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Newsletter April 2007
I’d like to start again by thanking all our Members and Customers for their patience and support since the beginning of the New Year. As many of you are aware there has been a fair amount of upheaval since the start of 2007 while the main area inside of the clubhouse was redecorated. However, I hope you agree with me that it has been well worth it!
The decorating started on 2nd January 2007, finishing a couple of weeks later. The main area of the clubhouse has now been repainted, as have the corridor, toilets and staff kitchen. Throughout this process we kept the school and clubhouse open with plenty of coffee available for customers and painters!
The worst chaos was created when the carpet fitters arrived. The main area was re-carpeted in just one day and even with furniture being moved all over the place, we kept flying! Anyone who came in that day will remember the furniture being stacked in a corner and barely able to find the reception desk let alone the coffee!
A big thank you to the painters and carpet fitters for an excellent job and for working round us, enabling us to stay open.
The grass runway has survived remarkably well this winter, thanks to the cooperation of members and visitors in using the hard surface as much as possible. As long as we continue to preserve and protect the grass whenever we can, it’s there to use when we need it most.
I am extremely grateful to all those instructors who worked extra days to cover while John Pickering and Eric Hedges were away in February. Thanks particularly to Robert Devereux, Digby Dogherty, Les Banham, Bob Forster and John Thurlow. Although we had our share of bad weather we also had some great flying days and thanks to instructors stepping in, our students were able to continue to fly.
We have a new part time instructor who joined us in March. Robin Rudderham, a well-known member of the club, recently qualified and is eager for some students! I wish him well and know he will be an asset to the club.
The new Alpha 120T Robins should be arriving in May/June. Arrangements are currently being made to finalise the designs for the exterior paintwork.
A Bulldog aircraft owned by David Critchley is now available for hire to PPL’s with 100+ hours. Please speak to Roger if you are interested.
The plan to erect a hangar and offices across the road from the clubhouse for use by Essex Air Ambulance is now not going ahead. However, another application is being submitted to Braintree Council for the same facilities to be sited somewhere on Earls Colne Airfield.
In February the fire crew had a ‘Live Fire’ exercise as part of their regular training. This enables them to practise using the fire fighting equipment available to them should they ever need to use it.
At the beginning of March Keith Charlwood ran a first aid course and ensured that all the participants were up to scratch! Thanks to Keith for organising and running the course.
I give a big thank you to all my fantastic ground staff and instructors, full and part time, for their dedication and professionalism.
Happy and safe flying!
Mick Manders
P.S. Remember keep an eye on the website! www.anglianflightcentres.co.uk or www.flyafc.co.uk