News from our leader ....

Latest news & warnings from the CFI. Please also regularly check the briefings site. Here are the latest notes for instructors:

---

Wednesday 10th February

There is a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) published on the club's website. There will more to follow. Can all members read and digest please. They will be updated as required throughout the year and an updated version issued in 2011.

If you have any comments, please contact the document author. In the case of safety documents, the Safety Officer and in the case of the Flying and Information Manual, the CFI. If you want to publish a document can you use the BGGC template, follow the document naming conventions and ensure the document is in PDF.

-CJE

Monday 11th January

There is an updated set of rules (BGGC Flying and Information Manual 2010) published on the club's website. Can all members read and digest please. The manual will be updated as required throughout the year and a new major version issued in 2011.

Other documents have been updated too. If you want to publish a document can you ensure you use the BGGC template, follow the document naming conventions and ensure the document is in PDF.

There are some other documents in progress (Safety and operational SOPs), which will apear when complete.

If you have any comments, please contact the document author. In the case of safety docunents, the Safety Officer and in the case of the Flying and Information Manual, the CFI.

-CJE

Wednesday 4th November

Please read and absorb the following BGA flash on Tug Upsets.

Tug Upsets

These happen when the glider gets excessively high, pulling the tug tail up uncontrollably. Sometimes the glider suddenly zooms above the tug in an unstoppable manner after an initial pitch-up, putting the tug into a steep dive requiring as much as 400 feet to recover.

The sequence of events occupies only 2-3 seconds, giving little chance for either the glider pilot or tow-pilot to recognise the problem and pull the release in time. Some years ago the BGA ran a successful campaign to stop the resulting fatalities to tug pilots, but several years without incident now appear to have ended.

This year there have been two reported upsets and at least one other not reported. Fortunately none resulted in crashes. Six factors make upsets more likely. Three or more together should be considered unacceptable

* Lightweight glider

* low wing-loading

* C of G hooks intended for winch launching

* Short ropes

* Pilots with little aerotow experience

* Near aft C of G.

* Turbulent conditions

C of G hooks are the worst factor but the presence of any of these factors increases the danger.

-CJE

Sunday 13th September

There is an instructors' meeting on Friday 18th September (07:00-09:00PM) in the clubhouse. Could all instructors please try to attend.

BGA instructor renewals have to be completed by the end of September. Can all instructors who require renewals please ensure they are completed before this date.

-CJE

----

Thursday 29th April

Annual Checks-

Can all solo pilots ensure they have completed their annual checks and sign their names on the annual check list in on the small notice board in the main lobby. Remember annual checks are not an optional undertaking.

Daily Inspections

There have been a number of DI incidents, including one at this club, that have led to gliders launching or attempting to launch with controls not connected. Fortunately none have led to an accident or injury, which can only be put down to astonishing good luck. Can I remind all pilots to ensure they conduct a positive control check as part of the daily inspection. All club glider Daily Inspections must include a positive check. Do not assume that because a glider hasn’t been de-rigged and is in the hangar that it is serviceable (See DI SOP on the club’s website).

Silver Badge Flights

All pilots who want to attempt a 5 hour flight or 50k must ensure they have permission and are fully briefed by the duty instructor first. Apart from being qualified to undertake the task you will need to demonstrate you are equipped to do so (maps, water, hat etc.). Flights completed without permission will not be approved (See the Club’s Rules and Recommended Practices on the Club’s website).

BGGC Minor Incidents

Hywel Moss (Safety Officer) has introduced a local reporting system for capturing minor incidents and identifying any trends before they have the opportunity of evolving into major accidents. The scheme is a “no blame” process is only interested in capturing the circumstances surrounding an incident. The person connected to the incident and the person reporting the incident can remain anonymous. All members are encouraged to take an active interest in airfield operations. It there are any incidents, including ground handling, launching complete a simple paper form (found in the launch bus) or use the template attached to this email to document the event. Hywel Moss will send a separate note to all members with more detail. Please contact Hywel if you have any questions or concerns.

Summer Season

Even though the soaring season may not always be sunny, high temperatures can lead to Heatstroke and Dehydration. Remember to take precautions:

Wear a hat, sun glasses and loose fitting clothing, which allow air to circulate around the body.

