Formation training (Update July 2010)
Fellow Vanatics
As many of you will know, Andy and Ellie Hill set up the RV formation
training arrangements at North Weald two years ago and they have done a
fantastic job in running monthly sessions ever since. Ellie was looking
to step back into a support role on the administration side so Pete
Pengilly, James Stringer and myself have jumped at the chance of helping
out with future events. ( Three men to do the job of one woman ! ). Andy
is still keen, willing and able to look after the 'technical' side of
setting up and running the sorties, co-ordinating with his seemingly
unending supply of military and ex-military instructors and generally
keeping us all in line and safe.
There are no significant changes in the running of the events with
co-ordination being accomplished via the Yahoo group set up for that
purpose. The Yahoo RV formation list is a closed group so you need an
'invitation' from the moderators ( Pete or Andy ) but this was not done
through any feeling of elitism, simply to ensure that it remains spam
free and doesn't clog up the other RV lists with formation related
messages. It works very well and there is no problem with getting
involved. We also have an email list to keep those folk who are not
comfortable with Yahoo lists informed.
It seems that some RV pilots have assumed that since the formation
training has been taking place for a while now and as a result some
pilots have become moderately accomplished at it, there is no room for
new people. This could not be farther from the truth. A number of the
very experienced instructors admit that they get the biggest kick from
teaching and bringing on formation 'newbies', this being the primary
reason why they do it. So if you are interested in expanding the
enjoyment you get from operating your RV then let us know. As well as
consolidating the basics we are now practising some large formation
fly-pasts so you could be involved in this with the comfort of having a
top class formation pilot sitting next to you ( or behind you ) to keep
you safe.
It is a great opportunity that Andy and Ellie have provided for us UK RV
pilots so if you are interested then get in touch with Pete, James, Andy
or me. My email is david.broom at telinco.co.uk (replace the at with @)
I have included below the text from Pete's recent posting to the
formation list to give a flavour of what we aim to do. If you are
interested in formation flying but reluctant to get involved, don't be.
Give it a try and see how you get on, but be warned, it can be a bit
addictive !
Regards
David Broom
G-RVAN
Petes text follows:
The calendar for the rest of the yea (2010)r is :
July 17th,
August 21st (although this is the RV fly-in at North Weald),
September 18th,
October 16th,
November 13th and
December 11th.
For the rest of the year Saturday will be the nominated day with Sunday
only being used if Saturday is weathered out.
To give everyone some idea of what to expect each month we will try to
select a theme for each meeting and ask everyone to declare an interest
slightly further in advance.
For July the theme will be "Large Formation".
We will not be having a dedicated formation day in August as the
nominated weekend is the RV fly-in at North Weald, and there aren't any
other spare weekends in NW's calendar; however there will be an
opportunity to make a fly-past at the event with the largest formation
that we can muster.
In addition there may be an opportunity to take part in a fly past the
weekend before (at Old Hay in Kent) and also at the LAA Rally at Sywell
(4th September).
The White Waltham "Members Day" is also on the 4th, so it may be
possible to combine both (about 50nm between the two). However, even if
you can only make one of these events please do come along. On the 17th
we will aim to fly the large formation at the start of both trips and
will also be practising the recovery of the large formation. The Yaks
managed to get a 16 ship airborne at the Spring formation course - let's
see if we can do better!
September will be land away month with an outing to Old Buckenham for
lunch - although it is only perhaps 70 track miles it will give us
plenty of time to play about en-route, and will give us all experience
of operating from another airfield. Stan's marauders might also come out
to play :-)
In October noted air-to-air photographer Ed Hicks has volunteered to
come along and snap anyone who happens to arrive in front of his camera.
There will be a small charge to cover the costs of getting Ed to NW plus
the camera ship fuel, but we should be able to photograph 4 or 5
aeroplanes an hour - and with a digital camera there won't be a problem
with Ed keeping all the film down his socks! If you have a Van's
accessory catalogue, look on the inside front page, all of the pictures
of G reg aeroplanes were taken by Ed from the front seat of my Extra.
You may even find yourself in the Van's 2011 calendar!!!
We'll be more specific about the November and December programme nearer
the time - if anyone has any requests then send them in!
Formation training at North Weald. Photos by Nigel Kemp (North Weald ground crew) Taken 30th Jan 2010.
