This week.
Longest day
“This club is brilliant, I am so impressed with today”. This was the quote from an ex airline pilot who had been on one of our courses and had stopped to help out with our open day and dawn to dusk. We started the day with a delay because of the weather but as soon as it cleared then Orch was able to take off at 05:30 and in the evening he had the last flight and landed at 21:36. From 08:00 we welcomed the public and flew, in difficult conditions, over 80 people.
The organisation of the day was tremendous, at one point there were 60 members present in the club or on the field quietly and efficiently processing the candidates and their family and friends. Even when the weather deteriorated and we had to pause there was no dissatisfaction from the public, they were so well looked after.
The day attracted much interest, some course bookings and many people wanting to return and use their temporary membership. In addition the members themselves enjoyed themselves and took a great pride in representing their club. There were so many that it would be impossible to name them all but we must thank the 3 organisers, Mac, Sarah and John Randall for superb planning, marketing and organisation on the day and the kitchen for making the end of the day so enjoyable as well.
Winch failures
We have suffered too many winch equipment failures since the start of the season and this is distressing to all of us. We obviously need some help and we are seeking it as quickly as we can.
MT
On the positive side, Julian Fack has created a superb vehicle recovery fleet and we are seeking to consolidate it so we do not suffer when one of them fails. Julian has nearly finished the gas tank conversion in the blue Vitara, then we can be confident of the work required for the others.
Log sheets
Paul Fowler has taken on board the excellent feedback and has created a new folder for logkeeping. Please can you use this and let Paul know what you think. This is an experiment and we are anxious to have your feeback. The system is designed to work in all weather conditions so please let us know the conditions you used it in. Let the office know how you get on and they will pass the feedback to Paul.
Club house
TV/Quiet Room. As a consequence of the need to smarten up the TV/quiet room for the Open Day last Saturday, it was given a good clear by a number of willing helpers, and a large number of old VHS cassettes, computer displays, keyboards, wiring, broken furniture and cupboards have been removed. They are currently in a temporary ‘holding’ place in the old MT shed, awaiting a decision on where they should next go. They include approx 180 VHS cassettes, of various vintages, ranging from classics such as Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, through to a range of aircraft related videos. As we really cannot afford the space to store these cassettes in the quiet/briefing room, and we do not actually have a working VHS player (and no, we don’t want want either), the proposal is that the should finally go to either a charity shop, or to finally meet their maker in the sky. The DVDs have been retained/returned to the room as they take up minimal space. The old CRT TV, together with all of its associated antiquated electronics has been temporarily replaced with a flat screen TV and DVD player, on loan from one of the members, until decisions have been made about exactly what format this room should migrate to. The current proposal is an amalgamation of a quiet/briefing/planning/TV room which will also house the simulator, and the details will be posted on the board within the room for consultation. Please do have a look at the changes made and have a think about the opportunities for substantially ‘refreshing’ this club asset, and either leave suggestions or email secretary@midlandgliding.club.”
Your team this weekend is:
Saturday: Simon Adlard, Denise Hughes, Stephen Alexander, Liz Adlard.
Sunday: Mark Sanders, Mike Witton,Charles Carter, Stephen Alexander, Laurant Couval
Forthcoming events
8th – 15th July – MGC Wood Week
Roger is leading this year’s Wood Week, which is an opportunity for all gliders particularly those of the wooden variety to get together, admire their beautiful aircraft, and to take part in various “Enterprise” type tasks, either cross-country, height gain, or other fun things like spot landing competitions. It’s always a colourful event, so would encourage you to come along. Equally, if you know of anyone from other clubs who may like to join us, then please let me know & I can email you the poster or further details which you can pass on marketing@midlandgliding.club.
21st July – Glide Britain
There is a possibility that we may host filming team for Glide Britain, who are creating a suite of UK-wide marketing materials & resources, which we hope to tap into to broaden our scope & reach for marketing & promotion. A small part of this includes creation of a short film showcasing different elements of gliding found at various clubs throughout the UK. Please do say hi & make them feel welcome. We may also need a couple of volunteers / characters(!) to speak with them on the day – more details to follow.
19th-27th August – MGC Task Week (party on 27th)
If you’re planning on coming, please book in so that we can start to know numbers. And if you know of people who may wish to join us, please do ask for the info/links (being set up at the moment) so that you can share it with them. This year we are going for a different format with tasks being set inside themselves (wait for it). For example a 200 k task may contain a 150 , a 100 and a 50k task. This way any aspiring badges eg Silver can be accommodated in the same conditions as the bigger tasks. More details to follow but book the week now, the fields are terrific, the organisation is even better and you will make significant progress with guaranteed retrieves and a lot of fun.
23rd Sept – Farmers’ Thank You Supper
See above for info. A great opportunity to thank your farmer, showcase the club & build our reputation as generally friendly folk, all at the same time!