2001 - A.G.M Report

Opening Remarks

Andy opened the meeting by welcoming all present and thanking them for coming along.

  Approval of Previous Minutes

  The minutes of the previous AGM, held on 4^th March 2000, were approved with the following alterations

Angie Veitch proposed and Steve Young seconded acceptance of the amended minutes.  Andy signed the file copy of the minutes to indicate that it was a true and accurate record of the meeting.

Chairman’s Report

Our challenges that we set this time last year were to increase membership, get a tug on site, greater member involvement and to complete our hangar.

How have we done against those measures?

Several new members have joined us this year and they are most welcome.  However, the Board feels that recruitment and retention of new members is the most important component of the future success of the club and we will be investing time and effort and possible some money in further improving facilities this year.

  The arrival of Fulmar as a separate but closely linked operation at Easterton has been one of this year’s real successes.  The tug has opened new horizons for flying and training, and I must congratulate and thank both Angie and Rick for their massive efforts both in retaining the tug in Moray and for investing time and money in gaining their tug pilot’s ratings.  But Fulmar bring far more than their Supermunk to Easterton, and I sincerely hope that we will jointly be able to build on a successful first year to the advantage of both clubs.

  Greater member participation has been an objective of mine and I hope that you will agree that things are moving in the right direction through the newsletter, website, open meetings and the duty pilot system.

The new hangar (photo) of course is now complete and providing substantial additional revenue for the club.  The portakabin has been wired into the hangar’s electricity supply, and more use should be made of it now.  We are seriously looking at construction of a permanent clubhouse, along the lines of the facility at Feshie, and you may have noticed that various pieces of building materials are appearing in the hangar.  Improvement of facilities and the recruitment and retention of new members are strongly linked.

  HGC has always been very fortunate in our CFIs and I am sure that everyone will agree that our one year old CFI has made a marvellous start to continuing that tradition.  Robert has been absolutely tireless in his efforts to make our flying safe and enjoyable and I would like to thank him, both on behalf of the instructors and as a member, for his work.

  I cannot conclude my talk this year without a few words about Eddie Traynor.  As most of you know Eddie collapsed while in Rome last year and, sadly, the outlook is not good for him.  However he was able to come here and fly a couple of weeks ago, and was delighted to have been able to do that.  Eddie is a wonderfully generous man, and it is typical of him that he has donated his Swallow to the club for us all to enjoy.  It is also with sadness that I recall Jim Herd who died earlier this year, but on a happy note Mark Bisset was married recently, and we wish him and Jane a long and happy future together.

The Chairman’s Report over the years has almost invariably included an exhortation to work harder, support the board, etc etc.  I have decided that this year is going to be different.  I have no complaints!  I want to congratulate you all on your efforts this year, and thank you for helping the Club make the progress it has.

Foot and Mouth Disease is casting a shadow over all countryside activities at the moment and is likely to do so for some time.  It is incumbent on us all to take a responsible attitude to the risk to farmers’ livelihoods by not increasing the risk of bringing infection to their land.  For this reason cross-country flying continues to be banned, although normal flying will continue at Easterton.  Please respect our neighbours by not going onto other farmland and not using Martin Green’s access road.

  I wish you all an enjoyable gliding year.

Treasurer’s Report

Anne issued all members present with a summary of the accounts for 2000 and stated that there was not much change year on year.

In expenditure, the insurance is up because of the bill for the Junior repairs from the previous year and property repairs also shows a substantial increase due to the installation of electricity.  Aircraft and ground equipment repairs are down substantially and there was a reduction in consumables due to the increase in aerotowing.  Interest and bank charges are also down.  Next year we will no longer be renting the shed at Easterton Farm which will save £500.

On the income side, Subscriptions are up slightly and flying fees substantially.  The apparent lack of income from the kitchen is due to equipment being bought directly out of the bus profits.

The Balance Sheet does not show much change from last year.  The hangar costs did not go through the books in 2000 and therefore have yet to appear in the Profit and Loss Statement and Balance Sheet.

Andy thanked Anne for her presentation and asked for the accounts to be formally accepted.  Steve Young proposed acceptance of the accounts and Mike Ferguson seconded the proposal.  There were no counter proposals therefore the accounts were accepted.

CFI’s Report

At the end of my first year as CFI I am pleased to report that we have not had any accidents.  Good work, keep it up and do not become complacent.  Always remain aware of what is going on around you both in the air and on the ground.

