Red Arrows at Wyton
"Actually, I did see something in the Notams yesterday relating to a major gliding comptetition".....
Would that be the NOTAM entry for Aston Down (UK National competition), or the one for Husbands Bosworth (UK Regional Competition) or the one for Dunstable (UK Juniors National competition) ? So, at least three NOTAM entries and only one was noticed...
The incident occurred at around 15:30 which meant that the gliders weren't from Upwood. Nene Valley Gliding Club, who are based at Upwood, generally don't start flying until after 18:00 on Fridays and several of their members were actually at RAF Wyton on a glider display stand - so all the more embarrassing for them, even though it wasn't their members fault.
The tail number of one of the gliders involved is believed to have been recorded and efforts are underway to trace who it was. The gliding community isn't happy about such infringements as it portrays gliding in a negative light.
We need to get away from this "us" and "them" attitude of power vs glider pilots - we're all sharing the same bit of sky and need to work together. Anybody following the proposal for mandatory fitting of Mode-S transponders to ALL aircraft, irrespective of size, will realize that there may soon be no uncontrolled airspace in the UK, which will be an absolute shame.