Tedderfield Fun Rally - 5 June 2010

Saturday 5th June dawned and brought with it wall to wall blue skies – perfect weather to jump in an aery and take to the skies. The challenge was on for the SA Rally Flying team to challenge the Fun Rally pilots and any Airline Pilots brave enough to tackle the plot and convert it into a route. Nico Brandt, from Tedderfield Airpark hosted the event at their fabulous clubhouse. From early the aeries started to fly in from various local airfields as well as from all over the country including Durban, Polokwane and Hoedspruit.

Scores of brand new Young Eagles from various schools in the area also started to arrive, eager to learn a bit more about the opportunity to pursue a career in aviation, and enjoy their first free flight. Jayson and Nicky van Schalkwyk took them under their wings and put them through their paces. They enjoyed a day filled with aviation input and this was topped with a flight around Soccer City and back to Tedderfield by Chris Bailes, Nico Brandt, Laszlo Liszkay and the inimitable Captain Karl Jensen. Also attending the event were representatives from Youth in Action South Africa.

The Rally challenge saw 16 teams cross the start and finish line. Six of the teams comprised the recently selected Proteas who were flying in the Open Class Section, and the balance were the Fun Rally and Airline pilots.

The route was set by Tony Russell, the current SA Team Manager and covered a distance of 120nm. Mary de Klerk did her usual prebrief on “How to Fly a Fun Rally” and took the new and old teams through a detailed step by step account of how to prepare the maps and how to fly the route, while Frank Eckard arranged the start lists and take off times.

The route itself, was nothing short of challenging – even to the seasoned Proteas, and this was not made easier by the fact that a gremlin crept into the scoring system and caused the participants to have to fly a 5 minute leg in 9 minutes. For a first timer, this proved to be quite disconcerting, but everyone managed to get through the glitch and continue through to the finish.

The Proteas flew to Open Class standard whilst the rest of the field flew to Sportsmans Class Standard. The original objective was for the Proteas to challenge the Airline Pilots, but only one brave Airline Pilot showed up and the results proved most interesting. He was Snr Captain Thys van der Merwe from SAA, who with his talented pilot, Rob Jonkers, in a C172, cruised into first position in the Sportsmans Class and beating some Proteas into 4th position overall…..an outstanding achievement for a first timer!

Full results are attached below.

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2010Tedderfield Final Results	30.5 KB

Virginia Fun Rally - 27 March 2010

The plan was set to hold the initial Rally briefing on Friday evening before the DWC sponsored Braai, then to arrive at 07H30 on Saturday morning for a pilot safety briefing, final route briefing, map preparation and then commence with the competition from 10H00. I love it when a plan comes together flawlessly, and this one indeed did....

The African Outdoor Group generously sent their fantastic new “Rig” all the way from Jhb to Dbn with the AOG crew. It arrived minutes before the 18H00 Briefing and was quickly reversed into place on the grass verge in front of the pool just off the taxi way. Within minutes, the scene was set for the weekend with the chairs and tables and umbrellas all laid out.

About 50 people attended the initial Rally briefing during which Mary de Kelrck gave a presentation on what Rally Flying is all about, and for the first timers, what to expect. 19 Crews registered and before long we were all enjoying the hospitality of the Durban Wings Club around the pool.

At 08H00 on Saturday a full Safety Briefing was given by Fred Bebington. This was followed by an ATC briefing from Didier. The Durban North Coast traffic can be quite busy and strict separation procedures have to be adhered to. By 08H30 the organisers were running the eager teams through the map preparation and route instructions. First take off was due for 10H00 but there was a delay for an hour to allow some low cloud to lift.

An interesting array of aircraft coloured the skies this day. They ranged from C152’s C 172’s, C182’s to a couple of Yaks a Bonnie BE35, and even a twin PA34. The route was short at 70nm, but was not without its challenges. This particular stretch of terrain NE of King Shaka is renowned for having very difficult navigational features, and ill matching roads on the map. Some legs were short with tight turns, which again proved rather hectic especially for the aeries bombing along at 120kts. So the teams really had to work hard to get around and find all 10 Check Points.

