Hi everyone, this is the regular Thursday posting to let you know what is coming up in the near future and to let you know the highlights from the last committee meeting.
CFI
There seems to be some confusion over the CFI’s role at the moment, therefore I thought I would clarify the position:-
The club can only have 1 CFI and for the moment I cannot fly due to medical considerations. Therefore, Simon Adlard has kindly “volunteered” his services as CFI until I can return to flying/instructing status.
As such all CFI matters must be referred to Simon. My role, for the moment, is merely to provide Simon with an administrative “back up” service. I hope this has clarified who our CFI is and what my current role within the club is.
Happy Landings
Steve Male
Access Road
Once again Tim Mason and Roger have found an “opportunity” to improve the road via a contractor. This has been done by the same contractor who did the work for us last Winter. The statement of work included:- clean out all potholes, fill potholes using the road stone, compact the stone using a ride-on vibrating roller, seal all filled potholes using hot bitumen, provide a top surface to the road using machine laid bitumen with a topping of granite chippings, compact/roll the surface. All of which was done within our grounds budget.
Webcams
You may have noticed that the webcams are back, albeit without the weather station data. The system that merges the data is broken and it is not an easy repair so we have reverted to the raw camera data. We are still seeking ways to reinstate the merging software.
MGC branded clothing and merchandise
We are indebted to Peter Turner who has worked tirelessly over the past few months to refresh and extend our range of MGC clothing. This has been no small task! Items are being delivered as we speak. Already in stock are the new gliding hats (see pic) – grab yours from the office at just £5.50 each. Other items include a range of t-shirts, wind-proof jackets, warm gillets etc. We will be holding some items in stock, and we will have samples of other items which are available to order to your exact size. Please see the display in the entrance corridor, or ask in the office for more details.
MGC Stand at Church Stretton Community Games, Sat 14th July (10am – 4pm)
We are seeking a small and hardy band of willing volunteers to help Sarah on the stand. If you can help for a morning or afternoon slot, or even just setting up or take down, please call her 07754 070357 or email her at marketing@midlandgliding.club She will be finalising the team on Fri 15th June, but please let her know asap if you can help. It’s a great stand location, right by the food stalls! We are in talks with the school about collaborating with them in a number of ways, so this would be a really good opportunity for us to show them our best side.
Tours for prospective members
The latest day of Tours for prospective members resulted in one new member on our Intro to Gliding package, and another couple of people extremely interested in our Flying Start package. If you’re not familiar with our newly developed Membership packages then do take a look at the Your Gliding Journey leaflet the next time you’re at the club. The packages are aimed at prospective members / people who want to Learn to Fly, rather than those who simply want a one-off Trial Lesson. When people ask you about gliding or approach you at the club, it would be great if everyone could direct people towards either the Membership packages, the Tours, (or Trial Lessons, if that’s the right option for them). Sarah will be doing a quick pre-dinner talk about this in the next few weeks.
Your team this weekend is:
Saturday: Mike Witton, Stephen Alexander
Sunday: Chris Alldis, Matthew Cook, Stephen Alexander, Charles Page.
Forthcoming events
Wood week July 7 -14
Prepare your glider for 5kt winds, 5 000 ft cloudbase or just a week of gentle westerlys. So please call or email the office with your interest.
Task week August 18 – 27
Please ensure this is also in your diary, we have better weather last year and I am confident this trend will continue into this year. The CFI will be announcing more details of the structure but I can guarantee that if you are early cross country then this is the week for you. Steve is organising it such that it will develop our skills no matter what standard we are.
Committee meeting highlights
Business rates: this is still continuing, the BGA are helping us through the process and the Treasurer is involved as well so we are hopeful of a very positive outcome. The new rules only allow one appeal so getting that appeal absolutely watertight is our priority.
Debtors: The treasurer and the office are really getting a grip on this issue. We are amending our finance system so that debt collection will be much quicker and easier than currently.
The tours are working well, the conversion rate is extremely impressive and this “targeted” marketing is definitely a great way forward.
The Simulator is progressing well. The external IT consultant is visiting on the Saturday to resolve issues with the software and interface to the controls. We will either have a fix or a list of stuff to get to complete the project.
MT: Julian has done a lot of work on the Vitaras, there is a difference between them in the way the engine management systems cope with the gas replacement. Julian is going to source an emulator for the one that doesn’t like the gas. The Shogun clutch parts are available and Guy and Geoff Dailey are working on the replacement. The Land Rover disposal plan is starting up again.
Buildings: we still have require someone to represent buildings. The highest priority is the water tank replacement.
Grounds: see above re access road. The repairs to the East perimeter fence are now complete.
Health and safety: the corridor improvement works are continuing and there will be another push next Thursday to move forward.
The new engine in the Skylaunch winch is now signed off. We are investing in some “superior” oil to maximise the life of the engines.