As a general rule, drink more than you feel you need. If cockpit temperatures are very high you can sweat more than a litre an hour.

Avoid diuretics, such as coffee or tea.

Make arrangements for relieving yourself. Pilots who desperately need to pee can become obsessed with their discomfort such that they can lose concentration on the critical issues such as lookout or an imminent landing.

There is a water container in the launch point (with cups) for use when operating on the airfield or waiting to launch. Please use it (See Human Factors presentation on the Club’s website).

-CJE

Wednesday 10th February

There is a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) published on the club's website. There will more to follow. Can all members read and digest please. They will be updated as required throughout the year and an updated version issued in 2011.

If you have any comments, please contact the document author. In the case of safety documents, the Safety Officer and in the case of the Flying and Information Manual, the CFI. If you want to publish a document can you use the BGGC template, follow the document naming conventions and ensure the document is in PDF.

-CJE

Monday 11th January

There is an updated set of rules (BGGC Flying and Information Manual 2010) published on the club's website. Can all members read and digest please. The manual will be updated as required throughout the year and a new major version issued in 2011.

Other documents have been updated too. If you want to publish a document can you ensure you use the BGGC template, follow the document naming conventions and ensure the document is in PDF.

There are some other documents in progress (Safety and operational SOPs), which will apear when complete.

If you have any comments, please contact the document author. In the case of safety docunents, the Safety Officer and in the case of the Flying and Information Manual, the CFI.

-CJE

Wednesday 4th November

Please read and absorb the following BGA flash on Tug Upsets.

Tug Upsets

These happen when the glider gets excessively high, pulling the tug tail up uncontrollably. Sometimes the glider suddenly zooms above the tug in an unstoppable manner after an initial pitch-up, putting the tug into a steep dive requiring as much as 400 feet to recover.

The sequence of events occupies only 2-3 seconds, giving little chance for either the glider pilot or tow-pilot to recognise the problem and pull the release in time. Some years ago the BGA ran a successful campaign to stop the resulting fatalities to tug pilots, but several years without incident now appear to have ended.

This year there have been two reported upsets and at least one other not reported. Fortunately none resulted in crashes. Six factors make upsets more likely. Three or more together should be considered unacceptable

* Lightweight glider

* low wing-loading

* C of G hooks intended for winch launching

* Short ropes

* Pilots with little aerotow experience

* Near aft C of G.

* Turbulent conditions

C of G hooks are the worst factor but the presence of any of these factors increases the danger.

-CJE

Sunday 13th September

There is an instructors' meeting on Friday 18th September (07:00-09:00PM) in the clubhouse. Could all instructors please try to attend.

BGA instructor renewals have to be completed by the end of September. Can all instructors who require renewals please ensure they are completed before this date.

-CJE

Wednesday 12th August

A new application form for Gliding Certificates with the A Badge endorsement is now available. From 1st October, applications will only be accepted on the new form. Please would instructors ensure claiments download the latest version of the BGA forms from the web site as required

(http://www.gliding.co.uk/forms/abadgeclaim.pdf)

-CJE

Sunday 26th July

Little Rissington now hosts a GA operation (Devon Air) as well as the Air Cadets. The Air Cadets will now be monitoring movements will report any incidents to the CAA that interfere with Cadet Flying (e.g. poor airmanship and not conforming with circuits etc.).

Little Rissington is not an ATZ and gliders are still we welcome. However, the Air Cadets would like all gliders who are near their circuit or intended to land to call them on Rissington Radio: 124.100

-CJE

Saturday 27th June

The ANO requires that all qualified pilots are required to take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that their flights can take place safely. This includes checking NOTAMs before flight.

All BGGC Bronze applicants will need to complete the new Bronze paper from July 1st. The new Bronze paper includes an oral test on NOTAMs.

The BGGC process will require applicants to demonstrate how to access, retrieve and interpret NOTAMs using the club’s computer. To help the BGGC has provided a guide to using NOTAMs, which is available from the BGGC website.

The AIS has also published a printed AIS website user guide. The guide is available on the AIS web site (www.ais.org.uk).

-CJE

Friday 5th June

You will all know that by now that Tim has decided to stand down as CFI. Tim has been CFI for a hundred years and for many members he is the only CFI they have ever known.

