Safety
Queen’s Birthday Flypast. Details of the airspace set up to protect the flypast on 15th June and rehearsals between 11th and 13th June are in AIC Mauve 031/2013 (available on the AIS web site at http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/ and at http://www.gliding.co.uk/documents/AICM-031-2013.pdf). The flypast will consist of 32 aircraft, including the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Red Arrows, other fast jets, transport aircraft and helicopters. The rehearsals will start in the vicinity of Southwold, Suffolk then route via RAF Marham and conclude, for dispersal, at RAF Waddington. The Flypast formation itself will form up at Southwold and route via Ipswich, abeam Colchester, Chelmsford and enter the London City CTR south of Stapleford; the formation will overfly Buckingham Palace and route via RAF Northolt, RAF Halton and disperse in the RAF Brize Norton area.
RIAT. Details of the airspace restrictions protecting the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford have been published in AIC Mauve 036/2013. These restrictions cover the period 17-22 July. If you are likely to be in the affected area, please familiarise yourself with the restrictions which are available via http://www.nats-uk.ead-it.com/. This, and all other current RA(T)s are shown in calendar format at https://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/airspace/rats.php
Airworthiness Directives. Rotax 912 & 914 Engines – Cylinder Head Inspection. EASA has issued AD 2013-0117-E, superseding AD 2013-0055-E, for the inspection and possible replacement of cylinder heads due to manufacturing issues. The applicability has now been extended to include all Rotax 912 and 914 engines due to replacement cylinder heads being supplied as spare parts. Please note this inspection must be completed within 5 flying hours or 20 days. See http://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/easa_ad_2013_0117_E.pdf/EAD_2013-0117-E_1 Alexander Schleicher ASK21 Series - Flight Manual Amendment and Placard Installation. EASA has published AD 2013-0123 for revised spin recovery information, installation of placard and advice regarding gap sealing. See http://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/easa_ad_2013_0123.pdf/AD_20130123_1
BGA Safety Organisation. At its April meeting, the Executive Committee agreed to develop and adopt a formal safety management system. The Safety Organisation page on the website http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/safety/organisation.htm - has been updated to reflect this.
Regulatory
EAS Newsletter. The May edition of the Europe Air Sports (EAS) Newsletter has been published. This contains a wealth of information about the progress being made in dealings with EASA and the European Commission and Parliament. EAS represents the interests of all recreational pilots in Europe and its work is fully supported by the BGA which plays an active role in EAS activities. The newsletter is available for download at http://www.europe-airsports.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsletter/EAS_NL_May_2013.pdf. If you would like to receive future issues of the newsletter direct to your inbox, please sign up on the Europe Air Sports website at http://www.europe-air-sports.org/

BGA
BGA Badge Claim Forms. Now that we are into the heart of the soaring season, a reminder to everybody making badge claims to ensure that they use the latest version of the appropriate claim form. The bronze endorsement form, in particular, has seen significant changes recently. The latest forms can be downloaded from http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/onlineforms.htm
Club Management
Grant for B&GGC. Bristol & Gloucester GC has received a grant of £6500 from the Sport England Small Grants programme for the purchase of 10 FLARM units to equip all club gliders, their tug and the Bristol University Astir. The award also covers the provision of remote displays for the two-seater gliders. This follows a similar award last year to Bicester GC. In addition, B&GGC received funding to support the training of pilots during the sometimes difficult transition to cross country flying through the provision of dedicated 2-seat cross country flying with experienced instructors/coaches.
Competitions and Cross-Country
Club Class Championships. The 2013 Club Class Nationals were held last week at Lasham. After six competition days, the 2013 champion is Pete Masson (Lasham GS) with 5847 points. Second equal were Jez Hood and Jon Meyer, each with 5557 points.
Aerobatics Championships. The British Glider National Aerobatics Championships were also held last week, at Saltby. The winners were: David Aherne (Beginners, Known); Peter Sharphouse (Sports Class); George Rizk (Intermediate); Robbie Rizk (Advanced); and Paul Conran (Unlimited).
International Gliding Championships. The European Gliding Championships (flapped classes) start at Vinon, France on 8th June. The strong British team comprises Steve Ell & Phil Jones (15m), Derren Francis & Russell Cheetham (18m), and Pete Harvey and Steve Jones (Open). You can follow the championship over the next two weeks at http://www.egc2013vinon.fr. The Women’s World Championships start at the end of the month (29 June – 13 July) at Issoudun, France. Claudia Hill, Helen Hingley and Ayala Truelove represent Team GB in the Club Class and Kay Draper and Gill Spreckley compete in the Standard Class. The championship web site is at http://wwgc2013.aeroclub-issoudun.fr/
New Record. Congratulations to Kay Draper (Lasham GS) whose 161km goal flight on 2nd April has been confirmed as setting a new UK 100km goal flight record in the UK Feminine Standard, 15m, 20m and Open classes at a speed of 142.42kph.
Sporting Code. The IGC Sporting Code committee has put forward a discussion paper regarding the Sporting Code Section 3, Gliding and Motorgliders. The paper notes that a difficult to understand Code is a disincentive to the growth of our sport and calls for suggestions that could lead to a radical simplification. Suggestions should be sent to igc-sporting-code@fai.org.
Juniors
Breitling Youngster Award. The FAI has announced the creation a new award: the Breitling Youngster Award. The award is for a young pilot who, during the previous 12 months and before the date of his/her 26th birthday, either a) achieved an outstanding sporting performance; or excelled in a certain area of the sport and is considered as a reference; or significantly contributed to the development and promotion of aeronautics or astronautics. This year, the deadline for the receipt of nominations is 30 June 2013. If you are aware of any young pilot who would be worthy of this award, please would you forward details as soon as possible to Pete Stratten at the BGA (pete@gliding.co.uk) so that a nomination can be made by the BGA before the deadline.