Wednesday 5th January 2010

Fog and teeming rain (which rejuvenated the mud) failed to deter a hard core of members, who fired up the woodburner and engaged in a variety of activities, including simulator training, equipment maintenance, wood-chopping and 'line-shooting'.
 
The simulator was kept busy as usual, but either the damp (or possibly a hit and miss attempt at 'tweaking' by a previous user) contributed to some particularly erratic flights - and spectacular crashes. ( This was fixed later – Steve )

Ged was persuaded to model his new soaring hat whist flying the simulator

  A brace (duo? couple?) of field treasurers was seen in earnest conversation - so if your flying account is in the red, watch out!  
 
Meanwhile a number of us discussed the pros and cons of various types of parachute, in preparation for the purchase of two brand new ones for the club via the Sport England grant. It was particularly useful to be able to investigate various possibilities via the newly-installed internet connection in the clubhouse.
 
There was a feeling among a number of us that (a) that the club was very fortunate to secure such funding (£9,750) in these times of financial stringency (thanks again, Bob Jones), and (b) that we should always make a special effort to ensure that organisations or individuals awarding grants, bursaries and donations to the club and its members should be thanked formally and acknowledged publicly wherever possible.
 
Whilst many gliding club 'stalwarts' around the UK are still hibernating, a sure sign that spring is on its way was an appearance by Dave Bourchier, who spent the day checking our current stock of parachutes and re-pack dates, repairing the launch cable repair equipment and finally the guillotine mechanism, on the ML winch.

Dave at work on the winch - I think he could teach the safety officer at thing or two about PPE

 
Bob Pirie