25th - 26th January

We had a good weekend's flying on 25th and 26th, with five or six new members from OUGC turning up. As usual, they all got a fair bit of flying and went home smiling. Sunday's weather was better than forecast and members spotted this in time to get in some flying.

The refurbishment of the briefing room is progressing, and we will have a working day on Sunday 1st Feb, but there is a list of jobs to be done for those with free time mid-week. So don't be shy about helping.

Special thanks to Mike Pettican, Roger Crouch, Phil Gardner and Bruce Wainwright who did a lot of clearing up of the bits removed during the last big work session, after having a full day's flying before hand.

Our new launch point facility AKA The Bus will be arriving this week, and soon we will be organising work teams to adjust the seating, etc, to suit our use. So again, don't be shy at offering to help. Having worked on three previous buses, there are always many little jobs that can be done by almost anyone. If I can find tasks that suit my limited skills, so can you. We can't expect OJ and Pert to do all the work (or we'll soon see why they call him OJ...)

Refurbishments

The start of 2009 brings the start of the planned site refurbishments to the briefing room, entrance foyer, bar, toilets and members lounge.

Sunday 4th January saw many club members mucking in to strip the briefing room, ready for upgraded electrics and then plastering. In order to keep costs to a minimum, any and all contributions of time and skills in order to get these refurbishments done will be very gratefully received. We'll keep you updated on the blog on our progress!

Happy New Year

We had a gathering of some 25-30 at Bicester for new years eve. Please see photos.

The night consisted of a non-existent curry at the Taj (16 of us walked out after waiting for 3 hours), then much beer at the bar was consumed to make up for it! The new year was welcomed with Champagne, and new years resolutions.

George unpronounceable has even given up smoking.... Good luck George! We'll all be watching out for those sneaky cigarettes finding their way to your lighter. A great night was had by all. Bring on the 2009 season!

Motor Glider G-CFMW

The new Falke is now ready to fly.

Notes for those with an SMLG have been prepared by Alan Smith, outlining the differences between this aircraft and the other Falke, which is still available. Check with Alan, Dave Watt, Mike Pettican or OJ before flying this aircraft.

Currently G-CFMW costs £54 an hour to hire.

Sat 6th / Sunday 7th

Congratulations to Rogier (Rocky) Westerhaus for passing his Bronze Exam with a very high score, AND then his Bronze GFT an hour later, to complete his Bronze! Dave Burrett also re-soloed after a layoff. Alan Smith has now converted his NPPL to include SSEA, so we expect some trips in the Robin!

Richard Chapman is now all sorted for instructing on the Winch, and Tony Cleworth flew his first trial flight as a BI.

John Marriott also sent someone on a first solo (some bloke with a beard)! If this was you, or you know who it was, drop me a line. Well done none the less!

A great weekend, loads of flying, lots achieved.

The OUGC training week starts tomorrow, we will be Winching all week this week, please feel free to come along and fly. Any instructors or Winch drivers would be particularly welcome!

Friday 5th December

A good days flying was had by a few, achieving 20 winch launches and a bit of Motorgliding.

Next week, we will be flying everyday as it's OUGC's training week. If it's a nice day, please feel free to tag along.

At the moment, the long range forecast is ok from Tuesday onwards.

TEST

THE TEST

Well, now we have a blog, and when time allows, we will post interesting news items and /or what happened today. Remember to visit the club's website at Windrushers Gliding Club, Oxfordshire

Your Blog Editors are Mike P and Dr John