The last aircraft was down by 13H30, just as the SW buster came through. Mary had been in constant contact with Louis from Margate Tower, and he fed her a blow by blow (no pun intended) account of what was happening with the weather. At 14H00 after discussions with ATC, Safety Officer, Club Chairman and Mary, it was decided to proceed with the KZN Provincial Landing Championships in the 25 – 30 kt down the runway howler. A briefing was given on the 4 types of landings required viz:

1. Powered Approach from 800’
2. Glide Approach from 1000” Abm Threshold with flaps
3. Glide Appraoch from 1000’ Abm Threshold without flaps
4. Barrier Landing with Power from 800’ circuit.

The event was run in accordance with the full FAI rules and regulations. Brian Steenkamp, the SAPFA Chief Marshall from Gauteng arrived and laid out the Electronic Bingo Box to record the landings accurately to the meter. Stuart Low and his team had been out on the runway from 06H00 painting the Zero Line and the 10m stripes. Fred Bebington had a full Marshalling crew down on the landing line (unfortunately the wind favoured 23 so viewing from the Club House was difficult), and at 15H00 the first group of 12 participants got airborne. Some withdrew because of the weather.

These were indeed very brave crews, not only to perform 4 difficult spot landings in this howler, but just to get airborne, was in itself a feat. According to the rules, anyone scoring 30% or less of the total score would earn themselves Provincial Colours. This proved a huge carrot, and the teams were determined not to waste this opportunity to achieve.

The results were most interesting, taking the appalling conditions into account. 60% of the landings were either out of the 80M landing box, go around, or maxed. The only Bingo for the day was achieved by Mark Carstens in the Yak 52, but his undercarriage collapsed on touch down, and he veered off the runway and slid to a halt on the grass with minimal damage to the craft or his crew. Fortunately his was the last landing for the day, so no traffic was affected. Needless to say with the very high scores, no-one was awarded provincial colours.

It had been a long tiring but very rewarding day’s flying and at the final Prize Giving at 18H30, all agreed that they were leaving the event way better aviators than when they had arrived. The learning curve is very steep at an event of this nature under normal conditions, but far steeper under challenging visibility and high winds.

Congratulations to all who participated, marshalled, braaied, assisted, supported, and especially to Durban Wings Club, Virginia ATC, and African Outdoor Group for making it all possible. General Aviation is in a better place today…..

The final results for the Rally are set out below. Landing results Here

More pictures Here

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Virginia Fun Rally Results	30 KB

Kitty Hawk Mini Air Race 2010

By Robin Spencer-Scarr

"What the hell are we going to do if the weather forecast is correct and we get rain?" Neels van Deventer's nervous voice begged over the phone on Friday afternoon. "Don't worry," I said, "the weather man is an even bigger liar than a politician." I tried to sound a lot calmer that I felt.

Well, as it turned out, the weather held and we all arrived to the welcoming voice of Nigel, the safety officer and advisory ATC for the day.

A hearty breakfast washed down with a steaming cup of coffee settled a few nerves although Neels, Nigel, Chris and Robin had to struggle with the decision of which runway to use as the wind remained in favour of 19 after it knew we were all set up for 01

"What if we let them finish here?" somebody asked. ".... and then let them land at Wonderboom," came a quick response, "because when they're screaming over the runway, we can't have anyone on short final can we?" "Not unless we want to spoil everybody's day with an aluminium shower!" "Well then what if we .........." and so the conversation went on and on until finally an acceptable solution was found.

Derek from African Outdoor Group had set up his rig with a podium and P.A. and, more importantly, he had set up the most fabulous 'lecture room' situation with chairs and long tables that would have such a good idea if it weren't for the wind again. We are all so looking forward to seeing this setup at the next event as it looked like exactly the right way to do a briefing.

The briefing was held in the clubhouse which was very comfortable after Derek's guys had kindly moved the podium and microphone inside to avoid the weather. Robin did the safety and detailed briefing and Mary gave them the track and a quick lesson on how to navigate.

With the planned 01 runway no longer feasible and 19 having to be used, there were no fewer than 22 aircraft on the start line for a "PTAR day 2" type start. It was decided that this would be the most exciting way to start and more so because the Handicappers had managed to get the handicaps so well calculated that we anticipated a really exciting finish.

