Its the end of another year.........

As we are just a few hours away from the start of a brand new year, it seems appropriate to take a brief look back over 2015 and look forward to what 2016 has to offer us all.
I've enjoyed a good year of flying and have made some fabulous new friends during the first year as Chairman of our new club - Slope Soaring Sussex.
Through the sterling efforts of our very own Rob Stanley (Hon Treasurer & Secretary) and the enthusiasm and support of our growing membership we have built up a club that is definitely going places.
Exactly where we are going is still to be decided by you - the club members.
Rob and I have got the club up and running and now its time to share the control and direction of the club with our membership. Here is where you can help shape the future of our club and help take some of the strain of Rob's shoulders by joining the committee and help us build a club for the future.

For the next year we need a Treasurer to look after the day to day running of the club's expenses. We also need Facilities Officer who will be responsible for the day to day looking after of our club field. This role doesn't require a huge amount of time dedicated to sitting on a tractor mowing but you would co-ordinate the maintenance of the field getting the membership involved (many hands and all that).
Rob and I are club Instructors but I personally feel there are better qualified and hugely talented members in our club who could do this job far better than us, so we will be looking for a new club flying Instructor.

There are opportunities for many new positions to be created on the committee but we need ideas. If you feel you have a particular skill or talent that you could share with us for the good of the club then please let us know. We have an opportunity to build a club that is run for the members but that needs the input of the membership!
Feel free to contact either Rob or myself to chat through the available committee posts or suggest some new positions - paul.hampshire@shelf-space.co.uk (07834 859018)

Both Rob and I are of the agreement that committee members should serve no longer than two years at any one time, in order to keep the committee fresh and bring new blood in with new ideas. So the door is open to everyone - young, old, experienced and the not so experienced. Come and make it a club that you want!

We have finished our first year and Rob has done a fantastic job what with keeping up with it all and I hope you have all now received your membership cards and you all have your 2016 BMFA Insurance? The idea is to extend the membership you have already paid for up to the end of March 2016 (this being the date that we have to pay the rent on our flying field for the next full year).
Between now and the 1st April we will be negotiating the rent with the field's owner and we can then decide on next years subs that will be due on or before the 1st April 2016 (on receipt of your subs you will be issued with a new membership card).

AGM - As you would expect from an organised and well run club, we will be having an AGM to discuss any matters that need discussing and vote in new committee members etc...... we will also be presenting the club's finances to members , these will have been checked by a competent independent accountant before the meeting.
We have fifteen members and if all of you turn up for the AGM (which I hope many of you will) then we need a suitable venue to hold our meeting. Can anyone suggest a venue that can take between 10 - 15 members that is central to us (Haywards Heath is smack in the middle when Rob plotted all of our locations on a map). A small hall, a Pub's meeting room but not a pub bar as per another club's AGM's we used to belong to or maybe one of you have a large house but I'm open to suggestions. Please let me know ASAP.

Well that's the end of my long post and it just leaves me to thank you all for your enthusiasm and help during 2015 and I wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2016.

Paul Hampshire

Chairman
Slope Soaring Sussex

Mill Hill Tuesday 29th Dec

Hi All,
This morning I picked up Andrew and we headed to a deserted Mill Hill for 09:30.
The wind was straight on the hill and gusting at about 25 mph.
We launched Andrew's Zagi and then he was away for about 1.5 hours with the occasional landing and short breaks , otherwise he flew solidly.... definitely his longest and by far, most successful session with loops, rolls, and a good number of landings. Well done Andrew...
I had my Moth which I also flew for quite a long time, with only 1 occasion where I hit the Zagi , but it was not intentional.
By about 10:00 we were joined by Scott with his Wildthing and Les with the Cliffwacker, Jet Provost and Middle Phase...
The Wild thing was great, as they are, and Scott was carving up the sky doing all sorts of manoeuvres...
Les tried the Cliffwacker first which needed a bit of weight adjustment, then it flew well, the Jet Provost behaved much as usual - short flight followed by hard landing - not Les' fault, that model just WON'T behave.... Finally Les resorted to the Middle Phase which was of course pretty good.

At 11:00 we had all had enough, so we came home...
A very enjoyable session

No pics or vid - sorry  Rob

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Well, what a year we have had - we started by trying to get a club together and affiliate with the BMFA - we needed 5 members to do that and only just made it.
Since then, we've grown through friends and contacts to become a club with 16 members, a 10 acre flat field and a lot of equipment like bunjee, winch, battery, charger, etc....

Paul and I would not have guessed last year that we would be entering 2016 in such a great shape.....
and for next year we are looking to extend our membership and make better use of our field. 

One of our associate members - Kevin Beale is the SE Area Chief Examiner for Silent Flight and another full member - Bernie Jones, is a BMFA examiner, so between them I'm hoping they can lead us to get our 'A' or 'B' tests which a number of our members have expressed an interest in.

Until then, Paul and I would like to wish you all the very best of the season, a happy new year and many thanks indeed for your loyal and enthusiastic support this year.

Rob Stanley
Hon Secretary/ Hon Treasurer

BMFA Newsletter

Hi All,
I have just received the latest BMFA newsletter which I have emailed to club members -

For anyone reading our blog who isn't a club member please follow the link below to get the latest BMFA newsletter -

https://www.bmfa.org/Clubs/Club-Bulletins/ArticleID/2327/Club-Bulletin-224-December-2015 

This takes you to the BMFA page where you can download the pdf file to read...

Best regards
Rob

Slope Soaring Sussex Re-Affiliated to BMFA for 2016

Hi All,
Today I received all our BMFA paperwork for 2016 including our members' BMFA insurance document and member stickers, the club membership document, our club affiliation documents and club insurance documents.

