Chairman’s Contribution *
Tow Lines *
From the Flying Field *
Old Friends *
Members E-mail addresses *
Flying in 1949 *
Dinner Dance *
First Field *
Roder Rebuild Project *
I Was There *
The Siam Trophy *
Rockpolishers 2000 Inter-Club League *
Message from the Kitchen *

First of all let me wish you all a successful new millennium, and I look forward to even greater flying successes by our members. When I compare the ‘go for it’ attitude apparent today, with some of the negative thoughts of years gone by, even just 15 years ago when I started flying, there is a complete transformation. I was even told that cross country flying had actually been banned for a while, not many years before I joined!

The new attitude has also produced a new pattern of flying by members which has had some unforeseen consequences on the financial front. In simple terms, whilst members may be getting better and more rewarding flying, they are doing less of it, at least in terms of numbers of launches at MGC, and it is the launches that pay the bills. Over the last two years private owner launches have fallen from an average of over 2600 per year to just 1600 last year.

However in the year ended 30^th of September:

• Club flying membership increased by 27 members in the year, some 16% up.
• The new members who joined during the May Bank Holiday membership weekend, spent on average more on flying in five months than members normally spend in a year.
• Person days on courses increased by 12.5% compared to 1998.
• Trial lesson price increased by 20%.
• Prices across the board were increased more or less with inflation.

For some time the committee have felt that we should make it easier to pay membership and private owner fees, and we are actively researching ways to spread the load over the year. This is not as simple a matter as it might seem, as Standing Orders would need to be changed each year, and Direct Debit is not available for small organisations. There are other ways, and we hope to put some form of regular payment system in place before renewal time in April.

I hope that members will support the efforts of the committee, but I also welcome any feedback. As usual you can contact me by leaving a message on 01426 954 208, and if necessary I will call you back, or Email me on jfack@mcmail.com .

Wishing you all the best possible soaring season for a flying start to the new millennium.

Apologies for the silence over the last few months but I have been waiting until reasonably sure that there was a prospect of Golf Charlie flying imminently before putting fingers to keyboard, there having been more than one false dawn in that regard. So these lines may be the kiss of death but here goes.

You will note from the table below that the tug has flown what I believe to be a record number of tows in the past year. Had the unfortunate accident not occurred in August then I believe that the total would have been well in excess of 800 tows. Thanks to the team of eager pilots who made that possible.

Whilst Golf Charlie was cutting a sad figure outside the hangar there have been mumblings about trading her in for a sexier model in which we tug pilots could go on our holidays to help defray the overheads. I attended the committee meeting in December to make representations against this course of action. These were accepted and the full version of the paper I presented will be circulated with the next notice to tug pilots and posted in the folder in the clubhouse.

The main thrust of my argument is that G-CMGC is a strategic asset and as such can look like an expensive luxury when normal costing/accountancy parameters are applied. But what would the club be without such a facility?

If you want to help improve the figures for next year then take plenty of tows, especially on cross country days when getting off to a good start can make the difference between finishing and not. I almost certainly would not have completed my longest flight this year had it not been for the high early tow to glide out to the good weather. (See elsewhere in this issue.)

The new season is nearly upon us. Here's to a productive one.

Welcome to new members Clive Dunkey, Tony and Oliver Maitland, and Märit Olsson.

Flying over the last few months has happened whenever possible, but the winter has not yielded as many of those gorgeous ridge and wave days as we would like. November 6^th produced wave climbs to 12-13,000 feet for those who could contact it, including Paul Stanley and Andy Holmes in 494, Iain Evans in EZ and a Gold height for visitor Kim Tipple. On December 1^st there were more climbs to around 11,000 feet for David Rance, Simon Adlard and 494 again with Julian Fack and Paul Garnham. The BGA Discus was available for flying, and the BGA Duo is on site at the moment. Shrewsbury School continued their flying during the week, and members were able to fly midweek as normal. We have been having the usual winter visitors, including members from other clubs whose airfields are more waterlogged than ours (which is pretty wet, and has been covered in snow). The first day of the new year dawned gloriously sunny, giving the chance for the more alert to get that date in their logbooks before orographic cloud stopped play. The New Year party was enjoyed by some 70 members. Many thanks to Ian Butt and his team in the kitchen for that and Christmas dinner, both excellent.

