2022

Winter Meeting Saturday 12th February 2022

It was nice to be back at the RAF club again for our Winter Meeting, following the pandemic which had necessitated a ‘Zoom’ virtual meeting the year before. The theme for this event was “Staying out of trouble” and was well attended by members in The Battle of Britain Suite.

Mike O’Donogue, the Chief Executive of GASCo gave two presentations in the morning and attendees were able to have their flying log-books endorsed confirming attendance at a GA Safety Event.

After lunch, Jonathan Smith, the NATS GA lead gave a presentation on Electronic Conspicuity, which included a helpful overview of carry-on devices with a realistic appraisal of benefits, limitations and misconceptions.

After tea, the President closed the academic content of the day with an Aviation & Medicine Quiz.

Pre-Dinner Drinks were served in the Lancaster Room before returning to the Battle of Britain Suite for dinner.

Summer meeting 9th-11th September 2022 York

This year’s meeting was held at the Raddison Park Inn, York and was well attended by members. Despite the weather conditions on 9th September making for some very challenging aviation, three aircraft managed to fly into Leeds East and compete for the Guinness Cup.

David Horobin was able to land his aircraft accurately to the second making him an unbeatable and very worthy 2022 winner of the trophy. He has made a fantastic video about his preparation and completion of this flight which also describes some of the history of the award and is a must for anyone thinking of competing in the future.

Our hotel was well appointed with a splendid view over the river Ouse and provided all the facilities required for our meeting. On the Friday evening we had an inspirational presentation from our secretary, Ian Wilson, entitled “Geronimo across the Pyrenees”. He described his adventure taking a rare 1956 vintage normally aspirated twin over the 11,168′ amsl mountain range and down into Spain’s Murcia San Javier Airport.

The next day the weather was much improved and we were able to enjoy a visit to the Yorkshire air museum at Elvington.

On the Saturday evening, our traditional formal dinner was held in the private dining facilities at the hotel, which made for a convivial occasion. The president awarded the Guinness cup to David Horobin and Pooley Qhaich to Ian Wilson, in recognition of his contribution in taking on the secretarial role of the Association.

It was nice to see so many new and old members enjoying the occasion.

On the Sunday morning we held the Annual General Meeting, with reports from the President, Secretary, Treasurer and Webmaster. Our association remains in a viable financial position and Ian Donnan (longstanding former secretary) was announced as the new president elect (many congratulations). There was general discussion in relation to recruitment of new members and facilitation of future informal fly-ins. To this end, Ian Wilson proposes to set up a BMPA Flying Group on WhatsApp which should help with these activities.