The word “SCUM” is a prominent label upon many a t-shirt around the airfield at the 2017 World Gliding Championships.
It stands for “Sailplane Crew Union Member” and while a feature of most gliding competitions, the popularity of SCUM t-shirts this time around has astounded one union representative.
Paul Mason, known in gliding circles as Baldrick, is currently dealing with a huge t-shirt order.
“When I came here I just put a post on Facebook about SCUM polos, who wants one, and I got inundated for 300,” Baldrick said.
“More by accident than design, because it fits in with my misdemeanant ethos and general fun side, I’ve sort of taken over on the European side,” he said.
“Through no fault of my own, everybody comes to me regarding SCUM issues in Europe.”
It stands for “Sailplane Crew Union Member” and while a feature of most gliding competitions, the popularity of SCUM t-shirts this time around has astounded one union representative.
Paul Mason, known in gliding circles as Baldrick, is currently dealing with a huge t-shirt order.
“When I came here I just put a post on Facebook about SCUM polos, who wants one, and I got inundated for 300,” Baldrick said.
“More by accident than design, because it fits in with my misdemeanant ethos and general fun side, I’ve sort of taken over on the European side,” he said.
“Through no fault of my own, everybody comes to me regarding SCUM issues in Europe.”
Benalla is Baldrick’s 13th world championship, and although he’s been flying since 1978, he is a proud crew member - the lone prerequisite of being “SCUM”.
“The only rule is, you can’t be a competition pilot. It’s ground crew only,” Baldrick said.
“It really is a fun thing. If anybody does something daft, we try to involve SCUM.”
One of the main areas SCUM gets involved with during competition is the FAI flag. A tradition has developed where the flag is stolen prior to the closing ceremony.
“The FAI flag went missing on Thursday morning at briefing,” Baldrick said.
“Which falls outside the rules of “Annex Z”, which is a fictitious, non-approved annex. But we made it look like the FAI sporting code.”
“I wrote that as a result of the same thing happening at the world championships in Germany in 2008, because the FAI flag went missing on day two, which is far too early.
“We have the allowable period, which is the final 24 hours of the competition, basically briefing on Friday, to briefing on Saturday, and then it’s a free-for-all."
“The only rule is, you can’t be a competition pilot. It’s ground crew only,” Baldrick said.
“It really is a fun thing. If anybody does something daft, we try to involve SCUM.”
One of the main areas SCUM gets involved with during competition is the FAI flag. A tradition has developed where the flag is stolen prior to the closing ceremony.
“The FAI flag went missing on Thursday morning at briefing,” Baldrick said.
“Which falls outside the rules of “Annex Z”, which is a fictitious, non-approved annex. But we made it look like the FAI sporting code.”
“I wrote that as a result of the same thing happening at the world championships in Germany in 2008, because the FAI flag went missing on day two, which is far too early.
“We have the allowable period, which is the final 24 hours of the competition, basically briefing on Friday, to briefing on Saturday, and then it’s a free-for-all."
Competition director Terry Cubley said he was aware of about 20 years of flag stealing, and most countries had some history with the tradition.
“They have to return it before the closing ceremony, but that doesn’t always happen,” Mr Cubley said.
“They’re meant to send a ransom note with hints about where it may be found.
“It’s been found on top of towers, fences, and various other places, so we’ll see.”
“They have to return it before the closing ceremony, but that doesn’t always happen,” Mr Cubley said.
“They’re meant to send a ransom note with hints about where it may be found.
“It’s been found on top of towers, fences, and various other places, so we’ll see.”
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