Ops Mgr Update 10 Oct 25

Ops Mgr Update 10 Oct 25

Latest from the Ops Office

PLOGBOOK LAUNCH

Please see separate PLOGBOOK Launch Post- link below.

FILMING

Filming will take place on the airfield and in Hangars 2 & 3 from 21st to 24th Oct.  Set up will take place from 17th Oct and strike down will be complete by close of play 28th Oct.  All HAC ac will be moved from H3 on Thu 16th Oct under Manners’ direction and returned to H3 on 29th Oct under my direction.

Flying will be allowed during the set up and strike down periods and, at the moment, instructed flying will be allowed up to 1200 on the filming days but this is to be confirmed nlt Wed 15th Oct.  Both HAC buggies will be parked in the garage between H2 & H3 from 16th Oct to 29th Oct.  the EBS has been amended to reflect the above.

TAXYING ROUTES

The airfield have asked that, as the airfield gets wetter as winter sets in, we use the published taxying routes by default unless the Duty AFM gives specific clearance to taxy direct to/from the hold from the apron.

SECURITY AND WILDLIFE REPORTING

There have been a number of minor incidents over the last few months that might be nothing but may indicate an increased security risk.  Just in case, would members be extra vigilant and report to the Ops Mgr anything you consider “unusual”.  Also, please report to the Duty AFM any wildlife sightings on the airfield so the effectiveness of the Wildlife Control Measures can be assessed.

WINTER WORKS PROGRAMME

If you have any suggestions for the upcoming Winter Works Programme, please pass them to me.

GRASS CUTTING

The grass cutting season ends on 31st Oct so the airfield will be open on Monday mornings from 1st November.  We are working with the airfield to develop a more flexible system for next year so not every Monday morning is blocked out by default.

Plogbook – Intro & Sign Up

Plogbook – Intro & Sign Up

As many of you will be aware our Online Booking System (EBS) and the HAC Admin database (HACaS) are both home-grown systems courtesy of PBH and Michael Bailey respectively.  Whilst they have served us well over the years, they are now beginning to creak at the seams and the EBS especially demands more IT support time than PBH can afford us and our system for recording flights is entirely paper-based and necessitates  considerable admin time and effort to transfer the required data into HACaS and the necessary engineering logs for our CAMO(s). To address these and other admin issues and to underpin future growth, HAC has decided to adopt a new integrated application to replace the current EBS  and HACaS.  It is called PLOGBOOK and the links below will take you to some short overviews of the system.  (Please note that these are videos which were prepared by PLOGBOOK  to demonstrate capabilities to the Ops Mgr and we will be adding and amending some elements to better align with HAC’s processes before we go live.)

Over the next few weeks you will receive a series of slideshows and videos walking you step-by-step through using the various elements of the system as set up for HAC. The first of these – How to Sign Up to LOGBOOK (ie how to create an account) – is at the bottom link below. which will download the slides to your computer as a pdf which you can scroll through at your own pace. Your  EBS & website login will remain as it is now – this will be a completely separate login; we will not be able to synchronise the PLOGBOOK login with the Members login as we do not have the necessary access control of PLOGBOOK to do so. We do need all members to sign up and create their own PLOGBOOK accounts so we encourage you to do that asap.

Where to find Tutorials

PlogBook tutorials have been added into the Member Resources part of the website. You can find it here:  PlogBook Tutorials

Message from OIC

Message from OIC

Message from HAC Chairman

Dear Member,

Please continue to make the most of this great autumn weather and keep the bookings full. However, with BST coming to an end in 3 weeks, we look forward to a great evening programme as follows:

TUE 7 OCT – MISSIONARY AVIATION FELLOWSHIP – 1930hrs
The MAF is the world’s largest humanitarian air operator. Our very own David Tester will talk about aviation bringing help, hope and healing to people in remote places. Snacks to follow, cash bar open from 1900hrs.

NEW!! – 3rd THURSDAY OF THE MONTH SOCIAL NIGHTS
Dave Scott has arranged access to the RAFA Clubhouse for HAC members to socialise from 2000hrs on the following days:
> Thu 23 Oct
> Thu 20 Nov
If successful, this will continue throughout 2026 – please show your support.

TUE 4 NOV – FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR – 1930hrs
The progress, the set-backs (including the Mayday diversion in Germany) and the revised schedule.

TUE 9 DEC – HAC CHRISTMAS SOCIAL – 1930hrs
The traditional Christmas venue of the RAFA Clubhouse will see food and drink served from 1930hrs – more detail on BYO food to follow.

Regards,

Mark
M T MANWARING
Air Cdre
HAC Chairman

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NATS Visit Sep 25

NATS Visit Sep 25

The Day We Went to NATS

(and the Beach!)

On Tuesday 23rd September a party of 6 HAC members (Deacon, Dave Scott, Arthur Gill, Rachel Willson, Sam Davis and Andrew Dady) travelled down to visit NATS at Swanwick on a trip set up by one of our 2025 JROPSS scholars (Josh Blake – who until recently worked there before being posted to Akrotiri() and coordinated by Dave.

On arrival at Swanwick the party were joined by Steve and Glo Thorogood and were shown around by Tim Chapman and Billy Evans. Their guided tour and the  visits to the appropriate sections were  most enlightening and very interesting. It certainly gave the visitors an insight in  to the great work NATS do in supporting our GA flying. Steve and Glo certainly enjoyed meeting up with a number of their former work colleagues at NATS, real nostalgia.

The HAC team enjoyed a snack lunch and refreshments  in the “Mermaid” next to the Hamble River, after which Steve and Glo departed on their way home. The Halton party thought the weather was so good that it was too good an opportunity to miss and went down past Lee-on-Solent Airfield to the sea front. They decided that it would be wise to stay a while and miss the evening rush hour ( Ed:  a very thin excuse!) so found a Fish & Chip Shop and sat on the sea front, some choosing to paddle in the sea and do some stone skimming, before watching a beautiful sunset over the Solent, before heading home.  The team were even treated to a Spitfire flypast!

Rachel (in her good size people carrier) drove everyone to Swanwick, the sea front and safely home to Halton, where they arrived at 21.00. So a long but thoroughly successful day was enjoyed by all.

 

Halton Aero Club
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