Red Ribbon

Join the Avon Low-Airtime chat group on Telegram or contact the LAT Officer (pgla@avonhgpg.co.uk) as a priority. Introduce yourself and you will find an abundance of useful information whenever the conditions are predicted to be suitable for low-airtimers.

Go Flying. Westbury in particular is very popular with new or infrequent pilots. It has a huge top-landing area, and a user-friendly launch, particularly on the Bratton Camp side when the winds are to the N of NW. It is less of an XC launch platform than many other sites, and so is often busy when it’s flyable but not good for XC. Get chatting to other pilots on the ground. If it’s flyable there will ALWAYS be people at Westbury, often from early in the morning if conditions dictate – if there’s no-one else there, you’re either an early-rising insomniac or it’s not flyable.

Go to a club meeting. Find out who the committee are and have a chat with one of them. Ask who are the other new pilots and club coaches. You’ll probably find other pilots who were in the same boat as you only a few months ago. The chairman should introduce new members at the end of each meeting but he/she often forgets; remind them.