The weather station and the web cams are now working again (other than the west facing time lapse web cam, but that’s a separate issue). We have replaced the weather station computer, which was the problem, so hopefully everything should run smoothly again. A massive thanks to Alasdair for his efforts in this.
Geoff.
Hi everyone, this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future.
New road
Our new road is taking a bit of a pasting with this heat. This is a most precious asset so please please can you drive over it slowly.
Weather station
Significant progress has been made behind the scenes, a new computer has had the software successfully moved over and we are just waiting for a convenient time to install it.
MT Vitara
Julian thinks he has finally cracked the Vitara gas puzzle whereby one vehicle works and the other doesn’t. We are testing the change now and fingers crossed we can have them both back on gas. Don’t forget, they have small tanks so must be re filled midday to have uninterrupted operation.
Lawnmower
Denise has very kindly donated a ride on lawnmower for the club use. This has speeded up the cutting of the non sheep areas tremendously. If you do get a chance to ride this then please turn the fuel off after use.
MGC website and more domains
We have made some significant updates to the website to reflect our focus on both members and new members. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, do check the menus as they have changed.
MGC Stand at Church Stretton Community Games, Sat 14th July (10am – 4pm)
We are seeking just TWO more willing volunteers to help Sarah on the stand. If you can help for a morning or afternoon slot, or even just setting up or take down, please call her 07754 070357 or email her at marketing@midlandgliding.club She will be finalising the team on Fri 15th June, but please let her know asap if you can help. It’s a great stand location, right by the food stalls! This is a really good opportunity for us to show the locals everything that’s great about our club.
Your team this weekend is:
Saturday: Mike Greenwood, Liz Adlard
Sunday: Chris Alldis, Alan Swan, Laurent Couval
Forthcoming events
Wood week – 7th – 14th July
The infamous Wood Week returns for 2018. Who’s joining us? There are a few spaces left & we’d love to see you For more info or to book your place, call Martin on 01588650206 or office@midlandgliding.club
Prepare your glider for 5kt winds, 5,000 ft cloudbase or just a week of gentle westerleys, with beautiful gliders and excellent company.
Task week – 18th – 27th August
Book your place NOW – please call or email the office asap. Task Week is designed to encourage ALL pilots to fly Cross Country Tasks. As such, it is an inclusive activity, a bit of friendly competition – not an occasion for the club pundits to whizz round and take all the points! It is the culmination of the year’s Cross Country Development Programme and introduces an element of competition prior to pilots flying either Rockpolishers or Regional competitions.
Task Week is open to any pilot holding a Bronze “C” with a Cross Country Endorsement.
We will also have 2 seat gliders participating, to give ALL pilots the opportunity to experience cross country flying, even if you are not yet solo, or don’t yet have your Cross Country Endorsement. This is an excellent training opportunity to fly with some top class cross country pilots in top class gliders. Please book your place ASAP by calling or emailing the office.
In order to encourage more pilots to fly cross country at a level where they are safe and comfortable the event is split in to 3 classes so that pilots compete against other pilots of similar skill and experience level. This year we are introducing a new scoring system to try to even things out between the classes and to avoid the queue given to the results by a single fast flight on a long task.
Please book the week off, ensure this is in your diary, and lets look forward to some wonderful weather. It will help you develop our skills no matter what standard you are at.
Can you help – Tripadvisor
We are working on increasing our online presence and make it more likely for people to come across us on a Google search. As part of this, we have dusted off our Tripadvisor account to give potential visitors an idea of what we have to offer as a venue. This is where we need your help…..If you’ve visited us or flown with us (since you’re on this email list, this would almost definitely apply!) then it would be really great if you could take a moment to pop over to Tripadvisor and give the club a quick review.
Here is the link https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g315989-d10832623-Reviews-or10-Midland_Gliding_Club-Church_Stretton_Shropshire_England.html
NB: It is important for the integrity of our entry on the website, that people who have responsibility for running the club (committee members) or for delivering the service (staff members) do NOT do a review, as this is against the rules and Tripadvisor could remove our entry entirely!
If you fancy a barbie out of the kitchen to enjoy this fantastic weather and sunset then contact Helen 01588 650405 before 2pm then helen will get the meat.
Usual Helen spread of side dishes and salads with strawberries and ice cream £8.00
Hi everyone, this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and to let you know the highlights from the last committee meeting.
750km day?
Looking foward to seeing all the flight traces from today, which was touted as a 750km day! If you went anywhere, remember to put it on the ladder and check out what everyone has been up to across the country. Tomorrow will be less windy but just as good, so if you can get the day off, do get yourself in the air.
CFI – Introduction to Gliding Courses – This coming weekend we have the second in our series of “Introduction to Gliding” courses. These courses have been sold to people who have expressed a serious intention to join us as members and learn to fly with us. These days are NOT just an extended, glorified, Trial Lesson; they are an attempt to show these prospective new members how the club operates and give them an appreciation of what it is like to be a member.
The day starts with a number of ground briefings before the pilots are brought out on to the field to fly. Hopefully they will be looked after on the day by a nominated “Ground Coach” and they should have their own instructor & glider, for the day, so should not impact too much on members’ general club flying.
