NHGC Meeting 25/11/2020
Commenced 7:30pm at Bar Beach Bowlo
Attendees: Adriaan, Craig, Karl, JOD, Harry, Jamie, Ian, Ken, Troy, Billo, Selmsy, Andreas and guests Atmo and Petra.
Zoom attendees: Frans, ?, ? Sorry forgot to add people. Forgot who attended by zoom
Apologies: Matt Olive, Al Giles, Cameron Evans, Patrick Sheehan, Ward Gunn, Pado.
Last minutes – moved Ian, 2nd’d Craig
Business from last meeting,
Watagans Landing directly in front of new NE launch, on hold. Owners – husband for it, wife isn’t.
Watagan signs on hold until landing options information finalised. Need HG pilot to land in new NW launch bombout to show all ok – talk to Karl if you wanna be that pilot.
Hickson st launch – will remove ‘today’ off temporary sign once existing sign needs replacing. Temp sign can be found on a chain in the bushes right of the fork in fancy limestone step.
Xmas gifts – 4 off $100 vouchers to existing 3 bottom landing owners around Watagans and Marheins at Denman.
New Business
Jamie entered a competition by Diyode Magazine for a free MKR1500 arduino controller plus Telstra sim card. Intended project: - Weather station for the club!
Barraba Big Tow
Karl has organised the first aerotow comp at Barraba and it was very successful. Only 13 pilots attended, no doubt low numbers because of the pandemic and border closures. Those who did attend had a magnificent 8/8 days flying. Most tasks were triangles ending back at the airstrip. Tasks between 100-150km. The town was extremely friendly, generous and are enthusiastic to have us back next year, hopefully with a lot more pilots! Karl is going to do a story for the SkySailer. Without giving to much away some details include;
There were zero aerotowing incidents! Karl’s mini competition amongst the pilots to see who can take the dolly furthest at launch is a stroke of genius!
Alan McMillan got signed of as a trike tug pilot. He hung around for a few days and performed an extra 14 tows. He is keen to come back next year. Congrats Alan, we can never have to many tug pilots!
Rory Duncan did 34 joy flights,
The local aeroclub membership went from 2 to 24!
The aerodrome is perfect for aerotowing. It has perfectly smooth grass and a large area allowing towing in any direction. There is also lots of out landing options.
This year the comp ran at a ~$700 loss. This is pretty good considering it cost ~$9000 to run and there were only 13 pilots. This loss is covered by NSWHPA so it won’t affect the club coffers,
The competition dates for next year are 13-20th November,
Some people Karl would like to thank are Billo, Lorry, Mick White, David, Annie and Bill McKid from the aero club.
We would like to thank Karl for all the hard work and great success.
Manilla 2021 AA comp – Karl is still pushing ahead to make this comp happen.
Club Xmas Party
Same format as last year, Friday 18th Nov at 20 Maitland Rd Islington (Softys). Club providing BBQ (Vego’s included), Salad, Soft drinks, a few slabs of beer and wine. Budget same as last year, ~$450. Hopefully Rory and Foxy will entertain us again with some flying videos on the outdoor cinema screen!
Adrian will also send an invite the Newcastle Paragliding Club.
Safety / Incidents
- A visiting Canberra couple incorrectly rigged up their tandem paraglider at Strez Lecki. The harnesses were connected backwards! They managed to fly the glider, while facing backwards, down to Newcastle beach. They have been reported to SAFA where there tandem rating has been cancelled. They will need to re-sit to get their tandem rating back.
- Mark, one of Tony’s students, broke his arm at Redhead dunes attempting his first straight glides.
- Cara had a light wind aborted launch at Hickson st and ended up in the bushes a few meters out front. Fortunately there was no damage to pilot and glider.
Treasurer’s Report
Westpac Solutions 1 account
End of last month +$372.77
Zoom meetings deduction -$233.17
One new member +$15
____________________________________________
End of month +$154.60
Westpac Community Solution Cash Reserve Account
No transactions, same as last month +$22,443.09
End Meeting 8:21pm