Presidents Annual Report 2019

Welcome to my first annual report as President.

My first year in the role has been one of excitement and optimism. We have so many amazing and talented people contributing so many good things to the sport we all love it is hard to know where to begin. Let me start however with the three key drivers of our organization which I’m pleased to report are all ‘in the green’.

1.     Safety – by all measures it has been a good year. We have had no serious or fatal accidents. The last two years’ stats have been the best / lowest for a long time and gliding accidents per 100,000 launches has been trending down for the last four years from 41 to 25. We have however for a very long time, not been able to go three consecutive years without a fatality, so this season it is super important that we all prioritise safety in all aspects of our approach to flying. Let’s make sure we make it three in a row! It is also pleasing to note that the rate of incident reporting is on the increase. This is important because a high level of incident reporting is indicative of a high-quality safety culture and provides valuable insights from which proactive preventative action can be taken. Please everybody, keep those incident reports coming.

2.     Membership numbers – these are also most pleasing as we have seen an overall increase in numbers for the second year running. Up 4.7% for 2019 and an improvement from 2018’s 2% increase. The total percent of female flying members and those under 26 years of age is also on the increase, which bodes well for the future health of our sport. Next year’s results of course now become particularly important so we can call this a real trend and not a blip. I’m reluctant to single out individuals because so many people do so much great work, often un-noticed, but it is apparent that the work being done by the likes of Roger Read with Youth Glide, Martyn Cook with the modernization and digitization of the flight training program and Brian Sharpe as the head of the newly formed Membership Development Committee is really starting to pay dividends. They are modelling a recipe for success and the executive is committed to doing whatever we can to support these initiatives.

3.     Finance – to ensure our on-going future viability as an organization it is important that we prudently manage our finances. We have always been fortunate to have this done by some very capable people and I’m pleased to say our financial position remains healthy. This FYE just gone has shown a larger than usual surplus and while it is not the purpose or intention of an organisation such as ours to run surpluses it certainly helps off-set those years such as this one coming where significant extra expenditure will be required. Our Part 149 recertification with CAA is due this year and we will also be hoping to achieve approval for the modernization of the flight training program. This will all come at significant cost. On another note the separation of glider related fees from general membership fees has been in place for a few years now and appears to be working well. This separation allowed for the lowering of the membership fee, meaning new members who don’t own gliders (i.e. most of them) are no longer subsidizing the operational costs of private owners. This potential financial barrier to a new member or non-owner of a glider has therefore been significantly lowered thus providing greater access to our sport for a larger number of people.

To keep our organization running smoothly and our key indicators ‘in the green’ we need the right people in the right places doing the right things. Our people are our key to our success and we are fortunate to have some of the best. Succession planning is always an agenda item at executive meetings and below is a quick summary of changes in key people this year.

Executive committee. This year marks the retirement from the committee of David Jensen and I’d like to thank David for his outstanding and valued contribution. David’s knowledge and experience of governance at the board level of large organizations has been invaluable and he will be sorely missed. The executive however now looks forward to increasing our representation from our fastest growing membership categories and hopes to confirm a suitable nominee at this AGM.

Operations committee. Now led by Martyn Cook this committee is now fully staffed and functioning well with highly capable representation in all positions. Regular ‘Zoom’ meetings are resulting in a valuable flow of communication back to the club CFI’s and onwards to the general membership.

Coaching. I am very pleased to announce the appointment of Murray Wardell as National Head Coach. There is much to be done in this role to establish coaching as a fully functioning fully integrated part of the GNZ fabric. I have every confidence in Murray to make this role his own and get the communication and projects flowing.

Airworthiness. Another very pleasing appointment this year was that of Mike Strathern to the role of National Airworthiness Officer. As an engineer of the highest caliber, with an eye for detail and an unwillingness to accept anything but the required standard Mike is on a mission to ensure all glider engineering in NZ is done competently, safely and to spec.

Sailplane Racing. Rob Lyon has done a great job this year chairing this committee which for the first time in a while has been fully represented. Rob is obviously a man that likes a challenge as indications are he will be staying on for a second term. The competition seen is ever evolving and with more choices than ever before pilots are voting with their feet (or should that be wings). Competitions however still provide one of the best managed pathways into effective cross country flying so the challenge for the SRC will be ensure the pathway remains open and viable, catering not just to the needs of the advanced pilot but to those of the novice and intermediate pilot as well.

All other committees and appointed officers are functioning exceptionally well with a lot of exciting projects in the pipeline. You will get a better idea of all this from the reports that follow in the AGM & Conference booklet.

I wish you all the best for a safe and exciting year of gliding ahead.

Steve Wallace

GNZ President