I agreed to take on the CFI role three weeks ago. Three weeks ago it seemed like a breeze. One week into the job and one accident, two dead tug and the resignation of the professional instructor it seems more like a strengthening gale.

For those who don’t know me and have a pressing desire to discuss flying matters I’m always available. I am the tall, young chap with thick dark hair and charming mellifluous voice. Normally found in the bar.

Not strictly CFI things, but I promised to raise them:

1. Avoid driving a diagonal leg across the airfield at the west-end. There are ruts forming across the airfield where you will be landing. Please extend the driving circuit to the end of the airfield.

2. Ensure club parachutes are carried to and from the gliders in their bags. A P2 tripped over trailing parachute straps as he was carrying two parachutes towards the parachute loft stairs and only just avoided a head-on with the clubhouse floor at the bottom of the stairs. Keeping the parachutes in their correct bags will also keep Ken Brown very happy. For those who are unaware, Ken looks after the parachutes and ensures they are maintained and repacked. You may want to thank Ken one day.

Chris

Monday 25th May

I have been CFI for very nearly 10 years, which is far too long. Chris Edwards has volunteered to take over, he starts tomorrow. Please give him all the help and support you can, I know, he will need it.

Tim

Instructor's Meeting Minutes 26 April 2009

To attendees:- Kevin Tarrant, Mark Thompson, Hywel Moss, Alison Moss, Kevin Neave, James Ewence, Rob Hanks, Graham Morris, Alan Montague, Ed Wright, John Timpany, Andy Townsend, Elaine Townsend, Pat Greer, Don Puttock, Steve Eyles + Colin McEwen in attendance. Apologies from Dave Ascroft, Simon Bawden, Dominic Conway, Chris Edwards, Alison Mulder, Sid Smith, Jim Wilson & Tony Gillett

1. Full Rating tests Pat Greer, Hywel Moss, Kevin Neave and James Ewence, were congratulated on completing full rating tests. Rob Hanks had agreed to do one soon and all other assistant rated instructors will also need to do them in due course because the BGA are now strongly recommending that the instructor in charge of the field has a full rating. Pat Greer is now a BGA Advanced Aerobatic Instructor and BAeA Regional Aerobatic Glider Check Pilot for the Southwest Region.

2. How to get the DG used more for cross country – All instructors were encouraged to book and use it more. It should be normal practice to get it out of the hangar at the start of the day. We will try an improved hangar packing system so that it is easier to get out.

3. Annual checks must include stalls/spins & launch failures. Strongly encourage all pilots to spin their own glider.

4. All X-C pilots who have not landed out in the last 12 months are to be strongly encouraged to have field landing training in the Motor Falke. This is confidence building as well as instructive.

5. Check flights for type conversions are to be given in suitable two-seaters. For example for LS 4 conversions use the DG not the ASK 21.

6. Held-off landings - talk to people who do not do this.

7. Circuit critique - talk to each dodgy circuit pilot, ask for self-critique.

8. It was agreed that the ASK 21 should be used for trial lessons and instruction not involving stalling or spinning. The DG should be used for X-C & spin training and the Grob for basic training. Pat Greer, who has instructed with Dunstable’s all ASK 21 fleet, thought it not as bad as some think but agreed that it could not do any spinning exercises. It was pointed out that we should be teaching a lot of stall and spin avoidance by constant practice, not just the occasional spinning flight.

9. Improving launch rate.

a. Launch point control. All instructors were in favour of having a launch point controller. Elaine Townsend will talk to as many members as possible and try to organise a system.

b. Chasing the cable. The winch driver should not be driving the truck on busy days, all to make sure that this happens.

c. Pilots not being ready to launch. It is up to all Club members to make sure that they are ready. Gliders that are not ready should be removed from the launch queue.

10. Shortage of P2s, particularly at weekends:

a. How do we convert Trial Lessons to members and retain new members? The main suggestion was to make more effort to talk to and be nice to potential and new members. If the instructors don’t have time to do this, then nominate a Club member to do it for you.

b. How do we structure weekend instruction/trial lessons? No one was keen on any fundamental changes to our present systems except for instructors to “mentor” pupils they have flown with.

c. Is a booking system/day course system possible? No one was prepared to organise such a system even though it had worked well in the past. Any volunteers from those instructors who were not at the meeting?

