STRUTS4U

Struts 4U

by Anne Hughes

We’re heading towards mid-summer at the usual seemingly breakneck speed, as time does when we get older. In any other year our Strut calendar would be listing fly-ins and barbecues, as well as fly-outs up and down the UK and mainland Europe with our friends in the Belgian Strut. The events may sadly have all been cancelled or postponed, but thanks to modern technology and innovation, many Strut meetings have been held virtually via the likes of Zoom, with the added pleasure of being able to see countless close-ups of ‘do-it-yourself’ haircuts and rather unkempt beards, plus an insight into members’ tastes in décor.

Mind you, The positivity of all has to be admired, and now that light aircraft can return to the air (in England and NI so far) some can enjoy seeing our world again from a loftier perspective. Our social events, sadly, will take a little longer to reinstate, though new ideas and thoughts have been zooming around for the last couple of months and new friendships have been made. In many ways a shared trauma of such magnitude puts focus on different areas of life and has brought about closer bonds in our LAA Strut and club family. Many of the Struts have been in touch to share their thoughts and experiences with us and I am delighted to be able to include a selection of that correspondence this month.

From the Vale of York Strut, Chris Holliday writes, “While in lockdown, we have established our first Strut Above Ian Fraser awarding the trophy for Best Flight of the Year to Alex and Chris Allen of Aircraft Coverings, the UK agents for PolyFiber on behalf of Jon Goldenbaum who is looking on from our twined Strut in Flabob, California. Jon and his friends flew over from Flabob to Duxford and onto Europe with two Dakotas. website to go along with our Facebook page. It includes contributions from Strut members as well as updates about events, trip reports, member profiles, safety related items, plus hints and tips (although we have yet to populate the latter). One of our Coaches, Alan Kilbride, has successfully delivered a licence validity extension webinar, which included both those needing a validity extension and also other pilots, and was a very interesting session with good safety messages. We have also repeated the Going Foreign: Part I seminar that we held at our February Strut meeting as a webinar. Alan is preparing webinars for Parts II / III to be delivered in the near future. Even though the prospect of resuming overseas flying is probably still a way off on the horizon just now, the webinar content is also helpful for planning those longer flights in the UK. It is possible that we may put the webinar recordings up on the new LAA YouTube channel, so they are accessible to a wider audience, but that’s a work in progress. Our website can be found at www.valeofyorkstrutlaa.wordpress.com

Tony Razzell writes from the East Midlands Strut, “We have used Zoom very successfully for our April and May meetings and had the privilege of having Dodge Bailey speak to us on flying the DH88 Comet Racer at the Shuttleworth Collection for the May meeting. Our next meeting on Monday 8 June at 8pm, will be our AGM plus (I hope) some suitable additional entertainment. Email me for details at tonyrazzell2@gmail.com. You will be

welcome to join us. The East Midlands Strut also has a Facebook group which is useful for passing on information.

Neil Wilson from the Wessex Strut told us about some problem-solving following on from an airfield clubhouse refurbishment, “A problem arose with our monthly presentations due to the bad acoustics generated by the metal building. Luckily GASCo held a safety meeting in December and had a BOSE L1 audio system that negated the acoustic problems remarkably well, so the Strut decided to purchase this same system for our own future meetings.

The results really are quite remarkable, with the unit being easy to set up, and the treble and base being of such good quality even our hardest of hearing now enjoy the evenings more than ever before. We use either a lapel, head mic or a handheld microphone and the sound covers the whole area of the room evenly. The Strut held another successful annual awards night in January using the new system. Over 70 Above Bodmin’s very successful second annual fly-in September 2019. Let’s hope they are able to hold their third fly-in on 12 September this year.

Below Former PFA Chairman and Strut system founder, Dave Faulkner-Bryant with Eddie, one of his prized Highland cattle on his farm on the Isle of Skye. people watched the presentation of the award winners, including one to our twinned strut at Flabob in California. We gave The Most Meritorious Flight Award to them for flying over to Duxford and mainland Europe with two DC-3’s that took part in the 75th D-Day events. We also used the FaceTime app and link to talk with our friend Jon Goldenbaum (of PolyFiber) live at the airfield, so that fellow Strutters who work at Henstridge with PolyFiber (Flabob is where the factory is also based) could receive the award on Jon’s behalf. We linked the picture to a widescreen television so Jon could be seen and heard. Guest speaker Andy Strachan talked about the filming of the James Bond film Skyfall and how, as Chief test pilot at the time at Westlands, he also helped set up the sequence of Her Majesty The Queen ‘parachuting’ into the 2012 London Olympics.”

Flying Shack

Gloster Strut would like to encourage more members to become involved with the Strut in Cheltenham. “Lockdown excepted, we hold monthly meetings devoted to interesting aviation topics. In summer our meetings are held at the Flying Shack on Gloucestershire Airport, where we arrange for an interesting light aircraft to fly in so that its owner can give us a guided tour, followed by a talk about its construction, flying characteristics etc. Past subjects have included a pair of Thunder Mustangs, a Smith Miniplane and a 50-year-old Turbulent still in superb condition. Visitors are welcome so why not give us a try!”

Pete White writes from Cornwall. The ‘new’ Cornwall Strut is looking forward to its third Annual Fly-in at Bodmin Airfield on September 12, 2020. The link (https:// tinyurl.com/Bodmin-photos) shows photos of the very successful 2019 event which, I’m sure, will tempt you all to come and join us!

