World Helicopter Championships 2005
 

I hear the committee of the helicopter club of great britain have screwed thing up again they have cancelled the world helicopter championships next year at kemble airfield. apparently they did not want the event to be on a grand scale with public or the media in attendance and did not like the idea of having to share control over the running of the airfield side of things so cancelled the event. the guys organising it have spent the last two years working on this and have now been stuffed by the short sighted pompous members of the club committee. this committee is a tiny majority of the club elected by a slightly larger number of their mates. its about time they started to respect the views of the 450 members of the helicopter club.

What's your source for that snippet?
It will come as a surprise to the civvy and mil teams who were practising last weekend - in a practice organised by the Helicopter Club of GB.
I've heard Kemble was considered as a venue and rejected, but that's very different from what you've posted.

I am not sure where you are getting your information from, but you are incorrect.

The World Helicopter Championships have not been cancelled.

After a lot of consideration it was felt that Kemble might not be a suitable location, for several reasons, not least of which was safetly, as I understand the airfield would remain operational throughout the event.

Other locations are currently under consideration and apparently may shortly be nearing conclusion.

The committee is determined that this world champs will be run as safely and as successfully as it was the last time it was hosted in England, in Wroughton in 1992.

The organisers were in attendence at the British team training event at the weekend, as were most of the committee, standing outside in the biting cold wind, helping train the team to achieve their full potential as the team of the host nation.

Organising the World Championships is a non-trivial task. Whilst I am sure that between now and the event there will be many ups and downs and organisational difficulties, I also know that the committee are working very hard and giving up a lot of their time to make this a success for the club.

The club is very friendly, with members from all walks of life who come along to the various events, both flying and non-flying which are organised throughout the year. A lot of effort goes into thinking up new events that will be enjoyed by or useful to the club members.

If you are one of the 450 members, and feel your views are not being respected, why not give the Chairman a ring? He is a very friendly, down-to-earth person, not at all pompous, who I am sure would be very happy to chat to you about your views.

Much more useful to the club than just bitching - especially when you are wrong.

Firstly I did not state the championships were cancelled altogether just at kemble.

Information came from one of the committee members.

The guys organizing the event for the last 2 years have been doing a fantastic job at their own expense. Safety at kemble was never an issue along with, I am sure, all the other reasons that the committee will no doubt quote for canceling the event at this late stage at kemble.

The members of the british team at the practice this weekend had not been told of the cancellation of the event at Kemble even though as you say the chairman and other committee members were in attendance. Why ?

Lets hear the real story from the two guys who were organizing the event. I am sure it will come out eventually.

If any of the 450 members do feel there views are not being respected it is pointless talking to the Chairman or any other member of the committee as they do not listen any way and go off and do their own thing as any long standing member of the club knows.

As for the events organised by the club just look at who always goes to them its the same people who organize them or their mates in the club. The majority of the club members are never asked what, when or where they would like to go, the events are also much too expensive.

I am sure that after last years agm the committee members will change the rules to suit them selves as they did many years ago to get rid of people they did not like.

I have heard similar ripples from HCGB members that the newer members feel they are outside the thoughts of the established members. In other word get a cold shoulder from the older members. Perhap the rules should be altered to bring the newer members more into the fold.

The Club has always shied away from publicising the British (and by inference the World) Championships on the reason/excuse that they do not have public liability cover. Choosing an airfield, such as Kemble, may (or may not...) get around this issue. Perhaps that's what's up here?? Kemble is not exactly a busy field, so closing it for plank-wing ops for a few days is hardly likely to hurt them, and for those plank-wingers who did want to use it that week, there's a great alternative up the road called EGBJ....

The owners of Kemble are, of course, keen to get as much publicity for events as possible, and their original press release in June stated "The competition flying will culminate in a Festival of Helicopters on Saturday 21st August with a chance to see military and civil helicopters from around the World. Helicopters will be on static and flying display throughout the day: including a static display of vintage and veteran helicopters, some from as early as the 1950’s with many still in flying condition. "

Both Kemble's site http://www.kemble.com and the 2005 championships site http://www.whc2005.com are both still listing Kemble as the venue.

