24/09/08 The weather claimed it's fifth night to bring the season to a close. See you at the skittles in October.

17/09/08 While Merv's away sunning himself in Jaca the marauders exceeded their target to break the 900 launches for this year - well done everyone. Congratulations to Nigel on mastering the aerotow and to Myriam for passing Uncle Bob's 21 test! At last the 'new skittles' page is actually new for this year!

10/09/08 The evenings are getting dark really early these days! - if you want to fly you must be here early. Gallant Liam sacrificed his turn for Hélène who said "It's not as scary as it looks and I felt in very safe hands"

03/09/08 Important info - Skittles booked for 29 October/Merv away in Jaca on 17th September and 1st October -

so last evening is now Wed 24th September

03/09/08 From inside the weather looked perfect - but outside the strength and gusts of the wind claimed the fourth evening. On the plus side belated congratulations to Laura on completion of her red card flying test. Another white card test completed ably by Dan (the smallest) Smallbit. Laura and Liam have been voulnteered to organise this years 'New Skittles"! Whilst Alex is coding an online menu selector which needs to be active soon to be of any use - watch this space....

20/08/08 Very short but busy evening incorporating a jet movement change of runway and four launches providing an impressive launch rate of 26 per hour!

13/08/08 No flying tonight - too busy celebrating Andrew's 4th birthday. Well done to Rob Law and Phillip Smallbone successfully completing thier White card tests.

06/08/08 No Competition flying again! - small weather window used well before the rain and Thunderstorm curtailed our activities. Well done to Liam for mastering his new K6E just prior to its transition due at midnight.

30/07/08 Congratulations to Paula Greasley for going solo last weekend - apparently Gary P didn't wan't to fly with her anymore! Quote of the evening in response to Paula's post solo questionaire 'What was the best part of your training?' Merv said 'Coming on a regular basis with a great bunch of guys!' Another smooth performance including a change of runways exceeding the target but creating a few headaches whilst resolving the logsheets later.

23/07/08 Delayed by a phantom ATC movement that never materialised, we recovered well for a reasonable launch rate of 19 ph. Our numbers were bolstered this week by the University Task Week members and their gliders. For those of you who are missing the total launches for this season the answer is 696 to date (hopefully the glitch will be resolved shortly)

16/07/08 Welcome to our latest instructor recruit - Dave Allen - we had an excellent instructor/pupil ratio of 4:1 initially!

02/07/08 A beautiful evening after the rain cleared at 16:00. Congratulations to Brad Duncan for his successful first solo flown on 31/05/08. At the peak of the season we now have capacity for new members - come and join us.

25/06/08 Congratulations to Liam And Alex for their successful first flghts on type in the G102 and Discus respectively. Another very pleasant and soarable evening where the launch capacity exceeded the demand - I hope everyone who wanted to fly flew as much as they wanted to.

18/06/08 Late start after unpacking hangar, windy evening reduced numbers but increased launch heights to 2000' With only three gliders operating a relaxed pace was maintained throughout the evening. The forecast rain arrived eventually at 00:30.

04/06/08 A beautiful summer evening provided both soaring opportunities a notable crosswind early in the evening, but became calm and cool later. Dave Bowtell not only took the helm during Merv's absence, but seems to have tamed the retrieve winch: his skillful driving ensured there were no major snarl-ups, allowing a steady pace of winch launching throughout the long evening for a so-far-unofficial total of 57 launches, plus 4 aerotows. Look out for the official statistics and attendance records which will be published after Merv returns to our green and pleasant land next week.

28/05/08 Our first Merv-less evening was a washout. Rain and low cloud prevented any flying. The promised clearance appeared about 3 hours late, just after it got dark. Had it been just a bit earlier, we could have operated as normal.

21/05/08 A fine evening with a number of soaring flights. After flying the Bocian to Parham and back with Nigel during the day, Gary opted for a change of scene by clambering into a tug and providing a number of aerotows to supplement the busy two-winch launching operation. The only thing missing (from curry, at least) was Merv, who departured for Jaca immediately after the sun went down. Statistics and attendance will be updated after his return.

14/05/08 Despite a late start due to runway change we achieved 50 launches exceeding the target by 5! A tricky evening with a blustery north easterly wind produced some interesting departures and landings. Congratulations to Richard Peate who solo'd on Monday Evening (apparently due to shift commitments) - likely story anything to get out of buying a round of beers!

