The BGA would like to offer its best wishes for the festive season to all readers and hopes that everybody has a happy and safe new year.
The BGA office will close for the holidays at lunchtime on Monday, 23rd December and will reopen on Thursday, 2nd January 2014.
Safety
Safety Evenings. The 2013/14 series of Safety Evenings run by GASCo is now underway. A full listing of dates and venues is at http://www.gasco.org.uk/safety-evenings/gasco_caa_safetyeves_2013/14.aspx
Regulatory
Hand-Held Radios in Flight. The CAA has approved the use of 8.33 kHz channel-spaced handheld radios in flight in Annex II aircraft. Radios must conform to existing European standards for non-airborne operation and the approval is for use outside Class A, B, and C airspace. Full details, including the conditions and limitations, can be found on the aircraft equipment page of the CAA website at http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=220&pagetype=90
Airspace Consultations. This is another busy time for responding to airspace consultations. In particular, the BGA and its fellow airspace users in the GA Alliance are responding to the airspace change proposal from Southend Airport with a vigorous opposition to the creation of a large volume of Class D airspace.
BGA
CAA FI(SLMG) Course. The next (and perhaps final) CAA FI(SLMG) course has been announced. As usual, the course will be in two parts: Ground school at Bicester from Friday 24th to Sunday 26th January; the flying element, about 5hrs, will be arranged individually. Details of fees are at: http://www.gliding.co.uk/forms/bgafees.pdf (flying excluded). Please book with the BGA SRE(MG), Andy Miller: 01249 821031 or andy@asmiller.freeserve.co.uk from whom further details are also available.
BGA Sporting Conference and AGM. The 2014 BGA Sporting Conference and Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday, 1st March at the Nottingham Belfry. As always, there is no charge for attending the conference and exhibition. You can now book your lunch and tickets for the Gala Awards Dinner at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/notices/conference.htm.
Club Management
CASC. As we have previously reported to clubs, the Government is making significant changes to the Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) scheme and has been carrying out a consultation over recent months. The BGA, with the involvement of a large number of clubs,

delivered a comprehensive response on behalf of gliding. The BGA, as one of a core group of 19 sports, along with the Sports Councils and the Sport and Recreation Alliance, is closely engaged with HMRC on this important issue. There is a BGA update at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/clubmanagement/documents/casc-241113.pdf
Competitions and Cross-Country
BGA Ladder Trophies. As we approach the year-end close of the BGA ladder, the BGA Competitions Committee invites pilots who believe they have completed a flight qualifying for a BGA ladder trophy to apply. Some trophies are automatically selected by the BGA Ladder, but there are always some flights that are hidden within larger flights. The committee also seeks nominations for the Phil Lever Trophy (most promising junior pilot) and the John Hands Trophy (awarded for outstanding support for the organising or running of competitions). The complete set of rules can be found at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/documents/trophyrules.pdf and http://bgaladder.co.uk/Rules.asp. Please send applications using the Competitions Committee feedback tool at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/competitions/feedback.php
Womenglide. The Women’s Development Group has a new website – http://www.womenglide.co.uk. On it, among other things, you will find details of the Winter Development Day at Dunstable on Saturday 18th January and the Winter Flying Weekend at the Long Mynd on 1st and 2nd February.
New UK Gliding Records. John Williams’ flight from Portmoak on 10th September established a new UK 300km triangle speed record in the Open and 20m classes with an average speed of 132.94kmph, beating Phil Jones’ 2003 records. In another flight from Portmoak, Colin Hamilton took two other records off Phil with new bests for a 200km goal flight in the 20m and 15m classes with his flight on 10th October at an average speed of 156.96kmph. Jay Rebbeck set new UK Standard Class distance records in the Out and Return and Free Out and Return categories with a flight of 616.9km on 25th May from Lasham, beating the records established by Paul Fritche earlier this year.
Frequency Reference Cards. A reminder that Frequency Reference Cards are no longer distributed in printed form with VFR charts. They are now only available as downloads from http://www.nats-uk.eadit.com/public/index.php%3Foption=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=234&Itemid=354.html
World Sailplane Grand Prix. The FAI has announced the venues for the 6th FAI Sailplane Grand Prix (SGP) series. The seven venues for the Qualifying Grand Prix events, which will be held in 2014 and 2015, are: France (Rennes), Italy (Varese), Spain (La Cerdanya), South Africa (Worcester), Chile (Santiago de Chile), Poland (Zar), and Australia (Lake Keepit). There is still a possibility that one more SGP qualifying event will be approved for the 2014-2015 series. Interested organisations should apply to roland@sgp.aero before the end of December 2013. The 6th World Sailplane Grand Prix Final has been awarded to Varese, Italy and will be take place in September 2015. Further details of all the venues and dates can be found at www.sgp.aero
General
RAeC Newsletter. The winter 2013 edition of the Royal Aero Club Newsletter has been published at http://www.royalaeroclub.co.uk/media/Newsletter%20Winter%202013.pdf.