Due to very poor ticket sales this even is postponed until early October 2014; date will be confirmed ASAP.

Air League Gliding to Solo Day at Lasham sponsored by British Airways. What a delightful, intelligent and enthusiastic crop of youngsters. You are welcome here any time.
Well done Andy Perkins for getting this going. (4 photos)

Well done Adam Hoskin - nice trophy on becoming BAeA Advanced Champion held at Saltby 29 May - 1 Jun 2014.

http://www.aerobatics.org.uk/results/2014/GliderNationals/CD%20Report%20and%20Results.htm

Celebrate Summer Solstice Dawn To Dusk

This is the first Longest Day event at Lasham for 3 years so get some cheap flying in on Saturday 21st Jun 2014.

First Launch available from 04:17 and last Launch available until 21:54.

Winch Launches are only £5 (£3 for youth) from dawn till 10AM and from 6PM till dusk.

After 6PM there is an additional bonus in that you can have 1000’ free on Aerotow!  Aerobatics anyone?

Volunteers are required (before and after “normal” flying times) to do the normal stuff, winching, retrieving, instruct/supervise and to generally help out.  Offers of help to Peter Baldwin 07885 750942.  Hangar doors will be opened at 03:45 hrs and so first shift required at that time – set yer alarms.

The “Bruvvers” will be doing breakfast at the Launchpoint from first launch.   

This year we are supporting Naomi House Childrens Hospice Nr Winchester and £1 from each winch launch and £2 from each Aerotow will be donated towards their fundraising efforts.

After Wally was awarded his BGA Gold Medal he opened the 2014 Nationals here at Lasham with an emotional speech in which he donated his Glider number (4) to LGS.  The speech is reproduced here for your information:

Thank you very much last year’s BGA Executive for this great medal.

I am especially delighted because it is a reward for putting in more than you take out.  We are a self help sport and rely on each other to work for our clubs and the BGA to make gliding the great activity we all enjoy. Do please encourage all, but certainly the young to take this on board and they too should win medals.

My publicity slogan used to be “gliding is a unique sport – team work on the ground, individual effort in the air, brawn on the ground, brain in the air”.

Break Break – Our wonderful Manager, the Colonel Stroud ordered me to wear a tie or else and round here we obey!  Back in the dark ages we all wore sports jackets and ties when going gliding, then came the flying suit era and now happily it is comfortable clothing known as ‘gliding’ scruffy chic.

In 1944, just 70 years ago since I first came to Lasham, posted here in the RAF before we went over to France.    The following year I fell in passionate, all absorbing everlasting love when as a member of a small team was ordered to restart Oerlinghausen as an RAF Gliding and Rest centre and I started gliding.

I am able to boast that I have now been actively involved non stop in gliding longer than anyone else ever in the UK in the history of our sport.

Now forgive me, here comes an emotional bit.  At a BGA Council meeting in

1955 Philip Wills suddenly announced that from then on we would have competition numbers and without a pause said ‘I’ll have No.1 for myself, Nos. 2 and 3 for the Newcastle Club I represent’ and he stopped to take breath – I jumped in and claimed No.4, others followed suit.  Poor Philip, he was going to dispense more largesse to other friends but we beat him to it.  It was the first time we stood up to him and he did not like it!

Thus I have ‘owned’ No.4 since then, it has been on every glider I have owned. But the time has come and I have offered and it was been accepted by Lasham Gliding Society hopefully to adorn our flagship.

At the same time my daughter Christine who has ‘owned’ No.3 since 1976 when she and her husband bought Andy Coulson the Newcastle Chairman’s Kestrel has also ‘given’ it to LGS.

Now to the important bit – the comps!  How I miss them. Since my first in 1947 I have crewed, competed, task set, directed and tugged and pranged twice!  Now they are slightly different compared with my early days.  30 to one was the top L/D, mainly downwind dashes and when the first electric vario appeared followed by the Bohli compass so great in cloud we thought modern technology was magic.

So I wish you all a super comps, have fun, fly safe and may you all win!! It give me great pleasure to officially declare the 2014 Nationals and the Lasham Regionals open. 

Dear members,

 This is an update just to inform you of two issue that you need to be aware of:

 Please remember that if you are submitting comments in a separate document to email a copy of your additional comments to the BGA at  farnborough@gliding.co.uk.  The BGA are asking  you to do this so that they can ensure that TAG accurately reflects all remaining comments received in their report to the CAA

From Friday 11 April 2014 at 11:02 a.m. to Wednesday 16 April 2014 at 10:08 a.m., there was a technical fault with the Airspace Change Proposal website (www.consultation.tagfarnborough.com).  This resulted in all submissions between this time not being recorded and no confirmation emails being sent out to respondents. All other parts of the website were unaffected throughout this period. The fault was fixed on Wednesday 16 April 2014 and the website is functioning correctly.  TAG Farnborough Airport apologises for the inconvenience that this may have caused and we encourage those affected during this time to re-submit their response. In order to ensure that sufficient time is available to re-submit responses, TAG Farnborough Airport is extending the consultation period until 10:00 a.m. on Monday 12 May 2014.

Following upgrades over the winter, the Lasham single seater fleet is in excellent condition for the soaring season. The three Discuses have upgraded ClearNav varios and all three Grobs now have standardised instrument panels which include ClearNav varios with Glider Guider displays. All six gliders have brand new Funkwerk 8.33kHz radios, loudspeakers and microphone booms.

So, to take advantage of these great improvements, all you have to do is turn up for the daily ballot at 8:00 am in the clubhouse. The demand for single seaters is usually lower during weekdays, so you have an even greater opportunity to try out the new kit if you can make it then!

Shown below is the new panel for SH7