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. The next posting will be on the 5th of Jan.
Last week:
A quiet week for flying. The K8 and Discus are back out of ARC. The Discus needs to be rigged. It is important that we keep the fleet rigged. I have noticed a direct correlation over many years between gliders being available at the launch point and the amount that they fly.
Weekend outlook:
Your team this weekend is : Having a festive break.
Forthcoming events:
Christmas flying
The club is closed on the 25th and we will not be operational from the 24th until the 27th. This is the last blog before Christmas so I wish all members a great Christmas and a sincere hope for wonderful soaring next year!
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 or office 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. 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. Please put the 14th of January into your diary, there is a lot going on in gliding and Pete knows everything!
14 Jan Pete Harvey
Below is the extract from the BGA web site. We are extremely privileged to have Peter as our guest speaker. This is an interesting time for our sport and as well as entertaining us on how to do it he is a fount of knowledge on all things that affect our sport.
PETE HARVEY – CHAIRMAN
Pete flies from Bicester and York and is a British Team member. After success in international hang-gliding, he won the European Open Class Gliding Championship in 2005, 2007 and 2009 – an unprecedented achievement. He has a Nimbus 4 glider and a small share in a Robin 400.
11 Feb National trust
4 March Hugh Browning
11 March Mike Groves
Juniors
We will be hosting the Juniors Winter expedition on the 1st weekend of Feb.
Llanbedr Expedition
Mike Greenwood has booked the week of 11th March in Llanbedr taking the K21 again. Please contact the office to book a slot.
AGM
8 April 17:00. Please put this into your diary. We intend a slightly different format this year with the AGM, followed by presentations on the options for going forward. We have had a couple of good years but we face stormy times ahead. We must strengthen our position now while we can and your input and feedback are essential.
Sage
Does anyone out there have good Sage skills? With a new treasurer and a more concentrated view on the finances and reporting we could do with a bit of training on how to get the best out of Sage. If you feel you could donate an hour giving us some tips (we already have the wrinkles) we would be grateful. Please drop me an email.
Aim higher course
18 -19 March. Please put this date in your diary, and book in with the office now. We are so privileged to have Kevin Atkinson to do this course for us. He will cover:
How the sky works
How to work the sky
Going further and faster
Self-teaching skill drills and self-tasking
And will be the best preparation you could think of before the cross country season starts in earnest. This is proving very attractive to visitors from far and wide so I do encourage Mynd members to book up while you can.
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.