When you see these prospective new members around please do whatever you reasonably can to make them feel welcome and involved both on the airfield and in the clubhouse.
It has taken a lot of effort from the extended club team to get these prospective new members to this point, so we really want to show off all aspects of the club to its full potential.
MGC website
We have made some significant updates to the website to reflect our focus on both members and new members. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, do check the menus as they have changed.
Webcams/ Weather Station
In order to get the weather station data showing again, a replacement computer is currently being sought, and the relevant software will be installed.
MGC branded clothing and merchandise
We are indebted to Peter Turner who has worked tirelessly over the past few months to refresh and extend our range of MGC clothing. This has been no small task! Display items have now been delivered. Pick up your hat from the office £5.50, or order it from the online shop for delivery to your home. We have t-shirts, wind-proof jackets, warm gillets etc, and are available to order in your exact size. Please see the display in the entrance corridor, or ask in the office.
MGC Stand at Church Stretton Community Games, Sat 14th July (10am – 4pm)
We are seeking just TWO more willing volunteers to help Sarah on the stand. If you can help for a morning or afternoon slot, or even just setting up or take down, please call her 07754 070357 or email her at marketing@midlandgliding.club She will be finalising the team on Fri 15th June, but please let her know asap if you can help. It’s a great stand location, right by the food stalls! This is a really good opportunity for us to show the locals everything that’s great about our club.
Prospective Members
The monthly Tours for prospective members are going well and upcoming ones are almost booked up. Next time you’re at the club, take a look at the Your Gliding Journey leaflet, which explains our newly developed Membership packages. The packages are aimed at prospective members / people who want to Learn to Fly, rather than those who simply want a one-off Trial Lesson. When people ask you about gliding or approach you at the club, it would be great if everyone could direct people towards either the Membership packages, the Tours, (or Trial Lessons, if that’s the right option for them). Sarah will be doing a quick pre-dinner talk about this in the next few weeks.
Your team this weekend is:
Saturday: Mike Greenwod, Guy Hartland, Charles Carter, Pete Orchard, Mark Wakem
Sunday: Neal Clements, Matthew Cook, Guy Hartland, William Brewis.
Forthcoming events
Course – 25th-29th June
There are very limited places left on next week’s course, so if you want some intensive flying, then get yourself booked in asap while there’s still time.
Wood week – 7th – 14th July
The infamous Wood Week returns for 2018. Who’s joining us? There are a few spaces left & we’d love to see you 
🌤🌤 For more info or to book your place, call Martin on 01588650206 or office@midlandgliding.club
Prepare your glider for 5kt winds, 5,000 ft cloudbase or just a week of gentle westerleys, with beautiful gliders and excellent company.
Task week – 18th – 27th August
Book your place NOW – please call or email the office asap. Task Week is designed to encourage ALL pilots to fly Cross Country Tasks. As such, it is an inclusive activity, a bit of friendly competition – not an occasion for the club pundits to whizz round and take all the points! It is the culmination of the year’s Cross Country Development Programme and introduces an element of competition prior to pilots flying either Rockpolishers or Regional competitions.
Task Week is open to any pilot holding a Bronze “C” with a Cross Country Endorsement.
We will also have 2 seat gliders participating, to give ALL pilots the opportunity to experience cross country flying, even if you are not yet solo, or don’t yet have your Cross Country Endorsement. This is an excellent training opportunity to fly with some top class cross country pilots in top class gliders. Please book your place ASAP by calling or emailing the office.
In order to encourage more pilots to fly cross country at a level where they are safe and comfortable the event is split in to 3 classes so that pilots compete against other pilots of similar skill and experience level. This year we are introducing a new scoring system to try to even things out between the classes and to avoid the squew given to the results by a single fast flight on a long task.
Please book the week off, ensure this is in your diary, and lets look forward to some wonderful weather. It will help you develop our skills no matter what standard you are at.
Sarah
marketing@midlandgliding.club on behalf of chairman@midlandgliding.club
The weather models are all going crazy this morning for Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun coming. Now that’s still a way off in forecasting terms, but you’d like to think that there’s no smoke without fire, so take this post as notice that perhaps you ought to be considering re-arranging your life a little …
Just sayin’
Mark
Hi everyone, this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and to let you know the highlights from the last committee meeting.
CFI
There seems to be some confusion over the CFI’s role at the moment, therefore I thought I would clarify the position:-
The club can only have 1 CFI and for the moment I cannot fly due to medical considerations. Therefore, Simon Adlard has kindly “volunteered” his services as CFI until I can return to flying/instructing status.
As such all CFI matters must be referred to Simon. My role, for the moment, is merely to provide Simon with an administrative “back up” service. I hope this has clarified who our CFI is and what my current role within the club is.
Happy Landings
Steve Male
Access Road
Once again Tim Mason and Roger have found an “opportunity” to improve the road via a contractor. This has been done by the same contractor who did the work for us last Winter. The statement of work included:- clean out all potholes, fill potholes using the road stone, compact the stone using a ride-on vibrating roller, seal all filled potholes using hot bitumen, provide a top surface to the road using machine laid bitumen with a topping of granite chippings, compact/roll the surface. All of which was done within our grounds budget.
