News

If you have any queries regarding registration or the camp please contact Tighe (0438 346 522) or Paul (0408 033 557).

16 December 2020: As we recover from the impact of COVID-19 on our operations in 2020, we are temporarily pausing new memberships for those who want to learn to glide. With our members keen to get flying again, and with the summer cross-country gliding season upon us, we want to ensure that we can both provide a good experience for our current members, and not discourage new student members when we have less capacity than normal. We will review the situation in mid-February 2021 and we hope to be able to welcome you soon!

If you are a current solo glider pilot, you can join by emailing us membership[at]melbourneglidingclub.com.au

There are many other fantastic gliding clubs in Victoria, and we encourage you to explore whether they will suit you. For example, at Bacchus Marsh, there are also the Geelong and Beaufort gliding clubs. To the south-east of Melbourne is the South Gippsland Gliding Club near Leongatha. Further to the west is the Grampians Soaring Club at Ararat. To the north is the Bendigo Gliding Club at Raywood, and the Gliding Club of Victoria at Benalla.

If you have any questions, please email us membership[at]melbourneglidingclub.com.au

Horsham Coaching Week is running again in 2021 (30 January - 5 February). Check out the website: https://www.horshamweek.org.au/ and the entry form available.

The Horsham Coaching Week (HCW) is an annual event that occurs in the week prior to Horsham Week.  It is designed to develop the skills and experience required for you to fly cross county, both further and faster, and get you ready for Horsham week! 

Participants vary widely in skill and experience, but as a minimum, you will need a C Certificate and endorsement from your CFI (if you don't yet have a silver C).

The latest DG1000 manual (for VWR and NDG) has been uploaded to the member manuals and files (log in to access).

We are taking a stepped approach to returning to our operations. This means we are first focusing on getting our instructor team back to currency, then focusing on post-solo pilots regaining currency, and then returning to instructional training for students. We think it might be around a fortnight until we restart training (instructor currency dependent). 

Until 22 November (when another step of restrictions has been flagged by the Premier), there is to be a maximum of 20 people on the flight line at any one time across all three clubs, so that means we are keeping to seven people from MGC. The clubhouse is limited to access for the bathrooms and club equipment. 

Please always adhere to the mask wearing requirements (including when flying with an instructor), the social distancing requirements of 1.5 metres, limiting indoor gatherings to one person per 4 square metres, and cleaning control surfaces between pilots. 

Updated high-level airfield guidelines developed between the three clubs are available here: BMG guidelines for flying operations - 9 November 2020.pdf

Only instructional or solo flying is currently permitted (including flight reviews). Mutual / dual flying is not permitted unless the other pilot is a member of your household. AEFs and passenger flights will not resume at this time while we prioritise member flying and adhere to Victorian Government advice.

We will communicate with you over the coming couple of weeks about when flying is available again and when bookings will open - as it is all dependent on our instructors getting current first. As we return, please be mindful that there will be many people wanting to fly, and to share the available flying around. We'll also let you know when duty teams are restarting.

I'd like to thank everyone for their patience over the past months, and look forward to seeing you at the airfield soon.

With today's announcement (7 July) and in line with Victorian Government directions and advice the Melbourne Gliding Club will again need to cease flying operations for at least the next six (6) weeks.

Although the airfield is in an unaffected local government area (LGA), it is simply impractical for the Club to operate when so many of our members are from affected metropolitan Melbourne LGAs.

The intent of the current guidelines and advice is to avoid non-essential travel outside the home and to not travel from Melbourne to other areas. Therefore, the clubhouse and workshops are again closed from tomorrow night (8 July, 11.59pm). You should not travel to the aerodrome or be at the aerodrome. It is not essential. If you absolutely must go to the airfield for a critical need, you must seek prior permission from me. These arrangements are consistent across all three gliding clubs.

We urge you all to follow the current Victorian Government restrictions and advice in relation to social distancing and isolation. 

We will be back flying as soon as we can safely do so.  