07/05/08 Delayed by a sluggish outbound jet we soon recovered to maintain a smart pace for the remainder of the evening. The retrieve winch was feeling poorly after a break so we gave it a rest to convalesce.The low sun and height of the lights again proved troublesome - but much improved as darkness fell! Congratulations to Laura completing 95% of her red card flying test with guest instructor Clive Thomas.

30/04/08 The last two days incessant rain ceased for 1/2 hour enabling a quick 4 launches before it started again. Many thanks to Mark Wills, Mick Wells and Trevor Hills for standing in on the depleted instructor corps giving an excellent instructor pupil ratio of3:1! - if the weather had been more favorable I am certain they would have all been kept really busy. I hope Ed and Chris are having better weather in Jaca this week.

23/04/08 Congratulations to Paul Lewis on going solo. The retrieve winch operation was rapidly replaced by the two winches after a break occured when the parachute snagged on the runway edge during a normal retrieve.

16/04/08 A cool but pleasant evening with the low sun interfering with the lights delaying a launch or two. Despite this the target was reached, even with a slightly lower launch rate. Congratulations to Dave Penney for re-soloing after four years lay off - its about time! The good news is the second winch is back online - the bad news was we only had the one winch driver - maybe next week?

9/04/08 Another good day after the weekends snow! More new faces stretching our capacity with only one winch. Apparently the second may be coming on line soon, watch this space. An early start gave us the edge to easily beat the target, but there were a few areas where we could have done better. The presolo list is now full for the moment as we need to provide 45 launches for them alone. If everyone is to fly then we must become slicker in our operation. (Note to self - Must Try Harder!)

2/04/08 A super evening after a miserable day got us off to a reasonable start to the 2008 season. With only 3 instructors, no winch drivers and a good turnout. We managed to fly most - but not all.

11/03/08 This season's list has been posted just inside the entrance to the clubhouse for a few weeks now and is beginning to fill up so if you want to join us, sign up soon (or if you can't get to the clubhouse send us an email). The first evening will be on Wednesday 2nd April.

25/10/07 Saturday early mornings return this Saturday 27 October @ 06:30 at hangar doors

25/10/07 Skittles results - congrats to James and Sara (also last years ladies winner) for best scores and Paul for surviving the token Killer game. Highest flyers this season were Paul and Janet with 46 each and with an unbeatable 100% attendance record Pete Robey. Mike and Ian were given a vote of thanks and their small reward was collected in their absence by Merv - don't leave it to long to retrieve them guys! Many thanks to Laura and Liam for organising another great end of season do!

26/09/07 Bitterly cold end to the season with a strong northerly providing 1700' launch heights from the short runway. A new distraction appeared on the landing area - a number of young spritely bullocks took a fancy to the grass on the other side of the ineffective fence that was indeed greener! Fortunately, 'Farmer' Dave was on hand to round them up.

21/09/07 Skittles list posted click here

Skittles update - Date confirmed for 24th October. Laura has started collecting £11.00 per person, if you wish to attend the end of season event please make sure that Laura knows who you are and has your money!! This years menu choices and guest list will be appearing here shortly - don't forget partners are welcome too.

19/09/07 A window of opportunity appeared at 18:00 which we used. 50% of the time available was used to set up the airfield leaving us just under 1 hour to fly. With launches to 2000' and single winch operation a good launch rate was achieved. Photographic evidence was obtained after all the parachutes were reunited with their bags by WEC members - how long will that last?.....

12/09/07 Merv arrives straight from work at 21:00 - just in time for a curry and to do the logs! Another good evening with an enthusiastic performance. Only two weeks to go - new provisional date for skittles is Wed 24th Oct as 17th was already booked.

5/09/07 Good turnout on a beautiful evening. With no air experience group requiring part of the K13 fleet we were able to fit in an impressive total of 43 launches. One real cable break and one K13 that repeatedly dispensed with its cable during the ground added some interest to proceedings, while a number people enjoyed floating about and enjoying the scenery from the T21.

29/08/07 Merv off to Jaca on Friday for a week (just for a change), may not be back for two weeks owing to work commitments. Proposed date for end of season skittles is Weds 17th October at the French Horn, Alton. Price/Menu/Time to be confirmed see Liam/Laura for further details in the last few weeks. list and menu choice will be posted here when available.