11. Ab-initio training records and pilot development. Don circulated a paper on use of the pre and post solo training cards and strongly encouraged all instructors to always fill them in. When the EASA instructional system comes in it is likely that a much more formal training system will be introduced.

12. Safety. Hywel Moss, Club Safety Officer, described how he will promulgate information to instructors and members so we can learn from the events. We will be hearing from him shortly on the details of the Web based system. He has noticed that we are not reporting nearly enough incidents. We must do so as this prevents accidents.

13. Recent Incidents

a. Ground towing incident when the wing walker was injured: Notice in tow truck and all instructors were reminded to make sure the window is open on the vehicle so that the driver can hear the shout of “stop”.

b. Pawnee (Steve Eyles)/RF 4(Pat Greer) near miss. This was yet another case involving the lack of downward visibility from the Pawnee. I will ensure that all Tug Pilots know if this incident. The question of the use of Radio at Nympsfield was raised again. The Pawnee radio does not transmit and is to be fixed ASAP. It was not considered practical or desirable for all gliders and Tugs to make circuit calls on the shared frequency that we use at present. It was considered sensible to have 129.975 on and to use it when doing anything unusual in the circuit. Post meeting note – several gliding clubs have got their own frequencies, is anyone prepared to spend the time trying to get our own frequency?

14. It is the Duty instructor’s responsibility to make sure there is Drinking water on the bus.

15. Chris Hughes has said that he will give up gliding when he is 80 later this year. All agreed that we should encourage him to continue as he is fit to do so.

16. The CFI said that as he has been CFI for nearly 10 years he will be handing over the post this year. This is a Committee appointment, all instructors were encouraged to talk to Colin McEwen (Club Chairman) about possible successors. In future it is envisaged that it will be a 3 year appointment.

17. Post meeting note: - quite a lot of Club Solo pilots have not had check flights in the last year. Duty instructors please see the notice on the board in the foyer and check flight the miscreants before they fly solo. A month or so grace is sensible but some are way over.

Tim 26 April 2009

Spring 2009 update 16 April 2009

Tim

Winter 2008/09 update 3 December 2008

Flying Rules update 30 Oct 2008

The Club Flying rules and Recommended Practices have been updated. They contain a lot of useful information, can all members please read them. They are in - Flying and operations – Briefing Notes & Rules – Club Rules – Flying Rules

Minutes Instructor’s meeting 25 Oct 2008

1 Apologies for absence were received from – Chris Edwards, Steve Eyles, Graham Morris, Don Puttock and Kevin Tarrant.

2 Teaching stalling must not be attempted in the ASK 21. A recent pupil had 20 launches, mostly in the ASK 21 and no idea of correct stall recovery procedure. The ASK 21 confuses not teaches stalling.

3 Solo pilot supervision – normal weather. How to get people to talk to an instructor before they fly. It was agreed that we don’t need more rules, just to apply the rules that we have. The Duty instructor will always put a notice suitable for the day on a white board at the bus entrance. As instructors we need to be more interventionist, even when not on duty.

4 When signing people “off checks” we need to add the comment “but subject to daily briefings until Bronze is completed”.

5 Solo pilot supervision - NW and other turbulent winds. A culture change is needed. There is often weather when many pilots can’t safely fly solo. This is not a reflection on them, it is a fact of life and an opportunity to fly dual and learn something. The Bus notice must read something like - Wind 20 kts NW all pilots who have not flown in these conditions in the past 2 months to have a briefing from an instructor before flying. Pre silver pilots don’t expect to fly solo.

6 Winch launching in Southerlies. It was decided that we won’t change the present rules. An anemometer to go on the Club house has been ordered.

7 Annual checks are to include relevant questions on the Club flying rules and recommended practices, for example the minimum height for leaving ridges.

8 Solo ridge running (including lead and follow). The following has been added to the Flying Rules. Solo ridge running (including lead and follow) the minimum experience necessary is: - Silver C and to be in very current cross country and field landing practice. CFI or Deputy permission is required. It is strongly recommended that Motor Glider training be given in field landing from ridge top height.

9 It was pointed out that landing “down wind” (in the opposite direction to take off) has become too common, to the point where some pupils think that it is normal. This is a dangerous practice and came close to causing an accident recently. It is acceptable as a very occasional way of extracting yourself from the shit but should be a very rare event, even when the field appears empty.

