Hi everyone, its time for my weeekly blog again.
I’m afraid I can’t give you much encouragement about the weather for the weekend as it is going to be rain and drizzle for most of the time and strong south weaterly winds. However it’s a good opportunity to try out the simulator or make a start on clearing out the old workshop. My apologies for the content being much the same as last week but not a lot happens this time of the year. However we have enjoyed some stunningly good weather this week enabling folk to fly. Sadly the next couple of weeks don’t look great but keep an eye on the forecasts as things can change very quickly.
Weekend Duty Team
Saturday
Mike Greenwood (No 1), Steve Male (No2), Clive Crocker (No 3), Walter Baumann (TLs), Peter Orchard (winch), Laurent Couval (LD)
Sunday
William Brewis (No 1), Steve Male (No2), Clive Crocker (No 3), Peter Orchard (winch), Liz Adlard (LD)
Annual General Meeting
The club AGM will be held on 23rd March in the clubhouse starting at 1700 hours. The committee has been short of members for a while and John O’Reilly and Guy Hartland are standing down this year so we really do need some volunteers to take up the slack. I shall be standing for election as Chairman but I would really welcome some competition. Nomination forms are available for download from the club website in the ‘Policies, Rules and Documents’ section of the ‘Members Area’, or by clicking here.
BGA Conference
The British Gliding Association Sporting Conference takes place on Saturday at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel. Anyone can attend for free and there are always a lot of suppliers and manufacturers with stands showing off their shiny new gliders and equipment and lots of people to talk to from Insurance Companies to Avionics suppliers as well as all the top people from the BGA eager to answer questions and give advice. I shall be there representing the MGC and voting on its behalf.
Catering
Fay is giving up the catering franchise at the end of March and handing over to Helen who I know will maintain the very high standards to which we have become used. I One of the knock on effects of this is that Helen will no longer be able to do the club house cleaning. So we are looking for someone to fill that gap – urgently! Of course it is a paid job. If you know of anyone interested or you are yourself please contact me at chairman@midlandgliding.club.
MGC Wood Week Rally 13th to 20 July
Think ahead for the Wood Week Rally and get your Skylark, K6 or Olly 2B ready for a fun and challenging week at the Mynd. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to own a wooden glider you can still turn up and take part with something a little newer. There is a chance that our Wood Week will be dedicated as a bona fide Vintage Glider Club Rally. Watch this space.
Motorglider
The Falke has now been fully integrated into the fleet and is available for many areas of training including doing nav exercises and getting a cross country endorsement. We are adding qualified instructors to the list so take advantage of its availability. It may seem expensive at £72 an hour but think how much twelve winch launches and 5 minute circuits would cost you.
Membership Renewals for 2019-20
The membership year ends at the end of next month. It helps the club enormously if we can renew our individual and various memberships promptly. This year we are offering everyone the opportunity to pay the subscription and flying fee by 12 equal monthly installments. For most people on average this will be less than the cost of a tank of fuel for the car. If you wish to take advantage of this arrangement it needs to be set up before the start of the year. Please talk to Martin in the office as soon as possible. Don’t forget that we are now legally obliged to record that you hold a qualifying medical so bring documentary proof.
Courses
The courses are filling really fast this year, happily, but this means if you want to get on one you need to act soon and get a place booked. If you book and pay before the end of February you get a 10% discount. There are still a few hours left! Or if you book and pay before the end of March you might find another but different offer available. See the ‘Courses‘ section on the website for all details of dates and costs.
Winter Lecture Series
The next lecture in the series is on Saturday 9th March at 1800 hours from Hugh Browning, the BGA Safety Officer.
Llanbedr Expedition
Mike Greenwood has arranged another expedition to Llanbedr in North Wales 23rd to 30 March this year. It’s a huge airfield in an amazing Snowdonia landscape with great wave, thermal and ridge opportunities. If you are interested in joining for a day during the expedition and flying in a club or private two seater as P2 get in touch with Mike.
Rockpolishers
Rockpolishers is the name of our InterClub League competition arranged over several weekends during the summer and sending a winning team to a Nation final. It is a great introduction to competition flyng if you have never previously been involved, a great way to practice if you are planning doing something a bit more serious later and a really good fun weekend at someone elses airfield. The dates have been announced so all we need now is a team and of course some crew. Interested? Contact Mark Sanders our team captain or have a look on the club website section by clicking here.
Happy landings
Jon Hall
Acting Chairman