Safety
NOTE: OLYMPIC AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS REMAIN IN FORCE UNTIL 12 SEPTEMBER
The Air Component Commander for Operation OLYMPICS, Air Vice-Marshal Stuart Atha, has acknowledged the cooperation and efforts of the GA Community to comply with the Olympic airspace restrictions. Air Vice-Marshal Atha said ‘‘I would like to thank the General Aviation community for their forbearance and cooperation during the early stages of increased security for the Olympics. At the heart of the airspace control measures that were introduced was the need to create a known air environment in order that potential threats could be identified. Inevitably, the measures adopted are a balance between my requirements and those delivering scheduled services and the General Aviation community. Throughout this I am extremely grateful to the aviation community for their patience and support and how they worked with us to develop our procedures.”
Safety Cushions. BGA RP38 recommends that all glider cockpits should be equipped with cushions containing energy absorbing materials. These are widely used in club gliders but less so in privately owned ones. The BGA has published a booklet explaining how safety cushions work and how they can reduce injury - not just in a crash but also in heavy landings. You can download the booklet at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/safety/documents/safetyfoam.pdf. If you do not already fly with a safety cushion, we hope that it will encourage you to do so.
GASIL. The latest edition of GASIL (6/2012) has been published and is available for download at http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20120713GASIL201206.pdf
Oxford Radar. The new radar service at Oxford (Kidlington) is now operational (0930-1700z, Mon-Fri). A copy of the Surveillance Minimum Altitude Chart (SMAC) is currently available in the AIP Amendment (28 days) document on the NATS web site at http://www.nats-uk.eadit.com/aip/current/amend28/Amd28.pdf (page 283). If you call on 127.750MHz, Oxford can give information on any traffic operating in the vicinity and the final approach tracks. Once they know that you are there, they can offer reciprocal information to Oxford aircraft. They will be happy to hear from you, particularly if you are planning to transit within 5nm of the final approach tracks or cross the final approach tracks within 10nm of the airport. Clubs planning tasks can telephone (01865 290650) prior to launch and they will broadcast information and attempt to route aircraft away from launch sites and projected routings.
Dartmoor Danger Area. Changes to the Dartmoor Danger Area came into effect on 26 July. The Danger Area has been divided into three new smaller Danger. This will allow greater flexibility as each individual area will have its own operating hours. Each mini Danger Area will be closed as and when required by the military, possibly leaving the other two open to other airspace users. Currently, the whole Danger Area is closed, regardless of how much is actually being used. Closures will be notified by NOTAM. A chart showing the new arrangement is at http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/14/Dartmoor%20Danger%20Areas.pdf. Details of upper altitudes, activation times and full coordinates for the Danger Area will be published in the UK AIP.

BGA
2013 Conference. Advance notice: the 2013 BGA Conference, AGM, Exhibition and Awards Ceremony will be held on Saturday 2nd March. The venue, once again, will be the Nottingham Belfry. Put the date in your diary now!
Instructor Courses. Due to cancellations, we currently have one place available on each of the following BGA Assistant Instructor courses: I/C 11 Lasham and I/C13 Portsmouth Naval. Both courses will run from 8-16 September. To book one of these last two remaining 2012 places, or for more information, please contact Debbbie Carr at the BGA office: debbie@gliding.co.uk or 0116 289 2956.
Email Problems. We suffered a disruption to our Email service between the evenings of Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th July. We believe that all Emails sent to the BGA between these times have been recovered and acted upon. However, if you have not received a reply to any Email sent to anybody at the BGA between these times, please would you resend.
Regulatory
Laws and Rules Trailer Supplement. We have received clarification about the legality of glider trailers over 7m in length from the DfT. An updated version of the Laws and Rules Trailer Supplement has been published which explains the situation. The supplement is at http://www.gliding.co.uk/forms/trailer-supplement.pdf
Club Management
Olympic Legacy Funding. Derby & Lancashire GC has been awarded £50,000 of Olympic legacy funding from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund, part of the £135 million Places People Play legacy programme. This funding will allow the building of a new glider storage facility thus avoiding the daily need to rig and de-rig gliders when they are flown. This will encourage more flying and will also enable greater use by the disabled and disadvantaged members of the community. The D&LGC award represents one of hundreds of projects across England benefitting from lottery investment through the second round of the Inspired Facilities fund. Sport England has just launched a further £10 million funding round to help local community sports groups to upgrade their facilities. More details are at http://www.sportengland.org/inspiredfacilities. Bids will be accepted from 23rd July 2012.
Competitions and Cross-Country
National Championships. Tim Milner (Wolds GC) is the new UK Club Class champion. Tim won the 2013 competition, held at Gransden Lodge (Cambridge GC), narrowly defeating Liz Sparrow (Lasham, second) and Matt Davis (Bristol & Glos, third).
World Championships. The 2012 World Gliding Championships for the flapped (15m, 18m, and Open) classes begins this coming Sunday, 5th August, at Uvalde, Texas. The British team, captained by Phil Sturley, comprises Matt Cook and Ed Johnston (15m); Russell Cheetham and Mike Young (18m); and Pete Harvey (Open). You can follow the competition, including live tracking, at http://www.wgc2012uvalde.com. The team blog is at http://www.glidingteam.co.uk
2013 Nationals. Dates and venues have been announced for the 2013 national championships: Club Class– Lasham, 25 May - 2 June; Overseas Championship -venue TBA, 8-22 June; 15 Metre - Husbands Bosworth, 13-21 July; Open Class - Aston Down, 3-11 August;

Standard - Aston Down, 3-11 August; 18 Metre – Bicester, 17-25 August; Juniors - venue TBA, 17-25 August.
New UK Records. Congratulations to Ed Downham and Alex Hippel whose claims for new UK Open Class records for the Free Distance Triangle and the Triangle Distance have now been ratified. The record breaking 808.9km flight in the EB28, on 12th May, beats the previous records, set by Ed in 2004.
French Success. Congratulations to Liz Sparrow for her win in the French Women’s Championships held last month at Issoudun. This was the highlight of an excellent set of results from a strong British contingent which took three of the top 10 places (Gill Spreckley, 5th and Helen Hingley, 7th)
Juniors
BGA Aim Higher Programme. The BGA, in association with Marsh Insurance, has launched the Aim Higher programme. This is designed to help young pilots (aged under 26 at time of application) to improve their soaring skills and airmanship through coaching. As part of the initiative, we have a number of coaching bursaries available. These can be used at any BGA club in any appropriate and creative way to improve an individual young pilot’s skills and to aid progress towards one or more goals. If you would like to apply for one of these bursaries, please write to write to Mike Fox and Alison Randle (via email to mike@gliding.co.uk) describing your age, aims in gliding, experience to date, where you glide and explaining why you are worthy of the money. There is no application form and applications must be received by 11 August. At year end recipients of bursaries will need to write a short thank-you describing how the programme has helped them. This may appear in S&G and may be used by Marsh.
General
EGU Newsletter. The latest newsletter from the European Gliding Union, containing some interesting insights into the European regulatory process, has been published and, hopefully, will be available shortly at http://www.egu-info.org/news.htm
FAI Young Artists Contest. The FAI has launched their 2013 Young Artists contest. This year’s theme is “My Favourite Airsport.” The contest is open to all young people aged between 6 and 19 and will be judged in three age categories. Full details of the contest, including guidelines, media, deadlines, rules and age groups are at http://www.fai.org/fai-young-artistscontest/ciea-rules