Hi everyone, here is my blog for the coming weekend and reminders of what’s going on at the club over the next few weeks.
Here we are on Valentine’s Day and the weather may be showing signs of loving us after all. Certainly it is very mild for this time of the year and ot looks set to continue for the next two weeks at least. If you look at the club webcams you will see that the snow is gone from the airfield and the access by road is much improved. The forecast for the weekend looks like a fair bit of sun on the ground most of the day and though there may not be a lot of thermal activity the wind is westerly at around 25 knots so should be a good ridge day. Perfect training weather if you need some stick time. Sunday sees a bit more mid and high level cloud in the morning but the promise of thermals in the afternoon with 3 to 4 octas of cumulus. The wind however will go more south west and stengthen.
Duty Team
Saturday
Guy Hartland (No 1), Charles Carter (TLs), Stephen Alexander (winch), Glyn Macarthur (LD)
Sunday
Nigel Lassiter (No 1), Matthew Cook (TLs), Stephen Alexander (winch), Charles Page (LD)
Courses
A reminder that the Bronze Development Weekend is on the 2 and 3 March and the first residential course starts on 8th April. If you book a course before the end of this month there is a 10% discount applied.
Caravan Applications
Caravan Applications must be deposited in the office by the last day of February. A copy of the application form can be downloaded from here
AGM
Advance notice that the 2019 AGM will take place at the club on 23rd March. There are places vacant on the committee at the moment which is putting more demands on all of the officers and members at present. If you can give a little bit of time to help the club develop by being on the committee and looking after one of our key operational centres please pick up a form from the office. We will be short of a Secretary this coming year as John O’Reilly is standing down due to other committments. John has done a sterling job in supporting the club since his appointment and has made a huge difference to the efficient running of the club. I really need a volunteer to take his place. Get in touch with me if you think you might be interested by emailing chairman@midlandgliding.club
Instructor Meeting
There will be an Instructor Meeting at the club on 16th February starting at 1700 hours. An agenda has been circulated but if you haven’t received it please contact the CFI by emailing cfi@midlandgliding.club
Latest addition to the Fleet
The purchase of the SZD Junior to add to our fleet is now complete and I trust it is safely with us on site by this time. Once checked over by Roger and fully insured it will be available to members once they have done the type conversion.
A word on driving abroad after the end of March
Should we leave the EU after 28th March without a deal you will need an International Driving Permit to drive in most countries outside the UK. There are three different types of IDP depending which country you want to drive in. If you are passing through France to get to Spain for instance you may need two different ones. They are avasilable from the Post Office at a cost of £5.50 each. You can get them on demand and should only take 5 minutes but you will need a standard passport type photo (45mm x 35mm), your driving license and your passport if you only have a paper version. IDPs last for only 12 months and must be renewed each year. In the event of no deal you will need a Green Card to prove that you are insured when you drive abroad. Ask your insurance company. The good news is that you will not have to register your trailer with the DVLC as it is not a commercial trailer and weighs less than 3500kgs. If it is commercial then you need to register it and get a unique registration plate for the trailer if it weighs more than 750kgs. See gov.uk advice here
Don’t blame me – I didn’t vote for it.