Milk Hill & Milk Hill White Horse - Requirement for £5 million Insurance

£5M insurance is still required. The current position is understood to be that pilots renewing their BHPA membership from Jan 2010 will automatically have adequate cover, otherwise only pilots listed on the TVHGC website who have previously purchased extra insurance will have the necessary cover. If anything is significantly different when we receive written confirmation we will let you know.

Caution when flying other clubs sites

When flying other clubs site under our reciprocal agreements, please ensure you are familiar with and comply with the relevant site rules. The following is an extract from an email addressed to our club:

There is a problem with pilots arriving at Butser who claim to be Thames members or brought to the site by a Thames member. Like most sites it is a delicate arrangement we have with the landowners. Some of these pilots are flying without knowledge of the site rules.
... Last weekend there was tension between the club and the Meon Valley Soaring Club as their airspace was being infringed. We have been warned that any incidents will result with a flying ban.
... It is the duty of the first pilot on the hill to call the farmer who owns the landing fields for permission. This wasn't done until 2-30pm when a SSC member made the call only to receive an sarcastic comment in reply , but he didn't say no.. This time!!

Please don't be the one to upset any of these finely-balanced site agreements.

Uffington Agreement Signed

At last we have a formal agreement with the National Trust to fly Uffington White Horse. It is a sensitive site and we do not want to upset them - especially at the outset - and it can get very busy on summer weekends. Read the sites guide, and be aware:-

* it is closed to us on Bank Holidays and weekends during the school summer holidays (dates to be advised later). Go to Combe Gibbet instead!

* pilot rating required. Emphatically no red ribbons

* obey the car parking rules - and pay!

* paragliders only :-( Maybe hang gliders later, but only PGs while they get used to us. It is a long carry-up anyway

Maybe I have forgotten something, but read the sites guide!

Alexander KW

Airspace crossing negotiated - P106 Harwell

CONDITIONS: The crossing service has been negotiated by the controlling club: Thames Valley Hang Gliding Club. The crossing service is available on the condition that pilots are flying in a competition organised by the controlling club. For the purposes of this agreement the British Paragliding XC League is considered a competition, but this does mean that a flight using this service has to be entered in the XCL with GPS evidence, this will enable the flight to be checked to verify the conditions were met. Pilots must have recieved a briefing beforehand on using the service. Flights will be policed through the British Paragliding XC League (http://www.pgcomps.org.uk/) Service will be available from 1st April to 30th September. Initially, the service will only be used by pilots using Thames Valley Sites. No flights to be made at night (This doesn't apply to us anyway as we can't really fly at night!). No Photography of the establishment.

PROCEDURE: 1. On the day you will need to contact one of the named TVHGC Club contacts with your approximate time zone of crossing, who will then phone Harwell and activate the crossing service. Richard Westgate (07974208076) Richard Bungay (07778966887) Mark Jones (07977237798) 2. When crossing the P106 area you must not fly over or within the area contained by the boundary fence of the nuclear establishment or in such a manner that would force you to land or fall within this area in the event of an accident, failing to find lift or hitting strong sink. 3. Don't take any photos in the area. 4. When you have completed your flight you MUST submit it to the XC League and you MUST upload a tracklog that shows at least the crossing of P106.

Hopefully this crossing service will be of a great benefit to XC flights from our sites as it effectively reduces the size of P106 from 4nm (7.5km) diameter to just 2km greatly widening the corridor in which we can transit through. It will also make it easy to head for Didcot power station which is a well known thermal source/trigger. Please take great care when using this service that the correct procedure is followed to ensure it's continued availability to us. Please find here a copy of the agreement from the CAA. Thanks to Rich Westgate for his work in getting this agreement put in place.

Rybury CLOSED on all bank holiday weekends (Updated June 09)

Rybury, a highly sensitive site, is closed all bank holiday weekends, including Bank Holiday Mondays. In 2009 this affects 29-31st August and 26th-28th December.

Milk Hill and Milk Hill White Horse top-up insurance (Updated June 09)

Natural England for the 2009 licence require pilots to have £5 million Public Liability insurance cover; through BHPA we each have £2 million. 'Top-up' insurance to £5 million is available through the BHPA - ring 01162 611322. Please do not fly Milk or Milk White Horse without the the top-up insurance.

Milk Hill (Reminder June 09)

The narrow triangular field below the road is closed 1st April to 31st August because of the butterflies. Outside that time pilots can land in it if they wish (especially if flying back towards their cars parked at the bottom by the barn), but do not fly right to the pointy end; there is a sensitive nest site in the scrub by the gate so please land 100 metres short of the gate. Please also remember only 5 pilot cars are allowed in the top car park, if it's full drop off your kit quickly then park tidily at the lower barn. On your way up the track remember 10 mph max.

Combe Gibbet (Updated February 2009)

Combe Gibbet is now Open until 1st September 2009.

Tan Hill and Rybury (Updated January 2009)

Tan Hill and Rybury will not be closing in 2009 for lambing. Please remember that the farmer is super-sensitive about people flying unaccompanied (£50 penalty to charity via me and him), walking up to Tan the wrong way, or landing outside the designated (awkward) landing areas (penalty £10 payable to him!). Otherwise he is very supportive. Keep a lookout on the website for updates and remember if the sign on the gate says "closed" don't fly.

Rybury (Updated January 2009)

Rybury has reopened, but is VERY sensitive, please respect the site as it is one of the best XC sites for experienced pilots and could easily be lost for ever. This site is strictly FULL TVHGC MEMBERS only. Keep a lookout on the website for updates and remember if the sign on the gate says "closed" don't fly.

Oliver's Castle - CLOSED

We again have problems at Olivers Castle. Due to overuse and misuse by pilots and other members of the public the farmer has closed Olivers castle. We will try to regain the site for paragliding but in the meantime please refrain from flying the site.

Whitefield Hill - CLOSED

Due to the proximity of the airstrip at Whitefield and the experience level of the pilots using it this site is now closed.