AGM September 2022

We start our new season of Strut activities with the AGM on 6th September, at 19:45 in BAWA Room 4. Members should by now have received the calling notice and Agenda.

As usual we will try to keep essential business short, and then hear about what you have been doing over the summer.

For the following meeting on October 4th, our own Chris Wright, Chairman of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s General Aviation Group will tell us about the Group’s activities.

Following last year’s successful (apart from the result!) skittles match against the Bristol Aero Club, we have arranged another booking at BAWA for Saturday 19 November.

And lastly, for the moment, we hope to have a Saturday morning visit (date to be announced) to Retro Track & Air at Dursley.

April 2022 Meeting – General Update

We don’t have a guest speaker this month, but plan a general chat
evening with a few subjects of local importance or interest:

  • Update on LAA from Strut Chairmen meeting
  • Several airspace change proposals under way and likely to impact
    flying in our area
  • Electronic conspicuity – again
  • Several film/video clips – racing in the 50’s and strip flying
    competition
  • Anything else you would like to raise!

    The meeting will take place at 19:30,
    BAWA, Room 4, 589 Southmead Road, Filton BS34 7RG.

CAA Airspace infringement avoidance webinar and statistics update

Join GAsCo’s airspace infringement avoidance webinar on Monday 7 March (19:00) for an hour and a half of information, tips, suggestions and quizzes.

Register online for free: Airspace Infringement Avoidance Webinar

Monthly figures for reported airspace infringements and Airspace Infringement Team decisions are regularly updated on the Airspace & Safety Initiative website. January and February 2022 decisions are now published.

March 2022 Meeting – What Do You Fly?

A reminder that for our next meeting on Tuesday 1st March we invite you to talk about your aircraft rather than what you have been doing with it.

Amongst us we have quite a range of aircraft – classic/modern, microlight/motorglider, SSEA. Let’s share information on capabilities and virtues.

There will be a laptop available for displaying images from data sticks.

The meeting will take place at 19:30, BAWA Room 4
589 Southmead Road, Filton BS34 7RG.

February 2022 Meeting – The eKub Project

For this month, given the location of our speaker, we are reverting to Zoom.

Paul Hendry-Smith, Managing Director of The Light Aircraft Company (TLAC), will be talking about The Light Aircraft Company (TLAC) electric Kub project. The airframe is essentially the same as the Kub tested by Pilot magazine in August 2019, but with the 50hp Hirth F-23 two-stroke air-cooled flat-twin replaced by an electric motor. The eKub is currently being built as a prototype working within a consortium of other organisations under the EnabEl project which falls within the Innovate UK future flight challenge.  

The company announced that ‘the intention is to roll it out both in self-build kit form and as a factory-build option’. The eKub is expected to offer low noise and zero emissions, and easy charging with the potential of using solar energy. With a full charge, the flight time is projected to be one hour with fifteen minutes of reserves.

TLAC, whose strapline is ‘Nothing but Aviation’, are based at Little Snoring airfield in Norfolk, and are the producers of the Sherwood Ranger and Scout aircraft, as well as the Kub, and also provide a wide range of other aviation services.

The Zoom meeting is on Tuesday 1st February commencing 19:30; login details will be circulated separately to Strut members. Any non-member wishing to join us, please let Neville or Trevor know at the email addresses on our Contact Us page.

January 2022 Meeting – Achievements & Plans

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 4 January and will be by Zoom; login details will be circulated separately to Strut members. Any non-member wishing to join us, please let Neville or Trevor know at the email addresses on our Contact Us page.

We will stay with our usual January theme of hearing about what flying we have achieved in the past year, but as this may be a bit thin compared to previous years we would also like to hear about plans for 2022. By all means have a picture or two ready to illustrate, and Neville will pass Share Screen to you – or you can provide material to him in advance for him to act as your projectionist.

Also we would welcome your contributions on ‘I learned about flying from that’ – we tackled this subject last February, but have the impression that there may be more that could be offered. To repeat the invitation from our February meeting:

If you have any lessons learned which you would be prepared to share with our strut members (there’s no need to be embarrassed—we’ve all done something which we wish we’d rather forget) then do be prepared to say a few words about it and particularly emphasise the lessons learned. No longer than 5 minutes per incident - and often a minute or two may be enough.

Christmas Event – 2021

For our Christmas-month gathering on Tuesday 7th December, please bring seasonal
nibbles to share as usual. We will have a quiz – but this year acting individually rather than as
teams so as to aid social distancing. We will also have some films and a skill test, resurrected from earlier years.
We will gather at BAWA in Room 4 at 7.30 and the festivities will start at 7.45.

‘Annual’ Skittles Match

At last the much deferred skittles match took place at BAWA on 2nd November.
There were almost an equal number of attendees from LAA and BAC so only
one person obliged by moving teams to even things up.

This was the first time we had used the new skittle alley at BAWA (which was
installed during the 2020 lockdown) and it proved to be a really suitable and
well laid out venue. They provided a sumptuous buffet, suiting all dietary needs and we made good use of the bar, which was only outside the ally.

Past matches have seen the LAA on the losing side and we didn’t break that
tradition! But this year were only 10 points behind the victorious BAC team—
who of course justifiably gloated about their continuing successful record!
Next year will be ours chaps…..

LAA 75th Anniversary Fly-It Day: Tuesday 26th October

JUST GET IN YOUR AIRCRAFT AND FLY!

Tuesday 26th October 1946 was the date of the meeting which inaugurated the Ultra-Light Aircraft Association, which subsequently became the LAA.

This year, on Tuesday 26th October 2021, the LAA want to mark the 75th Anniversary with a day upon which as many pilots, members or not, simply to get out their aircraft and fly.

For more information click:

http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/2021/News/75th%20LAA%20Anniversary.html

November Meeting – The Grand Parton Flying Tour

Our Treasurer Neville Parton and daughter Hannah entered the Pooley’s Dawn to Dusk competition in June – the aim being to “undertake a day’s flying with an original and praiseworthy objective”. They flew over or landed at 28 RAF stations where 4 generations of the family had served. Neville and Hannah will tell us about the planning, last-minute changes and the successful but tiring flights.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday 2nd November 2021, 19:30 at BAWA Room 4, 589 Southmead Road, Filton BS34 7RG.

June Meeting – Flight Research at the Royal Aircraft Establishment Bedford

Barry Tomlinson, C Eng, FRAeS

RAE Bedford was the UK government’s centre for advanced flight and wind tunnel research in military and civil aviation from 1952-2001. Its role was to conduct aeronautical research & development on behalf of Government for the benefit of the British aircraft industry.

This talk on the 1st June will describe some of its programmes and major achievements, including Naval Aviation, Automatic Landing in Fog, Vertical Take-Off and Landing, and Concorde.

The Zoom meeting will open at 19:30 on Tuesday 1st June 2021. Instructions for joining the meeting will be sent separately to Strut and BAC members; if non-members wish to join us please contact our Treasurer and Zoom host Neville Parton in advance at  treasurer@bristolstrut.uk and he will send joining details.