Newcastle Hang Gliding Club Meeting Minutes 29/06/2022
Location: Bar Beach Bowling Club. Meeting commenced 730pm
Present: Adriaan Mulder, Al Giles, Ken Harris, Jamie Oorschot, Ian Ladyman, Harry Daniels, Kieran Black, JOD, Craig Flanagan, Craig Hand, Tony Barton
Zoom: John Harriot, Geoff Bednal, Royce Allenson, Brad Patfield
Apologies: John Dingle, Selmsy, Cameron.
Last Minutes: 1st Craig Hand, 2nd Ken Harris
Business Arising – None
Sites
Hunter – The bombout paddock we have been using for the past few years owned by Anna and partner Josh, conditions of use have changed. Anna has recently acquired a horse. It is easily startled by Hang Gliders and Paragliders coming in to land. Anna has requested that she be contacted first for permission to land in her paddock, preferably the day before. This is to ensure her horse riding/training activities are not negatively impacted by flying activities. A new bombout paddock has been established on the NW side of Whitings Lane opposite Anna’s paddock. It is owned by Elisha and Peter Smith. They have given us permission to land there and also park our cars in their paddock alongside the fence line. The fence style has been moved from Anna’s fence to Elisha’s fence. Procedure of engagement for flying at Hunter;
- Establish a group of pilots the day before who wish to fly. One person from this group is to contact Anna the day before to ask for permission to use her LZ paddock. We don’t want Anna bombarded with requests from multiple people.
- The same person from this group contact Elisha to let her know of your intention to fly. If Anna has not given permission to land in her paddock, ask Elisha for permission to land in hers.
- If Anna’s LZ is not available then pilots need to be confident conditions are suitable that they will make it into Elisha’s LZ. Hence it may not be suitable for Paragliders, HG Floaters, students and novices due to the extra distance and difficulty.
- If Anna intends to engage in horse activities on the day please try to make an approach from the south into Elisha’s LZ. Please keep Anna informed when you plan to start flying and also when you finish.
Hunter site guide will be updated with the new rules – Adriaan.
Jamie to approach Anna with idea to leave an old HG rigged up on her property to see if her horse can become familiar with a HG and hopefully less sensitive to pilots coming in to land.
Lake St Claire – Bottom landowner, Ron, put a padlock on the access gate to stop tourist’s trying to get up the hill. Apparently they have done some damage to the track in wet conditions. Ron has agreed to change the padlock to a keyless combination lock. Club site guide will be updated with new rules and padlock combination (5721) – Adrian.
Hooley Dooleys – still with CASA legal team. Neil and Patto regularly chasing it up. Hopefully it will be signed off before summer.
Bombala Launch – Ian noticed gate has been ripped off and signage removed. Suspect disgruntled young picknickers. Adrian will notify Kate at National Parks. Will leave it up to NP to decide if gate is replaced. Current agreement with NP is that gate is to be locked after pilot use. Not sure why NP want a locked gate, could possibly be to avoid unaccompanied minors going over cliff edge. Ian happy to remove hinges that could snag a PG wing, Jamie to replace sign.
Watagans – Royce has been trying to contact Mike from Forrestry for 6+ months with no success. Has recently discovered Mike has moved on and a new lady has taken on Mike’s role. Royce will contact her to start negotiations for installation of weather stations at Hunter, NE Heaton and SE Heaton.
Safety Issues – None.
Flying – Lots of sled rides off Hunter with the exception of one day where JOD got high and some eagles that flew very close and were friendly.
New Business – NSWHPA Electric Winch initiative. A recent successful convention organized and chaired by John Harriot (NSWHPA) spawned the Electric Winch Initiative. The idea is to purchase 4 electric winches that will be strategically located within NSW and shared by various clubs. The idea is to create an alternative means of getting airborne to hill launching and aerotowing. Winch towing is probably the safest form of towing for Hang Gliding and moderately safe for Paragliding. There are many positive outcomes to having an additional form of flying available including a higher rate of take off/landing, many additional places to fly, more tandem flights, extra support for schools etc and hopefully it will boost the uptake of pilots into the sport. Denman has a 1km towing strip and John has found a 2.5km towing strip an extra 1hr drive from Denman. There was sufficient positive support from pilots at the meeting (plus Selmsy and Cameron who could not make it) to encourage John Harriot to go ahead with the purchase of the winches. The proposal is that one winch will be shared between Central Coast Sky Surfers, NHGC, NPGC and Hunter HGC. John will draw up an agreement/contract. Jamie Oorschot has offered to be the primary person representing NHGC and NPGC with regards to this agreement and is happy to take on a maintenance/servicing role.
NOMINATIONS
The following people were nominated for the following roles
President – Kieran Black (to replace Adriaan Mulder)
Secretary – John Dingle (to replace Jamie Oorschot)
Treasurer – Craig Hand (no change)
Vice President – Adriaan Mulder (to replace Rory Duncan)
Comp Director – Karl Kindle (no change)
National Parks Liaison – JOD/John Boy/Patto (new)
Forrestry Liaison – Royce (no change)
A big thanks to outgoing president, Adriaan, and secretary, Jamie. Adriaan happy to continue doing website stuff and backup admin. Jamie happy to continue doing hands on site & winch stuff.
Thanks heaps to Craig, Karl, JOD, John Boy and Royce for their continued roles.
A huge thanks to Kieren Black and John Dingle for stepping up and offering to take on new roles in the club. We look forward to the exciting new dynamic they will bring.
Treasurers report
Main Cash Account – No change except 87c interest- $20,162.78
Soluctions Account – increase due to memberships (53 members) $619.09
Paypal $1,400.72
Grand Total $22,182.59
Summary: Only difference from last month is the addition of membership fees.
Meeting Closed 8:30pm
