(OPENSOARING. 25. Marca 2020, Gregor Petrovič, foto http://gliding.co. nz)
Jadralskim kolegom želim predstaviti ukrepe novozelandske letalske zveze, oziroma jadralskega združenja, ki so ga nedavno poslali v vednost vsem klubom. Očitno je šale konec, beseda pandemija je, kot kaže, kar ustrezna, čeprav smo si naivno predstavljali, da bo morda zaobšla deželo tam daleč spodaj. Na eni strani se spominjam varnostnih ukrepov ob prihodu novega Arcusa v aucklandski klub, razkuževanja in vsega, na drugi strani pa nas je streslo ob besedah Terryja Deloreja, ki se je, ob svojem rekordnem letu cilj – povratek, nad Cookovo ožino srečal z gostim dimom s področja avstralskih požarov.
Svet je očitno manjši, kot si predstavljamo in bolj ranljiv, kot smo si mislili doslej. Sporočilo o ukrepih sem dobil od jadralskega kolega in zato v zadnjem odstavku lahko preberemo, kako so solidarnostno ukrepali oziroma pomagali jadralskemu prijatelju iz Velike Britanije, ki so mu pred nosom odpovedali let v domovino.
Good evening all
Since the appearance of Covid-19 we have been living in a new and uncertain world.
As you know, NZ locks down at midnight tonight. How long that lockdown will last nobody knows, it could be a month, it may very well be much longer.
When the Level 4 lockdown is over, the transition back to ‘normality’ will likely see us moving back and forth through the different Alert stages until the crisis itself is over. There may well be regional variations.
Your Committee, faced with these uncertainties, will be guided by Gov’t policy to determine the level of flying operations that we will be able to sustain through until full operations are again possible
At Level 4 all flying operations are suspended. As the Level 4 restrictions are eased we will aim to progressively reactivate our operations in line with the Gov’t alert levels. We are presently working on what this will mean in practice and further information will follow.
Now and throughout this transition we most certainly want to remain engaged with our Members.
From the perspective of our students this is an ideal time to fire up Moodle and work through your self- preparation Training Program checklists. We are looking to support such activity by way of on-line seminars, workshops, chat groups and the such like. Discussions on how these might be prepared and delivered have begun.
For the more experienced, you might well like to join the group who hold Condor Flight Sim enabled competitions. James Austin is leading the charge with this initiative. An email from James outlining how to get started will follow this email directly.
We welcome further suggestions for ground based activities – being stuck on the ground doesn’t mean shelving our passion for our sport – we can become a virtual gliding club for the duration of our grounding 🙂
Financial Implications
Suspended and limited operations mean our Income stream is going to take a major hit. The impact will be somewhat dampened by the fact that we are entering the winter period during which we fly less anyway. But the longer we need to remain grounded the greater the impact will be.
To manage our way through this:
We are immediately limiting expenditure to essentials only and in the case of essentials eg electricity, cutting usage back to the bare bones.
If we are able to put our glider fleet on ‘Ground Only’ insurance we will do so.
We are holding all planned maintenance spending on gliders, vehicle, winch and facilities until we have a clearer picture of when, and the level at which, flying operations may be resumed.
For planning purposes we are preparing scenario based financial projections covering this financial year and next. This will give us a view of how quickly we can come back up to speed when that time comes.
Visits to Club Facilities
Level 4 – Don’t
Level 3 -Essential visits only. Visitors to clean and sterilise any common-use surfaces they come in contact with. If more than 1 person present – Social Distancing of at least 2 M to be practiced
Levels 2 thru 1 – Non-Essential visits possible, hygiene and Social Distancing protocols remain in place.
Finally
Andy Parish’s flight back home was cancelled at the last minute. Andy will be staying with us for the duration of the lockdown unless some presently unforeseen opportunity to make tracks back arises.
Fortunately for us, and myself in particular, Andy has agreed to mind the shop whilst I take an’ isolation break’ with family in Glenorchy.
Please make Andy welcome as best is possible under the circumstances.
We will be reviewing the overall situation constantly and will do our best to keep you fully informed.
Stay safe and look after yourselves.
Brian
