2024

Welcome to 2025! Time to look back over the last year through rose tinted glasses and misty eyes. Apologies if I’ve missed anyone or anything off this list.

Numbers

  • We have 169 ‘full flying members’ (up from 145 last year) including 51 junior members!

  • We did 4356 winch launches and 1218 aerotows

  • We flew over 2592 hours (across 219 flyable days)

  • We flew 219 voucher flights

  • We flew 300+ more flights than last year



Achievements:

Solos

  • Lewis Armitage

  • Hayley Atkinson

  • Freya Edwards

  • Neil March

  • Charles Bonello (13 years after first going solo)

  • Rodger Scriven (many, many years since first going solo)


Lots of people transitioned to new gliders and new launch methods…

OTHER Achievements

John Norman had his 10,000th flight (if only he’d stop waggling that stick!)

25 years after Andy sent Tony solo in a glider, Tony returns the favour - sending Andy solo in the motor glider.

Eddie turned 95

Lloyd won the day at HusBos gliding competition then insisted on telling everyone how he did it - using PowerPoint by the looks of it…

The kitchen got the highest food hygiene rating (thanks to Keren/Bernie)

Other achievements (without photographic evidence):

  • Sandy Loynd became an ASCAT

  • Jim Roberts became a BI

  • Cyprian Rudy did his 50k

  • Bill Young celebrated 50yrs of gliding (first flight in July 1974 !)


New Toys

The new K21 finally arrived and flew on the 3rd Feb (thanks to Mal and team for collecting from Germany and Bob Fox for doing battle with the CAA and BGA to get it registered.)

Chris Price finally got his dream tractor (thanks to Andy Thornhill and Trev for sourcing.)

In our push to meet our NetZero goals we obtained an electric buggy (thanks to Mal for donating and Alan West for rewiring it.) Below we can see Bob Kirbitson taking it to VNE as part of our rigorous test procedures.

Fettling

A lot of fettling happens behind the scenes - what follows are some examples where we managed to get photo evidence. Thanks to everyone involved - whether on film or not.


Andy Thornhill and Trev Chrimes fitted a new engine to the tractor - and as a reward will now be able to rebuild the previous one ‘at their leisure’.

Bob Kirbitson with a spade in his hand again, burying yet more bodies (and helping to install the additional CCTV cameras - sourced by Trev.)

Bob Fox and team installing a new winch in the new Pawnee

Our crack team of engineers eventually managed to assemble a new table for the briefing room (nearly 400 years of human knowledge right there!)

The SuperCub is back online after an oil issue

Yet more punctures were fixed - mostly by Steve Ruffell

Thanks to Erik, Cyprian, Henry, Neil, Lewis who have done amazing things with the Junior and LS4

The Kendall meridian was born…

Winch cables replaced - thanks to David, George, Richard and Tony.

Two Seater Comp 2024

One of the best 2 seat comps of recent years. Thanks to Mike Jordy, Alan Rands and their team for a fantastic week.

  • 36 competitors

  • Approx 170 aerotows

  • Approx 330 hours of soaring

Some pictures below - more can be found on the WhatsApp group


Events

Steve Ruffell ran a parachute training evening…

The clubs commitment to recycling (and fascination with big blue lorries) is plain for all to see - as ‘Sues Bin’ arrives.

Coming Soon

Lots of things planned for this coming year:

  • The DG1000 will be with us in April (probably, maybe)

  • Open Day on 21st June

  • Club ‘Maintenance Weekend’ 1st/2nd March

  • TSC 2025 17th-24th August

Absent Friends

Sadly we lost Monet Chana and Dave Binney in 2024 - both long standing members of the club who helped make it what it is today. Our thoughts with their families.