NEWSLETTER 1/03

Introduction. Welcome to this year’s newsletter, slightly tongue in cheek but if this year is half a busy as 2002 then this may be all you hear from me! Hopefully a newsletter that will bring you all up to speed with what has been going on during the winter. A short insight into what is happening now in preparation for what could be the best flying year for along time. Plus stacks of information on what you can put in your diaries with respect to what is going on during 2003, along with a section by the Chairman on Hot Topics in the Club

Horses for Courses. The following courses are available during 2003. For a more comprehensive list look in Joint Service DCI 1 2003.

Ser	Course Dates	Bid by	Hang Gliding	Paragliding
(a)	(b)	(c)	(d)	(e)
1	31 Mar – 12 Apr 03	24 Mar 03	HEP 1/HCP 1	PEP 1/PCP 1
2	22 Apr – 03 May 03	14 Apr	HEP 2	PEP 2
3	6 – 17 May 03	30 Apr 03	HCP 2	PCP 2
4	19 – 31 May	12 May 03	HCP 3	PCP 3
5	02 – 14 Jun 03	26 May 03	HEP 3	PEP 3
6	16 – 28 Jun 03	02 Jun 03	HEP 4/HCP 4	PEP 4/PCP 4
7	30 Jun – 11 Jul 03	23 Jun 03	HCP 5	PCP 5
8	14 – 25 Jul 03	07 Jul 03	HCP 6	PCP 6
9	25 Aug – 06 Sep 03	26 Jul 03	HEP 5	PEP 6
10	08 – 20 Sep 03	26 Jul 03	HEP 6/HCP 7	PEP 6/PCP 7

EP is the elementary pilots licence. Prefixed by H for Hang Glider and P for Paraglider courses.

CP is the club pilot’s licence. Prefixed by H for Hang Glider and P for Paraglider courses.

Competitions. You do not have to be a sky god with lots of hours in order to represent the Royal Navy at Hang Gliding or Paragliding. All we need are keen people and as many as possible. You do not even have to be fully qualified. It is possible to finish off the elusive Elementary Pilots Licence or even get your Club Pilots Licence during the competition week although it looks like the rules for the different classes are changing this year (Crab rules about novices competing in comps). So put the dates below in your diary and ask for the time off and most importantly contact me as soon as possible so that I can get you on the selection signal. If you are selected (and no one has ever been not selected if they asked to come!) then there will be all manner of perks and travel assistance. If you are not selected then it is because we didn’t know you were interested!

Inter-services Hang Gliding Championships 07 –11 Jul 03

Inter-services Paragliding Championships 21 – 25 Jul 03

There is also a training week that precedes the above competitions. If you are having trouble arranging the time off then it is, for a small fee, possible to have a letter from the Chairman supporting your case for time off.

DRIVERS are required during the weeks of the above competitions to help retrieve those pilots that end up away on cross-country navigation tasks. If you know anyone that may be interested then get them to contact one of the committee members.

Help. There is a centrally controlled website for all RN sports. I need digital photo’s of you guys and girls flying. Preferably in jpeg format. Also anyone who has a particularly good flight and would like to share the experience, or more importantly maybe survived a flight that maybe you shouldn’t have done, then share your experience so others may learn from either your successes or mistakes. If you are shy then I will accept anonymous articles.

Expedition Time. The annual Club expedition to the centre at Crickhowell is on from 12 – 17 Apr 03. That is joining on the Saturday and departing on the Thursday before Good Friday. There are a total of 15 places available to dust off the winter cobwebs. This is an important event where we get airborne safely after the winter lay-off and get all the equipment audited and maintained. Also we will be holding the Club Annual General Meeting (AGM). So if you want to have a say in how the club is run you need to be there to put your opinions forward. Ideally you need to be Club Pilot rated, as instruction on the hill is limited but get in touch if you are only EP and we will contact the Centre and see if they can help. We have the use a Safari Land rover from Plymouth MT. So if anybody can pick it up for me then please get in touch.

The Committee.