During the past year or so I have had contact with a number of members who were active at the club in yesteryear.

To celebrate John and Esme Anstey’s fortieth wedding anniversary Christine and I went to Jenny Anstey’s farm near Corfe Castle. Other guests included John & Sue Brenner, Marion Hamilton (Wulff), Bill Inman, John & Joyce Knotts, Gerry & Edwina Roberts. Not long after this party John Knott’s daughter secretly arranged his seventieth birthday party among the guests at which were John & Stevie Hickling. In April John Knotts rang me enquiring after an aircraft to tow a banner in the European election campaign.

Visitors to the Mynd have included Natalie Hodgson who handled a K21 well despite being long out of practice and our ages totalling 152! I have also flown with Peter Clay who after many years’ absence has rejoined as a flying member. Peter Hanneman (a Mynd winter resident in the late ‘50s/early ‘60s and more recently a QANTAS captain) now lives in Australia but spent a couple of days on the Mynd late in September. Cecil Reilly (who has recently moved to Devon) was due on one of his occasional visits to the Mynd but suffered a fall and was unable to travel. Louis Rotter (self-styled ‘Louis of Arabia’) loves to visit the Mynd when home on leave from Saudi. No trouble with his check flight.

From time to time Sue and Richard Cooper walk past my house (which, as agent, he sold to me many years ago). George Cox (former Mynd member and later chairman of Booker) has a new job as chief executive of the Institute of Directors and according to the Daily Telegraph the £200,000 salary meant George taking a cut in pay! At the December International Airsports Exhibition at Telford Tony Rowson (Jeff’s brother) appeared telling us that he has built an ultralight which he flies from near the caravan site he owns at Rhyl.

Among my shooting syndicate are Bob Swift and Allen Parkinson whose other hobby now is racing/hill-climbing his four litre Westfield (Lotus 7 look-alike) sports car. Allen is a former club treasurer who was the mastermind in the early ‘70s of the building of the ‘Parkinson’ winch as a copy of the Roder to provide the club with a second winch. Now history is, more or less, repeating itself with the construction of the ‘Knox’ winch which will cannibalise much of the Roder. John Rickett (who in the ‘60s persuaded the committee that the club’s water supply was adequate to replace the chemical loos with proper WCs) has long since retired from being a senior reporter on the Shropshire Star. He lives in Ludlow and I meet him occasionally. Recently Louis Rotter, Jacky Horridge (who lives two miles from me) and Marjorie Hobby came to dinner with us at Ratlinghope. Marjorie has begun writing an history of Lasham.

Finally the New Millenium Honours List included an OBE for Diana King for her services to sport. Diana (daughter of Robin Bull, sister of Alison Rowson and wife of former CFI Phil King) was secretary of the club in the ‘80s. She was for many years chief executive of the English Ski Council, is a former member of the BGA’s Executive Committee and last year was appointed to the U.K.Sports Council. Congratulations Diana!

As you will have seen, I have published a contact list for all members on the duty rota.

I am also attempting to compile a directory of E-mail addresses, so if you have access to E-mail, and are happy for your address to be circulated among other club members, please notify me on Richard@aswaviation.u-net.com.

The Web site duty rosta also has email links to members to make swaps easier.

1949 was my first full year as a club member and what made it especially memorable was a three month spell of very good weather during the main season. My progress through the flying training program illustrates how these things were done at this time.

The year started well on January 16^th with an 18 knot west wind accompanied by lots of cloud. Gerry Edwards (a founder member) did best flying the club Olympia to 6000 feet in wave. My turn came to fly in the T21b with John Horrell (also a founder member). Cruising along at about 1000 feet we were suddenly grabbed by a ‘mighty hand’ - the green ball of the Cosim vario hit the top of its tube and the altimeter was winding round at a rapid rate. Soon we were enveloped in thick cloud and no application of the spoilers had any effect. At 3000 feet John turned down wind and we emerged in clear air near Craven Arms, just getting back round the lowest point of the south end.

