| Biggin Night Moves |
| Our regular Club nights at Biggin Hill Airport have been on a Thursday since the club's formation, but falling attendances plus members being seen flying on other nights indicated that Thursday was not the best night. Being a democratic organisation, a poll was held, and Fridays came out as the preferred night. The change is being impleneted from Friday 27th October. 26/10/06 |
| When A Tiger Moth Flies By... |
| At the moment, Squawkbox 3.x displays a giant paper dart if it cannot resolve an aircraft type. If you fly past in an aircraft the watcher doesn't have in their Flight Sim aircraft library, that's what they see. Created especially for Bill Casey's virtual Sywell Airshow last year are a collection of mostly British historic aircraft that it would be nice to see if you happen to be in the same place at the same time. In particular, while the 2-4-Cix guys are practicing, load this into your system and you will see the Tiger Moths and Chpmunks they are flying. 18/10/06 |
| Members Meet Down Under |
| Ours is a truly international Club, with members in the USA, Finland, Sweden, South Africa and Australia as well as the UK. Recently, Tim Arnot (pictured left) dropped in on Sydney based David Humble (Right) while en route to New Zealand (Click on images to enlarge) . 14/10/06 |
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Tim and David at Bankstown Airport, New South Wales. |
| David and Tim are both PPLs so it was natural that David would take Tim on the classic flight round Sydney Harbour flown by every Australian PPL at least once. |
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| Tim captioned this shot "Sydney's Tyne Bridge" |
| David flies out of Bankstown Airport, to the west of Sydney's heartland. With three parallel runways to choose from, I wonder if pre-landing checks include the phrase "eeny, meeny, miney, mo"? |
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| "Brakes, Undercarriage, Mixture, Fuel, Carb Heat, Eeeny Meeny, Miney, Mo, Hatches & Harnesses" |
| Two, Four, Cix |
For Sywell III, the Club is planning to field an aerobatics team of Tiger Moths and Chipmonks - probably 3 of each - hence the team name above. Although few members know much about aerobatics , a lot of members have expressed interest and training is about to start. Rather like Mrs Beeton's "First catch your hare" for one of her famous receipes, we have first to learn how to even fly in close formation. A harder task in FS than in the real world, we believe. 11/09/06
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| This Type of Flying is Hard Work |
| Summer Activity, But Not So Much Flying! |
| Over the summer, members have not flown a great deal on club nights, numbering 2 or 3 typically. However, there has been a great deal of activity elsewhere. A steady stream of new members have joined, now numbering 82 in total, who have posted 3400 messages in the forum. We have held two events, flown microlights instead of the usual spam cans, and taken part again in Bill Casey's hugely successful Sywell Air Show. Someone came up with a bright idea, and now we are already planning our participation in next year's Show. OK, so there's not been a great deal of flying but a lot of chatter , thinking and planning. Anyway who wants to sweat it out in July in a garret flight simming when you can lie in the garden and get a tan good enough for St Tropez? 11/09/06 |
| So That's What he Looks Like! |
| Pete Chapman started it, honest. He put up a thumbnail picture of himself on the Forum to accompany each of his posts. (So that's what he looks like). Peter Dodds added one, and that seemed to open the floodgates - well about 4 other members, actually, have put up their mugshots for all to see. More would be welcome to make the club even more human and friendly. |
| Like Topsy |
The Club keeps growing. As of 31st May 2006, we had 59 members, and applications are coming in at 2 or 3 a week. Of these, 33 have qualified as full members, by flying with the club at least once in 12 months; the others are either background supporters or have yet to launch themselves into Club life. Whatever level of involvement members wish to have, everyone is welcome. But if you don't fly at one of our events - you are missing out on some good fun, and, as the Irish have it, good crac on our Teamspeak channel during and after the flights. |
| All About Chairs |
| Now we have this thing going in the forum about chairs. No-one is sure who started it off, but every time a new member joins we have to buy him or her a chair for the member's bar, and there's a bit of banter about where he's going to sit, and who he's going to upset in the process. Chairs are very territorial, and you'd be surprised how some members stick to their chosen sitting device, and indeed to their chosen spot on the linoleum (it's an old Clubhouse). We are now actively planning an extension to the Clubhouse, and there will be plenty of room for all. Also, since we are laying a laminate floor, the chairs won't tear any more holes in the lino, which Tim keeps patching up with Gaffer tape, which he nicks from his Am-Dram activities. |
| Record Turnout! |
| Who'd have believed it? Not a special event, just an ordinary club meeting night, but 13 members were active in various guises around the VATSIM virtual world. Several members gathered at Wolverhampton (Halfpenny Green) for a beginners night, although the participants were already past that intimidating initial foray into the on-line flying world which we all have to make. Several new members flew, earning their promotions to full members - see opposite. Another of our members, Nick Taylor ,was providing a very useful and realistic ATC service as London Information, the catch-all service that real world, and now virtual, pilots use en route between aerodromes 28/03/06 |
| Airprox at EGBJ |
On Tuesday 14/03/06 two of our members were involved in an airborne near miss incident. It was a classic case of a low wing aircraft descending into the circuit from above a high wing aircraft. Added to that, the higher aircraft was piloted (as, unusually, this type normally is) from the right hand seat, and was to the right of the lower aircraft, piloted conventionally from the left hand seat. Both were doing a standard overhead join into the left hand circuit for runway 09. and because of these inherent blind spots, neither could easily see the other. Thus unaware of each other's close preence as they both descended on the dead side, and then very nearly met on the crosswind leg, when one passed just in front of and below the other.
