Team SA at the 21st World Rally Flying Championships 2018

By Rob Jonkers

The World Rally Flying Championship happens every two years and is hosted by one of the participating nations. This year Slovakia hosted the 21st FAI World Rally Flying Championships in the town of Dubnica which is along the river Vah (which flows into the Danube) in the northern most valley of Slovakia where the Carpathian Mountain range borders with the Czech Republic and Poland.



This year, 50 crews from 16 nations participated, where South Africa was the only Southern Hemisphere team to take part. Team SA was represented by 4 crews in the Unlimited Class: Frank & Cally Eckard, Thys vd Merwe & Ron Stirk, Jonty Essor & Sandi Goddard, Rob Jonkers (Team Captain) and Martin Meyer with Mary de Klerk as the Team Manager, Hans & Ursula Schwebel, Jacques Jacobs, Barbara Freibose as International Judges and Leon Bouttell as Judge Observer. The team was given superb support from Vera Jonkers and Alex Meyer, and later joined by Dr Thys and Rentia Geldenhuys as South African supporters.


The scenic town of Trencin with the Castle on the hill

Our team's arrival was Monday the 30th July. A full week before the championship, team SA are normally the first to arrive, as we need the most exposure to the European conditions and terrain as well as aircraft familiarization, as we need to hire local aircraft. By Tuesday mid-morning we had our first aircraft ready for us, a local Slovakian C172 OM-DCD (DOC) and joined the next morning with another local C172 OM-SNA (SNAP). Thus as a team we could get started with our training. Normally no validations are required, but back in 2010 this club had the bad experience of one of the participating teams have bent two aircraft (by the same crew no less….), thus we all had to have a check ride with the local instructor for 2 circuits to verify we could fly, thus by lunch time this was completed. Each team then had a chance to fly a navigation exercise in DOC for the rest of the afternoon till late and with European summer the light fades only around 9 PM.


The team SA C172's DOC and SNAP

The organisers provided three official practice routes, and these were put to full use in the following days, where we were able to carry out the plot inside the aircraft as one would do in the competition week, giving us a good practice run-up. The landscape varies radically between the valley at 800 ft and mountains going up to 3500 ft, and within minutes of taking off some routes would see you facing a steep climb out over the mountains, with check points often located just behind a steep incline and hidden behind forest features.


The river Vah with Trencin in the background

The weather for the practice week was good without much wind, although some thundershowers had to be avoided, with temperatures mostly above 34 deg, making the cockpit a sweltering sauna, at least in the mountainous areas higher up the cockpit became slightly cooler.

For this competition format, there was only an Unlimited class, in previous years there was an Advanced Class as well which was intended to bring in newer or amateur teams which made the competition somewhat more difficult for those teams who had no year round sponsorship or sports federation support. Clearly in the case of Team SA, all of the competitors and judges have to fund their own costs towards the event, travel, hotels and aircraft hire which is almost three times the cost of hire & fly in SA.

For the three practice days left from Wednesday to Friday, each of the teams flew the given practice routes, the Red route which was mostly east of the city of Trencin, proved the most difficult, as the terrain was very undulating, with more densely populated areas, making following the route very difficult especially recognizing the map shades of the various features and looking for turn points of minor river creeks and farm road crossings. The routes also had two arcs to follow, and with precessing DI's somewhat challenging to follow round, with the need to rely only on what is going on outside the window and what is on the map, and at least some sense of direction. Some of us re-flew the Red route a second time to get more familiar with the terrain in that busy eastern area.



Slovakian valleys and mountains

At the end of each day, each of the teams did landing practice to get speed and descent control familiarisation at these near sea level conditions to find that sweet spot of rate of descent at minimum control speed to bingo the landing line, and as most pilots know, every landing is completely different. Saturday was a rest day, with some sightseeing flights and visiting the old town area of Trencin, and Sunday the whole team went to the airfield for our customary team photo shoot with DOC and SNAP, and then returned to the hotel for the opening ceremony in the late afternoon which was somewhat a simple and short event followed by an excellent dinner.



Team SA with DOC and SNAP in the background

For the competition week, flights are organized into two groups, flights start around 10 am at 5 minute intervals with the last flight taking off around 2 pm, and when returning, one spot landing needs to be done. 

Frank flying DOC & Rob flying SNAP were divided into group one, and Jonty in SNAP and Thys in DOC were in group two. There was a strict procedure of parking aircraft next to the grass runway in take-off sequence where crews were isolated prior to receiving papers, normally around 30 minutes prior the flight starting which each of the routes having around 15 plotting points, allowing 2 minutes per plotting point to prepare the map, the cockpit during this period normally a frenzied affair.



Team Rob Jonkers and Martin Meyer

As Monday 6th August dawned, the week's weather prediction was good with the latter part of the week with possible rain and wind, with four routes to be flown, one per day, where only three count as towards the competition results, the first day is generally excluded or only used if there were difficulties in completing the rest. Thus the teams set-off on the first Green route which was mostly south across a mix of high ground and next door valley, with two arcs to fly, and given the results of this first day some of us would be happy to have this day excluded from the results.