29/08/07 Delayed by a slight over run! of the BMI fly in (as expected) and our winch drivers were so enthralled by the displays that we had to send a search party out for them!! (not expected - but I suppose they deserve a little time off!!) Very busy evening with a record attendance of 33 and also short of two instructors made for a hectic time for all. However the stats prove that two winches can easily out perform the retrieve winch set up - well done everyone!!

22/06/07 Weather claimed its third evening - but spare a thought for the poor regionals competition pilots who are yet to fly. On a brighter note Chris and Gary are joint leaders of the comp ( even though they are sharing the honours with a few other pilots). Rumour has it that if the remainder of the comp is scrubbed then they will have beaten some pilots who have aquired some penalty points on the admin front - fancy being beaten by a Grunau Baby and Capstan! Next week sees the return of the BMI Fly-in so the airfield is likely to be busy.

15/08/07 Expected clearance slow to arrive, however everyone that wanted to fly flew. Congratulations to Laura who gained silver height in her K6E last weekend. Good luck to Gary (Grunau) and Chris (Capstan) in the Lasham Regionals that start this weekend. Not forgetting Ed(ASW20) who is in a class of his own allegedly to avoid facing the stiff competition from Gary and Chris. Volunteers will be welcome for retrieve crews!

8/08/07 Delayed start as the last of the competitors finished their 300/500's on this mediocre day! Smooth performance on a beautiful evening produced a respectable launch rate that almost equalled the acclaimed retrieve winch (alledgedly the fastest thing since sliced bread) Demand has arisen for one (or more) single seat aircraft for next week - in the lull between the comps we will see what we can do....

01/08/07 Congratulations to Chris Sterritt on completion of his 500km Diamond distance, Alex Popple for achieving 5hr Silver/Gold Duration (both flown on Monday) and Peter Robey also completing 5 hrs on Tuesday. Well done to Liam for his sucessful conversion onto DG1000 - he now has his sights on the single seater fleet! A good performance for a single winch (second one not available) even with a real cable break but the nights are noticably drawing in so we need to try to utilise the early part of the evening more efficiently.

25/07/07 Second evening to be lost to rain . Congratulations to Janet on successful completion of the white card test and to all the people that turned up on such a dismal evening! (apologies to anyone that I missed on the attendance front but it is Merv's best guess from Spain).

18/07/07 A glorious evening with another beautiful sunset interupted by the retrieve winch which was finally relegated to the side lines to make way for the return of the two winch operation. Wow! what a difference - such a relaxed and effortlessly efficient launch rate that soon consumed all the gliders at the launchpoint. This together with the excessive demand for gliders used for air experience led to a somewhat reduced launch rate. However a good time was had by all. Merv's imminnent fiftieth birthday is to be spent in Jaca so he will be missing presumed flying (again) next week.

11/07/07 An excursion is planned to Dave Bowtell's field for this coming Saturday 14th and Dave has also offered to provide us with some of his excellent sausages in a roll (I'm sure there will be some for the vegetarians amongst us) It would be good to have some idea of numbers who wish to partake - let us know if you are keen to attend.

11/07/07 Has summer finally arrived or is it just a pleasant break between the storms? Even with a 30 min break while searching for the free end of the retrieve cable and the parachute making a bid for freedom the target was easily achieved and all flew as much as they wanted.

04/07/07 Well Done - halfway mark achieved with 500+ launches achieved - but its all down hill from now on..Good turnout depite the forecast. Apologies received from Martin,Alex and Gary who apparently parted company with his motorbike earlier and hurt his wrist.The rain held off until the end of the evening but with more than our fair share of retrieve winch cable breaks limiting our performance, These were mainly due to the length of grass obscuring the view of the end of the retrieve cable until it was too late. Apparently the tractor mowers now live outside the Norrie Hangar ready for voulunteers to cut the grass in the mornings beforew flying commences...

28/06/07 Graham Essex has posted his photos from Weds 27th slide show here.

27/06/07 Persistence Prevails Over Precipitation! Predicted front was late in arriving but did not stop us re-establishing the launch point in the rain despite some doubts about the likelihood of flying. Nevertheless we were eventually treated to 29 launches, a perfect rainbow, a spectacular sunset and some very enjoyable flying between the downpours.

20/06/07 One of our longest evenings turned into a very relaxed evening for a change! With only six ab-initios present the pressure was off and eveyone had their appetite for flying fully satisfied. Extra care was required when packing the hangar as the preparations for the this weekend's 'Roaring Forties' event were well under way. Everything was packed away well before night started which is a most unusual occurance for us!