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| Close Encounter at Gloucester |
| Paint your Aircraft |
| The Club has produced a tutorial on repainting your favourite aircraft in Club colours. Author Tim Arnot has used the Caranedo Cessna 182 as his model, and produced a very attractive design. "It is similar to a real world aircraft I have seen recently", said Tim. 09/03/06 |
| The Club Has a New Sign Over The Hangar |
Members who have bought and installed Part 6 of Gary Summon's UK2000 detailed airport scenery and who taxi down to the Cix Flying Club at Gloucester for the traditional after-flight chat all parked outside the hangar, will now see a freshly painted sign over the doors. Our thanks indeed to Gary for giving us this little update, which will, if nothing else, avoid the need for much picture editing to remove the sign of the real world incumbents, Staverton Flying Club. 01/03/06
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| Second Anniversary Flyout |
| Our second birthday celebration event is being held over three consecutive Tuesdays. The first leg was from Gloucestershire to the Isle of Man. the real weather was atrocious, and thanks to the way Vatsim flying is constructed, members were able to switch this off. Only one masochist flew his C172 in the real weather conditions (See pictures). It was unfortunate that the date clashed with a VATSIM Management meeting and an amateur dramatics "first night", as a few regulars were therefore unable to take part. The second leg - a flight round the Isle of Man, calling in at Jurby en route, is on Tuesday 14th February, and the final flight from Ronaldsway back home to Gloucestershire will be held on Tuesday 21st February. |
| No more Typing While Flying? |
| VATSIM has announced that the use of voice communications by air traffic controllers on the network should be free of restrictions (such as voice ratings) so as to make voice the preferred method of communication for air traffic controllers. The Board of Governors said in its NOTAM that members have wanted this change for a long time. The new rules come into effect on Monday, March 13, 2006.. 05/02/06 |
| New Flight Planning Page |
| A few changes have been made to the web site recently, including the addition of a page on the important subject of flight planning. Two pages which were not used have been deleted - Notams and weather, as these are dealt with on the new Club Forum, and from VATSIM respectively. 26/01/06 |
| Second Anniversary Special Event |
| As part of the Ssecond anniversary celebrations, the Club is planning a fly out to the Isle of Man from Gloucestershire via Anglesey. The event will take place over two evenings, outbound and return. Full details will be posted on the Events page. New and inexperienced members will be looked after well, so do come along. |
| New! A Club Forum |
| To celebrate its forthcoming second anniversary, and in recognition of the valuable contribution made to the Club by Associate members, we have launched our own Forum, which is open to all members. With our own Forum, members can at last communicate widely with all other members in a much more flexible way than before. We are really excited about this development and hope that everyone will chip in with their news and views about the Club and its activities. 21/01/06 |
| Club Restructuring |
| In the run up to its second anniversary, the Club has decided that the criterion for full membership will no longer be membership of Cix, but that Full membership will be granted to any member who flies with the club at least once a year. Invitations to members to register their continued interest have been emailed to each member on our current membership list. If you don't get an email, contact the Membership Secretary (see Membership page for contact details). 14/01/06 |
| New Training Video Experiment |
| The club has produced a prototype of what might become more common in future - a training video. Using Flight Simulator's video recording facility and a simple audio recorder, the video and audio files are run at the same time in sync (the videon in FS, the audio in Media Player or similar) and what you get is a flown circuit at Gloucestershire Airport, with instructor commentary. The author said "At present it is a little crude, but was knocked up in an evening . With more time and better tools I think this idea has endless possibilities". 04/01/2006 |