Team Thys vd Merwe and Ron Stirk

On Tuesday we flew the Yellow route, which was also towards the south, and did a little better, with Wednesday the infamous Red route which proved to be as difficult as the practice Red route in the busy eastern area, and the wind was around 20 kts pushing many off course, what we found especially in this terrain area, that flying at higher altitudes gives better view and perspective but makes the timing over check points more difficult to achieve within the 2 second window. Some teams drifted off course into the Czech Republic, so I guess most would have wished the Red route would be forgotten. As it turned out with many teams complaining that high wind conditions were not declared for this day, that the day needed to be annulled, which the organisers duly did.



Team Frank & Cally Eckard with Team Manager Mary



Attempting Spot Landing in SNAP

Thursday was the last competition day for the Blue route, with again high wind conditions predicted, at around 15+ kts, the plots and timing were given with a wind compensation factor, so that is was somewhat easier to fly in terms of consistent speed, although headings would remain a challenge to maintain. With this route most of our teams started to improve on our scores, especially the photo recognition and finding the elusive white markers, so just as we were finishing up on the competition, so we started to get a real feel for the landscape.



Team Jonty Esser & Sandi Goddard

With the competition flights done, team SA organized the traditional international drinks evening at the field, making "melk tertjies" shooters with the Germans, Italians, Russians, Norwegians bringing their traditional hooch. Needless to say, good fun was had by all. Our supporter Dr Thys Geldenhuys was the designated drinks judge, and judged Germany the best team, and Norway the best food team having brought their traditional Norwegian Salmon all the way from Norway.



The Norwegians preparing their salmon snacks

Friday was packing up day and the closing ceremony and prize giving held at the Airfield, with most of us going for a day outing for some sightseeing before dressing up for the closing ceremony. This day is also when the heavens opened with torrential rain waterlogging many places including the airfield. The top prizes went to the Czech Republic, Poland and France, with Poland winning the country team prize, Team SA were in tenth place, and with landings were able to achieve 4th place.



The SA Flying Team at the closing ceremony parade of nations 
It is clear that our teams to compete at the level displayed by the Polish and the French need way more practice and experience, and sponsorship would of course also help, and with the next competition being held in South Africa in Stellenbosch in 2020, we have an excellent opportunity in the intervening 2 years to get more teams to take part and improve our level of competitiveness.


Many thanks to our SA supporters that watch us from afar, also thanks to African Pilot and Absolute Aviation for the team clothing sponsorship, we always are the best dressed team with the best team spirit. 


The SA Flying Team

For those who have adventure in their blood, where you can sit in an airplane ready to go anywhere without a clue where the route will take you, and figure it all out in the air and find your way around with only a map and eye-ball Mk1, then take up the challenge and join the sport of rally flying.
 

Presidents Trophy Air Race 2018 - Home Page

President's Trophy Air Race 2018

Hosted by

Bloemfontein Flying Club

New Tempe

 

Bloemfontein Flying Club

 

Competitor Start List Results Day 1 Results Day 2 Overall Results Trophies

 

PTAR_2018_Results.xls   /   PTAR_2018_Results.pdf

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Message from the Race Director

The President’s Trophy Air Race hosted by the Bloemfontein Flying Club last weekend was, without doubt, one of the nicest ones we have had in a long time.

Firstly, a huge debt of gratitude is owed to Andre Grobler and his team at the Bloemfontein Flying Club for working tirelessly for a year to get it all together on the race weekend.

 

The fact that we were down to 40 odd entries was a blessing and caused me to have a massive epiphany. 40 entries made everything easier to manage. There weren’t long queues for food and refreshment. Results came out quicker and everything ran like clockwork. There was a noticeable air of friendliness and mutual respect between competitors and officials alike with a distinct lack of acrimony.    

The final result was amazing to watch and to see once the downloads has been done. The most noticeable being the fact that, not too many years ago, the winner would come over the line 15 or 20 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. By comparison, now that we are applying the algorithm, the last 3 years comparison can be seen as

  • 2016 Bethlehem               top 10 aircraft over the line in           4 : 17 secs 
  • 2017 Springs                   top 10 aircraft over the line in           2 : 12 secs 
  • 2018 New Tempe            top 10 aircraft over the line in              : 92 secs

Now for my epiphany............. Maybe chasing a huge quantity of entries is not such a good idea.  Maybe we should limit our entries to say 60 which will serve to elevate the race to its former prestigious status which is a non commercial event recognised by FAI and giving the opportunity to win provincial colours. It involves Flying Clubs whose objective is to promote sport aviation at grass roots level.

Something to think about..............?

On behalf of my fantastic and hard working committee I would thank each and every one of the competitors who made this race the amazing event it was

Keeping the blue on top

Robin Spencer-Scarr

 

Presidents Trophy Air Race 2018

By Cheryl Smit, Willie Bodenstein and Rob Jonkers



This year's PTAR which celebrated its 81st Anniversary, was hosted by the Bloemfontein Flying Club at New Tempe Airfield and it was heartening to see; by a show of hands at the Friday briefing, that more than half of the entrants were first timers and also that a large number of younger pilots had entered the iconic air race. 