David Carrow of CUGC set up a new record on March 16^th by flying their Olympia to Newbury, 167 km, after an initial climb to 10,000 feet, followed by further smaller waves. This was the first cross-country of the type in the UK. Meanwhile Bob (R.L.) Neill (a future chairman) climbed to 13,500 feet to set a club record for wave flying.

Shortly before Easter I had notched up four and a half hours dual instruction in 7 flights, and was sent off solo in the Tutor doing circuits from short west wind launches to 300 feet for the B certificate. At Easter itself I flew the Tutor again for a 40 minute trip gaining my C badge, noting how ineffective the controls were in turbulent hill lift and strong thermals. With 7 hours of solo flying approaching Whitsun I was promoted to the Kite by Espin Hardwick (the founder). I took to this aircraft straight away, enjoying its effective controls and its ability to hold thermals however small. Lacking a wheel it could still be pulled along because of its low empty weight of just over 300 pounds. The club’s other glider in this category was the Grunau Baby 2b. However this aircraft never became as popular as the Kite despite featuring airbrakes, both open and closed cockpit covers, and rear mounted winch hook, as it was handicapped by being about 100 pounds heavier than German built originals.

The club’s first 9 day camp of the season started on June 5^th with David Ince as instructor in charge (shortly to be CFI). It was during this week that the superb weather first appeared and Charles Wingfield with his Olympia was able to take full advantage of it; the winds, strong westerlies at the beginning of the week, became light from the north with picture book cumulus filled skies. (My log book incidently shows only three days of east winds in the whole year.) David Ince a little later on August 9^th flew the Wingfield Olympia to his goal at Caister, 310 km, gaining his Gold C with a diamond.

One day I well remember was August 14^th with a light west wind of about 12 knots, just bungeyable at times, with a blue sky. Jack Rice, a member from Leicester, flew over in his Tiger Moth and reported definite wave activity and persuaded a slightly reluctant Theo Testar, CFI, to fly the Rice Olympia. Jack towed to 4000 feet whereupon Theo climbed to 10,000 feet under a perfectly formed lenticular cloud directly over the Mynd, looking for all the world like a fly on the ceiling.

Requirements for flying the club’s premier glider the Olympia were 30 hours of solo flying plus two observed spot landings and a two seater check. I reached this point in November and was able to confirm all I had been told of its beautiful handling qualities. Shortly after this I took over the Olympia at the bungey point from an oriental looking chap who I later discovered was Prince Bira, who had recently presented the club with the Siam trophy. I now hit the competition, there being about 60 pilots eligible to fly the Olympia (a few years later we had three Olympias). My training continued with passenger carrying (as it was called), Silver C completed and instructor by the autumn of 1950 and finally full category confirmation at Lasham in spring 1951.

Espin Hardwick, the club founder president, was writing to the local council to urge them to repair the Burway road which was impassable to cars (and exciting to motorcycles). The Nationals this year were held at Camphill. Charles Wingfield and David Ince attended with little success.

Aircraft style registration letters were now required on all gliders. The club Kite for instance was marked G-ALKI, but opposition from the BGA and strongly from the Yorkshire club eventually caused a change of heart.

The club’s catchment area was vast at this time but yielded only a trickle of new members. There were long established clubs throughout the UK: London GC at Dunstable, Derby & Lancs GC at Camphill, Yorkshire GC at Sutton Bank, Surrey GC at Redhill (shortly to move to Lasham) and SGU. There were several clubs coming up: CUGC, Newcastle, Leicester, Coventry and Bristol. We had regular visits during the year from CUGC (Cambridge University GC) and the ATC who operated independently with their own gliders and winches etc. Resident private owners were few: the Hardwick Petrel (which many members flew) and Wingfield’s Olympia while Jack Rice’s Olympia (also his Gull 3) and the Primrose/Nadin Olympia were around at times. Visiting private owners found the Mynd the ideal starting point for Gold C flights.

The Dinner Dance and Trophy Presentation will be held at Ludlow Racecourse on Saturday April 1^st 2000 at 19:30 for 20:00.

The guest speaker will be Marc Asquith, the retiring Chairman of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

Music by Robert Lee.

Black tie/lounge suit.

Three course carvery/vegetarian dinner plus coffee.