As always the Club Committee positions come up for re-election at the AGM. As a reminder the current incumbents are:

Chairman Lt Cdr Rob Dowdell

RWTS

MOD Boscombe Down

Amesbury

Wilts

SP4 0JF

Secretary Lt Mark Scott

PTO 702 Squadron RNAS Yeovilton Ilchester BA22 8HT

Treasurer CCWEA Wayne Holmes

HMS Vengeance Port

BFPO 421

Comps CAEA Phil Whitelaw

AMG

RNAS Culdrose

HELSTON

Cornwall

TR12 7RH

Training WO1 (retd) D Fenwick

/Safety JSHPC

Cwrt-y-gollen Camp

Crickhowell

Abergavenny

Powys

NP8 1TH
Mil Phone: 9214807 Ext 2689

Mil Fax: 9214807 Ext 2231

Civ Phone: 01980 66+extension

Home Phone: 01963 220248

E-mail: rdowdell@qinetiq.com Rob.dowdell@virgin.net

Mil Phone: 93510 Ext 6070

Mil Fax:

Civ Phone: 01935 45+extension

Home Phone: 01743 741367

E-mail: upsidedownman@supanet.com

Mil Phone: Underwater telephone only

Mil Fax:

Civ Phone: 07754 844843

Home Phone: None

E-mail: TBC

Mil Phone:

Mil Fax:

Civ Phone:

Home Phone: 01326 564369

E-mail: philwhitelaw@hotmail.com

Mil Phone: 94354 ext 3245/3260

Mil Fax: 94354 ext 3314

Civ Phone: 01873 810386

Home Phone:

E-mail: jshpc@dra.hmg.uk

Club Fees: At present the Club Fee will remain at £10, with new joiners paying £15 due to the bumper pack of goodies. This fee will be reviewed during the AGM at Easter.

Chairman's corner. Rob Dowdell has asked me to put in the following topics that are going to be discussed at the AGM and he would like some feedback from you if you can't come on the Exped ie if you don't get in touch about these club policy decisions then he will assume you agree with them:

Hello members - happy new flying year. Hopefully I will see you at the AGM. We will be discussing amongst other things:

a. Competition Scoring: The whingeing Crabs have asked us to vet our members on our opinion of the current Inter-Services Scoring system. The system has been developed over many years and is aimed at making everyone feel that they have chance to influence the outcome of the comp. The Crabs don't like this as they tend to work as individuals - and they have some very good HG and PG pilots but of course they are fed up because quality team flying by the RN in the HG comp last year pushed them into second place. I won't go into more detail here but if anyone DOES have a major gripe about this then contact the Chairman ASAP.

b. PG wings: We successfully won a grant from the Sports Lottery last year for a NOVA Exact canopy - our first PG wing for the Club. The intention is to bid for another wing in the new financial year. The glider has had good use from the Portsmouth area PG members. The wing and our Hurricane Gel PG harnesses are currently being serviced at "The PG Loft" in Sussex ready for the new year. At the AGM we will need a vote from members for us to go ahead with the bid for another PG wing - let me know your thoughts.

c. Use of Club Equipment: We are currently having a nightmare with HG equipment. Gliders have come back from loan in a very bad state requiring a lot of club money to repair them. The people returning them deny any accidents……all pretty poor really. You must check equipment when you take it on charge and report any damage when you return it. We have tightened up loan procedures and equipment records now at the Centre. Do not take any equipment without first contacting the Treasurer or Chairman to get authority. Dave Fenwick will not let you sign out equipment if he has not been contacted first by one of the Club Committee. Hire fees will have to go up to cover this damage and hire fees will have to be strictly enforced from now on - this will be discussed at the AGM - any proposals to me please.

d. Personal Insurance: We have been directed by the Navy Sports Board and the FAA Command Legal Advisor to tighten our policy on personal insurance. This is because a number of accidents are occurring in other sports where people have not been officially on duty and have not qualified for death/injury in service benefits. It is proposed that anyone hiring Club flight safety critical equipment - ie Hang glider, paraglider, or harness will be required to sign a declaration that they have been informed about the need to arrange personal accident cover. They will also have to sign that they have been briefed on the implications of free flying using club equipment on death/injury in service benefits. Obviously contentious issues so please give me feedback - we are in a litigious society now and procedures have to be tightened up.

e. Wingover database: If you are not on this database held by the Centre you will not get the annual JSHPC magazine nor all the application forms for comps and expeds happening this year. Ring the Centre and check that you are on it - you have to pay a one off £5 to register. If you don't do it don't come moaning to us that you don't know what is going on.

So that’s all from the Chairman and myself. Lets get as many people as poss at the Easter Exped and to the HG and PG Championships. Get airborne!

Mark Scott

Secretary RNHPC