I have a couple of things I want to say.  First, Geddes is the new Deputy CFI.  I want to say a big thank you to Angie for all her hard work.  She now has plenty of other responsibilities to fill her time: tug pilot, motor glider instructor and Basic instructor coach.

Briefly, our plans for the year include the Soaring course in April.  The BGA duo discus is coming with Simon Adlard.  It is also an ASH week.  There will be the usual evening flying during the summer.  I am to be the central contact point for organising instructors, winch drivers etc.  The usual ASH weeks will be in April, August and October.  The August ASH week is also a competition week.

I have decided to introduce a new Duty Pilot rota system.  The advantages should be more flying and less stress.  We have had problems in the past in maintaining a system because, while the instructors get to fly on their duty days, the duty pilots did not.  So this time we including a perk which should oil the wheels of the scheme.  The duty instructor will be allowed one free winch launch at a time of his/her choosing on the day.  That means they will be allowed to queue jump.  However, they will only be allowed a maximum of one hour’s flight time and must, of course, designate somebody else as duty pilot in their absence.  I will run the rota and it will go out with the instructor rota email.  The Duty Pilot has full authority on the ground.  Please respect the decisions they take.  The Duty Instructor is there to back them up if necessary.  Once the system is up and running I will add more duty pilots.  The first batch of duty pilots are:  Martin Knight, Julian Mainstone, Denis Shephard, Stuart Naylor, Anne Burgess, Roy Scothern, Mark Brown and John Caithness.

You will find maps in the bus, clubhouse and log box showing the new launch point arrangements.  At the east end there are to be no launches from the top of the hill on the south side due to the danger for people exiting the bus and the movement of cars and gliders in that area.  In future there will be restricted car parking at the launch point - from the bus eastwards only, and, in front of the bus, room for only those gliders joining the launch queue.  Only bring a glider across from the hangar if you intend to launch.  Otherwise, park your glider at the hangars until ready for a launch.  At the west end there is not much change to present arrangements except that gliders in the launch queue must not be parked behind the cone I intend to place there.  This will leave room for gliders to towed to their parking area.  Please try to adopt the new scheme.  The duty pilots will be policing, it but it is to the benefit of all in increased safety and greater launch rate.

Finally, Angie has introduced a tug rota.  It will also be added to the instructor’s rota email.

Election of Directors

The three directors due to retire this year were Anne Burgess and Geddes Chalmers by rotation and Helen Chalmers as an appointee.  As none had been received before the AGM, nominations were requested from the floor.  The following were received:

Name                             Proposer                    Seconder

Anne Burgess                           Andy Anderson                     Mike Ferguson

Geddes Chalmers                     Andy Anderson                    Martin Knight

Helen Chalmers                        Andy Anderson                     Jim Tait

No election was required, therefore Anne, Geddes and Helen were elected to the Board.

AOCB

There being no other business Andy declared the AGM closed at 19:05 pm.

Prizegiving

Mosquito Cup – Duration in a club glider

Roger Christie for 5hr 11 min in the Junior.  Now the least wealthy member of the club!

Tait Quaich – Maximum Altitude Reached

Andy Anderson went to 13,300 ft from 3,300 ft – a height gain of 10,000.

Alastair Raffan Trophy – Most Meritorious Flight

David Chalmers for taking Jacquie Webster to Grantown and back in the K21 during the August competition week.  A difficult flight as evidenced by the fact that two others in higher performance aircraft did not make it back!

Henry Dyce Trophy – Club Ladder

1^st        Anne Burgess                3 flights, 2046 points

2^nd        Andy Anderson            1 flight, 1372 points

3^rd        Helen Chalmers            1 flight, 1071 points

CFI’s Shield - The most outstanding member as judged by the CFI

Angie Veitch for 13 years as CFI, 1 year as DCFI but more importantly for the time, effort and money put into gaining a PPL, tug pilot rating, motor glider instructor rating and Basic Instructor Coach rating.   She has been busier than ever on both Highland and Fulmar’s behalf and thoroughly deserves the trophy.  The decision was very difficult because we are all benefiting from the new hangar that Phil has been a prime mover in.  Many thanks to him and Geddes for all the work they put in.

Monkey - The most coveted prize of the all (not)

Phil Penrose for several misdemeanours! The details of which are available for £10, all cheques payable to the webmaster, that's £5 more than Phil gave me not to publish them.