Cost £22.00 per person.

To get your tickets and be entered in the Champagne prize draw, send the form enclosed with this newsletter to:

Please enclose SAE, £22.00 per person (cheques payable to Midland Gliding Club), choice of meal, and any seating preferences.

Bookings can also be made at the club by calling in to see Janet at the weekends, or by credit card (Mastercard, Visa or Switch) over the phone.

Transport from and back to the Mynd can be arranged at extra cost depending on numbers, with a provisional guess of £5.00 per person.

I have a list of local Bed and Breakfasts, please ask for a copy if required.

I could also use some help to arrange the flowers for the table decorations on the day of the dinner. If any of you are secret florists, now is your chance! Please let me know if you can help.

What follows is an account of my first field landing which took place some months ago, and the decisions, some right, some wrong, I made that led to the situation.

"Where do you want to go?" Tuggy asked, well as it was Chris Harris asking I simply said, "You have a better idea than I do, wherever the lift is!". So 10 minutes later I was duly deposited off the south end just below the clouds at 2000 feet QFE. At first look I realised it was a touch further than I’d been to the south, but there were plenty of bubbles, not strong but enough to keep me at cloud base. After about 30 minutes of circling in poor visibility but feeling comfortable it dawned on me that I had drifted a little to the south east and was midway between Craven Arms and the Mynd. Slowly an idea formed.

Shooting the breeze with Richard Langford on those many duff days we often talked about how far the leash that tied us to the Mynd would stretch. Flying away in a direct line with an eye on the altimeter, starting at, say 3000 feet and flying for the of loss of 1000 feet, before turning and heading for home leaving plenty of tolerance. The idea being that a pre-Silver pilot has a chance to fly further and see new territory than before. At the time neither of us had managed it, choosing to ‘bottle out’ (or should I say behave conservatively) because the Mynd soon looked too far away, that angle far too slight so we would we head home before the altimeter dropped to the target figure.

On this day, having established an area of sustainable lift, off I set to my goal - Craven Arms, "hey", I thought, "this is real cross country!" My predetermined height loss limit was mentally noted - only 300 feet but as this was ‘gods gift to soaring’, the Discus, I should be there in minutes.

Turning over the south roundabout above Craven Arms left me with such a buzz, and I had to suppress the urge just to keep flying into the distance, this was certainly my best solo flight to date. However, the Long Mynd did look a long way off now and I noted that perfect clouds marking lift had gone and my return would be all blue. A check on the altimeter, 1600 feet (QFE), there should be enough to make a bee-line, but I could see clouds off to the west towards Bishops Castle, and the phrase ‘follow the energy’ came to mind, so decision made.

A few minutes later, and several hundred feet lower, it dawned on me that my cloud recognition needed some work! The best I could find was half a knot, and my centring ability soon meant I was thermalling in sink.

1000 feet on the clock, OK, I can’t head straight back now so, I need to find a field, just in case! The one I selected (the choice was limited) was brown with a sprinkling of green. I flew over and around it a couple of times, a decent size with just a slight incline, no wind so an up-hill landing should be OK. Now back to flying! Using the field as if it were the Mynd I ventured away nervously looking for lift but always returning, perhaps a little prematurely, to my field. At 500 feet above the Mynd I started to think of the rollickin’ that I was going to get from Nick when I got back, I just needed to find a couple of decent thermals and I’d be away, I thought. At the same altitude as the Mynd, which when experienced for the first time is a very odd sensation, I decided to set my target high key point height about minus 200 feet QFE which looked about right - I thought of ‘Den’s sheep’, a guide for judging your height above ground, but none to be found. The distance I ventured from my field seemed to reduce more and more, as if I was being sucked into it, and I was soon circling over head in a gentle thermal super-imposing my circuit on the local topography, planning each turn and estimating my touch down point deep into the field.

At what seemed like about 600 feet above the field I picked up a 1 to ½ knot thermal and with a notion that I could save face by climbing away, I cranked it into a turn, and over my shoulder came the chorus of all my instructors, past and present, "never low and slow" and thoughts of all those horror stories in the bar. OK, speed, speed, speed! As I climbed the anxiety eased, the legs were still shaking but I still had time to consider the farmer below peering up from his window, wondering if I was ever going to make my mind up!

