25th March 2020
Flying for the week to 29th March is cancelled. The Prime Ministers's statement of 24/03/2020 makes it clear where our responsibilities as a club lie - no gatherings over 5 people, recommendations for no social gatherings or unnecessary contacts. We will be considering what activity and access to the club are required to perform essential ongoing maintenance, eg grass cutting, glider maintenance, and how thi can be managed.
In the meantime, if you go to the club, minimise time in the cub house to just procuring any keys or documentation required for the activity you are undertaking. Note that at the present time, our bathroom facilities are substandard and not cleaned to a standard acceptable for avoiding any of the virus on surfaces, door handles etc., so avoid using the facility unless absolutely necessary.
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We all know about this now. It may seriously affect our ability to keep flying for a while. In order to try to avoid any problems, please follow all recommended guidelines for cleanliness to try to ensure you are not in danger of getting or spreading this virus,
From the president of the GFA:
Hygiene suggestions with Air Experience Flights
In order to limit the possible spread of the virus, clubs may want to consider their options when providing AEFs, in order to protect the instructors and the visitors.
This could include * Flight-by-flight cleaning of glider flight controls, harness and cockpit walls * Reducing dual-seat flying in high risk cases
Such an approach by your club would show that you are concerned to actively manage the health of visitors and member.
For members:
NOTE: The following message via Dept of Health is now superceded in regard to any persons entering into Australia. All people entering Australia are now required to go into isolation for a period of at least 14 days, no matter from which country they have come from.
Please follow these guidelines.
The cockpit of a glider is necessarily a bad place to be if one of the occupants has or is harbouring the Corona Virus.
We need to take every step we can to ensure we do not become a source of infection for our pilots, instructors or visiting members for the public,
If this does not work, it may be necessary to suspend flying, particularly dual flights in some circumstances.
Graeme Martin, CFI