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| That
was the holiday that was... |
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Ready for the next mission
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Unfortunately,
this year's visit was not the stress-free
adventure that I had planned. Oscar's near-death illness occupied both Ariane's
and my minds for the first few days and it was a huge relief that he survived.
Immediately following that, the BGA Ladder was hacked and had to be shut down.
As I have the dubious honour of supporting the IT side of the Ladder, it was
foremost in my mind as to how it could be recovered. And the final,
terrible blow, at the
end of the holiday, was the loss of a friend. |
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Ma femme...
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...et moi |
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| Is it a good plan to go flying in the mountains when under other external
pressures? I decided to fly, telling myself that it would help. Maybe it did. Ariane
was a rock throughout this holiday and it is thanks to her that I managed to
retain some form of sanity. As far as the club is
concerned, the politics at Sisteron
have a history of oscillating between excellent and "difficult" and it is
my view that the club has possibly taken a wrong turn over the last nine months or so.
There was a split between ULM and gliding membership which, while daily
operations remain unaffected, has brought to the fore the question of how club
funds are actually used. Also, there are now only two paid employees at the club,
Claude in the office and Michel, the mechanic/tuggie/chef de piste; all other
positions (extra tuggies, instructors, chefs de piste, etc) are filled by club volunteers, which
goes some way to explain the difficulties
reported by visiting pilots who simply want, but are unable to obtain, a simple check-flight. |
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Homewards
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| To
avoid any misunderstanding, I must emphasise that everyone on the
Sisteron team with whom I have had personal dealings this year has been friendly
and supportive, as always. The briefings were thorough and the tugging operation
excellent, which easily met my primary requirements. I am just concerned that
despite the impressive infrastructure at Sisteron (airfield, fleet, hangars,
etc), less-experienced pilots who want to sample mountain flying may consider
trying another club. That said, I am certain that these difficulties will be
overcome to everyone's satisfaction, and I fully intend to continue my regular visits to
Sisteron to enjoy this wonderful part of the world. |
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Bye, for now...
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