13/06/07 After a beautiful day, the rain moved in and brought the evening to a premature end. Nevertheless we achieved 16 launches despite a delay caused by a break in the retrieve cable. Thanks again to Dave Bowtell for ably stepping into Merv's shoes and getting everyone working hard. Apologies to those who didn't fly tonight - but the next two weeks are the longest evenings of the year, so weather permitting, we'll have the chance to to get everyone flown.

06/06/07 A busy evening with a slow start due to change of runway and secondment of a number of K13s to the evening air-ex group. Many people were able to practise crosswind circuits and landings, while with 778, 45 and 775 all back from Jaca glass conversions were a popular choice too. Bertie the Bocian's return to service was welcomed, and special thanks are due to Dave Bowtell for taking up the reins while Merv is away in Spain, Gareth James for manning the retrieve winch, and Laura for organising the list and logs.

30/05/07 After the persistent rain of the day that ceased just in time, the sun and blue skies appeared and the evening turned out very well but with a mighty cold wind. A prompt start unpacking the hangar and setting up the airfield produced a steady launch rate that was initially limited by the small number of people. Morag, Merv and Alex are departing for Jaca in 24 hrs so Dave B will be cracking his whip for the next two Wednesdays - hope you guys have good weather and some fun while we're away.

23/05/07 Welcome to Jim Randall and Richard Civyer who joined us this week. Another fine performance that was interupted momentarily by an inbound 727 and one minor shock rope break (perhaps not so minor for Mark's guest!) The first Wednesday A/X of the season reduced the number of K13's available initially but in the meantime the DG1000s were put to good use.

17/05/07 New page added to update the group members list (at last) and to provide a breakdown of the figures behind the Stats graph. Sorry about the size of the page if your not yet on broadband.

16/05/07 Delayed update as Merv lost his memory... stick. Deteriorating conditions led to a premature ending to the flyimg. Congrats to Liam on passing the white card test and to Daryl and Rick for staying awake during one of Merv's scintilating lectures!

09/05/07 Good turn out of 14 in total for first (and hopefully last!) non flyable evening - shame about the weather! White card pass for Laura, simulator aerotow practice for Martin and approach and landing practice for Paul and DI's for Nigel and Janet meant the evening was not wasted. Apologies received from Ed,Alex,Liam and Graham Foster.

02/05/07 Nice to have a horizon at last! after so many pea soupers. Another well attended evening with a brisk easterly - not entirely sure which runway we were landing on as there were as many different landing directions as there were launches! Tonight was our first solo evening on the retrieve winch without the guidance of Uncle Bob - and its still in one piece. The addition of the new green buggy was put to good use to return the gliders to the queue. K13 L99 was derigged ready to depart to Perenporth together with the K21 and a large portion of the group for the May bank holiday weekend. Have a great weekend - see you next week.

25/04/07 Sorry about the absence of news updates for the past couple of weeks but I'm back on the case! I'm not sure but is this the first week we have had a trouble free operation with the retrieve winch? Maybe it was the quality of the main winch drivers that made all the difference (Guess who!) A productive evening with the target being exceeded by over 50%! - that's more like it. We are currently running at 60% capacity for presolo students so we have space for a few more. The MM recruitment office has been actively targeting the membership via the onelist! We would appreciate your views on the course especially from the new members that have joined us this season - all comments to wecourse@yahoo.co.uk gratefully received.

28/03/07 Is 2007 going to be the year of the retrieve winch? - only time will tell. With a good turn out despite the absence of the day time flyers and two instructors, a respectable total was achieved. The total could have been higher had we not lost 25% of the evening repairing a break in the retreive winch cable, and then had to end the evening prematurely to accommodate an unexpected 737 arrival. We still have plenty of space for more students if you would like to join in.

02/10/06 2006 Skittles list added - to see who is/is not going and check your meal choice click here

27/09/06 Well done guys we made the target of 900 for this season! As for beating the retrieve winch apparently six gliders were not enough to fully utilise the ample supply of cables provided by John Gibson who was delivering pairs of cables to an empty launch point! Liam has been busy collecting the cash for the skittles bash for which the menu choices are chilli,fish pie, steak and kidney pie, bangars and mash and veg neopolitan pasta. For those of you who have not paid up you need to contact Liam soon as there is less than a week to go!
Congratulations to Mark Adams for finishing the course by buying a third share in a DG101 '395'- from pre solo to private owner - not a bad start - don't burn yourself out Mark!