Tim 26 Oct 2008

Notes for all BGGC Instructors & Tug pilots 24 July 2008

Winching in southerlies

There has been much discussion on when we can and can’t winch safely with southerly winds. There have been far too many incidents recently when we have landed cables and parachutes much too close to people and gliders. Despite all our attempts to teach and brief pilots to allow for cross winds correctly these incidents continue. If we don’t do something we may well have an accident. After much discussion we decided that we have to increase our safety margins and have set out the rules as follows:-

1 If there is any southerly component in the wind use the small cable shutes.

2 The maximum southerly cross wind component for winching is 5 knots when launching from the West end and 10 knots when launching from the East end. This is the wind speed measured at wind turbine height of 200 feet*.

3 This does not absolve the winch driver, duty instructor and all pilots from using their brains. Clearly we must launch such that if the cable broke at the winch at the worst moment then there must not be any significant possibility of the cable or parachute falling on anything other than the airfield grass. For example in a 14 knot SW wind don’t launch if someone is towing a glider back over the old Quarry area where the field is at its narrowest. If the winch driver is not happy to launch he must not do so and must not be coerced into doing do by overenthusiastic pilots or instructors. Although pilots should all allow for drift we have found by bitter experience that we can’t rely on them doing so correctly.

4 The winch driver must never purposely “cut” the launch because the pilot is not allowing for the cross wind correctly. It is safer to continue the launch, wind the cable in normally and then seriously consider whether to do another launch that day.

5 If a winch parachute lands where it can’t be seen by the winch driver he must go and find it and move it to near the centre of the field before winding it in.

6 We must continue to teach correct “laying off” for crosswinds.

7 I will monitor the situation over the next few months and tighten of slacken these rules as necessary.

* We will either fit an anemometer to the club house roof or get wind data from the wind turbine people. We must have some form of accurate wind information. In the mean time we will have to continue to look at the wind turbine as, imperfect though it is, it is better than the various forecasts. Tim Macfadyen 24 July 2008

Notes for all BGGC Instructors May 2008

Dave Hallsworth pestered me in the bar on Saturday and asked me remind you all of the first 3 items below:-

1 If a wing runner finds that the wings aren’t balanced (because of uneven water ballast or cross winds) they must stop the launch. The Keevil fatal accident and the Club DG 505 accident were caused when the wing runner let go, the wing went down (or up) and the glider ground looped or cart wheeled. Please try and explain this to everyone and get them to act.

2 If you winch launch with the glider beside the bus, especially with the glider on the south side, the wing tip signaller can’t see landing gliders because the bus is in the way. The glider needs to be at least 15 meters in front of the bus for safe operation. With the glider well in front an alert lights operator can see if the glider wheel has run over the cable on an overrun and stop the launch. If the glider is too close to the bus the wing gets in the way and one can‘t see. Please position the launch point and bus accordingly. If we ever get hard dry ground again it is a good idea to have someone hold onto glider tails to prevent overruns.

3 To avoid getting winch launching cable wound around our wheels we have stiff plastic tube (of weak link colour) around the strop cable. Please don’t use strops if there are more than a few inches of cable exposed and not protected by the plastic tube. These strops should be cut up and remade with shorted cables, or longer plastic tubes.

4 There has been some confusion about the new “Group” trial lesson system. It is the Basic instructor’s responsibility to contact the victims and arrange to meet them at the Club, for tea and briefing, normally at 9.00. Can the duty instructor please open the hangar doors at 9.00 and start organising people so that flying can start as soon as possible. Some more leadership is required. I know that there is often a lack of people to lead and that herding cats is difficult but on soarable days we aim to get the first group of trial lessons flown before grid launching and the second lot afterwards. If we can succeed in this it will make life much easier for everyone.

5 Simon Bawden has just become a Basic Instructor. You may not all know him as he only flys mid-week. He is an ATC “C” Cat instructor so has been doing Trial Lessons for some time. He is keen to instruct on evening parties so please ask him help.

6 Please all go onto the BGA Web site before the end of this month and do your Mode S moan. It only takes about 20 minutes and could avoid us all spending a lot of money that we haven’t got.

