanders is coordinating the planning of the Mynd’s participation in Rock Polishers 2018, so if you are interested in taking part in any capacity please let him know, either directly or via the office.

Mark

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

Skylaunch Winch

The Skylaunch winch is losing power and the root cause is most probably a broken piston ring.  There were 3 options  considered by the committee:  repair the engine,  install a refurbished engine or replace the engine with a more powerful one.  The latter option is significantly more expensive than the others but the committee was unanimous in choosing it.  Having a reliable, powerful launch facility is regarded as essential for the future of the club

Web site

All web sites decay in terms of the relevance and currency of their content and ours is no different.   If you spot anything that needs refreshing,  is out of date or incorrect would you be kind enough to email Sarah marketing@midlandgliding.club or myself with the detail.  We intend to refresh the site in January.

Your team this weekend is:

Saturday:  Mike Greenwood, Geoff Dailey, William Brewis

Sunday:  Charles Carter, Geoff Dailey, Liz Adlard

Forthcoming events

Christmas dinner  and presentation evening

We are rescheduling the above to the 24^th of March,  please put it in your diaries and pray for a snow free weekend!  If you have already booked and are unable to make the date above then please can you let the kitchen know as we have a waiting list.

Winter talks

Denise has worked out a superb schedule for this winter’s lectures. They all start at 18:00 and if we have a speaker then we do ask for a small donation on the night to cover their expenses.  Book the date,  have a few flights, enjoy the talk then have a superb evening meal.

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 24 – 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.

March Expedition 2018.

We have not had enough interest from the Mynd or other clubs to make an expedition to Llanbedr viable, so we have decided that we are not going to Llanbedr next year. We have booked LLeweni Park in Denbigh from 10th March 2018 for a week for up to 12 gliders. 

If you want to go you need to book in your own glider, there is a £40 deposit, £20 of which is offset  against flying fees. It costs £8 per day per person, £9 per night for hangarage. There is a winch.

Unlike Llanbedr it has one narrow runway and you have to be able to land on it and roll to the end to be able to fly there, see this link.

If you want to fly P2  in a club 2 seater please email me at  mail@mikegreenwood.co.uk to put your name on the list and I will do my best to arrange it.

You can take a caravan and stay on the airfield for £5 per night. It costs £8 per day per person, £9 a night hangarage (limited) They have a winch. 

If you want to go you can book yourself in at office@denbighgliding.co.uk

Spaces are limited to 12 and Cosford are also going, so don’t delay, do it today.

Please email mail@mikegreenwood.co.uk to let me know you are going, and when you have booked in

Mike G

http://www.denbighgliding.co.uk/

http://www.denbighgliding.co.uk/rules.html

chairman@midlandgliding.club