This means that all of you who renewed your BMFA through Slope Soaring Sussex for next year are now covered under the BMFA insurance and the club insurance.

I posted earlier in the month that there are a few beneficial changes to the insurance and they can be found on the BMFA main website.

I will be processing your documents and printing new Slope Soaring Sussex membership cards for 2016 and hope to get them in the post very soon, however, you are now covered to fly beyond 31 Dec this year in case you don't get your documents before then (which I hope you will).

May I take this opportunity of thanking you all for your loyalty and great support throughout our 1st year....

Best wishes

Rob Stanley
Hon Sec / Hon Treasurer.

South East BMFA Newsletter is now Available

Hi All,
I have now received the latest edition of the BMFA SE Area Newsletter from our area editor.

I have emailed a copy to all of our members, but if you are reading this and NOT a member of Slope Soaring Sussex, but want to see a copy of our area newsletter (and are a BMFA member), please contact me at - rob@littlehobland.co.uk and I will forward you a copy.
It is not available online, so I can't post a link to it unfortunately.

Rob

Saturday at Mill Hill

Hi All,
Andrew and I arrived at Mill Hill at 9:15 where we were greeted by a herd of 'Dexter' cows in the road and all around the flying area, plus a very strong wind of at least 30 mph maybe gusting to 40 mph.
Andrew's wife , Claire, also came along with their Doberman 'Dexter' and went off for a long walk with him.
We tried Andrew's Zagi, but it flew backwards towards the cows, we landed it and swapped to the Ninja which flew very well in the blustery conditions.
After a short flight we decided to wait for Paul and Steve to arrive before carrying on.

When Paul and Steve arrived at 9:45 they launched the M60 and Steve's Polecat which both flew extremely well and they were racing around the sky. Both models needed ballast really to get the best, but they still pushed on through the strong winds and proved more than capable given the conditions.

Meantime, I got distracted by the cows which had blocked the car park entrance, so I had coax them into a safer place.
After that I was playing games with Dexter (the dog , not the cows !!), throwing his Frisbee and trying to get it back from him.

Rob

Please Note - Saturday's Flying will be Mill Hill about 9:30

Our mate Steve is bringing the Welsh weather with him this weekend and he calls me a weather jinx??
Looking at the weather for the weekend its not the best but we might be able to salvage some flying on Saturday. Strong SW winds with grey cloudy skies. Sunday don't look that good.

BMFA Renewal for 2016

Hi All,
Well, it's that time of year when I have fill out all the BMFA forms to renew our club and members' BMFA insurance.

I got the club 're-affiliation' pack this morning in the post and thanks to you all paying your subs for BMFA into our bank account as I asked,  I was ready to renew everything for all of us.

However, as we're only 1 year old and I have never done a 'renewal' before - I felt it necessary to call the BMFA office for advice on which forms to fill in, which bar-code stickers to put where, how to change 'lead club' for quite a few of our members (from country member to club member), how to notify them that Bob King has move home, etc.......

So after 2 hours of work I managed to complete the paperwork and I can announce (subject to confirmation from BMFA), that all of you who asked to renew through us have now been processed and I have posted a large envelope of papers to BMFA this evening....
Paul and I would like to thank you all for your loyalty and support this last 12 months and look forward to even better things next year (whatever that might be ?)

As far as I know - we will all be covered by BMFA for 2016 - unless I get that phone call from BMFA  ...............


Rob

SOLD 3m F3B Full-House Mouldy For Sale

Hi folks,sorry it's been so long. Work and life in general have kinda taken over and I'm at a point where something has to give and - with a baby due in less than 3 weeks - it's sadly my newly discovered hobby that's bearing the brunt of it!

 

Anyway, as you'll probably remember, I blogged a few months ago about buying a pretty stunning used F3B plane called a "Europhia", made in Germany by Martin Weberschock.

 

The reality is that I'm not going to get the chance to get this beast airborne any time soon (perhaps it was wishful thinking when I bought it). Rather than it sitting on top of my wardrobe gathering dust, I thought that I would sell it on so that it can be used for what it was intended for.

 

It's by no means a perfect plane and I bought it as I wanted the best big-wing mouldy I could get my hands on for around £150. In the end I paid £200 for this one, but it is a pretty awesome plane and would be a great model for someone looking to get a big-wing mouldy without risking big money.

 

Comes complete with metal geared servos (and I have all the various flap/crow settings etc. written down) and a battery, so all it needs is a receiver and it's good to go. Also has some old wing bags to get you started.

 

Here's what the dude selling it too me wrote:

 

I think you'll find an awful lot of flyers would like a mouldie for £150.00 but, if your budget can stretch to £200.00 I think I might have just what you want. It's a "Europhia", made in Germany by Martin Weberschock. It's an F3B plane, it's fully fitted out with servos, it's a VERY good flier which is only let down by it's scruffiness. It's fully structurally sound, full of carbon parts and, I think anyway, ticks most of your boxes. Why not rummage around on the web to find the ads and YouTube videos that are there featuring Europhias and then mail me back if you are interested. This is NOT a mint condition plane at a giveaway price, it's a good, strong,long serving, knocked about mouldie that could, I believe be exactly what you want - pic attached

 

 

 Anyway, not looking to make a profit or anything but just trying to claw back a bit of money to help with the seemingly endless baby-related expenses! If anyone is interested, give me a shout and you're welcome to pop round and take a look and make an offer if you like what you see.

 

I'm probably going to be away from the slopes for a bit but hope that I'll be abele to resume a little further down the line once everything's settled down a bit.

 

My number's 07855916434

http://slopesoaringsussex.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/buying-glider-from-other-side-of-world.html