Safety
GASCo Safety Evenings. The initial schedule for the 2014/5 season of GASCo Safety Evenings has been published. Dates and venues are at http://www.gasco.org.uk/safetyevenings.aspx
Regulatory
EASA Update. This week, the EASA committee will be deliberating and voting on proposed changes to regulation that aim to alleviate concerns about training and licensing requirements raised by the BGA and other members of the air sport community. These proposals include a deferment of the need to convert to Part-FCL licensing and implementing ATO requirements until 2018. The result of the vote, when known, will result in discussion between BGA and CAA following which full details, including any impact on groups or individuals, will be published through our usual channels.
Inverness Airspace Consultation. Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) has launched a consultation about their plans to request a Class D Control Zone (CTR) and Control Area (CTA) surrounding Inverness Airport. The BGA is concerned about these proposals and is working with our GA Alliance partners to consider the implications with the aim of developing an appropriate response. Full details of the consultation are at http://www.hial.co.uk/invernessairport/jet-centre/nats-nautical-information-service/
BGA
New BGA CTO. We are delighted to announce that Gordon MacDonald has been appointed as the new BGA Chief Technical Officer. Gordon, who will be well known to many in the gliding community, has already begun a formal handover from the current CTO, Jim Hammerton, who retires on 28th October. Post-retirement, Jim will be carrying out a number of specific tasks for the BGA in a contractor role. Gordon can be contacted using the cto@gliding.co.uk Email address (Emails sent to this address will be forwarded to both Gordon and Jim up until 28th October). Gordon will be based from home and will work Tuesday to Saturday, with contact hours from 8am to 4pm.
Changes to Minimum Ages. Following the change in the minimum solo age to 14, it has been noted that young pilots may have been unnecessarily held back from gaining further flying endorsements because of age limitations. The BGA Executive Committee has now agreed that, with immediate effect, pilots may qualify for their Bronze Endorsement at age 14. To complete the Cross-Country Endorsement navigation and field landing tests, a pilot must be age 16. Details are at www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/Lawsandrules/LR2012Part2GliderPilotCertification.pdf.
Updated Fees and Charges. Some BGA fees and charges have changed with effect from 1st October. These include the membership fees agreed at the 2014 BGA AGM and a number of reductions particularly aimed at helping young pilots. Please ensure that you use the correct fee when making applications. Full details are at http://www.gliding.co.uk/forms/bgafees.pdf.

BGA Web Site. The first phase of the new BGA web site has just gone live. This phase includes the promotional areas of the site. The replacement for the Information for Clubs and Members section is currently under development and the legacy site remains essentially unchanged in this area. We have attempted to ensure that all links, etc have been preserved whilst changing over to the new web site. However, if you come across any that no longer work, please would you Email keith@gliding.co.uk so that we can correct these. You will notice that the new site is much more graphic and we are always pleased to feature great gliding images. If you have any photographs that you would like to have considered for use on the site, you can submit these via our gallery function at https://www.gliding.co.uk/gallery
BGA Conference 2015. March may seem like a long time away, but bookings are already coming in for the 2015 Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony, one of the highlights of the UK gliding year. The dinner is part of an interesting and, hopefully, fun-packed day, which also includes the BGA Conference, AGM and exhibition. The event will be held at the Nottingham Belfry on Saturday 7th March. The conference, which is free to attend, will feature sessions for everybody, covering topics such as aerobatic competition flying, aircraft conspicuity and visual detection, and an update on what is new in the world of instrumentation. You will be able to purchase tickets for the dinner on the BGA web site later this month, but bookings are now being taken using the paper form at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/documents/conferencebooking-form-2015.pdf. Accommodation is available at the hotel for the Saturday night at a special price of £91 for double occupancy. Rooms are offered on a first come, first served basis and you should book directly with the hotel on 0845 0740 060, quoting ‘BGA CONFERENCE’.