In Scotland, members are having to wait a little longer to return to flying. Keith Boardman from the Strathtay Strut says, “We have 100 aircraft safely locked up for the duration, and members are communicating amongst themselves with the usual social media tools.”

It is always good to hear from David Faulkner- Bryant, former PFA Chairman and founding member of the first

Strut and Club Contacts

During the COVID-19 troubles unfortunately normal monthly meetings and social events are not possible but as you can read, some of the Struts and Clubs are holding virtual meetings and keeping in touch via social media. When the programme of talks and meetings, fly-ins and fly-outs etc resumes, we will publish details as before. We will, however, continue to share Struts4U stories through this column and I am always happy to hear your news and views. Please email me at struts@laa.uk.com.

Andover Strut: Spitfire Club, Popham Airfield, SO21 3BD. Contact keith.picton@ntlworld.com

Bristol Strut: BAWA Club, Filton, Room 4. Contact: chairman@bristolstrut.uk www. bristolstrut.uk

Cornwall Strut: The Clubhouse, Bodmin Airfield. Contact: Pete White pete@aeronca.co.uk 01752 406660

Devon Strut: The Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter. Contact: david.millin@sea-sea.com

East of Scotland Strut: Harrow Hotel, Dalkeith. Contact: inrgibson001@btinternet.com 0131 339 2351

East Midlands Strut: The Plough, Normanton on Soar, LE12 5HB 8 June: AGM 1930 for 2000 via Zoom. Contact: tonyrazzell2@gmail.com

Gloster Strut: The Victory Club, Cheltenham, GL50 5SY. Contact: harry.hopkins@talktalk.net

Highlands & Islands: Highland Aviation, Inverness Airport. Contact: b.w.spence@ btinternet.com 01381 620535

Kent Strut: Cobtree Manor Golf Club, Maidstone, Kent. Contact: Brian Hope bfjjodel@talktalk.net 25 June – 1945 for 2000, Zoom meeting, please contact for details

LiNSY Trent Valley Strut: Trent Valley Gliding Club, Kirton Lindsey. pilotbarry1951@gmail. com http://linsystrut.wixsite.com/website

North East Strut: Fishburn Airfield. Fishburn Aviator Cafe. Contact: alannixon297@btinternet.com

North Western Strut: Veterans Lounge, Barton, Manchester. Contact: cliffmort@btinternet.com / 07813 497427

North Wales Strut: Caernarfon Airport, Dinas Dinlle. HEMS Bistro Café. Contact: Gareth Roberts gtrwales@gmail.com / 07876 483414

Oxford Group: The Duke of Marlborough, Woodleys, Woodstock, Oxford. Contact: LAAOxford@gmail.com www.oxfordlaa.co.uk Redhill Strut:.The Dog and Duck, Outwood, Surrey, RH1 5QU. Contact: david@milstead.me.uk

Shobdon Strut: Shobdon Airfield. Contact Keith Taylor: bushebiggles@sky.com Southern Strut: The Swiss Cottage, Shorehamby-Sea. Contact palmersfarm@sky.com

Strathtay Strut: Scottish Aero Club, Perth Airport, Scone. Scone Clubhouse. Contact: keith.boardman@peopleserve.co.uk 07785 244146 Suffolk Coastal Strut: Crowfield Airfield

Clubhouse. Contact: Martyn Steggalls events@suffolkcoastalstrut.org.uk 07790 925142

Sywell Strut: Aviator Hotel, Sywell Aerodrome. Third Wednesday of every month.

Vale of York Strut: Chocks Away Café, Rufforth East Airfield. Contact: Chris Holliday 07860 787801 / cwaholliday@gmail.com

Wessex Strut: Henstridge. Contact neil.wilson@laa.uk.com

West Midlands Strut: Navigator Café, Halfpenny Green Aerodrome. Contact: Graham Wiley westmidlandslaastrut@ googlegroups.com StuartDarby stuartdarby134@hotmail.com or visit our website wmstrut.co.uk

West of Scotland Strut: Bowfield Country Club, Howwood, PA9 1DZ. Contact: Neil Geddes barnbethkng@gmail.com 01505 612493

Youth & Education Support (YES) Contact: Stewart Luck captainluck@hotmail.com

Thank you to all Strut co-ordinators and newsletter editors for the continuous flow of information. You can contact me at struts@laa.uk.com.

Strut (Southern), who shares some thoughts from the Isle of Skye:

“I was recently reminded of one of the stepping stones towards the present position the LAA enjoys today within the aviation community. The formation of the Strut system was only one of the many steps we took, some of the offshoots also had a profound effect on our future progress and growth.

The organisation of local Strut and group rallies and our national rally at Sywell, all helped to showcase the results of our labour and illustrate our kind of flying. These activities required a great deal of reliable, enthusiastic and unpaid labour.

Who made up this small army of workers? Step forward the ubiquitous group of plane spotters who were always around with notebooks and binoculars. A number of the more serious minded saw the PFA as a stepping stone to a greater involvement and many joined. Some went on to become pilots and homebuilders. They were always welcomed into our world and are part of the original backbone of the PFA in its grassroots days.

So while many are still in lockdown, sitting around in contemplation of what comes next, let’s raise a glass to appreciate the spotters who have in the past and undoubtedly still do, so much for sport flying in the UK.”

We are continuing to publish contact details for all our Struts – lockdown has not meant ‘locked out’ when it comes to socialising and sharing ideas, encouraging projects and promoting safety with tips and advice through ‘distancing’ channels.

It could be the best of times to make contact with your local Strut and to share in the preparation of whatever comes next in the wonderful world of aviation.

Stay safe! ■