Sailplane & Gliding 1966 - Lakes Gliding Club

idea of his position. This person was lost for at least two hours (as he continuously
informed his ground station) before I~nding in some presumably unidentified field.
Most of us get lost occasionally, but 1 consider that in these days of controlled
airspace it is little short of criminal to remain airborne whilst lost for this length
of time.
I am very tempted to melltion the call-sign of this (to me unknown) person. but
I feel that perhaps in his ease this was an isolated incident and it would be unfair to
single him ouL
However, now that many people are advancing so rapidly, there must be quite a
few cross-country pilots with very little idea of how to get from A to B, let alone
how to get back to A. What is much more important to the gliding movement is thal
these same people may not have tbe knowledge to avoid controlled airspace, any
infringements of which can only lead us into the Ministry's clutches.
There is no new answer to this problem of course, instruction and supervision
being all, but at least let us all act like responsible people and land within a reasonable
time if we get lost, so that there is no possibility of flying into the wrong area.
Airways Gliding Club.
JOHN ELlIS
NrCHOLAS GOODHAR'r, Chairman of tne B.G.A. Airspace Committee, comments:
Being lost and. not knowing where one is are two different things. If truly lost, one
does not even know where one isn't! This is the state of affairs that should not be
allowed to continue, whereas one can continue without a pinpoint for quite a while.
It should a'lso be borne in mind that provided one maintains VMC there are
very few pieces of controlled airspace to be avoided.
With these reservations [ fully support Mr. Ellis's remarks.
TO HELP OR NOT TO HELP?
Dear Sir,
Surely Mr. Redman, in his letter to you appearing in the current issue of the
SAILPLANE, overlooks the fact that gliding is a sport, and as a sport everyone partaking
should be wil1ing to pull their weight, and not fall into the modern trend of
expecting everything to be laid on regardless.
What is wrong with winching? Nothing. In the A:T.C., where I was the C.F.I.
~t Sealand, we carried out all ab initio training with winches and time lost was zero;
It was merely a case of organisation. As for hangarage, I think I am right in saying
that reasonable hangarnge is available at a large number of sites, and quite recently
I called in at the club at Perranporth and even there. because they have the right
spirit and initiative, hangarage exists, which proves that you do not have to have a
huge semi-State-run and subsidised club to achieve that genuine enthusiasm on which
glidin~ thrived so well in the between-wars era.
. Before the war, my wife (n6: Joan Meakin) and I seriously thought that somethmg
on tbe lines suggested by Mr. Redman would be a good thing both for gliding
and ourselves but, after serious research into costs and all that went with it, decided
that to consider it we would have to be far more wealthy than we ..:ould ever hope
to be. I am sorry for his suggestion, but maybe he would like the exercise of delving
as we did and pass his findings to you for publication.
Is it not a terrible thought to suggest that pushing doors open is a chore? Can
wMe. not invent an electric glass-lifter to make our drinking less arduous?
Instead. Hants.
RONil:LD PRICE
PROFESSIONAliSM
Dear Sir.
As "Nimmo" appears to have missed the point of my letter (S. & G. June-July).
may I enlarge on this issue?
Of course, the gliding movement needs more capital investment and also more
r7fen~e- Equally important, I suggest, is the need to deploy existing resources more
e eClIvely, by reducing the wastage which occurs among not only new entrants but
397