Essex CO6 3AQ Tel: (01206) 242596
glide[at]esgc.co.uk
"essexandsuffolkglidingclub" |
Wormingford Airfield, Fordham Road, Wormingford, Colchester, Essex CO6 3AQ Tel: (01206) 242596 glide[at]esgc.co.uk "essexandsuffolkglidingclub" |
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Good evening, and having mugged John Bone into taking over the job of Safety Officer, some of you might be surprised to see me still on the committee. This is because I felt that it was important that the committee should create a new post of Launch Systems Co-ordinator, at least on a trial basis, with a view to looking after some of the aspects of our launching procedures which are not already being attended to by other committee members. None of the work required is new. It is just that I felt some of it needed to be co-ordinated rather better than we have done in the past. The committee agreed to my proposal, and here I am to tell you what it is that we think I am supposed to do. Well, at any rate, I can read out a draft job description of Launch Systems Co-ordinator, so he goes:
1. To monitor the condition and quantity of the elements of the launching system between (but not including) the winch cable and the glider.
2. To liaise with expert assistants to ensure that the quantity and condition of the above items are consistent with safe and efficient operation, to an appropriate extent in line with any BGA advice.
3. To co-ordinate expert assistants in an attempt to improve the quality and reliability of launch command communications between the Launch Marshal, Retrieve Winch, Launch Vehicle, and Winches, consistent with safe operation, and following as far as possible current BGA guidelines.
4. To liaise with the Winchmaster, and those responsible for the maintenance and training on the Retrieve Winch, and to deal with any issues arising, whilst maintaining safety as the highest priority.
5. To promote the adoption of regular Launch Marshals, and in consultation with the CFI and instructors, to further develop marshalling and launch procedures that are safe, efficient, reliable, and well-understood by all club members.
6. To be a point of contact on the committee for volunteer assistants in the maintenance of the tow-out vehicles (i.e. the tractor, Land Rover, and the buggies).
So, clearly, there is an awful lot to do, but as I said a few minutes ago, none of this is new stuff. It simply means that there is a named post on the committee, the job to try to facilitate the development of things which are connected with the launching process, but are not under the direct control of other specific committee members, e.g. the Winchmaster and CFI. If we find the post does not prove worthwhile, we can scrap it later. Currently the post is co-opted, but it may become elected at a later date.
The good news, after looking at that long list of jobs, is that I will not be doing any of the actual work. It will take me more than enough time, which I really seem to lack that the moment, simply to attempt to co-ordinate some of the individual efforts that go into this area of operations. I am already extremely grateful to certain people, most notably Colin Downes for looking after the parachutes; Frank Fear for the weak links; Bryan and Mark Roberts for dealing with the training and mechanics of the Retrieve Winch; Neil Morley, Andy Winton, and Pete Joslin, for improving the radio communications; and Alex O'Keefe for being willing to look after the buggies. Apologies if I've missed out anyone in particular, but these people have all been giving their time, in some cases a lot of it, freely, and without it we would be in a terrible state. I am now looking for one or two people who would be prepared to take on the overall responsibility for one or both of the tow-out vehicles, not necessarily to actually fix them, but just to keep a close eye on them and to use me as a source of funds from the club if anything fairly expensive needs to be done to them. The poor state of the tow-out vehicles has not passed the committee's notice.
I could ramble on for hours about our plans for the future, but the reality is that over the last year, whilst we have made progress in certain areas, it still remains a problem to get enough willing volunteers to not only maintain the equipment in his current state but also to improve it, so please volunteer if you can. As well as asking for volunteers to look after the tow-out vehicles, I will also be trying to instigate more effective launch marshalling, and this will be particularly important when Retrieve Winch operations are running at full speed. More about this later.
As I said earlier, my day job seems to be taking more more of my time than I like, but short of retiring I see no way that I can give nearly as much time to Launch Systems, or being DCFI, as I would like, but with the required willing assistance from people who know far more about mechanical things and electronic things then I do, I am sure that we will be able to make further progress into what hopefully will be a good soaring season.
Last thing: without waiting for an order, they sent us 55 new charts, so if you ordered one, please collect it soon and tick your name off the list on the box. If you did not order one but want one (and you should do if you are going more than 5 miles from the airfield), simply add your name to the bottom of the list. There are a few as yet unallocated charts. First come first served. The cost is £14 and will go on your doghouse.
Thanks for listening, and that's all from me.
Andy Sanderson
Launch Systems Co-ordinator, ESGC