Club coaching

Updated 8th March 2008

For pilots needing coaching

The Long Mynd soaring club has a number of club coaches, who will be happy to offer experienced advice and help to newly qualified hang-glider and paraglider pilots, enabling them to safely bridge the gap from school to club. For more experienced visiting pilots, they can also provide site briefings to help you make the most of unfamiliar flying sites.

We are setting up ‘red streamer’ coaching days, and the website is being modified to make it easier to manage. Click here for further information Red Streamer days.

Please see our LIST OF COACHES (link at bottom of page) if you would like to contact a club coach. You can find out if he or she lives near you from our online membership list or membership secretary.

Coaching Programme

These have been somewhat delayed as Tim is in France until end February - WATCH THIS SPACE.

Classroom sessions will take place on the last Wednesday of EACH month, except for August when most people are on holiday. These will help towards the Pilot exam, but don’t be put off if you’re relatively low airtime. Location Shakespeare Inn, Bridgnorth, parking 300 yds by the kebab shop.

Pilot and AP exams - 19th & 26th March 08
New members evening sometime in March - watch the events listings or look here.
April/May 08 - XC coaching
Spring - Meteorology
Spring - Navigation
Autumn - Flight theory & Instruments
Autumn - Air law

Coaching News

A new set of coaching pages is being set up, for anyone who wants coaching and coahes themselves. Click here for more Coaching pages.

Pilot and AP Exam - reading list

BHPA Pilot Manual - BHPA Mark Dale - Covers almost all that is needed to get through
UK Air Map 500,000 - 2007/8 - CAA - Essential, need to know all the aspects and meanings
Understanding Flying Weather - Derek Piggott - The ‘bible’
Meteorology and Flight, Pilot’s guide to weather - Tom Bradbury - Another bible
The Air Pilots Manual 1 Flying Training - Trevor Thom - Useful in parts for principles of flight
The Air Pilots Manual 2 Aviation law and Met -Trevor Thom - Good & readable on air law but get an up-to-date one, Met OK too
The Air Pilots Manual 3 Navigation - Trevor Thom - Thorough but others are better for what we do
The Air Pilots Manual 4 The Aeroplane, technical - Trevor Thom - Interesting background reading
Flying Conditions - Dennis Pagen - Pretty good theory and practical base – probably difficult to obtain now
The Microlight Flying Manual - R D Campbell & J Jones - Good for Air Law, Navigation, Met, Principles of Flight – probably difficult to obtain now
Hang Gliding Techniques Dennis Pagen - For a deeper understanding of HG flight theory & practise, cheap too
BHPA DVDs - Various - OK for background, but not the same as reading and LEARNING
Understanding the Sky - Dennis Pagen - good Meteorology book.

Very good online exam information: http://www.flywight.co.uk/Forms.htm

LMSC Coaches list

Click the link at the bottom of the page to contact a club coach

Why be a coach?

If you feel you would like to put something back into the sport, to help others through situations you may have found yourself in, or if you find yourself helping others but are unsure of what you should be saying or doing, then become a coach. Helping somebody off the hill can create a daunting feeling of responsibility and the coaching course will give you the confidence to do this safely. Attending a course will also help with your own flying and your understanding of the sport.

How to become a club coach

You don’t have to be an experienced or skilled pilot to be a good coach. Often the most effective coaches are those who have just gone through the early flying experiences that are still fresh in the mind. So after flying for several months and with about 10 hours or more airtime, lack of experience need not be a barrier to becoming a coach. Approach one of the existing coaches, and talk through what is involved. Course dates and venues are listed in Skywings. Where appropriate the club will assist with the course fees.

What do you learn on the coaching course?

The principles of free flying coaching and mentoring are common with many sports and also within work environments. Topics include skills assessment, personal abilities, appropriateness of sites and met conditions, identifying next steps, task planning, and take off, flying and landing skills. The course is largely classroom based, but is practical and allows for interaction between all our flying disciplines.

Becoming an LMSC club coach

Once you have been on the course, you will become a member of the LMSC coaching team, and will find out about how we go about coaching in the club. The main coaching concerns center around newly qualified pilots who are suddenly faced with a busy site, lots of new and unknown faces, and a list of several tasks and skills to develop. The function of the coach is to help these pilots through an challenging few months, and to reach a good level of club flying competence quickly and safely.

Range of Club Coaching activities

We now offer coaching activities including:

Developing new coaches primarily from new pilots coming into the club, and encouraging existing coaches to refresh their skills
Establish a method of identifying coaches on the hill
Organising LMSC coaching and coaches
Running LMSC coaching planning meetings
Briefing comps and safety from a coaching perspective
Liaising with schools to identify who will need coaching
Identifying low airtimers, names and skills, and matching to coaches
Set up website coaching database with photos, phone numbers etc
Publishing BHPA coaching course dates

Tim Dunn (LMSC Senior Coach – 01588 672919

BHPA coaching courses

BHPA coaching courses homepage

Long Mynd Soaring Club