Black
Mountains Gliding Club
Held
on Friday 6th April 2007
Robbie Robertson chaired the meeting with 38 members
present. Apologies for absence were received from several members.
Before the start of formal proceedings Martin Brockington
made some complimentary remarks regarding the work and commitment of committee
members that set the tone for a pleasant and productive annual general meeting.
The minutes of the meeting held on 14th of April 2006 had
been posted previously on the club website; these were approved and signed.
Chairman’s Report: Robbie presented his chairman’s report.
This took the form of an assessment of the challenges that faced the committee
during 2006-2007.
Wet weather
often made the east end of the field unusable. This was solved by the
installation of field drains that are now working well.
The approach lane to the
airfield was seriously potholed and the cattle grid was distorted. The lane was
resurfaced and a new cattle grid installed.
Don Puttock resigned as
manager and chief flying instructor. Bo Nilsson has been recruited as mid-week
summer instructor from Easter 2007 and Martin Langford became chief flying
instructor from November 2006.
Don Gosden resigned as
Director and treasurer and no member volunteered to take on the role. Clive
Micklewright finally agreed to become treasurer with the promise of assistance
from Don whenever needed.
The K13s were perceived
to be unable to provide pre-solo spin training at weights above those
placarded. After much lobbying from many gliding clubs including the BMGC the
BGA finally agreed formally to permit spin training in the extended weight
category.
The Junior and K13
trailers were in poor condition so that retrieves following field landings were
not feasible. A new trailer was purchased which was adapted for the Junior and
the club K6; and the K13 trailer was restored to good roadworthy condition. The
chairman thanked Geoff and Julie King for their efforts with this work.
A higher performance
glider was needed to provide the means of teaching advanced soaring and cross
country flying. A K21 was purchased, and is now flying and proving popular.
With an increasing number
of visiting pilots, trial lessons and a professional training programme planned
the committee were conscious of the rather scruffy appearance of the clubhouse.
A task weekend was organised to redecorate and generally improve the facility.
This was a lot of fun and would be repeated when necessary.
There was a problem with
the water supply to the clubhouse at busy times. This was solved by fitting a
radio telemetry system to control the remotely situated water pump. This is
working well and the chairman thanked John Horley and Steve Blackman for planning
and carrying out this work.
The present clubhouse was
proving too small. A temporary building is being erected to the south side of
the hangar. This will provide a briefing room, bunkhouse accommodation and
storage for parachutes and other items.
Due to recent capital
investment in improving club assets finances will be tight throughout 2007.
Income must therefore be maintained by members flying as much as possible and
by controlling costs.
It is important to
promote BMGC as a premier gliding site. This will be achieved by encouraging
expeditions from other gliding clubs and by looking after visiting pilots so
that the word will spread that BMGC provides a first class facility.
Finally the chairman
emphasised the need for all members to help the committee in running the club
by doing their “bit”.
Treasurer’s report: The company directors’
report and accounts had been prepared by the company accountants, King, Morter,
Proud and Co, and had been approved by the directors at their meeting on 17th
February 2007. The accounts had previously been made available to members on
the club website; these were formally laid before the members at the meeting.
The treasurer summarised
the club’s current financial position.
Club income totalled
£124,024. Of this 42% was derived from launches, 18% from trial lessons, 14%
from club membership fees and the rest from other sources.
Cost of sales for 2006/7
totalled £45,078, of which 38% was for tug fuel, 17% for tug maintenance, 24%
for glider maintenance, 15% for aviation insurance, 2% for tug hire and 4% for
advertising.
Cost of overheads
totalled £46,948. Major components of this comprised £14,193 for wages, £5,300
in rent to TAL Ltd, insurance other than of the tug and gliders £2,633, light
and heat £2,039 and premise maintenance £1,351.
TAL debenture repayments
continue on budget so that the outstanding loan has almost halved since 2004.
£42,000 remains to be repaid over the next 4 years. A budget strategy is in
place for this. Total loan liabilities, including two from members have almost
halved since 1998, and stand at £74,532 as of 31 March 2007.
Turnover has almost
quadrupled since 1998 when it was £34,313 to the current £124,024. Profit and
loss remains fairly static at £28,488 compared with £28,456 in 2004.
This represents a healthy
financial situation, but cash reserves are relatively low and need to be
closely monitored over the next few weeks to ensure that sufficient cash flow
exists most particularly to meet the salaries of paid club employees.
Chief flying instructor’s report: Martin thanked Don Puttock for his help in handing
over the CFI brief. He thanked all tug pilots, instructors and all those
members who help in many ways on the airfield for their contribution to the
continuing success of club activities.
He confirmed that the K13
was cleared for spinning in the extended weight category and that one K13 now
has a removable modification for our paraplegic pilot. The club was waiting for
the hoist before commencing training for this member.
The acquisition of the
K21 required instructor consolidation for this glider. It will be modified to
allow spin training during the refinishing that is due to take place in early
summer. To enable the effective use of three two-seater gliders more full cat
and basic instructors will be needed, and several members have already
indicated their willingness to become involved in this upgrade.
Bo Nilsson will commence
mid-week instruction soon after Easter. He will require two weeks to become
familiar with the airfield and surrounding air space. He is an immensely
experienced pilot and instructor and will be a great asset to the club.
Martin emphasised the
importance of the annual flight review in terms of the club safety record.
He has arranged for a
motor glider to be available at Usk for field selection training at the bargain
price of £35 per hour.
Together with Mike Codd
he has arranged a full programme of courses during the summer and encourages
all members to participate. To this end one week in every month will be devoted
to club member development.
Following feedback from the
instructors meeting and a few recent incidents there are now some changes to
the daily briefing check list. These have been sent to all members by e-mail
and to those without access to a computer by post.
The Tony Burton trophy for
height gain was awarded to Tony Crowden. A new trophy donated by Ralph Johnson
will be named the Talgarth Triangle Trophy and awarded for the fastest flight
around a 100km triangle; TAL to Leominster to Burley Gate and back to TAL. It
will be handicapped.
Election
of Directors: Current Directors are Robbie Robertson, chairman; John
Scott, company secretary; Don Gosden, treasurer; Peter Saundby; Clive
Micklewright; John Horley and Mike Codd.
Don Gosden wishes to resign and
Clive Micklewright seeks re-election. Ken Basterfield, Tony Bartlett and Gordon
Dennis were nominated as new directors.
Mike Codd had been appointed by
the directors during the year and sought approval of this from members.
The committee
discussed this and decided that they were prepared to increase the number of
Directors by three in order to accept all three nominations.
Clive, Mike and all three
nominees were elected unanimously to the Board of Directors.
The chairman thanked Don for
his tremendous contribution to the financial success of the club and wished
Clive good luck in the formidable task that he has taken on in becoming the new
treasurer.
The meeting was formally closed
by the chairman who then invited comments and questions from members.
Tim Barton asked whether there
were any proposals to change the block charging for two release heights. The
new treasurer said that he thought not, but it will be discussed further at committee.
Ralph Johnson asked if there
were any plans to improve trailer parking facilities. The chairman noted that
for the last few months there had been no pressure on trailer slots except at
times when there were visiting expeditions.