RN Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club (RNHPC)
Club
Newsletter 1/04
Introduction. “Happy
New Year” everybody. 2003 was a very good year for a number of
reasons. The weather was pretty epic and
a number of members did some good flights in the UK
Diary Dates. The following
are the key Club events for the year ahead.
You should be starting to plan for participation in the 2004
Competitions and Expeds now. Make the
effort to sound out your CO early to see what the chances of getting time off
are and at the same time get in touch with Scottie (Club Secretary) so that he
can start work on the selection signals.
Feel free to get in touch with me if you want some “top cover” to try and
get time off. So here are the dates:
·
RNHPC Easter Training week at
Crickhowell dates: 3 – 8 Apr.
·
Hang Gliding Inter-Services
dates: 20 Jun – 3 Jul.
·
Paragliding Inter-Services dates:
4 Jul – 17 Jul.
·
Joint Services Exped to
·
RNHPC Hang Gliding Exped to
·
Early 05: Possible PG and Hg
Exped to New Zealand. Still in early planning stages – Nigel Taylor is leading
on this so get in touch with him if you are interested.
·
British Club Challenge (BCC):
Usually at least three RN personnel take part in the HG and PG comps as part of
a Joint Services team of 6 – 8 pilots – participation depends to a large extent
on personal circumstances/availability.
Dates do vary due to the unpredictability of the weather. Probable dates
are:
i.
Qualification Rounds – dates are
arranged at short notice and could occur any weekend in May/June. Most likely
dates are 15-16 May, 22-23 May and 5-6 Jun.
ii.
Semi-finals: 26-27 Jun –
coincides with HG Inter-services.
iii.
Finals: 28- 31 Aug.
Easter Exped.
This merits a special mention. It is the ideal time to get together
after the winter lay-off and start flying in a controlled manner with a bit of
mutual support and hopefully some service transport. Please come along, particularly if you are a new
member who has just got your CP. We will
also have the club AGM during this week so this is your chance to influence
Club policy so please try and be there.
Inter-services.
As mentioned already the HG team won the Inter-Services for the second
year in a row. This was a great team
effort and our victory really hacked the Air Force off, which is
excellent. Unfortunately the PG comp was
weathered out with no flying in the Open Class although the RN/RM Novice and
Intermediate teams were in the lead in the three tasks flown in their classes. In both Comps we really need to bolster the
Novice and Intermediate Classes by getting as many new pilots involved as
possible if we are to stand a chance of holding off the Crabs and Pongos this
year. So please, please get in touch
with Scottie and come along, even if you are a brand new CP or you haven’t
quite finished the course yet. The dates
above include a work-up week before that actual Comp itself – so it is the
second week that is the critical one to attend.
We get funding to help with expenses, so you will even get given cash to
fly!!
Wingover.
To get a full account of the HGs victory make sure you get your copy of
Wingover from the Joint Services Center at Crickhowell. It is due out in early Feb but you won’t get
one unless you have got yourself on the Joint Services database – so ring
Maggie at the Center and get on the list.
It costs a one off payment of £5 (I think) to get on the list and then
you get this excellent magazine with all last year’s news and all the key dates
for the new year too.
Grant Bids.
The Chairman invited Cdr Mike Barge, Assistant Director of Naval Sport
and Recreation (A/DNSR) to Wales during the HG Inter-Services. He was very impressed with what he saw and
invited the Chairman to put in bids for a number of items to further improve
Club equipment holdings. The Chairman
wrote a £30K super grant bid, and the top news is that we have got the
lot. So over the next few months we will
be getting:
·
2 new Advance Epsilon 4
paraglider canopies – top notch Intermediate DHV1/2 wings
·
3 Moyes Litespeed 4S state of the
art Topless Competition HGs
·
2 new Sonic Intermediate HGs (to
replace our Airwave gliders which are now un-supportable)
·
2 new Brauniger IQ comp
vario-altis (top of the range competition varios with speed to fly to goal
functions and GPS compatiblity)
We also got clearance to bid for 3 new PG harnesses complete
with reserves to supplement our 3 Hurricane Gel PG harnesses that are getting
rather tired. With luck we will get
these before the end of the flying season.
So an excellent year for equipment purchase.
Web Site.
We have also made a gigantic leap up to date with the RNHPC Web Site
going live at last thanks to sterling efforts by Steve Blackler with help from
Rob Schwab. Well done guys. The site is at www.rnhpc.f9.co.uk.
Please check the site out and let us have your feedback on what is in it
and what else you would like to see there.
For those who can’t get the civvy Internet at work Steve Blackler is now
setting up a military version that can be accessed on NavyNet through the DNSR
website. This has loads of potential so
please advertise it to anyone that you know of that is interested in taking up
the sport as well as getting on there yourself.
Courses at JSHPC. Remember now is the time to get booked onto
that CP course before the Crabs and Pongos take all the slots! CPs have been extended to 2 weeks now to try
and improve the pass rate so book now.
Membership/Contact List. Remember that we can only help you if we know
where you are. Please contact Scottie with your latest address. If he is not available then contact the
Chairman – just a short ansafone message or e-mail is fine. Remember now is the time to pay your £10
membership to Wayne Holmes (Treasurer).
If you are waiting for Comp Fees reimbursement from the 2003
Inter-Services then Wayne will deduct this year’s fees from your share;
otherwise please pay up before we have to send the boys round!
Conclusion. That’s all
for now. Fly safely in those spring
thermals that are just round the corner and keep in touch:
Rob Dowdell
27 Jan 04
Chairman Lt Cdr Rob Dowdell
RWTS,
MOD Boscombe Down, Amesbury, Wilts, SP4 0JF
Boscombe
(9214 807) 2689 and Fax 2231 (01980 662689) or
rdowdell@qinetiq.com
Home
01963 220248, Mobile 07979 316256 or rob.dowdell@virgin.net
Secretary Lt Mark Scott
702
Squadron, RNAS Yeovilton, Ilchester, Somerset, BA22 8HT
Yeovilton
(93 510) 6086/7 (01935 456086/7)
Upsidedownman@supanet.com
Home
01743 741367 or 07968 420865
Treasurer CCWEA
Wayne Holmes
WO/Senior
Rates Mess, HMS Neptune, Helensburgh, G84 8HL
Mobile
07754 844843