Just a thought if anyone is interested in the Southern end of Wales.

I am a member of the South Wales Gliding Club and can arrange a flying event if anyone is interested when the weather is a bit warmer.

Pricing is fairly cheap roughly around 15 pound for 2 winch launches lasting as long as the weather permits and dependant on numbers.

Anyone intersted please let me know and we can set a date.

(Not for the faint hearted)

Count me in Rob, used to fly these when i was in the ATC.....lol very enjoyable

Nice one. See if we can get a few more

Just thinking mate, maybe we could tie it in with the other Wales meet ?

I'm interested - what month are you thinking of and where does the club meet?

I was thinking April maybe. The club is at Usk which is between Newport and Monmouth.

I will give directions and postcode etc when we have a few more numbers.

Barnacle may be interested in this, pm him.

May be up for this, it's years since I flew a glider. T21B any one?

http://www.sailplanedirectory.com/PlaneDetails.cfm?planeID=296

Krikey, things have moved on since those

Always wanted to try this, count me in!

On 24/04/10 There is the Bristol Auto Moto Festival - I and a few others are attending. BAMF

On 25/04/10 There is a Brecon (South wales) Meet. Wales Meet (Brecon)

You may not wish to clash with this weekend, however I guess this will be decided by what the flying club can accomodate?

Otherwise count me in

Something I have always wanted to do.

I take it the person we go up with is qualified and not a raving nutcase?

Yes they are qualified instructors lol.

I think that the club will only do a weekday evening but i will check to make sure

Fixed

Here is a link to the club video

swgc video

Rob

Is there any update on this?

I have watched the video and I would love to give it a try.

Hi, sorry havnt been on for a bit been quite busy. I will set a date this weekend with the club.

Just a quick update, i have emailed the club secretary and hes arranging a date for this. i havnt been to the club for a few weeks because of this appaulling weather so my apologies.

Just had a response and found out that the price is actually £33 for 2 launches. very sorry my mistake, should have checked before.

I have been notified that if there is more than 12 it will have to be 1 flight each because of the time scale but this will obviously be cheaper.

If anyone is still interested please respond to this message or contact me to my inbox.

Rob.

Hi how many can go in the glider?

They are 2 seater gliders but 1 will be an instructor

Hi Rob, I'm interested, do you have a date yet?

Still waiting for the date sorry

My son wants to this so we are in if it is on a day we can manage.

I'm in.

Just remember that there is a south wales mini meet on 25th April Clicky and the BIAMF event on 24th April Clicky

Yes, this wont be on a weekend i doubt. Will probz be a late afternoon

I'm very interested in this too

Rob

I was out for a drive yesterday and as I passed Usk I saw the gliders so decided to pop in and take a closer look.

Pistonheads were having a meet and fly so some tasty motors were on display.

I was surprised how many gliders there were around the fields and how active the club was.

The tow launch system was very impressive!

Hi Rob

Any update on this?

Now the evenings are getting longer and warmer I'm quite looking forward to this.

I'm interested too, such a nice day today be good to fly (in the air as well as the ground)!

What's the latest with dates etc?

I'm keen too! Its in my neck of the woods so a meet & fly would be a great thing to do now summer's on the way.

Sounds really good! I'll be there if i'm free on the date!

I have finally been given some dates with regards to this
and I am really sorry for the time that its taken.

These are the dates that are offered, they all fall on a wednesday or thursday and will be evening flying .....

24th june
30th june 1st july
7th 8th July
21, 22 July
28, 29 July

I would have preferred to fix a weekend for this and I will try if the majority cant do weekdays.

Hi Rob

I am available on any of these dates:

24th june
30th june 1st july
7th 8th July

As this is only 15 mins from Me it would be a whole family outing.

The last time I visited the airfield I noticed a large BBQ - we could turn it into a drive/Fly BBQ ?

Come on people this will be fun.

I can't do the 24th June, otherwise I should be OK.

Can't get a week day off unless its a friday, damn

Same for me

Im unable to do the 30th, so shall we go for the 1st of July which is the Thursday ?

1st July is good for me

I'll go with the 1st too.

Just checked the world cup schedule - no football on the 1st.

Count me in.

1st looks good to me unless I have a last minute hospital appointment.

Ok, ill try and get the 1st of July booked.

So far we have :-

Mr Tickle
Pete P
Hovedan
Flea

What time would the meetup be? I may be able to make it if its not too early.

It should be around 6pm to start flying but i will update as soon as i know for definate

Hi Rob

Can you confirm the price mentioned earlier in the thread?

Is there a height/weight limit?

Would anyone mind if I brought a friend or 2?

Mr T.

Ahh, sorry Rob just realised this clashes with Goodwood on the Thursday. Apologies but I'll have to wait for another date.

I'm having problems at the mo confirming the date.
I know he has been away on hols but i'm sure he's back now.

If i get no joy by the morning (saturday) i will ring him to find out whats going on.

My apologies again and no worries Flea.


Mr T .... The price is £32 for 2 x winch launches
Im not sure of the weight limit but think its about 18 stone
and anyone over 6ft 4 will probz be trying to squeeze in.

Rob

Time for a bump.

If this thing is going to get off the ground (PI) for the 1st, you need to give some more details sharpish.

I'll still be there, but others may pull out due to lack of timely information.

Cheers

Mr T

Hi Rob,

I agree with Mr T... I'm still interested but need confirmation that its still on!

Cheers,

Mike

Agree, for me it will be a 260 mile round trip, so crap flying weather also comes into it.

I am still on for Thursday, not far for me but for those travelling from further afield let's have some confirmation asap Rob eh

I keep having to apologise and here I go again.

Ive had great difficulty in getting hold of this damn bloke.
I can't see the 1st going ahead with this and all I can do is appologise again.