7 Don has promised to contact all pupils to try to drum up some trade for future weekend mini-courses.

8 Please all pray to any God you believe in for some better weather next weekend!

Tim 26 May 2008

20 April 2008.

Weekend instruction (mini-courses).

After some discussion it was decided that we would do the following:-

One instructor would be on the rota each weekend day to run the field, conduct check flights and fly people according to the flying list as at present.

Mini courses would be offered on one day each weekend, to be booked through the office and flown by a group of club instructors who have volunteered to do so. The office will put the two course members in touch with the instructor early in the preceding week. The courses will be run in the same way as Don has been running them and as per the notes that he produced at the meeting. He has offered to give the Club instructors all the help that they need to make the courses successful.

I will put a note out with the Wednesday Email telling members what is going on and advertising the courses.

We will attempt to run the weekend operation without the help of the Professional instructors.

Basic instructors will be on the rota to fly Trial Lessons on the alternate weekend days when there aren’t mini-courses.

All the above will be constantly reviewed and changed if necessary. The objective is to get as much flying and high quality training as possible with the minimum of frustration and “hanging about”.

FUST are we teaching it. Standard practice at Nympsfield should be to teach this after launch and before entering the circuit (before high key). It was agreed that we would all teach this. Flaps undercarriage speed trim.

Graham Morris gave a brief description of the new EASA pilot licensing system. Nothing is yet definitely decided but it loos as though the new level of bureaucracy will be undesirable but manageable, with nothing that significantly restricts the way we operate.

Jim Wilson agreed to do an update of the training card to include FUST, miss-aligned launch failures and possibly other sight specific exercises.

I agreed to pester Richard Smith to get Mentors activated and specifically to encourage all Mentees to book the DG 505. It will be available for most of this summer. (Done).

There is a proposal to change the Trial lesson system at weekends to having three turn up at 9.00 for a joint briefing and three after lunch. Martin Talbot has proposed this system which most people think would be a good idea. He needs encouragement to make it happen. (I have asked him to organise this).

It was considered that the Duty Pilot system was not working and that we should revert to the previous system of a one year rota. For some reason I volunteered to organise this.

Thanks to all who attended and to all for your continuing instructing work.

Tim 20 April 2008 Yours Tim

1 Jan 2008.

As many of you will know Don has agreed to work at Nympsfield for this coming season, and I hope he will for many more. Don will be a Deputy CFI with special responsibilities for pre-Silver training. Gavin is DCFI with special responsibilities for post solver training. Russ is the third DCFI he will be acting CFI while I am in Africa this winter (if the Kenya situation stabilises and we go there as planned.

We are getting very short of instructors. Hywel and Alison have a project starting in February, this may result in another instructor long term but will reduce their availability in the medium term. Dan Welsh is off to NZ in March for a year’s Airline Pilot training. Dave Bland has not renewed after doing very little instructing in the last few years and I have failed to persuade James Metcalfe to renew. Phil Dunster has promised to re-appear, when he does we will get him back in practice ASAP.

Simon Bawden (who only flys mid week so some of you may not know) and Alan Montague should both be Basic instructors by Easter. Hopefully Pete Bagnall will be as well. Martin Talbot has expressed an interest in becoming a BI. Paul Gelsthorpe might renew if persuaded.

Don will be running mini-courses on many Saturdays this winter. He will be working Tuesday to Saturday most weeks (but will cover Mondays when the weather justifies it). Our intention is that while he will be organising and in charge of the weekend mini-courses much of the flying instruction will be done by Club instructors such that by the spring, when Don goes back to Monday to Friday, Club instructors will run mini-courses at weekends to Don’s very high standards and they will become normal Club practice every weekend day.

James Ewence has joined us from Sutton Bank. He is an Assistant Instructor and good Contest pilot of the same ex-Juniors group as Jim Wilson and Jon Baldock. He is a very welcome addition to the instructing team and has Andy Davis’s old Cirrus, which apparently remembers how to fly very well. Welcome to Nympsfield James.

Best wishes for a happy and soarable new year to you all, and no crashing please.

Yours Tim

10 November 2007.

Tim

1 October 2007.

Steve Trowmans has taken over from Chris Lemin as winch master. Chris was finding it increasingly difficult to find the time to complete all the necessary paperwork and training to keep the winching system running. I am sure that you will all give Steve as much help as possible with his new "job". Encouraging more members to learn to drive the winch would be a great help to us all.

