Although many of you will not be reading this until early March, I am still tempted to say 'Happy New Year'. This is not only because it seems not five minutes since 2002 dawned, but also because I have yet to break my duck as far as outdoor flying is concerned this year. I can already hear the cries of 'shame', 'chicken', 'softie' etc., and it is true that I have turned my back on some quite flyable days merely on the grounds that it was just a bit chilly. However, as I write this in mid February, the last few weeks have been so wet and windy that even the die-hard sloping fraternity have been grounded for a few weekends.
However, not only do we have Spring and the promise of improving weather to look forward to (I have started battery charging in preparation for a foray tomorrow), but we also have our indoor flying sessions to be grateful for. The attendance at these continues to grow, with no fewer than twenty eight people being logged in for the January session, and a good time seemed to be had by all.
The alternating Stanpit meetings also seem to be working well, the talk by Mike Roach at the February meeting being particularly well received. Mike included a very illuminating demonstration of the application of Litespan, a material which has caused more than its fair share of frustration to many!
Mike has contributed an article to this newsletter on one of his current projects, an all-foam rendition of the Grob Egret. This hot wire cutting method provides an interesting contrast with the use of sheet Depron for indoor models - see my review of the SE5a also in this issue. Equally educational, albeit in a somewhat more serious vein, is Jim Ruffell's recent painful experience, which he kindly agreed to share for the benefit of us all.
Moving up to full size, John Seaby, whose autobiography was serialised here a little while back, has been re-living some of his early training experiences, re-united with a Tiger Moth after a gap of a mere fifty eight years!
With the addition of a press cutting on a most unusual flying concept and a picture of Cyril Heath's aquatic Wingo which didn't quite make it into the last issue, that's about it for this time. Apart, that is, from some important club information in the last four pages.
Oh yes, and there was that Caption Competition of course.....