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:
You will have seen a couple of blog posts about what’s been happening flying wise this week. A group also travelled to the BGA Club Management conference last weekend & have come back with lots of great ideas. If you’ve got an idea to develop the club, please do speak to Neal or a committee member.
Weekend outlook:
Your team this weekend is Steve Foster, Walter Baumann, Rod Hawley, Guy Hartland, and Steve Alexander. We are short of a Launch Director on both days, so if you can spare an hour or two to help run the field I’m sure the instructors will reward you well.
The weather on Saturday looks good – mainly dry with sunny spells but rather cold with overnight frost. Unsettled on Sunday with a couple of spells of heavy rain to dodge – there will be strong winds likely at times, however this is not a problem for us, since the wind should be pretty much on the ridge! Don’t forget that if you are in training, then ground school is always offered if there is no flying – this way you always get to learn something valuable to progress your gliding.
It’s also Steve Pozerskis’ birthday party this weekend at the club, so there should be plenty going on during the weekend, with lots of friendly faces.
Forthcoming events:
Christmas dinner – Dec 10th
Always a great evening, so if you want to reserve the last couple of spaces, contact the kitchen without delay. We will be running a fund raising event, the social fund is now at the point where we can invest in something substantial to improve our social facilities. So far the suggestion are:- re furbish the bar or refurbish the patio furniture. If you have any other ideas then please let me know via the email below and in the meantime we will work up these proposals.
We will either have an auction or a raffle (or a mixture of both!) at the dinner so please can you let me know if you are willing to donate a prize of some sort. Anything will be appreciated.
New Year’s Eve
This is usually a chance to get together at the club on New Years Eve to celebrate the incoming year with good friends. Do let the kitchen know if you are coming, as there is usually a mass order for takeaway food on that night.
Winter lectures
We now have 4 booked during February and March. We have Pete Harvey the BGA chair, Hugh Browning the driving force on the safety initiatives, Mike Groves of Skylaunch and the National Trust. We have also had an offer of another interesting talk from a member. The dates for your diary are 14th Jan, 11th Feb, 4th & 11th March & they usually start around 6pm/6:30pm. Please do make an effort to attend, it’s a great night and the trick is to fly in the day, have the talk then a really good supper.
Thinking of summer
Mac is organising the “longest day, open day” recruitment drive on the 24th of June. In addition we want to increase the activity and the interest for members. Years ago we used to run a “dawn to dusk” day and we are going to combine the two. It is fantastic fun, we run in shifts and do “shedloads” of launches (or words to that effect). Please drop me an email at the address below if you would like to help out for a shift, everyone is welcome and I guarantee you will have a great day.
In addition, we are planning a similar (shorter!) day on 15th April. We are looking for a volunteer to lead this, and you will be ably assisted by Chris Harris who, along with Nigel Lassiter, did a fantastic job of running this last year. Again, drop Neal an email if you can help in any small way!
Here’s what happened at the MGC Committee on 11 November 2016
Insurances
Thanks to Steve Rudge liaising with the electrical contractors we will be in a position to renew. We are reviewing the cost of increasing the liability on the airfield.
MT Shed
Mathew Cooke will be finishing the electrical work on Monday and then issuing the certificate. The next step will be the final completion certificate.
Caravan park and campsite
We have 20 spaces and we may have 1 spare space. The final utility station is still to be installed.
Accommodation block roof
Dave Crowson has been “…ered” about by several contractors but has not given up and we are awaiting 2 more quotes.
Access road to the clubhouse
Howard Bradley is having difficulty in finalising the quotations but he hasn’t given up either.
Staff pension scheme
The scheme is established. The next step is the letters to the staff.
BGA safety review
The next significant improvement is in instructor communications. We are looking for a group system to allow communication. Ideas are being sought at the BGA conference.
Landrover replacements
The Vitara is now fully striped up. The gas conversion is ready to be installed. See below for information on radios. We are sorting out a fixed radio installation, which shouldnt take long, then this vehicle will be available to use for airfield operations.
Radios
The meeting received a proposal from Peter Orchard regarding replacing the club ground radio equipment. This proposal was accepted and Peter is now working up the implementation plan.
Finance
Neal and Martin have scheduled a meeting with the accountants for the 21st of November at the club. We are still actively seeking a treasurer. Neal and Martin are constructing a cashflow as well. The last budget that Tony Gould prepared showed a relatively static picture regarding the profit and loss for next year. The business rate rise of 300% is causing concern and Neal has established a contact with the Valuation Office VOA and has received the detail of the 2017 valuation. The VOA have been asked for the 2010 valuation and the BGA conference should also supply more information on what can be done.
Marketing and membership
Sarah reported on the advertising progress which is superb. We had 9 more full flying members at Sept 2016 than we did at Sept 2015. The MGC 2017 calendars are ready for sale now – contact the office or see Facebook page for info – they are £10 each & make a great Xmas present. We have prepared an email list for Christmas advertising, which will be sent out this week. We are re-joining Shropshire tourism and the new course brochures are available, courtesy of Jon Hall for the artwork.
CFI report
Steve Male reported on the flying in October. The incident reporting has improved, please keep this up it is vital to our safety. The next instructor meeting is on the 3rd of December and Ged Terry will be in attendance. We have 2 instructors going forward for the full cat test in December and we have 2 potential BI s coming forward. There are some BGA seminars coming up, see below, if you wish to attend please contact the BGA office
- a) Club Safety Officers Seminar – Lasham 21st January 2017, Pocklington 4th February 2017,Husbands Bosworth 11th February 2017
- b) Flight Instructor Coach Seminar – Dunstable Sunday 5th February 2017
- c) Flight Instructor (S) Seminar – York Gliding Club January 2017.
Fleet
We will be fitting Icom radios in the rear of the two seaters. The ARCs will start upon Roger’s return.
Launching and MT
Marc Williams has produced the maintenance schedule. Guy will go through it with him to decide on the most effective way forward. If you happen to have any spare old tyres lying around at home, we are getting short, so we’d be happy to take them off your hands.
Grounds
We have had an application from the Midland Automobile Club to traverse our land as in previous years. We will be specifying the paths that they may use.
We are going to repair the gate at the bottom of the Asterton gully and the signs for the new cycle ways are being created ready for installation
IT
The new email service is up and running. Martin and Neal are hoping to get more input regarding flight logging at the BGA conference on the 12th.
Hospitality
The public liability insurance for the kitchen has been renewed and will be put onto the office computer.
Social fund
The main contender for the fund appears to be a bar refurbishment. Paul Waller will elaborate on the options and the means of achieving them via the social fund. Let us know if you have any other ideas.