The start went off well with the ground marshals doing an excellent job in keeping the flow going whilst keeping the movement safe at all times. It wasn't too long before the many spectators at or in the clubhouse were suddenly alerted by the sound of a 180hp Lycoming purring in the front of Rudi Greyling's RV7 as he came bulleting over the finish a good minute or two ahead of the A2 (Botswana) Jabiru who was pedalling as hard as he could because, right on his tail was the Meerkat flown by Chris Spencer-Scarr and George Brink who managed to just pip him at the post for a second place.

The Jabby, sadly, had logger failure and therefore didn't feature in the prize giving but, because it was a school and a fun race we are going to record his 3rd place for the day.

See the attached file for the full results.

The prize-giving was a huge success enjoyed by all who stayed. It was compered by Chris SS and ably assisted by Mary de Klerk. Prizes were generously sponsored by AOG, Zandspruit and International Flight Clearances. A spectacular trophy was awarded to the winners, Rudi Greyling and Jan Hanekom. Second third fourth and fifth also walked away with prizes. Emmie Oelofse won the First Lady Home prize and then loads of Lucky Draws were pulled out of the hat.

The weather held and many crews stayed to enjoy the clubs hospitality before barrelling off down Rwy 19 to head for home bases.

Another great SAPFA aviation event, a lot of happy pilots and navigators and exhausted ground crew completed the day, and returned safely home in anticipation of the next event at Swellendam on 6 March. See you all there!

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Kitty Hawk Mini Air Race Results	27.5 KB

Klerksdorp Fun Rally – 20 March 2010

Another fantastic Aviation event notched up this past weekend at Klerksdorp. The entire weekend was run under the auspices of the EAA Sun & Fun convention under the directorship of Cliff Lotter and his team, Len du Preez and Piesang Myburgh.

Despite the threatening weather and isolated thunderstorms, 98 aircraft out of the expected 150 aircraft arrived. The AOG rig was set up close to the club house and the scene was set for a successful weekend of aviating.

Brian Emmenis of Capital Sounds entertained the crowds while Karl Jensen showcased various aery’s on the “block”. No less than 21 brand new keen Young Eagles arrived from 7 different schools in the area. They were supervised by Jason van Schalkwyk and enjoyed a day filled with experiencing the thrill of their first real flight with the Young Eagle Volunteer Pilots.

The Klerksdorp Flying Club proved to be very hospitable hosts, providing fabulous food with live music and dancing on both nights.

Then the Fun Rally..... 14 aircraft participated and although the start was delayed to avoid some storm cells, the first few competitors still had to cut short on a few legs to avoid tangling the weather – good call guys! Unfortunately for the early starters, the second half of the field all managed to get through, so no legs were scratched.

The final results were:
1st Position : Rob Kennedy (Pilot) Wikus Kritzinger (Navigator) in ZU FHD
2nd Position : Johnnie Smith (Pilot) Christiaan Le Grange (Navigator) ZS AXX
3rd Position : Derick Lategan (Pilot) Francois van Eeden (Navigator) ZS CBO

African Outdoor Group

Rand Airport Challenge - 23 January 2010

Rand Challenge participantsThis weekend heralded the start of what is going to be an amazing year in Sport Flying in South Africa. The Rand Airport Challenge was held at Rand Airport under the direction of SAPFA committee members Frank Eckard and Mary de Klerk. Despite the threatening weather, 16 aircraft managed to participate in what turned out to be a rather challenging event. The event has been held every January for the past six years. Each year we have received very generous sponsorship from AFOS, Karcher, AVIMap, and African Pilot. This year African Outdoor Group also provided wonderful prizes, so at least half of the field went home with something special ranging from cash, to high pressure cleaners, Avimaps, African Pilot Subscriptions and various other aviation related goodies.

No less than 11 Check Points were included in the 120nm route, and this incorporated an away landing at Vereeniging, plus some interesting flying following tracks of railway lines and rivers. Storm cells dotted the landscape and depending on the take off time, forced a few crews to deviate off course in order to remain on the safe side of the wx……wise move…. as they will be here to participate in the next event. Unfortunately when some teams get through the sticky patches after the storm cell has moved on, other teams are penalized – the nature of the sport.