20/09/06 Merv arrives back from Jaca again! followed closely by Gary. Tonight's performance has left us with a mere 26 launches to achieve 900 for this year. We will need a slick operation and some reasonable weather to achieve our target - but it is possible. If we start early and get the momentum going surely we can beat the mere 18.9 launches per hour set by the retrieve winch system? Liam has started the ball rolling for this year's skittles evening - apparently he's inviting the whole club! Skittles night is Wednesday 4th October at the French Horn from 18:30, Liam wants your money in advance - £10 per head by next week - watch this space for menu choices!

30/08/06 Now late in the season - aren't the evenings getting short especially when the airfield is shared with Shona's BMI fly-in. A busy and fun evening was had by all. Merv's off to Jaca again on Tuesday (just for a change!) so you guy's can have a nice quiet and relaxed time over the next three weeks. A couple of volunteers to keep an eye on the logs/stats would be most welcome. The time has arrived to think about this year's end of course function - the traditional skittles or maybe something different? Again a volunteer to organise the event would be appreciated!

23/08/06 The Lasham Regionals competition was not the only thing to be scrubbed by the rain - the weather claimed its second evening. On the brighter side Mark, Ben and Pete successfully completed their white card test.

09/08/06 Potential disruption by the 18m Nationals was skillfuly avoided by the competitors by completing the 300+Km at speeds of up to 144.2 Kph! - thanks guys. Congratulations to Hugh Rivett-Carnac on the start of his solo flying career - well done Hugh.

27/07/06 Sorry Liam - I almost forgot - Congratulations on your first and second solos - well done!!

27/07/06 Appologies for the late update but the airfield suffered a power cut after a series of minor lightning flashes were followed by a very close strike somewhere on the southside at 22:57. A massive flash and almost simultaneous bang plunged us into darkness. It was bad enough for us in the clubhouse but for those camping! on the south side....

25/07/06 Gary Pullen flew to Dunstable in Bertie taking 2 hours 10 mins - very respectable for a Bocian! Shame about the rest of us who have to go to work on the best days....I'm sure we'll hear all about it on Wednesday. Apparently we've had the pthe plate for so long now that Gary returned it to Dunstable, found not many people about so he left a note in their bar and brought the plate home.

19/07/06 This week's excuse - Shortage of our regular winch drivers and a change of runways produced the shortfall in the target. A very hot day! but the weather was kind to us as it rained briefly at 23:00!

12/07/06 With a pleasant and soarable evening we struggled with a lack of gliders initially. With three K13's missing and 4 required for the evening air experience leaving us only two! Another good performance with only one winch managing a peak launch rate of 18 per hour which is only one behind the retrieve winch's best performance on this year's course. Apologies to the few who we did not manage to fly this week - we will do better next week!!

5/07/06 Another late start with limited turn out (thanks to the weather) and we had to empty the hangars again. However, we were rewarded not only with a very pleasant evening's flying with launches to 2300'+ but 'free' drinks in the bar courtesy of Mark Adams to celebrate starting his solo flying career - Cheers Mark! Apparently, there is only just enough change left for a bag of nuts for the monkey!.

21/06/06 A windy, cool but soarable evening was enjoyed by all. Just the one winch and three K13's initially limited our performance, at this rate we'll be lucky to make 1000. Shame about the curry that ran out courtesy of the air ex guests! But thanks to Gerald for the caramel shortbread - very nice. Appologies to Dave D and the boys for leaving the bird's nest as a result of the parachute detaching at the weak link on the last launch. It was too dark (and late) to fix it - sorry guys.

14/06/06 Two winches in operation resulting in a creditable performance allowing for changing ends,a much reduced turnout of 26 and dealing with a single puncture in the retrieve truck involving 4 wheel changes! The 1200 is still possible - but only if the whole team pulls together and becomes a little slicker...

25/05/06 Brief update as Merv is imminently departing for Jaca - Dire weather last night produced first total loss of the season. The stats graph had to be rescaled, this time for the wrong reason - to fit the revised targets in. The better weather must be on its way - good luck for the next two weeks - see you in three.

17/05/06 With undamped enthusiasm we set up the airfield and achieved two launches! before the frontal system arrived bringing the forecast heavy rain. A turnout of 17 was very good considering the forecast. The simulator was put to good use as John R has fine tuned his aerotowing skills.
The highlight of the evening was Laura's excellent home baked chocolate brownies - could this be adding to Merv's anti-spin device on a regular basis?
An entertaining discussion followed on Lasham in general......