Club Management
BGA Club Management Conference, 22 November at Warwick University. Booking is now open for the annual conference specifically for chairmen, treasurers, CFIs, managers and anyone else involved with managing a gliding club. The agenda, which includes specialist CFI and Treasurer streams, aims to ensure that this is a must-attend event, offering club officials real value for their time. Booking forms have recently been circulated to clubs and are also available from the BGA website at https://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/clubmanagement/documents/cc2014book.doc with more details at https://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/clubmanagement/documents/cc2014info.pdf. If you need to travel to the conference on Friday, accommodation is available at the venue but you will need to book your room directly. Rooms are being held for us until 31st October. Friday evening provides a good opportunity for relaxed conversation and discussions. We look forward to seeing you there.
The Flying Show. The BGA is exhibiting next month at the Flying Show. The show - the largest indoor aviation exhibition in the UK - features all forms of recreational aviation and will be held at the Telford International Centre on Saturday and Sunday, 22/23 November. Entry is normally £10.00 but we have negotiated a reduced fee of just £6 for BGA club members (free for under 18s). To purchase reduced price tickets, go to http://www.theflyingshow.co.uk/tickets. Above the Order Now button, you will see a box to enter a promotion code. Enter ‘BGA956’ and, on the payment page, enter your BGA club name (just above the ‘Pay Now’ button.)
Competitions and Cross-Country
1:500,000 VFR Chart - Scotland. Edition 30 of the half million chart for Scotland will be published on 13 November. Note that this is significantly earlier than the originally planned publication date which has been brought forward to reflect the reclassification of Class F airspace, some of which has been replaced by Class E airways additionally notified as

Transponder Mandatory Zones (TMZs), or disestablished and returned to Class G. The dimensions of new Class E + TMZ airways do not mirror the dimensions of the previous Class F Advisory Routes (ADRs) they will replace. In addition, several of the new airways include a number of ‘fillets’ in the vicinity of Aberdeen International Airport. The chart will be available from the usual stockists.
Juniors
Royal Aero Club Trust Bursaries. Applications are now being accepted for the 2015 Royal Aero Club Trust Flying Bursaries. These bursaries are available to young pilots, aged 14-21, who have already reached solo standard to enable them to achieve greater competence in their particular air sport. Bursaries of up to £1500 are available to help recipients advance from one recognized level of air sport to the next (for example, gain the bronze badge or XC endorsement). Applications for 2015 bursaries in respect of gliding have to be endorsed by the BGA. These need to be received at the BGA office 10 March 2015. Full details are on the RAeC Trust website at http://www.royalaeroclubtrust.org/bursaries. Additionally, in 2015, the Trust may award a number of Follow-On Bursaries. These are available to previous recipients of Flying Bursaries who have now been selected for international competition teams or similar. An upper age limit of 24 applies to the Follow-On bursaries.
General
Visit ATC Day. Civil air traffic controllers from around the country will be throwing open the doors of their control towers over the next month, as part of the annual ‘Visit ATC Day’ initiative, intended to increase the mutual understanding of pilots and air traffic controllers. As part of the project, GA pilots are invited to take a tour of their local air traffic control unit to see life from the other end of the radio. ATC units already confirmed include Bristol, Farnborough, Exeter, Glasgow, Southampton, Leeds Bradford and Prestwick Centre. More details, as well as contact details for (mandatory) pre-registration are at http://www.airspacesafety.com.
RAeC Newsletter. The autumn edition of the Royal Aero Club newsletter has been published. You can read a copy at http://royalaeroclub.co.uk/news.php
FAI Young Artists Contest. The theme of the 2015 FAI Young Artists contest is ‘Create a poster for the FAI World Air Games Dubai 2015’. If you are aged 6-17 and would like to have an impact on the World Air Games in Dubai then let your talent shine and hopefully win an FAI medal. Entries will be divided into three age groups: junior category (ages 6-9), intermediate (10-13) and senior (14-17). The winners for each group will be awarded Gold, Silver or Bronze Medals and the winning paintings will be exhibited in Dubai during the Games. Entries should be received by the Royal Aero Club no later than 27 February 2015. Full details are at http://www.fai.org/world-air-games/fai-young-artists-contest.