Yes I know it’s been a while. I don’t have any good excuses so I won’t give you a bad one.
The weather hasn’t been that great lately so flying has been limited to the odd patch of brilliance. In case you don’t know we do have a group of high school students flying on Thursdays & by all accounts this is proving successful. I haven’t managed much flying myself lately although a few weeks ago a westerly forecast looked promising. A few of us were at the hangar getting the day under way & we were greeted by the sight of 5 or 6 Auckland club members in convoy. Gliders were rigged & various tasks were mentioned. I will cut the story short there & say that I really have no idea what the others did for the day as I spent a good part of the day in a paddock between Paeroa and Hikutaia watching gliders go back & forth! Keith Irvine did a great job of the retrieve & we arrived back at the clubhouse around 5pm. Most frustrating.
The land out story I just mentioned was an attempt at the Care 200 task however it was not to be & Dave Dennison is now the trophy holder for the task as awarded at the awards dinner. The dinner was a great night with Peter Stockwell sharing a few memories of his RNZAF career as well as giving us an overview of CTC operations. Other trophy recipients were as follows. Presidents Pot for most meritorious flight – Neil Raymond, De Renzy Pot for Most Improved new Pilot – Nigel Brinkworth, Tom Martin trophy for the club member who has provided outstanding friendship & service to the club - Joan Wine I was awarded the Ken Bartlett trophy for most outstanding personal best. The only disappointment from the awards is the fact that three trophies were not contested. Let’s get out there & give all these trophies a crack this coming season as we try & improve our cross country skills.
On more of a housekeeping note do have a message to pass on from Iggy...
From the President - Thank you to all of those club members who have paid their annual subscription. Over half of last year’s members have not yet either paid or resigned. If you are in the group which has not yet paid or resigned, please settle up promptly so that the treasurer and secretary can do all of the other actions which are flow on from this. We have to make sure that the Gliding New Zealand dues are paid and that only financial members fly or use club aircraft. The committee volunteers are busy people and should not have to take on the extra task of raising invoices or chasing you up individually. According to the Club rules, this year’s subscriptions were due by 21 July 2014. I do not like grizzling but, if you have not yet paid, this is a grizzle.
I hope I get to see you out at the field soon, even better in a decent westerly. Remember to keep up with our Kiwi team at the world gliding champs on at the moment.
Cheers,
DM