Webcams
You may have noticed that the webcams are back, albeit without the weather station data. The system that merges the data is broken and it is not an easy repair so we have reverted to the raw camera data. We are still seeking ways to reinstate the merging software.
MGC branded clothing and merchandise
We are indebted to Peter Turner who has worked tirelessly over the past few months to refresh and extend our range of MGC clothing. This has been no small task! Items are being delivered as we speak. Already in stock are the new gliding hats (see pic) – grab yours from the office at just £5.50 each. Other items include a range of t-shirts, wind-proof jackets, warm gillets etc. We will be holding some items in stock, and we will have samples of other items which are available to order to your exact size. Please see the display in the entrance corridor, or ask in the office for more details.
MGC Stand at Church Stretton Community Games, Sat 14th July (10am – 4pm)
We are seeking a small and hardy band of willing volunteers to help Sarah on the stand. If you can help for a morning or afternoon slot, or even just setting up or take down, please call her 07754 070357 or email her at marketing@midlandgliding.club She will be finalising the team on Fri 15th June, but please let her know asap if you can help. It’s a great stand location, right by the food stalls! We are in talks with the school about collaborating with them in a number of ways, so this would be a really good opportunity for us to show them our best side.
Tours for prospective members
The latest day of Tours for prospective members resulted in one new member on our Intro to Gliding package, and another couple of people extremely interested in our Flying Start package. If you’re not familiar with our newly developed Membership packages then do take a look at the Your Gliding Journey leaflet the next time you’re at the club. The packages are aimed at prospective members / people who want to Learn to Fly, rather than those who simply want a one-off Trial Lesson. When people ask you about gliding or approach you at the club, it would be great if everyone could direct people towards either the Membership packages, the Tours, (or Trial Lessons, if that’s the right option for them). Sarah will be doing a quick pre-dinner talk about this in the next few weeks.
Your team this weekend is:
Saturday: Mike Witton, Stephen Alexander
Sunday: Chris Alldis, Matthew Cook, Stephen Alexander, Charles Page.
Forthcoming events
Wood week July 7 -14
Prepare your glider for 5kt winds, 5 000 ft cloudbase or just a week of gentle westerlys. So please call or email the office with your interest.
Task week August 18 – 27
Please ensure this is also in your diary, we have better weather last year and I am confident this trend will continue into this year. The CFI will be announcing more details of the structure but I can guarantee that if you are early cross country then this is the week for you. Steve is organising it such that it will develop our skills no matter what standard we are.
Committee meeting highlights
Business rates: this is still continuing, the BGA are helping us through the process and the Treasurer is involved as well so we are hopeful of a very positive outcome. The new rules only allow one appeal so getting that appeal absolutely watertight is our priority.
Debtors: The treasurer and the office are really getting a grip on this issue. We are amending our finance system so that debt collection will be much quicker and easier than currently.
The tours are working well, the conversion rate is extremely impressive and this “targeted” marketing is definitely a great way forward.
The Simulator is progressing well. The external IT consultant is visiting on the Saturday to resolve issues with the software and interface to the controls. We will either have a fix or a list of stuff to get to complete the project.
MT: Julian has done a lot of work on the Vitaras, there is a difference between them in the way the engine management systems cope with the gas replacement. Julian is going to source an emulator for the one that doesn’t like the gas. The Shogun clutch parts are available and Guy and Geoff Dailey are working on the replacement. The Land Rover disposal plan is starting up again.
Buildings: we still have require someone to represent buildings. The highest priority is the water tank replacement.
Grounds: see above re access road. The repairs to the East perimeter fence are now complete.
Health and safety: the corridor improvement works are continuing and there will be another push next Thursday to move forward.
The new engine in the Skylaunch winch is now signed off. We are investing in some “superior” oil to maximise the life of the engines.
Hi everyone, this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future.
Your team this weekend is:
Saturday: Neal Clements, Charles Carter, Peter Orchard, Jon Hall
Sunday: Mark Sanders, Peter Orchard, Mike Dodwell
Forthcoming events
Access Road
We will be carrying out repairs to the main access road over the weekend of 16th/17th June i.e. filling potholes and restoring the road surface.
Machinery to move the stone and compact it will only be on site on Saturday and Sunday so it’s important that we make as much progress as possible during these two days.
A small team of volunteers will be required to get the job done so if you are prepared to give up a little of your time – even just an hour or two – on either day, your help will be greatly appreciated. Please can you email Tim Mason grounds@midlandgliding.club or the office if you can help.
Midsummer recruitment event.
We are putting this on hold this year, thanks to everyone who volunteered to help out, we really do appreciate the willingness of people to volunteer.
Wood week July 7 -14
Prepare your glider for 5kt winds, 5 000 ft cloudbase or just a week of gentle westerlys. Simon Adlard has very kindly agreed to run the week. So please call or email the office with your interest.
Task week August 18 – 27
Please ensure this is also in your diary, we have better weather last year and I am confident this trend will continue into this year. The CFI will be announcing more details of the structure but I can guarantee that if you are early cross country then this is the week for you.