10/05/06 After a hot and humid day the trigger temperature was reached and Cu nims appeared curtailing our winch launching after just 6 launches. We are very grateful to Uncle Bob for doing a sterling job providing alternative aerotow launching. An initial enquiry only produced five people that wanted to fly but by the end of the evening we (with Uncle Bob's help) had logged 18 launches. Even Eric recognised Bob's efforts and has now learnt Bob's name!

03/05/06 Late report! As requested by Uncle Bob - A creditable performance by the retrieve winch at last producing a slightly higher launch rate - to be fair best to date. However, it did not manage to clear the queue this time! So the question is.... can it do better or is that it?

26/04/06 At last the weather was pleasantly warm and calm bringing a good turnout of 29. Retrieve winch not well again (quelle domage) Operated on one winch initially owing to lack of a second winch driver, after second winch established, a joint on the plasma cable seperated reducing our cable capacity to 75%. Good performance overall to exceed our target for the first time this season.

19/04/06 Another delayed start as airfield deserted at 17:00. Decided to give the retrieve winch another chance, quickly discovered that 4 gliders were not enough. However the usual retrieve cable break gave us the chance to regroup and get another glider. Overall the retrieve winch operation was on a par with the two winch operation but the cable break and lack of gliders did limit its perfomance. However, from a personal point of view the 'weak link' in the system is the time taken to co-locate the rings and glider. The argument that the retrieve winch requires one less person appears to forget about the poor sod who has to collect the rings. I would rather be driving the second winch than collecting the rings and delivering them across a vast expanse of grass at a reasonable speed. The two winch operation effortlessly delivers the same launch rates with a much more relaxed approach to all participants. I therefore remain in favour of the two winch operation at present.....

12/04/06 Delayed start as retrieve winch causes problems again! However, our traditional two winch operation recovered some of the lost time until the single plasma cable broke (NOT OUR FAULT) Why oh Why did we not invest in a third tost winch with good old tried and tested steel cables??!! Appologies to Janet who suffered yet another unintended cable break. Who needs this new fangled technology? The target may be reduced if we have to persist with this yellow and blue elephant.....

05/04/06 Still early in the season and beautiful sunshine today brought out additional casual fliers, which meant a struggle to get eveyone flown.

29/03/06 Merv arrives back from Jaca at 5.50 just in the nick of time to start the 2006 course!

23/09/05 Skittles list added check your meal choice here

14/09/05 Congratulations to John Radley and Allan James on completion of their first solo flights

31/08/05 Yet another washout - threat of lightning kept winches away - what has happened to the summer?

24/08/05 Skittles Night update - apparently the Golden Pot's skittle alley is no longer available so the venue has changed to the French Horn.

24/08/05 Unfortunately the clearance arrived just a little too late at 19:30 - alas another washout!

17/08/05 Good News - Thousand Launches achieved two weeks ahead of target!
              Bad News - however Merv's moved the goal post!

A good evening with 4 flights over 1 hour and two bronze duration flights for Vic Binstead and Rob Ward

11/08/05 Pritchards' success - Congratulations to Jim for his silver distance to Aston Down and to Myriam for completing 5 hour duration despite being air-sick three times into her hat!!

07/08/05 Dunstable arrived to reclaim the plate - at least they came in a K7 albeit with a following wind!

03/08/05 Brian and Gary get the plate back from Dunstable. Read all about it.

29/07/05 Merv, Bea, Chris, Jeremy and Alison go of for a weekend of hill soaring in Talgarth. Jeremy gets his name into the Trailer Driver's Hall of Fame - he's the first person in living memory to get a trailer up the 'wrong way' into the site. Don, Talgarth CFI, later said "I was most impressed, we all thought that it was impossible. In honour of this feat, we have decided to call the turning 'Anscomb Corner'. Jeremy was unavailable for comment, but it is rumored that AC will be added as a new BGA turning point in 2006.

PS It rained all weekend and no flying was done. 

27/07/05 Ed Smallbone currently leads the A Class regionals - and if the current weather continues he may well stay in pole position. Well done Ed - Keep it up.

27/07/05 Return of the Regional competition brought another washout - winter has returned! - making for an easy update and early night for Merv!
With the evenings getting shorter we will be collecting names (and cash in advance as there was a shortfall last year) for the traditional end of season skittles evening. The venue will be at the Golden Pot c/w buffet (- unless anyone has any other suggestions) Cost is likely to be around £11 per head Date TBA...