A famous JS recovery this was not to be, in no time I was back down to my circuit height (what do you expect if you are circling at 60 knots!). Commitment in a glider with a retractable undercarriage is reinforced by the sound of lever locking home, ‘wheel down’, around the farmhouse, 55 knots, decent length approach over a low fence and mid-way into the field. All text book so far, except as I turn finals I notice that gentle slope I’m approaching is a little steeper than I thought it would be, what’s the expression, ‘if you can see the slope from the air then it’s probably too steep’, ‘hmmm! I wish I was going a little faster’.... moments later midway into the field I rounded out and touched down very quickly. It felt much heavier than normal and I stopped within 25 feet. So, even faster than if I had had a mid-air collision, I was out of the cockpit and on my knees, no not to give thanks, that could wait...’what about my undercarriage doors, please be there!’. Deep sigh of relief...all in one piece though the small crater in the soft soil clearly marked my field entry! The sense of exhilaration was absolutely tremendous, made all the more profound by the calmness that followed such frenetic activity. The marked stillness after the landing leaves you with a strange sense of just being plucked up and deposited in the middle of nowhere, but then maybe that’s exactly what just happened!

I had quite fancied experiencing a retrieve, I just didn’t count on my own being the first!

Thanks to John Taylor, Richard and Sarah and the ‘steaming’ grockle who lost his wing mirror!

And the farmer.... a nice guy; an apology, a cup of tea and chat was all that was demanded.

Some of you who have visited the club lately may have noticed that Colin Knox is building a new chassis for the Roder winch. Since the Roder is our standby you would be forgiven for thinking this is an indulgence at this time.

The reasons the committee gave the go-ahead are as follows:

• The Roder suffers from very poor driver visibility, particularly to the sides and back, this is a safety issue especially with regard to cyclists and horses.
• The new type of BGA approved guillotine would be difficult to add to the Roder, and we must move on to these as soon as possible.
• The Roder final drive is on its last legs and needs replacing, but spare parts are not available, so some major re-engineering is required to change to a different type of final drive.
• Due to being modified constantly over the years, the Roder is very difficult to maintain, in particular removing the transmission is a nightmare.
• The Roder cab is very poor from the heat and dust ingress point of view, and is extremely uncomfortable for the driver.
• Colin has designed a remarkably low cost conversion using all the existing major components, such as engine, transmission, drum, pay-on gear, road wheels and suspension.
• The Roder as is has very little value, but it was felt that for a fairly small investment in materials the club would have a valuable asset, almost equal to a new Skylaunch, which would cost around £50,000 now.
• Colin is employed on a 12 month contract, and did not have a full program of winter work this year, partly due to having got the kit in very good order last winter. The labour element would therefore have been paid for in any case.

Taking all the above into account we agreed that it was a worthwhile project, so do look in on Colin in the MT workshop and see how he is getting on. Please do not, however, spend too long and distract him from his work, as he has a deadline to meet.

My chance for a flight in the Duo (494) came last year in early May over the bank holiday weekend. Unusually we were aerotowing only, both winches being out of action, so Paul Stanley had been tugging since Friday. Come Sunday evening he was in the bar, pondering a flight for Monday, even though visibility had deteriorated over the weekend.

On Monday the valley was wreathed in mist but the skies were blue above. John was on duty to fly trial lessons. Everyone was rigging except for 494 and FVP, as we were still waiting for her airbrake modification. Paul arrived at the last moment to claim his glider for the day. I helped him rig, and then he went to consult Iain Evans, and returned saying he would try Lasham O/R. With no-one else around it seemed to be me as P2. I was sent to get sandwiches, Paul being busy loading water for the first time. By now it was a gorgeous sunny morning. Jeff and Alison Rowson turned up and began crewing for us. I wondered about the wisdom of this long flight on a poor visibility day, given that I would probably be sick, but decided not to offer up my place. Paul checked with Jeff, who is a syndicate member, but it was still me. Thank-you Jeff!