20 September 2007.

a. The new small cable parachutes are very reluctant to operate the back release. If you don’t pull the release it is thus easy to carry the cable across the countryside! It is essential to pull the release, not to rely on the back release.

b. The small Shutes fall much faster than the old ones it is thus not necessary to allow for so much cross-wind drift. Watch the launch before yours and allow for drift accordingly.

c. Can you easily reach your release? If not get it modified so that you can. A simple lanyard may do the job (CAA approved string to you).

d. The launch signaller/wing runner is the launch controller, a very responsible job. He must stop the launch if the glider over-runs the cable and, very importantly if there is a significant load on the wing. On the recent DG 505 accident at Nympsfield and last year’s fatal at Keevil there was so much load on the wing, because of a cross wind, that when the wing runner let go of the tip one wing immediately went down. A shout of “Stop” would have saved both accidents and one life.

e. It costs about £1 per minute to idle a Tug and a few pence to idle a winch. If both launches are ready to go always send the Tug first.

9 September 2007.

Warning Little Rissington can be unfriendly:-

Normally aerotows out are not allowed but ask Wing C. Mike Douglas 07771 942452– they are sometimes allowed if the local villages are not overflown. The road access at the SW corner is now locked. The weekend motorglider people and those who work there know the combination but if you land when no one is there you may not be able to get out. They won't tell you the number (or they would have to shoot you) so you can't get retrieved after gong home time - ask Fed Hill who went back to get his glider the next day.

Minutes of BGGC Flying Committee meeting 7 Aug 2007

Those present:-

Tim Macfadyen, Don Puttock, Sid Smith and Gavin Wrigley. By invitation – Richard Grey, Dave Hallsworth, Lionel and Graham Morris.

Introduction

The meeting was convened hurriedly because of concerns expressed by the professional instructors about the danger of the winch parachute hitting a glider after a cable break. Apologies to those who could not attend the meeting because of the short notice. My thanks to those who did attend. The various issues were discussed at some length and the conclusions were as follows.

What the winch driver must do after a launch failure:-

Problems

1 After a weak link failure or deliberate cable release at below about 500 feet, if the cable is wound slowly into the winch it is possible for the glider to catch up with the parachute assembly and hit it. This could cause a very serious accident.

2 If the parachute and cable end up on the ground behind the glider and/or people and are then would in they can seriously damage both. Aston Down injured their CFI this way last year. There have been quite a lot of accidents of this nature at other Clubs.

Solutions Clearly the cable and parachute must be kept clear of the glider.

1 If the launching throttle setting is maintained when the cable breaks (or is released) and the winch then quickly runs up to max RPM the cable will be wound in at over 60 knots. The parachute initially shoots forward 20 feet because of the spring in the cable. This is the best solution, as unless the pilot conducts a death defying kamikaze dive the glider can’t catch parachute.

2 If the throttle is deliberately closed to simulate a winch failure or is closed, even momentarily, after a break while working out what has happened it is essential that it is not opened again to try and get the parachute in front of the glider. It is this re-opening the throttle that has resulted in the parachute getting dangerously close to the glider. Once the throttle has been closed and the cable allowed to fall away from the glider the cable must not be wound in until the winch driver is absolutely certain that it is clear of the glider, people and all other obstructions. If there is any doubt at all the cable must be left out and then the winch driver must drive up to the parachute and tow it back to the launch point. Conclusions

The above practices are exactly what we have been attempting to do for many years, nothing has changed. It is essential that all winch drivers understand the above and that all new winch drivers are trained in these launch failure procedures. In a nutshell the rule is – “either stop or go, never hesitate and then go”.

If there are any problems with a winch launch the pilot and winch driver must discuss them as soon as possible. This should make the system safer and better.

Note for all Club members,never move a cable unless the winch driver has specifically asked you to do so. Towing one end of a broken length of cable back to the bus could injure the winch driver if he is mending the other end!

Tim Macfadyen August 2007

For those of you who may be interested there follows the minutes of the Flying Committee Meeting held on Saturday 16 June 2007

Committee members:- Russ Francis, Gavin Wrigley, Sid Smith, Lemmy Tanner & Chris Lemin + Invitees Don Puttock, Graham Morris, Richard Grey & Andy Holmes.

