Minutes of SHPF committee meeting held at the Steading, Edinburgh on 5th December 2006

Present:

Alistair Bowman, Dorita Orr, George McGhee, Matt Church, Cliff Smith, Tommy Bryson, Brian Steele, Bob Veitch

Apologies:

Zabdi Keen, Julian Robinson, Dave Lyal, Gary Williamson

Minutes:

The Minutes of Meeting held on 2nd November 2005 were discussed and approved.

First Aid Course

George McGhee attempted to set up an event earlier this year but it was logistically very difficult to get pilots together on a named date.

It was proposed and agreed that clubs could source local First Aid Courses and that SHPF would make available a total subsidy of �500 for 2007. This would be allocated on a first come basis so encouragement should be given to club members to source these earliest.

Action: Club Reps

Club Coach Course

The LLSC have organised a BHPF Club Coach Course to take place in March 07. There is a limit of 30. Qualifications are CP+10 hrs.

SHPF have agreed to subsidise a �400 working budget for Scottish pilots. All accounting to go through SHPF.

Flying Scot

A discussion took place and it was generally thought that there was less need for a magazine now that the SHPF website has been set up by Bob Veitch. The Committee thanked and congratulated Bob for the enthusiasm and time he has put into this project.

However there is a need now and it is essential that all members are encouraged by their club reps to submit articles, photos, information, etc to Bob to ensure it is an interesting and useful place to visit. It can be found on www.shpf.co.uk or shpf.org.uk

It is time now that SHPF set up a google group for postings. At present the LLSC google group seems to have been hijacked as the most viable place to pass/request information/chat etc but essentially this group was set up by the club for their own inhouse business and coaching reasons. Bob will set up the google group as soon as he can and all pilots will be notified of the changeover.

(BV - this has now been set up and is available at >http://groups.google.com/group/shpf The group email address is shpf@googlegroups.com)

Bob will also advise the BHPA of our new website.

Action: Bob Veitch and Club Reps

Ratho Repack

This proved to be another successful event which took place in February 2006 and since then one pilot who participated and repacked his reserve had cause to deploy it in an emergency this summer.

The Adventure Centre is currently undergoing refurbishment and will not be available now before the flying season commences. It may be possible to organise the next repack at the end of 2007 or early 2008.

It was agreed Clubs should endeavour to organise their own repacks meanwhile.

Matt queried the training of delegated club representatives as repackers. Alistair explained that these courses have been funded in the past at over �500 per packer but that the federation and clubs have not benefited from the training of these pilots. No further action to be taken at present and Cliff will advise committee of any developments at the centre.

Action: Cliff Smith

Subscriptions and Mmbership

Club	Members
Aberdeen	28
LLSC	30
SMPC	30-35
Ochils	?
Zabdi	6
Wingbeat	3

It was proposed by Cliff and seconded by Dorita for a motion at the AGM for subs to be set at �5.

LLSC Hill Liability Insurance

The LLSC have an annual expense of �595 in respect of the above as owners of part of hillside at Tinto. They have approached the SHPF Committee to request some assistance towards this. The Committee decided this needed to be raised and discussed at the AGM and Dorita to add this to the Agenda.

Action: Dorita Orr

Chabre Open

Dave Thomson has asked the SHPF if it would be able to subsidise Scottish pilots attending this event as he feels it would be beneficial to competition coaching. A long discussion took place and it was agreed that at present it would be preferable to fund competition coaching at a more local level, possibly through the Scottish National Series.

Scottish Nationals Series

An acknowledgement was made of the success of this year�s series.

It was agreed that the 6 clubs should again have fixed dates but that these possibly with the exception of Arran should be flexible to allow for conditions.

It was proposed that:-

there should be a little more formalised competition coaching at these events with possible contributions from Matt Church and Dave Thomson.
Pilots should be encouraged to move on to other competitions and the first prize for the Scot Nats could be a contribution to the winner towards entering the Scottish Open

Action: George McGhee

Scottish Open

Alongside the Scottish Nationals Matt proposed a stand alone Scottish Open. As an encouragement to progress, SHPF will present a prize to the top Scottish pilot of a contribution towards entry to the BPC.

Matt will attempt to resurrect this event and look at logistics etc.

Action: Matt Church

Any Other Business

Social Event

Tommy proposed the organising of a social event for paragliders and hanggliders which would also incorporate the AGM.

He suggested the end of January or start of February with the event taking place at the Tinto Hotel near Biggar. It was planned that the emphasis would be on a social weekend where pilots would have plenty of time to relax and meet with other pilots. Films could be shown, photos displayed.

There could be a guest speaker or presentation, dinner/buffet for Saturday night and of course the AGM. Tommy volunteered to contact Dave Thomson regarding the hotel which LLSC have had dealings with.

Action: Tommy Bryson

Sites Guide

As recorded in previous Minutes, individual clubs were asked to prepare data on their local sites. Although Cliff did receive responses from some clubs it is now necessary to chase up the remaining ones. This information is to be passed to Bob for the website.

It was agreed that Bob should contact Visit Scotland in an attempt to have us linked from their website.

Action: Cliff Smith, Club Reps and Bob Veitch

Hanggliders

As a Committee we do not have an active representative from the hanggliding community. George will approach Sergey with a view to inviting him to join us.