I have to remind everyone of the "drinking & flying" debacle that unfortunately occurred at a prominent inland slope soaring site during 2007. Most of the SAMAA registered slope soaring sites are on private property & no club is responsible for these (or singularly). Since more than one person/group/club generally has unrestricted access to these sites, it was decided that the most practical approach would be to request someone assumes responsibility for the application of safety rules during events at the site.
If you want to organise an informal event at a slope, and believe that you require some level of authority, then please notify the SAMAA office (by email, post or phone) of the event & who the responsible host will be. Based on the “first-come, first-served” approach, that specific club/group/individual is permitted to dictate the rules & application thereof for the event at the site. Slope events on the MGA calendar automatically have responsible clubs/groups assigned & authorised by the SAMAA office & assume precedence over informal events.
In future, don’t be surprised if unruly behavior, at even informal club level slope events, are dealt with swiftly & possibly much more harshly than at previous events where a blind eye was turned to disrespectful or unsociable behavior.
Please, fly safely.