Apologies for absence were received from Russ Francis and Andy Holmes

1 More powered aircraft on site. The committee considered whether we should encourage or discourage the presence of more powered aircraft and motor-gliders on site. There are current proposals for a Super Dimona, an RF 4 and a Robin 180 Tug.

Super Dimona It was considered that a Super Dimona could be a useful for training at Bronze/XC endorsement level for which there was a small amount of “business”. If allowed on site all Club instructors qualified to teach in motor-gliders would have to be allowed to fly it, (at present James and Graham). A motor glider that could tow would be much preferable (the proposed 80 HP aircraft can’t tow).

RF 4 There was total and strong opposition to having a further RF 4 on site. It was suggested that having the first one was a mistake. The RF 4 is not a motor-glider is of no benefit to the club and was not felt to be an appropriate aircraft to operate from Nympsfield. More aircraft and thus more noise would not be welcomed by anyone.

Robin 180 Tug. There was unanimous support for having another tug based on site, as a back-up to the Club tugs. The correct “deal” would have to be done with owners such that availability was guaranteed for competitions and perhaps task weeks.

2 Winch parachutes – can we use smaller ones and operate in southerly winds? After discussion it was agreed that Don would organise getting some smaller Shutes like the ones used at Halesland and try them mid-week under carefully controlled conditions. We don’t want increased cable damage, we absolutely must not increase the risk of dropping the cable across the road but it would be very useful if we could operate safely with a larger southerly wind component. Action Don

3 Booking two seaters at weekends/weekend courses. After much discussion it was agreed that this could be a good way of increasing the efficiency of our training and avoiding recent weekend situations where there had either been all instructors and no pupils or vica-verca. Don has contacted all Club Members below XC endorsement level and invited them to attend weekend courses. The first attempt was this weekend, with mixed weather, it proved very satisfactory. He will try to organise future weekends, his function will eventually be to put two pupils in touch with one of the duty instructors who will then use one two seater exclusively for a one day course tailored to the needs for those two pupils. He will initially play a more active roll in the system. All must agree to turn up at an agreed time, regardless of the weather, and fly and/or have briefings and lectures as appropriate. We all very much hope that this works. The details will be adapted as necessary in the light of experience. Acton Don/Tim

4 The “music stand” launch control point as used at Lasham. Putting the lights operating switches and radio on a music stand in front of the bus had been discussed at some length by several club members. The idea was to improve the safety of the launching system by having the operator outside and able to see better than from inside the bus. After some discussion it was agreed that we would retain the present system, which normally works well and make every effort to run it safely and correctly. Graham agreed to put a notice in the bus reminding members not to distract the Log Keeper while launching was in progress. Action Graham Morris

5 Paying for failed launches. An ideal system would probably charge for training launch failures and for launches that failed because of pilot error but not charge when there was a “system” failure. Running such a system would involve the duty instructor in endless arguments and prove impractical. For safety reasons it is much better to encourage people to land ahead than to turn. The recommended system that was felt not to compromise safety, to be practical to operate and as fair as possible was:- All actual or simulated failed launches in club two-seaters are charged at full rate. All other launches that result in a landing ahead are free of charge. Action Club Treasurer

6 Winch Log The Club committee requested that a log be kept in the winch as a cross check to ensure that no winch launches went un-logged. There was some discussion as to whether this was a real problem and as to whether the time taken to keep the log was worthwhile. It was decided that the winch log would only record launch time and account number and that the system would be tried out. Action: Chris Lemin.

7 Noise. It was pointed out that the Club did not have a policy on noise and that perhaps we should have a formal policy to minimise noise to our neighbours. Action Richard Grey

8 Fire Extinguishers. Sid asked if we should have fire extinguishers in all Club vehicles. No-one was sure of the answer and Richard agreed to talk to Phil Lee on this subject. Action Richard Grey

9 Motor Glider instruction. The only Club instructors cleared to instruct in Motor-gliders are Graham and James. Gavin owns and instructs in a Falke in Australia and Don has a PPL and Full Rating. Both could fairly easily get BGA motor-glider instructor’s ratings and the meeting encouraged both to do so. Action Gavin & Don

There being no further business the meeting closed at 19.00.

Thanks to all who attended.

Tim Macfadyen BGGC CFI

Update?