Aerial Treasure Hunt

Our annual Aerial Treasure hunt was held on Saturday 4th September. 5 crews took part.

The task involved following a preselected route (in the shape of a truncated Spitfire) and identifying photo clues along the way. The route covered the Severn bends and Forest of Dean as far out as Monmouth, Broad Oak and Ross.

Scores ranged from 12 out of 16 locations identified to 6.

Results:   1st – Tom Bungard
2nd – Paul Haigh
=3rd – Francis Brownsill
Maria Thomas
5th – Alan George

Birmingham ATC

One Friday afternoon during August a small party of club members were able to visit Birmingham ATC. A very informative afternoon was had by all with a good insight into both Approach and Tower operations. One clear message from the ATC chaps is ‘we are here to help, don’t be afraid of talking to us.

Below is an extract from a members email after the event:

Apologies for being a bit slow in sending this but I just wanted to say thanks to whomsoever organised the ATC visit. I found it very interesting/informative and the controllers were all very keen to dissuade us from an often held view that they don’t want to talk to or help the ‘ GA ‘ community. They were particularly keen that rather than just slavishly following their zone boundary on GPS or keeping below their airspace it is helpful to squawk 0010 and listen out on 118.050 when close by so that they can make contact if they need to route traffic that might present a potential conflict.

They also had the usual share of ‘ amusing ‘ stories, I particularly liked the one about the pilot who swore blind he was over Leicester but was in fact over the Black Country. At least I now know there’s no good reason to visit Leicester!

Hopefully more visits will follow

Severn Valley Microlights (SVMC)

During the summer months weekly fly-ins to local airstrips are organised by SVMC. Phil Mathews and Mike Edwards, being members of SVMC regularly participate. This last week was a glorious summer evening and the venue was East Bach airstrip in the Forest of Dean.

Eighteen microlights (incluing G-SHMI) attended with some 60 pilots/passengers/friends. It was a great evening with a splendid barbecue and plenty of time to admire the assembled aircraft and chat to fellow enthusiasts.

First Solo

Congratulations to Ian Smith on achieving his first solo flight on the Eurostar microlight on Saturday 7th March

Cotswold Aero Club Microlight