by Dr John Wharington
President, Gliding Club of Victoria

As is customary for GCV presidents, I will be writing a President's report for each edition of Airflow. I hope to draw on all of my mediocre literary skills to have these reports something you would look forward to more than hearing a speech by our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. If, based on feedback, I do not reach that standard, I may revert to a dry enumeration of achievements lest you think nothing was happening around the club.

You want some news? How about a BRAND NEW ASK-21! Big enough news for you? Yes, me too. And that's why there's a separate article about this in this Airflow. Go on, flick through to find it now.

I will not try to describe the committee's vision and policies in this particular article as I am leading a new committee and whilst there is a large amount of continuity in its members and visions from the previous few years, we need time to develop our own agenda and voice. Besides, dear member, I'm sure you would read a list of 'motherhood statements' in this silly season edition of Airflow, with an eyebrow raised quizzically.

With that in mind, I will try in this article to just start unfolding the story and give you a sense, to use a phrase of psychobabble, 'of where I am coming from'.

Today on my way home from Benalla I was listening to a Harvard Business Podcast interview with Tammy Erickson on approaches to surviving the global economic crisis (something, I note flippantly here, is something the GCV really ought to strive to do).

Tammy Erickson's idea is that sometimes you have to fight against your instincts, as our background and experience may lead us to act in ways that may be unsuitable in new situations. She gave an example of learning steep downhill skiing, where every fibre in your body urges you to lean back --- but to be successful you actually have to lean forward into the void in order to not fall over.

The article advocates a similar strategy for organisations, to question reactive instincts and look for better solutions, positing that it may be organisations and individuals that do this, that may be the ones to not only survive, but thrive in the current economic situation.

Aha! I thought, we have something like her example in our sport. When a glider stalls, it is counter-intuitive to release the control column forward to un-stall the wing. Trainee pilots or passengers, experiencing this for the first time, may think their instructor mad to ease forward on the stick, even if they had been briefed on it beforehand.

"What?", the trainee shrieks, "You're making it worse!"

"Trust me", the instructor replies calmly; the glider returns to level flight and the trainee quietly breathes a sigh of relief.

Apart from the relevance to the challenges GCV faces, and how we can think about our responses to them, it struck me also that this metaphor relates to how observers might view the actions of others when they have an incomplete understanding of the situation.

As humans, we are all subject to making mistakes, and organisations like our club are run by people. Yes, even committee members and officers of the club are people. And perhaps the hard work we all do in duty is not punishment enough for the mistakes we might make.

Sometimes, however, an action that might be perceived by observers as a mistake, incomprehensible decision or inaction, is in fact be The Right Thing To Do. Both the actor and observer share responsibility for the misunderstanding, because the person taking action could have better informed the observer, and the observer could have asked questions to better understand the big picture.

Why am I saying all this? Well, I believe that to be a happy, successful and leading gliding club, we all need to have the wisdom of an open mind about solutions, and faith and trust in each other. Returning to the stalled glider metaphor, it doesn't help anyone to be the person in the front seat that grabs hold of the stick, pulling it back against the stops and fighting the instructor by doing so.

If it appears that I am sermonising here, consider for yourself how the GCV is a 'broad church' and we are trying to keep our gliding flock happy. And seeing as I have just raised a religious motif, this is an appropriate place for me to wish you and your loved ones all a safe and merry Christmas. If you've been good, Santa will leave a cumulus cloud above your tree.

Your Club Officers

The people listed below are officials of the club, employees of the club and unofficial officials. They are points of contact and stakeholders for issues you may have, things you may want to do, and things you are too lazy to do yourself; and they are happy to receive constructive criticism at all times, and unconstructive criticism if they are suitably armed to be able to defend themselves and retaliate.

Instructor's Panel

• Chief Flying Instructor: Paul Barber
• Deputy CFI: Tony Vost
• Secretary Instructor's Panel: Deniz Ture
• Cross-country coach: Graham Garlick
• Mid-week instructor (Dec-Jan): Bruce Cooper
• Tug Master: Rob Pugh
• Deputy Tag Master: Jeremy Miller

Operational staff

• Operations manager: Max Kirschener
• Duty pilot manager: Roger Harrop
• Office superhero: Rhonda Gelletly
• Office superhero (summer): Sue Kirschener

Engineering

• Workshop manager: Robert Dorning
• Glider engineer: Graeme Greed
• Glider engineer: Bob Fox
• Glider engineer: John King
• Powered engineer: Doug Williams

Committee of Management

• President: John Wharington
• Vice President: Robert Dorning
• Treasurer: Peter Carey
• Secretary: Gerry Quinlan
• Committee member: Bernard Barry
• Committee member: John Gwyther
• Committee member: Mike Kornhauser
• Committee member: Jeremy Miller
• Committee member: Scott Penrose

Facilities

• President Aeropark committee: Ron Grant
• State Gliding Center treasurer: Gerry Quinlan
• State Gliding Center secretary and GCV representative: John Switala
• Hangar owners group delegate to SGC: Gerry Quinlan
• Airport committee of management representative: John Switala
• Airfield maintenance: Roger Harrop

Administration

• Airflow editor: Amanda Penrose
• Web site administrator: Scott Penrose

Other

• 08 Multiclass Nationals Competition, Operations Director: John Switala
• Resident world gliding champion: Michael Sommer