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:
The Wenlock Olympian Games ended on Saturday. The weather was disappointing but the organisation was superb. We need to thank the team of Dave Crowson, John Parry, Hazel Turner and Ed Jones for the day to day task setting, control and winching. Fay and the team in the kitchen were superb and last but not least we all owe a huge vote of thanks to John Randall who once again organised the event with military precision. It was also extremely pleasing to be able to welcome the modellers. We share a precious resource with many other stakeholders and it is vital that we encourage good relations with them all.
On the above point, we are trying to arrange a farmers evening whereby we can invite all the local farmers and families and any whose fields we may have landed in. I am asking for a volunteer to own this event. You don’t have to do the work, just be the person who gives the work out! Please send me an email of interest and I will contact you with more details.
As I have previously reported, Steve Male will be taking over from Mike Greenwood as CFI in August and we have taken this handover as an opportunity to invite the BGA to join in a Safety Review with us. We were privileged to have Mike Fox the National Coach and Hugh Browning the head of safety at the BGA join us for an excellent review. Gliding is a safe sport, to quote from the bar photo “Aviation is not of itself inherently dangerous but it is very unforgiving of carelessness or neglect”. Our aim is to make gliding safely enjoyable and this is a journey without end. You will be seeing some small changes and initiatives over the next few months as a result of the review.
Weekend outlook:
Saturday and Sunday will have fronts, the gaps between will be flyable with light winds, don’t forget even if we are not flying then we will be offering ground school of all levels and a fabulous evening meal. Alasdair Lewis, Walter Baumann, Charles Carter, Steve Foster, Laurent Couval and Tony Dietrich are your team for the weekend.
Forthcoming events:
Cross country course
Simon Adlard is running his cross country course on the 6th -12 th August . As well as being national coach Simon is a formidable cross country pilot and this course is suited to all from those who have just started to those who feel they have reached a plateau. Contact the office for more details and to book a place.
Building and caravan park
The fitting out continues. Rogers workshop is taking shape. We expect to do the final tweaks at task week.
Task week
Please put the week beginning the 20th of August in your diary. Task week is a fabulous opportunity to go cross country with guaranteed retrieves, huge landable fields and tasks set for all abilities. There are always 2 seaters available as well so whatever your level, make a note and come along for all or part of it. If you would like to do a task in a two seater would you please let the office know and we can start lining up suitable instructors.
Please can you submit your pictures for the calendar before or during task week. We will judge the best 12 and go to press straight afterwards.
Aerobatics course
Unfortunately we had to cancel the last course but I am pleased to say we have been able to reschedule it to the weekends in September. Please call the office to book a place
Marketing
Even in this modern age of social media leaflets are still a very powerful form of advertising. If you see a visitor who has popped in for a cup of tea, invite them to take a leaflet or several back to their club or company or organisation. Please don’t wait for someone else to do it. We are pushing hard for new members and we need to take advantage of every selling opportunity we get. Don’t be shy, they would love to hear about gliding.
Neal Clements
Chair.