I must say, the turnout and the level of enthusiasm at the December meeting was great. I’m very encouraged by the support and the number of people who were willing to help lead activities. It’s these activities that will draw pilots to our group, and improve all aspects of our flying experience.
At the meeting I handed out a proposal summarizing my ideas for the club, the purpose of the club, goals in support of the purpose, and activities to meet those goals. This proposal was well received and supported. I’ll try to include it as a .ppt or .jpg at the end of this post.
The overall idea is to increase the membership of the club by organizing activities that appeal to the needs of pilots, so that the club can better represent the pilots to the non-flying community.
Activities can include:
- An informal competition based on the highly successful SBXC task list; I’ve asked Bo Criss to help out here. There’s nothing like a stated task to get you to try a little harder and fly a little bit longer.
Launch maintenance: we can spend a lot of time parawaiting; might as well tidy up and make some improvements. I’ve asked OJ to lead this effort and to make sure we don’t get carried away.
Safety: I’ve asked Ron Faoro to lead what I think is the most important activity this year. What do we do when a pilot is in trouble. Can the pilot get himself out of the situation, do we go in to help, or do we call SAR. How do we set the limits, and who does what? What about notifying the pilots family, how should that be done? What can we learn from Mike, Tom, Dan, and others?
Mentoring: if you are a new P2 or new to the area, Chip “The Matchmaker” Bartley can hook you up with one of the veterans to help you move up the learning curve while reducing the chances you’ll do something silly.
The club should also represent our interests. We really need a primary LZ in Ojai before things get out of control. Also, the NFS has plans to change the operation of Rose Valley and Pine and Reyes mountains. I’ve asked Magic Mike to look into this and let us know if we need to take action or not.
There’s more, but that’s the idea. Post your thoughts, or give me a call. This is going to be a great year!
January:
SBXC weekend points comp
Skyport Maintenance
February:
SBXC weekend points comp
Incident response presentation
And don't forget to send your $30 dues to:
Treasurer, SCPA
1316 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101