I'm not going to give a definate date now until I get hold of him or a senior member of the committee which I can do on Thursday or the weekend.

I am going to be bringing to there attention the amount of messing around that he has caused (hopefully they will appoint someone else to do his job).

Not to worry mate, hopefully this will still be possible sometime in the near future.

I know the frustration in trying to organise events, not your fault and sure I speak for all when I say I appreciate your efforts. Hope another date asap can be sorted for us to take to the skies

Thanks guys, I will definately sort it I just dont want to give a definate date until its confirmed

Finally getting somewhere here...

Apparently, due to the french strikes he could not get home lol.

These are the new dates I have been offered :-

7th / 8th
22nd
28/29th
July

I'm ok with any of these dates, so I'd go for 7th or 8th as I'm the impatient type and it's almost local. But happy to go with whatevers best for the majority!

I'm OK with the 7th or 8th of July also. I'm on holiday for all of the later dates.

It's just as well this was cancelled for yesterday, the weather was awful here!

Many thanks for getting this thing off the ground Rob.

So come on people this could be a really fun event. Get your name down.

All should be OK but I am in hospital for an op on 26th so 28th may be difficult.

7th/8th good for me. I'm away 22nd but could do 28th/29th. 7th or 8th would be my preference though.

Ok we shall go with the 8th then. I will book it now.

Fine with me Rob.

Can't wait, looking forward to it Rob. What time and where shall we meet? Was there a driving element to this at all or did I imagine that?!

Ok, the 8th is now booked.

The height limit is 6ft 4" weight is roughly 16 stone.

£32 for 2 winch launches with an instructor.

Bring whoever you want to bring but if they want to fly they will obviously have to pay £32.

I cant unfortunately arrange a driving part to this as I will have to be at the club organising the flying side of it.

The clubhouse has a bar in it so drinks are available after flying or before if anyone prefers.

Time of flying should be 6 o clock so if everyone arrives by 5.30 so we can get everything organised and a better idea on numbers to fly. (He hasnt yet confirmed this time but it should be about right, If it changes I will post).

Link to the club find us page :-

http://www.uskgc.co.uk/find_us.html

Any problems you can get me on 07805001408

Flying will begin at about 5.30

Can I have names that will definately be attending ?

PeteP + Mrs PeteP, may not be in the coupe though.

Thanks for organising this Rob.

Heres the full address as it doesnt have it in the find us section of the site.

The Airfield,
Gwernesney,
Nr Usk,
Monmouthshire
NP15 1HF .

I have to farm the kids off to grandmas for the evening, but I'm definitely up for this. Are the flight times staggered or all at the same time just in case I may run half an hour late and not get there til 6?!

Ditto Pete's comment on the organising

The flights will be staggered mate, like one at a time.

Won't be able to come after all - just failed MOT...

That's great Rob, I'll see you all there as close to 5.30 as I can manage!

Have you got another car you can use Mike? I probably won't be taking my coupe either.

The height limit is 6ft 4" weight is roughly 16 stone.

Well that's my 3 brothers in law and Father in law out then - All over 20 stone and one a 6'8" !

It will just be be me to fly then - and maybe a observer.

See you all around 5:30

Mr T

Unfortunately its the cost I can't really make, even though this is a really great deal. Some fairly expensive work needs doing to get it to pass & I need to save every penny I can having just got the turbo done AND renewed my insurance!

Plus my old MOT certificate expires on Friday so I need to get it done sharpish to avoid needing to be recovered to the garage to get it done!

So far then we have :-

Petep And Mrs Petep
Hovedan
Mr Tickle

Anyone else ??

Ok,

For those who are attending today :-

There should be a short informal briefing before everyone flies on safety etc. at about 5.30 followed by flying then off to the clubhouse for snacks in the way of sandwiches that have been laid on.

I hope you all enjoy it, see you soon.

Great, see you all later! I may be sometime between 5.30-6 though.

Do I take the coop (no satnav), or the jag (satnav)?!

I decided to take the coupe in the end as my wife can no longer make it so comfort is not a question.

A very enjoyable evening, just a shame more could not turn up.

Thanks for organising it Rob.

For me the bizzare thing was discovering that the flying instructor and I went to the same grammar school and that we were taught by some of the same teachers.

It was followed by a rapid trip home; 130 miles in 120 minutes door to door.

yes a very good evening, and yes that was quite bizarre and both of you were called Pete

Glad you got home safely and not sure that too many people would have travelled so far but thanks for coming down anyway.

And to Dan, I definately heard a scream as you went up the launch ???? Well everyone did lol

I must appologise to you Rob and others. I had somehow incorrectly thought that we were flying today Doh!

I am also gutted to have missed the event and meet up.
I was really looking forward to giving this a go, I even drove up there recently just to check it all out first.

Rob is this something that may happen again this year?

Mr T.

You plonker Tony! It's definitely something I'd like to try some more of, we spoke about arranging another date sometime in August, give folk on here a bit of notice and to take deposits to make it worth everyones time!



That would have been the harness pinching my crotch, that's why you didn't hear it the second time

Quite enjoyed the empty M4 in south wales on the way home too, although try as I did, I couldn't quite replicate the sub 2 second 0-60 of the winch launch!! Now, maybe if I can fit that V8 launch motor in the coop, hmmmm....

You'll have to get your 372bhp beast on a track too Rob. Wasted on the road, even the deserted M4 in south wales!

I'll keep an eye out for if this happens again, I was looking forward to it - gutted that (another!) expensive repair bill came at just the wrong time!

Still, I suppose that owning a Coupe I should assume this will probably be the case most of the time!

As I was saying to Pete and Dan yesterday we might be able to set a date for august - septmeber time.

I will make sure its a bit more arganised this time and as Dan says take deposits so we know that people are going to attend.