17/07/05 and 18/07/05 Two brave attempts at regaining the Dunstable Plate by Chris Sterritt/Merv in the Capstan BRW And Gary Pullen in K13 L99 both ending falling short of the target. Chris and Merv landed at Halton and Gary at Thame. Since then the weather has been dire but the season's not over yet!

7/07/05 Following the previous successful field excursion, another trip is provisionally planned for a week on Sunday the 17th July (subject to glider and tug pilot availability) anyone interested please contact us
(see who's going)

6/07/05 Despite a 33% reduction in the turnout a busy evening with even the instructors paying! ensured that the target was achieved. We were rewarded by one of the most spectacular sunsets we've seen in a long time - Shame about the camera!

1/07/05 A few pictures from the trip to Dave's field can be viewed here and at Graham Essex website here and some from the evening of 22 June here

29/06/05 A small weather window between Tuesday's thunderstorms and Thursday's rain allowed us to beat the target yet again. However, the launch rate did suffer from the lack of pilots initially, thermals and a genuine cable break!

19/06/05 Field landing in Dave Bowtell's field planned for next Sunday 26th June

19/06/05 Has Gary finally flown himself out after 24000' of spinning!!? Congratulations on surviving his instructors course - time will tell.

12/06/05 Merv is back in England, but the matadors continue flying. Chris & Bea fall out of their plane, but it's no accident...

06/06/05 Merv's Matadors!! See how the Jaca trip is going. Clearly, Merv arranged the best conditions for himself!

04/06/05 To make up for last weeks bad weather Merv has increased the targets pro rata and also arranged for some decent weather for next week - so make the most of it!!!

01/06/05 No flying: rain showers and fog having settled over Lasham (and most of southern England) during the afternoon despite a clear start to the day. Merv got his timing right for going away! A dozen or so still turned up hopefully, and Dave Bowtell stepped smoothly into group leadership mode and used the time to give an interactive lecture on law and theory based on the Bronze written paper, while another part of the group familiarised themselves with the simulator.

25/05/05 A busy evening and a large air experience group of 26 that reduced our capacity slightly! Congratulations to Daren Kershaw on his first solo and to Jim for making it back to the airfield!
Merv Ed and John will be away next week so Dave Bowtell will be in charge for the next two weeks - hopefully there will be enough instructors left to go round.

21/05/05 An alternative viewpoint 'from the other end' on the evening operation of 11 May 2005 from our winch driver Mike Sankey - read his comments

21/05/05 Instructors Required John Caton will be absent on holiday for next two weeks and Merv will be off on his annual pilgrimage to Jaca for two weeks leaving this coming Friday - Any offers of help will be greatly appreciated

18/05/05 Apologies for the late update owing to Merv's imminent departure for Scotland at 04:00! A good turnout and an enthusiastic start soon enabled us achieving 24 launches per hour initially. Then a Jet departure that should have been long gone a 17:00 held up proceedings and forced the overall average down. We recovered well achieving 26 lph afterwards giving an overall figure of 20 lph. Without the jet we could potentially have made 70 plus launches!!

11/05/05 At last, with not a rain cloud in sight, we managed another respectable total taking into account we were two regular instructors and two gliders down, numerous gliders returning late from great distances and even a hot air balloon arriving on the airfield. Thanks to Max Dowding for standing in at the last minute and for sending Bea on her well deserved and well flown First Solo - Congratulations Bea

4/05/05 Yet again, after the weather did its best to dampen our spirits limiting the day's club flying to 3 aerotows and a motor glider flight - the sun shone through. Even after a slow start, as we had to unpack the hangar and set the airfield up again! we exceeded our target by 33%!! a brilliant team effort by all. Congratulations to Nigel Foy who completed his first solo and to young Andrew for nicking Ed's Beer (like father, like son). We also need to thank Dave Dripps for his sterling effort in resurrecting both our unserviceable winches from the dead - Well done Dave!

27/04/05 Despite a waterlogged airfield after this afternoon's thunderstorm restricting us to one winch operation together with the boom - the team did well to only fall short of the target by 3 launches. Our thanks are extended again to Bob Bickers who stepped into Mike and Ians winch driving seat as they were unusually both absent.