No time to look at a map. I was strapped into the back, my landout bag stowed away (how come he travels so light?), and we were off on aerotow, at 12.15. Amazing speed on the ground, those beautiful, gleaming wings curving up and we were skimming, white on green, behind the tug, and then we were airborne. I knew it was going to be alright.

So we flew to Lasham and back. Just like that. Five and a half hours of hard work and mostly silence except for the beeping of the vario, the constant radio chatter and Paul’s swearing at thermals. Once he sang. I was happy to be there, an interested passenger, flying myself for maybe five minutes. We went straight from the tow, climbing at Clee Hill and the Malverns, struggling at Cheltenham, low onto the Cotswold edge into the murk where there were more climbs, then off to Cirencester and Swindon, weaving and dolphining, sometimes circling. By now the almost aerobatic manoeuvres were making me sick. We paced the traffic on the motorways, cruising at 80 knots. Incredible machine, she just went and went. In thermals he stood the glider on her wingtips, finding four knot averages, sometimes more. He simply rejected poor lift after a few seconds. I liked the way he weaved slowly, rising in strong lift, or searching for the core. The pull-ups left my stomach behind. At one point I wondered what on earth I was doing there, and how would I last? I gave up trying to understand where we were and concentrated on surviving.

Then I perked up, realising we would get there. Paul was speaking on the radio to Andy Holmes at Lasham. We turned the airfield so low that Paul spotted Nicola Claiden on grass-cutting duty. Busy with gliders everywhere, then we left them behind and headed north, east of our outward track. My navigation attempts had been pathetic (I mistook Tenbury Wells for Leominster and Newbury for Reading) but I got concerned about Brize Norton and identified it by the Thames. Paul said cheerfully, "We’ll take a climb." In what? Weak lift here. He scratched, nothing, so flew on (I would have gone back – why? – but he never did in this flight, always on if he rejected the lift), skimming the top of the zone. Getting low again at the Cotswolds he again abandoned the weak climb and headed for the only cloud that looked possible, which worked. Paul talked to Rowan Griffin, flying out of Shenington, who reported good lift at Worcester, so we flew north. He turned one of the murky climbs into an actual cloud climb up into a cooler, clearer grey. Glorious to burst out without warning, cruising among the clouds. We might get home? Apparently we were on glide for Shobdon.

The climbs were not so good. Paul asked for a report from the Mynd: four knot thermals still. He worked us towards home, again leaving the poor lift. We didn’t need much more height. We could see the cloud marking Clee Hill, but the hill itself was invisible. Up past Ludlow. The lift was weak. He dumped the water (my one self-appointed task, not to let him forget it). Go for Shobdon? The Mynd, now visible, looked impossible. He flew towards it, in nothing. We won’t make it. Various chatter on the radio, John Stuart on marginal glide from somewhere in a K23. Julian was talking to Paul about the conditions. We were gliding to Craven Arms, I was wondering where we would land. The Traveller’s Rest field was brown, no good. "There’s a glider down there," he said. Where? I couldn’t see it.

Almost blue sky, the clouds gone, and the landscape was rising up around us. I kept quiet and let him concentrate. Then he circled, and there was Wenlock Edge, the trees maybe 400 ft below us. He began to work the hint of lift. I watched the progress of the trailer on the A49 towards the glider I could see in the field below. Gradually, so slowly, we climbed. The altimeter crept to Mynd height, and then above it. Then we lost the thermal. "Wind shear," Paul answered himself, moved and reconnected with the precious one up. And then he decided we would get back, and headed for the club, which had appeared from behind the wood. We flew over John Stuart in a field at Pillock’s Green. Paul asked me to secure loose objects, so I clutched them all, and then we were diving at the launch point, I saw 130 knots on the ASI as we raced on, down and down and past everyone, and then up and up and so to the circuit and landing. We stopped. Silence. Home.

Of the twenty or so trophies which the club awards each year surely the most prestigious is the Siam trophy made of silver, almost certainly Siamese. It comprises an eagle with wings outstretched to a span of some twelve inches perched on a hemispherical base all of which is mounted on an ebony plinth about nine inches high and seven inches in diameter.

The trophy was presented to the club by Prince Birabongse (Bira) of Siam (Thailand).

