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.
New Members
Welcome to Anthony Ward and George Purkis who have joined us as new full flying members. Please remember to show all new members the ropes, especially introduce them to the Launch Director at the weekends and make sure they get on the flying list straight away.
Last week:
The aerobatics the Mynd BGA Standard Aerobatics 2 day course saw 4 pilots take part – Allan Reynolds, Tim Mason, Matthew Cook and Mike Witton, coached by Steve Lewis and Steve Male. Congratulations to all 4 students who successfully achieved the required standard for the issue of the BGA Standard Aerobatics Badge.
Nigel Lassetter coached 2 new members on an intensive 4 day course, both student pilots made good progress in general handling and enjoyed some interesting thermal flying.
Saturday – We were launching to the North landing on 36 Left and Right. A day of pleasant weather with limited thermal activity Rob Hanks flew 152 Kms (Mynd – Newtown – Talgarth – Mynd). Excellent teamwork by all concerned saw us operating the whole club fleet and we achieved 74 launches in the day with the only difficulty being a real cable break launching the K21 in the p.m. neatly handled by Allan Reynolds.
Sunday was another day of pleasant weather with some early thermals. Not sure how many launches we achieved but fun was had by all.
The Mynd has been a little quieter this week as a number of members have been taking part in the expedition to Llanbedr, where they’ve been enjoying some interesting flying and dreaming about the EB28 glider stationed there! There is talk of future Llanbedr expeditions & we will of course publish details nearer the time, but if you’re interested in hearing more then speak to Martin.
The Shrewsbury School had a sponsored walk over the Mynd today, with excellent weather for it.
Marketing
A big vote of thanks to all the many members who are so willing to volunteer and help our club. Jared Forte a new member, is progressing with updating the internal photos for our gallery, and Rob Shepherd and Sarah are working on a process to help us gather & learn from feedback from people who visit us, whether for trial lessons, visiting clubs, and of course from existing/new members.
If you’ve not registered your interest in a wonderful MGC-branded garment (perfect for Christmas gifts, or even a treat for yourself to keep nice and toasty on the airfield during the cooler months) then now is the time to do so. Martin will be placing our next order soon, so please contact Martin or Sue in the office by this Monday to catch the order.
The MGC calendar will also be published shortly, so look out for that. We will be printing a smaller run than last year, so you will need to order quickly to avoid disappointment!
Access Road
You will have noticed that some pot holes have been filled in already as a short term measure (many thanks to Steve Alexander for that – if you fancy helping him one weekend I’m sure he will be grateful for any assistance). The long term improvement project is starting with Howard Bradley co-ordinating and David Rance and Fiona Argyll who have also offered help.
Aim Higher
Kevin Atkinson has agreed to run a ground school Aim Higher course in March. Kevin is a real expert in both cross country flying and also how to teach cross country flying. This course will be a weekend and we will be offering it to surrounding clubs as well. The date will be the 18th and 19th of March so I suggest you book now, (get behind me in the queue). Kevin gave us a winter lecture this year with a very popular talk.
Update from last week: If you have booked onto this ground school course, please don’t forget to book your accommodation too. It could be a busy weekend and we would hate you to be disappointed.
Weekend outlook:
Your team for this weekend is Clive Crocker, Simon Adlard, Denise Hughes, Charles Page and Liz Adlard. Steve Alexander is providing the winching. Steve Male and Dave Crowson will be running their 2nd Standard Aerobatics 2 day course, after a very successful 1st session last weekend. Once again it looks as if we might be lucky last weekend and be between fronts.
Don’t forget that the Instructors Meeting is this Saturday Evening (5:30pm).
Next week see our final course week for 2016. If you wish to come along for a day or more, whether to fly club two- or single-seaters, then I would encourage you to book in with Martin asap, so that we can ensure plenty of instructor and glider availability.
Forthcoming events:
Bonfire night
Please reserve the 5th of November in your diary. This is always a fantastic evening but this year it is going to be spectacular. Several members spent many hours moving trees from the caravan park to the bonfire! If you are planning on coming, we encourage you to book your meal, and to dig deep into your pockets when you see Denise to help make the fireworks spectacular!
Christmas dinner
Please don’t forget to put December the 10th into your diary for this wonderful evening. More details will follow but please get the date secured now.
Calendar
Thank you for sending your pictures to the office to be considered for publication in the prestigious club calendar. Neal will be judging them next week, so you can still send any late entries to marketing@midlandgliding.club.
Winter lectures
These will be starting up soon and we would love some suggestions as to who and what you would like talks on this season. Last season was absolutely superb. Denise Hughes is , once again, doing a superb job coordinating this and please give her your ideas or email them directly to Neal Clements chairman@midlandgliding.club.
Running projects
Bar owner
After too many years to mention Peter Turner is stepping down from running the bar. We all owe Peter a great deal of thanks for doing this. If you would be willing to take this on please drop Neal an email chairman@midlandgliding.club. Fundamentally the role involves making sure that the right things are happening and thinking of how the bar can develop.
Marketing & Membership
This year we have attracted 12 new flying members. We have introduced a calling system for new members. All new flying members receive a phone call from the Chair and the CFI. In addition we are creating welcome packs for people during their 3-month membership.
The recent front page article in the Stretton Focus was well received & resulted in a number of bookings. If you live locally and know of similar publications we may be able to target, please let Sarah know and she will contact them marketing@midlandgliding.club
All but one or two of the caravans are now safely moved back into the caravan park & we await the completion of the electric points.
New MT shed.
Waiting final electrics then the transfer project starts. We are anxious to get this moving before the Winter as the heater depends on the electrical installation.