20/04/05 Congratulations to Dave Bowtell on completion of his Full Cat Rating and to Rob Ward on his First Solo, and Merv wishes to thank all the marauders that were responsible for his award of the Peter Davis Trophy (for the second time) for outstanding contribution to group flying at the AGM

13/04/05 After another damp and dismal morning the evening brightened up for us! Slow start as two ATC jet movements plus a high speed braking test shortened our operating window. Good team performance as we exceeded the target again! We welcomed the return of Keith Bassett as a much needed additional instructor. The absence of club kitchen staff was well catered for by Dionne and Aaron at the Royal Oak who coped admirably with the group invasion of 24 that arrived at 21:00! (not everybody went). The meals are very good and are worth the extra pennies!

06/04/05 At last we're moving again after last week's fog bound first evening and today's cold front passage. Despite having to unpack the hangar and set up the airfield first launch was at 17:57 and we managed to get 17 marauders flown with an average launch height of 2000'

29/09/04 A huge vote of thanks is extended to all the pilots who contributed not only a substantial investment but also an enormous amount of enthusiasm over the season. A final attendance figure of 19 on the last short evening notwithstanding the weather conditions was an impressive tribute dedication of the group. We certainly have had the worst season, at least in terms of weather, that I have experienced over the last 15 years, but the team has made the most of it! Here’s to next season – may it be substantially better not only for the Marauders but for everybody! See you at the end of season Black tie do on the 16^th October and or the Skittles/Curry evening on the 20^th October – All the best - Cheers Merv

29/09/04 Poor weather yet again didn’t dampen the spirits of the Marauders - The Primary was extracted from the rear of the hangar and completed the final 17 launches required for the 1000 target including a bungee launch. Pilots included Russell Gammell (makes a change from a 737!) Farmer Dave who swapped his tractor for three launches, Chris Sterritt, Ed Smallbone and (of course) Gary Pullen. Note Merv’s not allowed to fly the primary due to family pressure!! (Full report to follow)

22/09/04 Another winch driver for the Marauders - Jeremy gets checked out and provides 24 good launches

15/09/04 Impending food crisis for next week - there may be a slim possibility that we will be attempting self catering evening next week. Discussions are to be ongoing during the week to come. If you wish to partake or even help please let us know!

08/09/04 Congratulations to Steve Atthews on his successful completion of his first solo - followed by another just to prove it was not a fluke!

25/08/04 First appearance of young master Andrew Sterritt (12 days old) on the course celebrated with copious amounts of Moet & Chandon!

17/08/04 Bad weather won't stop the Marauders! Merv's arranged with Shaun Lapworth for the group to have a go on the Lasham simulator in the event we don't actually fly!

14/08/04 Gary, Brian & Chris start the Saturday EMC

13/08/04 All Out! At 9:43 on Friday 13th of August, Bea gave birth to a little boy.

07/08/04 Dave Bowtell gets the go ahead form the insurers to operate out of his field this year - when its ready (in the next couple of weeks) - Watch this space for further details

05/07/04 Regionals week. Our very own Ed Smallbone is vying to retain his crown. Send us your guess as to his overall placing at the end of the week, and the best guess wins a mystery prize.

30/06/04 The plate goes missing. A Dunstable pilot recently turned up at Lasham to retake the trophy. Now we can't exactly say they cheated, but a wooden glider was not used. So all you intrepid people, get into something wooden and shoot off there to bring the trophy back to where it belongs.

30/06/04 Solo he may be, but grounded within days! Read about the ridiculous lengths some members will go to just to get new ab-initio pilots into the group.

25/06/04 Solo and Solo Again Two new solo artists - but can they hold a tune?

25/06/04 Merv predicts 1000 launches by the end of September. Will all pilots please bring night vision goggles from now on. For legal reasons, nobody will be allowed to be in the air for more than 30 minutes after sunset.  :o)

23/05/04 Ed and Jeremy go even larger in the Duo Discus

Ed saved loads of cash by taking Jeremy flying on the 'day of days'. See the flight and barograph details.

02/06/04 Dave Bwye has his 100 Km Diploma Confirmed

29/05/04 Merv is off to Jaca for a little R&R flying 'Fred', his beloved glider. Does anyone else have a name for their glider? No, you're not that daft are you?

Bob Bickers will take over as ÖberLieutennant for the next 2 Wednesdays.

22/05/04 Gary and Merv Go Large

Our intrepid heroes chase after the plates in L99.

22/05/04 How I never done it: another field to the collection

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