Helifun, one other thing. What's this about HCGB events being "much too expensive"? The majority of members are very successful high-net-worth individuals, and this profile of people tend not to consider things as "expensive" or not - they are more likely to look at prices being "worth it" or not, something quite different. The exclusivity such an event gives them (rubbing shoulders with people of their own ilk) means that higher prices are probably OK. If it keeps moaners out, then I guess it's worth keeping the prices up! (BTW, Helifun, did you used to be known as "CountryMember"?)

ppheli

I think your last paragragh sums up what helifun and Head Turner were saying in their previous posts.

I know the two people that have been organising the event for the HCGB at Kemble and I know that they would never have compromised any safety aspects. Kemble also holds a number of highly successful flying events each year with the public in attendance and have always conformed with any UK CAA requirements.

They have organised the last two very successful British Championships and most people that know them were expecting the World event to be of the same if not higher standard.

You what???

No, that should read "The majority of members... who attend the events... are very successful high-net-worth individuals..."

There are also many members who, like me, ain't got two ha'pennies to scratch their ar$e with 'cos all hard-earned dosh goes on flying!

But hey, ppheli, I ain't moanin'; just don't attend the events so you can be rest assured that this particular riff-raff will steer clear!

Cheers

Whirlygig

Yep, another one of those right here. I've been a member for ages, and haven't been to an event yet; can't afford it. :{

Ah, so the event isn't cancelled after all. They're just not holding it at Kemble. Not much of a story, is it?

When you said:
"I hear the committee ..... have cancelled the world helicopter championships next year at kemble airfield
and "apparently they did not want the event to be on a grand scale ........ and did not like the idea of having to share control over the running of the airfield side of things so cancelled the event, people must have thought you meant they'd cancelled the event. Odd that.
The other odd thing is that, if you're genuinely concerned about the HCGB, you register as a member of the most widely read helicopter forum in the world and bad mouth the people who run it.
Why don't you stand for election to the committee? If you're right about the general dissatisfaction with the way it's run, you'll be swept in.

Heliport

Well I don't have two ha'pennies to rub together either. I go to several events each year, usually all of the free ones, such as fly-ins (even if I have to drive), and the reasonably priced events, but just steer clear of the few that are out of my price-range.

There are lots of different events each year and I know that a lot of effort goes into thinking up new places to go, such as the recent visit to Bletchley Park (cheap and non-flying). Some of the events are very useful to helicopter pilots, like the bi-annual visit to the Heathrow Controllers.

I see lots of new faces at the various events, although I also see most of the Committee, who seem to come to the events regardless of whether they might encounter "riff-raff".

Of the many members I know, both on or off the committee, there certainly is diversity in their backgrounds. I know a second-hand car dealer, two engineers, a pub-owner, and an ex-para etc etc. Whilst they might have done well for themselves, they are very down to earth, and certainly not the sort to want to exclude "riff-raff"

When I encounter new faces at club events, I always take the trouble to go over and say hello, as do many of the members I know. Consequently I am always making new friends within the club and have never felt there was any wealth-discrimination - believe me if there was, they'd chuck me out for a start!

I am sure that the club does not want to get rid of people it does not like, although I could sympathise if it got weary of one particular trouble-maker who does his best to damage the club and its members whenever possible. He seems to confuse people not liking him with his inability to engender trust or respect, and blames the club for his own shortcomings. But that's another story.

So Helifun, are you the aptly named Country Member? (If so - we still remember!)

Ppheli your right the HCGB has never publicised the british championships not just for the lack of public liability insurance but because they do not have any insurance liability cover. They make all the competitors in the british championships sign an indemnity form and hope this is enough, at least kemble would have had all the insurance possible in place due to the airshows they put on each year.

