As a result of the covid-19 pandemic our last luncheon at Weybourne House was on March 5th 2020. There were hopes that some form of an appropriately “social distanced” lunch might have been possible this month (1st October) but the continuation, indeed resurgence, of the pandemic, and safety concerns of our own, dictated otherwise.
But we are still up and running, albeit in a virtual form, thanks to the wonders of Zoom. Details of these virtual meetings, held first Thursday of the month, are sent to members via email. We have explored possible ways forward for our club but have also enjoyed an excellent talk by Steve Palmer and hope to repeat that with further talks from club internal speakers and perhaps external speakers, given sufficient interest.
Steve, our Vice-Chairman and erstwhile bold aviator, took us from his joining the RAF straight from school through to his experiences as a BOAC Boeing 707 Fleet Manager. After flying training he was judged to be an especially bold aviator and was accordingly assigned to a De Havilland Venom squadron, these being the RAF’s then current fighter-bomber type. But, after three years’ service, the politicians decided that the RAF had far too many pilots, landing Steve in BOAC, initially as a radio/navigation officer on Douglas DC7Cs but then as a pilot on jet-prop Britannias and then Boeing 707s. Navigation in his early BOAC days was often by star sightings before gyro based inertial navigation simplified the process. We were treated to insights on the work of an airline pilot and some intriguing background to Royal flights in those early long haul jet days.
It may be some months before “normal service” is resumed but we are determined to keep the club active. In particular our Family Finances Group is holding virtual sessions via Zoom, for which see separate posts.
Keep safe!