It is very heartening to see the teams that have regularly attended the Rally Program throughout 2009 start to rise through the ranks. The “by now expert” father and son team of Phil & Scott Wakeley took the honours in their 7th Fun Rally by finishing in 1st position despite having missed a couple of checkpoints due to the storms. The well oiled team of Emmie Oelofse and Andrew Lane flew home into 2nd place and the biggest surprise of the day came from Mark Shoesmith & Andrew Gray when they finished a close third to Emmie and Andrew. This was the first time Mark & Andrew had ever attempted to fly a Rally. This should be very encouraging to all new guys wanting to participate, but who are still apprehensive.

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Full Results and Prize List	24.5 KB

Springs Fun Rally - 5 December 2009

Competitors and Young Eagles at SpringsSprings Flying Club hosted the last of the year’s series of Fun Rallies. Nineteen entries were received for this event - the final one of the year following a series of successful similar events held at various venues the past twelve months.

The Fun Rally pilots started arriving from as early as 06h30 and on arrival were greeted with a full breakfast sponsored by the East Rand Flying Club. No less than 24 aircraft entered the Rally, but after sifting through the weather and other technical aircraft issues the final field was whittled down to eighteen competing crews and one unofficial entry from current Protea pilots, Hans and Ron.

For once the weather played along and although rain was forecast the day was a typical hot Highveld summer’s day. The wind was rather strong in the morning.

The route saw them take off on 03 and follow a 90 nautical mile anticlockwise path towards Leandra, then up north towards Witbank and then back to Springs via North of Delmas.

Jonty Esser and Sandy Goddard from Polokwane (who finished second in the Open Class in the Yuma at the SA National Championships) were the eventual winners followed by Robert Gassmann and Antony McBride in the futuristic Tanarg Trike with Hendrik and Adele Loots in third place in the striking Apollo Delta Jet Trike. Jonty and Sandi finished with an impressive 56 penalties (50 of which were for a single incorrectly identified picture).

The event was combined with the EAA and 14 young aspiring eagles attending the event. They spent the day assisting Frank and Mary with the Rally and were then whisked away into the air with their respective YOUNG EAGLES PILOTS. Lofty from SAMAA entertained them with Model Aircraft building and at the end of a hot exhausting day, the fourteen young people left the airfield feeling as though they has enjoyed a life changing experience.

The next Rally will take place at Rand Airport in February 2010.

The podium:

1st Pos Jonty Essar/Sandi Goddard
2nd Pos Robert Gassmann/Antony Mc Bride
3rd Pos Hendrik Loots/Adele Loots

Full results are attached below.

Fun Rally Briefing	Springs - 2nd Crew	Springs Fun Rally -1
Springs Fun Rally - 2	Springs Fun Rally - 3	Springs Fun Rally - 4
Springs Fun Rally - 5	Springs Fun Rally - 6	Springs Fun Rally - 7
Springs Fun Rally - 8	Springs Fun Rally - 9

EAA Sun n Fun Rally - 24 October 2009

2009 EAA Fun n Sun Rally

The 2009 EAA Sun n Fun Fly In was held at New Tempe Airfield, Bloemfontein from 23 to 25 October 2009. Hundreds of keen aviators braved the inclement weather to attend this weekend, show off their little birds and join in the fun. The severe thunderstorms on Friday forced many aeries to turn back, but this did not prevent them from trying again at first light on Saturday morning.

For the past couple of EAA events, SAPFA have been invited to hold a Fun Rally so as to share the opportunity of sport flying with the EAA pilots. This proved very successful at Bethlehem, so the exercise was repeated at the Bloemfontein Sun n Fun.

The briefing session on Friday evening was attended by about 40 pilots. Half the field had never flown a Rally before and in the other half there were five entrants have their Green Protea Blazers.

The guys that could not get through due to weather took a “crash course” in Rally Flying at the Saturday morning briefing. Maps were diligently prepared early on Saturday. Charlie Marais presented his Safety Briefing to the eager teams and first aircraft took off at 10H30.

There were 15 aircraft that entered. Only thirteen flew as two withdrew. Chris Briers’ Cub had a CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Thehangardoor), and Rickus had a flat tyre.

After a challenging 80nm route, the last aircraft landed ahead of the impending weather, and it was not long before all 93 visiting crews, some coming from as far afield as Western and Eastern Cape, were enjoying Bloemfontein Flying Club’s hospitality in the Beer Tent to the well known sounds of Dix Vorster.

