We are the crews ~ Without which etc.

Now, I know i'm full of my own self importance and how wonderful I am. Yawn. BUT looking around Gliding websites, (to try to glean what the heck everyone is talking about, for a start), tells you all sorts of information about what is coming up/results/ who's who, the hero's and the zeros (well, they don't list the zeros); but nowhere is there ANY mention of any crews that I could find. What is a crew anyway? My first question to Ken when he suggested I crew for him. It turns out that it doesn't mean you are right up there in the second seat with the pilot but the poor whipping slave that has to help rig and fettle the glider, putting it together, polishing the surfaces incessantly and getting to the starting grid by towing behind the car. When he is launched you get this giant mobile phone with a sexy

Being guided over the ruts

rubber aerial to talk to the pilot when in the air, until they get out of range that is. As soon as he lands back on the airfield you get 45mins. to get the flight recorder and download the information to the race control, if you can't do this in time he is disqualified. Pressure? PAH! what's pressure. If by chance he lands out, the trusty mobile phone is used to contact the crew who signs the form logging the Lat./Long. co-ordinates and the time, to hand in to race control. Then you hitch up the trailer and race off to find him. The piece de resistance is that you get the joy of trying to find him in an inaccessible field miles from anywhere or made up roads, impossible to reach in a foreign land and mud and slosh up to the axles.

Having told you how important we are?? We are, really. Honest. how could gliding take place with only the pilot? Well, I will explain...


Putting the wings on ~ Tricky on your own
Launching without a wingman ~ Yeah right
Finding a cab after landing out to get back to the trailer ~ Hah!
Dismantling to pack into the trailer ~ OK, I win.


This doesn't happen with my own sport, sailing.

Razepoos ~ my HAWK 20 moored on the Garonne.

Getting ready to take the family out .
It is quite different in that without a crew I can launch and recover by myself (most times, as I live alone and the cat isn't quite up to it yet).

THE CREWS in Lithuania












Brian (Nicholls)(me)(aka. Bob) . Kens crew. The rest of the guys played a prank on me saying that as there were three Brians in the group, (just one other in fact), they were going to call me Bob. This they did for all three weeks including introductions to others. We laughed. As I liked Black Adder, I took it in good grace. But I did nickname some of the others.

Brian (surname ?) (aka. Phil McAvity). Derrens crew. I liked Brians enthusiasm for mucking in and his gung-ho entertainment organising, but he put me off a bit when I asked how to enter the airfield co-ordinates on the radio set (admitting I was new to all this) he replied, 'don't know mate' and drove off. Dour Scotchman (sic). All is forgiven... Ben explained how.

Ben (surname?)(aka.Ben Dover). Daves crew. Ben was a really nice guy and the most helpful. A wizard at navigation and, as here, pulling string down his nostrils. He always seemed mesmerised by the rubber aerials and should make a quite brilliant solicitor

Eddie(surname?)(aka. Fast Eddie after a character I saw in a mucky film) Garys crew. Eddie often worried about giant eggs breaking on his head so always wore a hat. I think he was deaf as he would sometimes ignore me when I spoke. That's the beauty of the written word. You have already read this, so can't ignore it.

So this is the Band of not quite Brothers, but we all enjoyed the experience and got on really well in spite of my withering appraisals. One more made up the team... Our captain.

Reb Rebbeck (aka.BeebleBrox) Our intrepid leader. Reb told me ALL about South Africa and a person who comes after the letter ' I '. Reb was very kind and explained a lot to me; sometimes more than I needed to know. Keeping this lot in cheque cannot have been easy.



NEXT... We set out from the South of France for Lithuania. (and a small detour in Germany).

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