To assist our duty teams we have a booking system in place for our operations. This is intended to help our teams better plan the day for you by having an indication of who is coming out, and what they hope to achieve. 

We have just introduced a new booking system via Google Sheets, replacing the previous "Sign Up".

Please login to access the new booking system.

Returning towards normal operations is possible under the updated Victorian Government advice that came into effect on 1 June and advice from the Gliding Federation of Australia about dual and instructional flying.

What does this mean for you?

From this Saturday 6 June, we are transitioning back to normal operations with Team 1 for those who wish to fly, including opening up training slots where we can. This will change each weekend depending on instructor availability and annual inspections on gliders over the winter period.

You must book to let us know you wish to fly. 

Dual and instructional flying is by mutual consent, including agreed PPE between the two pilots, and the wiping down of surfaces between flights. Please bring your own PPE - masks, gloves and hand sanitiser.

If you own a parachute, please bring it and use it, rather than using the club parachutes.

AEFs and passenger flights will not resume at this time while we prioritise member flying and adhere to Victorian Government advice.

There is to be a maximum of 20 people on the flight line at any one time (across all three clubs). The clubhouse is limited to access for the bathrooms and club equipment. Please always adhere to the social distancing requirements of 1.5 metres, and limiting indoor gatherings to one person per 4m². 

Our main messages are:

• Do not travel to the airfield at all if you have any Covid-19 or cold and flu-like symptoms or have been in contact with someone else with Covid-19 in the past three weeks, the symptoms, or who is awaiting a test result. 
• We are back flying!
• You do not have to attend the airfield if you do not want to do so. If you are an instructor, tow pilot, or duty pilot who cannot attend your rostered day, please arrange a swap and let me know.

MGC can have four people ‘flying’ at any one time. We have decided to open booking slots for an AM shift (8.30am – 1.00pm) and a PM shift (1.00pm – last light) starting from Saturday 30 May.

This is for solo flying only. Dual checks, instructional flights, AEFs, passenger flights are not yet available. Instructors retaining currency will have priority. We want to get everyone back in the air ASAP, hence the focus on keeping pilots current to speed up clearing the check flight backlog when we reach that point.

You must book to let us know you wish to fly. Bookings in the system as at 6.00pm on a Thursday will be assessed by the CFI for currency requirements. You can access the booking site for upcoming weekends here.

We are being pragmatic about currency requirements without the ability to do dual checks, but in all cases, the CFI has the final call.

With the two ‘shifts’ please ensure you are following the guidelines above in relation to cleaning touchpoint surfaces between pilots and keeping your distance from the flight line at change over time to limit the number of people to 10.

If there are opportunities for mid-week flying, we will be in contact.

The normal duty roster will not yet resume at this time. If you are at the airfield, please assist. Tow pilots are being arranged on a day by day basis.

So, although there is limited operations, our main messages continue to be:

• This is not normal operations.
• Please do not travel to the airfield unless you have booked and been authorised to fly by the CFI (or his delegate).
• Do not travel to the airfield at all if you have been in known contact of someone with Covid-19 in the past three weeks, or if you have any symptoms at all.

***The following was emailed to all Club members today.

You may have seen the Victorian Premier's announcement today to relax some restrictions in Victoria.

The most relevant for the Club is that outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people are now permitted for recreation, still observing social distancing practices. 

We are continuing to work this week on what this means for operations at the airfield. The Instructor Panel is meeting Wednesday night, the three Club presidents and CFIs are meeting Thursday night, and the Committee is in touch ahead of a meeting on Sunday.

In the interests of early clarity, regardless of these meetings and the outcomes, it will not be operations as normal at Bacchus Marsh this weekend.

Our aim is for the three clubs to adopt a common approach and likely prioritise instructor currency so that we are ready to go when / if restrictions are relaxed further. My understanding from the Premier's press conference this morning is that the next review will be at the end of May.

I know it is frustrating to seem to be so close to returning but not quite being able to. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding. Most importantly, the Committee and Panel are firmly focused on a safe return to full operations when we can.