Prizegiving was held on Saturday evening after all had enjoyed a delicious Free State Lamb on a Spit. Karl Jensen entertained the crowds while delivering the top awards for the EAA categories. Fun Rally results were delivered by Robin Spencer Scarr and Mary de Klerk to the eagerly awaiting crews. They were:

First: David Forster & Walter Walle of the Bloemfontein Flying Club
Second: Andrew Lane & Emmie Oelofse - CFA
Third: Ralph Hurwitz & Hennie Stander - Afos

Barry de Groot together with Peter de Viliiers flew a faultless Rally and only scored 30 penalties for landing. However, they were not contenders in the Fun Rally Class as Barry used this as a practice round to defend his SA Rally Flying Champion status with me in Parys on 7th November.

Worcester Fun Rally - 9 October 2009

Fun Flying alive and well in the Western Cape

BriefingThis Saturday saw the newest step in SAPFA’s concerted efforts to reintroduce sports flying in the Western Cape. A Fun Rally was held at the Worcester Flying Club, and was attended by ten pilots and their navigators.

This was a slightly smaller field than anticipated, but a good start. Several aircraft from George sent late cancellations, due to the logistics of flying out of George airport during the current construction. However, they managed to send Carl and Debbie Basson to represent them. We hope to see more Southern Cape pilots next time.

The rest of the field was made up of pilots from Cape Town Flying Club, Worcester Flying Club and Stellenbosch Flying Club. Mauritz du Plessis, an old hand at Rallying, planned a long-ish but interesting route for us, and SAPFA sent down sufficient loggers for each competitor to take two along on their flight. Organizers included Meet Director Tony Russell, Chief Judge and Safety Officer Peter Erasmus, and Marshall Katie Russell.

The Worcester Flying Club outdid themselves on the hospitality. When the first people arrived at 7am, the clubhouse was already filled with the inviting fragrances of coffee and frying bacon! It did not take long before pilot after pilot was streaming in to be fed. Our hostess Alison said afterwards that as they heard each call-sign, they would check how many were on board and start cooking.
En-Route Scenery

Well fed, the competitors assembled for the safety briefing. Final decisions regarding speed were made, and the organizing team disappeared to produce start times and finalise the rally packs. Once those were handed out, a mood of diligence fell over the Flying Club, as everyone frantically marked up their maps and sorted their photos.
Worcester Fun Rally

The course itself was made more challenging by a strong headwind on the initial legs, turning into a tailwind later on. It made for some challenging flying but was handled well by all the competitors, most of whom were new to rallying. The terrain also presented some challenges, partly because the route went over a ridge or two, and partly because it made the wind more turbulent at lower levels. At least three navigators saw their breakfast more than once on the day, but even that did little to dampen the enjoyment of the event.

As today’s rallies rely on GPS loggers to mark the route and timing for each competitor, rather than marshalls in the field, judging was a swift affair. Within 45 minutes of the last aircraft arriving back, the results were available.

Kitty Hawk - 3 October 2009

Competitors at the Kitty Hawk Fun RallyAnother fantastic Fun Rally Day was enjoyed at Kitty Hawk on Saturday 3rd October. Although the weather initially appeared marginal, it turned out to be a wonderful day for flying.

The Kitty Hawk Club provided a great venue for the day and all aviators were greeted early with coffee followed by a full hot steaming breakfast.

Once again, Frank & Mary kicked into action with a briefing at 08H00 followed by map preparation. Of the Fourteen teams that entered no less than 3 teams were brand spanking new – never having flown a Rally before. This shows that it is never too late to join the Rally circuit.

Participating Aircraft varied from a C210 to a Partinavia, an RV7, a Jabiru to a selection of C182’s, C172’s, C152’s. The field even included the Yuma from Polokwane.

Kitty Hawk winners - Rob Kennedy, Mary de Klerk, Frank Eckard & Kristen KennedyThe first aircraft took off at 10H30, and final results were delivered on time at 14H00. A Spot Landing on arrival was included into the results.

Also participating in this event were the long time Protea Team of Hans Schwebel and Ron Stirk, who flew unofficially and finished with a total score of 4 penalties (for landing 2m over the Zero Line).

FINAL RESULTS:

1st Position: RV7 - Rob Kennedy/Kristen Kennedy
2nd Position: Yuma - Jonty Esser/Sandi Goddard
3rd Position: Jabiru -Esmond Erasmus/Johan Goosen