It’s obviously a long time since you have flown into Kemble, the reason they would have continued with their normal daily activities is that they are a very busy active GA airfield. Flying schools, both fixed wing and rotary, operate from the airfield and the maintenance facilities are second to none. A lot of money has been invested in kemble and the championships would have been a great opportunity to show this to the world, and yes closing the “plank-wing ops for a few days” would have hurt them. What a prestigious international aviation event like a world championships needs is all the support facilities of a high class airfield.

Ppheli your wrong when you say that the “majority of members are very successful high-net-worth individuals, and this profile of people tend not to consider things as "expensive"’ the club is made up of a cross selection of people from many walks of life and many of whom joined the club to meet like mined people interested in helicopters and have fun. That’s why the helicopter weekend fly in at Weston is such great fun, perhaps kemble will have another helicopter show, like they had in previous years, in 2005.

Your comments are exactly why the club does not have an even larger membership as many potential members know that the minority of these high-net-worth individuals run the club for other high-net-worth individuals in the HCGB and so would not make them welcome and do not make them welcome.

No i am not CountryMember.

World Helicopter championship!!!:D
Is the winner the Worlds best Helicopter Pilot? !!!:hmm:
Dear o dear only the Poms would hold an event like that

only the Poms would hold an event like that

Not quite Granny.
As Anne Tenner pointed out earlier in the thread, the last time the World Championships were held in the UK was 1992.

:rolleyes:

For what its worth---- I was a member of the 1992 US team that competed at Wroughton. It was very well hosted and you "Poms" had your act together back then. The US team had the same similar issues that are being mentioned here (you are not alone!!!). I will make one point though----A lot of foreign teams were not happy that the Brits had pilots competing in event 5 only. We felt that in order to compete in event 5 (freestyle), a pilot should have competed in events 1 thru 4. The US team was not able to compete in event 5 due to insurance issues.
I am no longer involved in the US helicopter club or the US helicopter team due to "the select few with the money who like to control EVERYTHING, but no longer fly"---my own quote.

Hope you all work it out, because I had a great time at Wroughton and met a whole bunch of pilots from around the world. Good Luck.

Granny the reason it is called The World Helicopter Championships is because it is the WORLD. Next years event will be the 12th WORLD Helicopter Championships and the 11th was held in Austria in 2002.

This event attracted 15 Countries from around the WORLD including Japan, Russia, China, and USA. 56 civilian and military crews competed and it attracted 65,000 public visitors.

Any Country can enter the Championships as long as they are member of the FAI (www.fai.org) which I see from the FAI website Australian aero club are members. Why not get a team up and enter.

Why not get a team up and enter.

Hmmm.... Lets see. Own house and car one day or enter "world" helicopter championships.

;)

Where have the "worlds" been held in previous years?
Who pays for the training time and transportation and what is the prize money like?

I think the real world championships occur every minute of the day where helicopter pilots rescue persons off mountains, longline logs, service offshore oil rigs, show humanity their planet, transfer patients from roads to hospitals, fight fires, muster cattle, keep cell towers working, service oil and gas reserves and ....

Yes, possibly. But does that mean we shouldn't have the world championships? Because if so, then logically...

We'd better stop all car racing/rallying, because the real championships take place with all the long distance truck drivers, taxi drivers, and anyone else who drives for a living.

And we'd better get rid of horse racing and show jumping, becasue the cowboys do it better.

As for mountain walking, the "Three Peaks" and similar challenges, well, the mountain rescue teams would win hands down if they bothered to enter.

Forget all martial arts championships; the police, bouncers, bodyguards etc are doing it every day of the week.

As for writing competions; hey, I write for a living; what do these people think they're doing - bloody amateurs having short story writing competitions!

Etc, etc etc etc etc.

Is Heythrop Park too small for the WHC?? Seemed to work well for the British Champs this August..

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