"To be awarded annually for the longest distance in soaring flight." The trophy is not restricted to club members but is open to anyone taking off from the Long Mynd. Until the late ‘60s many of the winners had done the ‘milk run’ downwind to Great Yarmouth or other east coast destinations for a 300 km Gold distance/Diamond goal flight. As glider performance improved eligible flights were allowed to include closed circuit and other flights via turning points as well as distance in a straight line as was originally envisaged. Prince Bira (famous for racing ERAs and Maseratis) was a member of the club (share number 262) from October 1945 until he resigned in January 1951. He is said to have flown cross-country with his dog in the cockpit but without having made retrieving arrangements. On landing at some distant point he would engage the local removals firm to haul his glider back to the Mynd.

The first winner of the Siam trophy was Charles Wingfield (1948). Early among the fifty or more names engraved on the individual shields on the trophy’s plinth are:

• David Ince (1949) 193 miles
• Ric Prestwich (1955) 190 miles
• Philip Wills (1957) 204 miles and (1960) 275 miles (442 km in a Skylark 3).

In 1966 Ric Prestwich won it again but with the shortest ever distance of 87 miles. During the ten years from 1971 it was won either by Don Brown (five times consecutively 1972-76) or by his syndicate partner Bob Scarborough also a five times winner. Others since have won it twice but the Brown/Scarborough domination has not been rivalled.

Alas I have never won this trophy but they have let me polish it (and all the others) every year for the past few decades so that they appear bright and gleaming when presented at the club’s annual dinner. (This year April 1^st.)

It will soon be the start of the cross-country season again and with it the Inter-Club League competition. The last two years we have come very close to winning and, as team manager this year, I would like 2000 to be the year we succeed. With this in mind I hope I can count on interested pilots and support crew to make an early commitment. A little planning goes a long way!

A notice will be placed on the club board and on the web site (www.longmynd.com) on which to place your name and details, by the end of February by the latest, if you are interested in taking part. Ideally I would like at least four pilots in each of the three classes willing to fly one of four weekends each. That is a team of twelve pilots and crew, plus reserves, over the summer. The winning team then goes on to compete for the national title on a further weekend at the end of the season.

To assist in building a strong team this year I shall give preference to those who can demonstrate that they have taken advantage of the early season good days by covering a few kilometers on tasks, however small. See the duty instructors or the CFI on any promising days and ask them to set you a small task if you need help or encouragement. John Stuart has some interesting 50 km triangles that never take you out of gliding distance of the club.

I also intend, with the help of Rose Johnson (British Women’s Team), Iain Evans (Junior and Overseas Nationals) and Nick Heriz-Smith (CFI), to organise some training weekends during the season for the selected team that will cover tactics, flying faster, flying safely, competition antics, cross-country planning, reading the weather, good airmanship and having fun, amongst other things. We may even be able to organise a K21 for these weekends for some real hands on training. This is a chance to take advantage of the club’s own competition pundits and learn from their varied experiences. These weekends will only be available to the team squad so if you would like to take advantage of this opportunity to improve your skills, at no cost other than the flying, sign up as soon as possible.

A successful team of pilots needs an organised and dedicated support crew so this year I would encourage anyone who doesn’t wish to fly but would like to broaden their experience to sign up as crew and take part as well.

We particularly need novices this year so I want to hear from anyone with aspirations no matter what their experience. Don’t forget to sign up early as it makes the planning a whole lot easier.

For more information contact:

Jon Hall

Team Manager

01244 332766 (day) 01244 336999 (eve)

rockpolishers@heritageresource.co.uk

Dominic Haughton

Assistant Team Manager

01829 770569 (day) 07829 250654 (eve)

haughton@t-e-s.co.uk

Thank you to all who worked in the kitchen and helped make the busy evenings for Christmas and New Year a success.

Please could all members settle any outstanding debts immediately, especially payment for Christmas and New Year. Remember that food should be paid for on the day: I am considering imposing an extra charge (5%) on any outstanding accounts not settled by the end of January.

If you do owe money and will not be at the club in the near future I would be grateful if you could send a cheque to me (payable to I.Butt) at the club.

Some people find it more convenient to make a forward payment into an account and then not have to worry about money until the sum is eaten away.