Liesl Damstra who did her PPL with Westline Aviation and currently resides in Bloemfontein but originally hailed from Nelspruit was one of only two lady pilots who crossed the startline. It was Liesl's first PTAR and she flies a Cessna 182 for fun. Navigating for her was Pieter Burger.


This was Willie Visser's 31st PTAR.  They are both based in Postmasburg.

The Governor General's Cup which became the State President's Air Race and then the President's Trophy Air Race has been run since 1937 with only a couple of breaks during the war years but pretty much has been the leader in the world with this type of amateur air event. It invites anyone with a pilot's licence and a bit of experience to test their skills in accurate flying and navigating at the maximum speed their aircraft is capable of doing.






Competing aircraft at Tempe on Thursday afternoon

It is the one event that allows the weekend warriors to spend three days amongst friends and peers and to experience the adrenalin rush of flying as fast as possible whilst testing their skills against those who would beat them to the line. This year there were 48 entrants, with 43 on the starting grid for day 1, where unfortunately five having had to withdraw with technical problems. 


Race Director Robin Spencer-Scarr

A week or two before the race, Race Director Robin Spencer-Scarr addressed an email, “To GPS or not to GPS” to all entrants asking for their opinion on the use of GPS during the race. A number responded and the general feeling is that the GPS system should not be allowed during the race. This opinion was confirmed during the briefing when an overwhelming majority of 99.9% who voted by a show of hands to retain the current format.


Safety Officer Nigel Musgrave and Chief Marshall Hans Potgieter


Race Secretary Sharon Potgieter
Sharon Potgieter Race Secretary has always been an unsung hero behind the scenes of the PTAR Air Race for more years than I can remember, it's the way she prefers it to be. Race Secretary has a tremendous responsibility towards the successful organising of the Race including to ensure that everything is in place for registration at the Race as the pilots and navigators arrive, including to assist with obtaining sponsors for the Race and then doing the actual registrations as the pilots and navigators arrive on the Thursday, which includes handing out their sponsor bags and accreditations at the event.


Martin Meyer, Frank Eckard and Rob Jonkers


Aero Club General Manager Alan Evan-Hanes

When we arrived Thursday midday the field was a hive of activity. Sharon Potgieter, Race Secretary was kept busy with confirming entries and issuing entrants with the sponsor's gift bags, caps, race shirts and meal tickets.







A large number of entrants were cleaning and polishing their aircraft to try and get that elusive knot that will give them the edge over their competitors whilst others were socialising with friends under the large marquee.







 



The Safety briefing, led by Robin Spencer-Scarr took place in one of the hangars where after some contestants got busy with route planning whilst others relaxed. 


Those that remained on the field were entertained on both Thursday and Friday night by Zak Steyn


Ensuring safety were the ATC Special Events Team of from left to right Peter, Ricardo, Kane and Safety Officer Nigel Musgrave

Race One. Friday 25th.

The weather predicted for the race weekend were near perfect conditions, clear skies with high pressure system over the mid country, and virtually no wind, the morning starting off at less than 5 knots, and at midday to around a maximum of 10 knots, this made for more accurate and easier flying and of course getting everybody to achieve their handicap speed without to much effect of the weather.


Race 45 the Vans RV7A ZU-LAX Flown by Eric Addison with navigator Mario Fabbraio finished 13th overall


Johan van Eeden and Cor Esterhuizen, Race 44 ZU-IHH Vans RV7A was placed 7th overall

The route for day one took contestants from Tempe to Boshof. The turn point at Boshof was a brightly coloured gazebo at which they had to turn left whilst staying above 200feet AGL and then head towards Gariep Dam. Another Gazebo erected on the shores of an Island in the middle of the dam was the next turnpoint. Another left turn and then head in the general direction of Bethulie keeping the Orange River in their sights. A third Gazebo at the end of the bridge on the Orange River was the next turn point. Turning left yet again they would then head home being mindful too keep below the TMA and the CTR boundary. 


Steve and Thys van der Merwe Race 61 in ZU-FHZ the Vans RV6A


Willie Uys and Frans Maeder Race 20 in the Jabiru J430 ZU-FVA

This course was a simple four corner route, and even though it was relatively easy over the flat terrain of the Freestate, there were a few competitors having got lost or temporarily unsure of their position, and most were able to regain their track and find their way home. One competitor happened to find the Big Hole of Kimberley an interesting diversion by the number of circles flown over it before a SAPS helicopter helped them on their way to the first turning point of Boshof. 


Before contestants were allowed depart they, as well as their aircraft were thoroughly searched for any devices that may assist them in navigation


At 10h00 Robin Spencer-Scarr waved Dieter Bock and Dale de Klerk in Dieter's Lancair Legacy away and the PTAR has officially started. 


Next to leave was Jack Onderstall and Nicholaas Janse van Rensburg in Jack's Glasair III. 


Following the Glasair was the Cirrus SR22 with Shaun Baron piloting and Steve Watkins navigating


Another Cirrus SR22 with Simon Abbott at the control and Chris Shillaw navigating was the 4th to depart

 

 

 
Other day one arrivals overhead the airfield

The first five places adjusted by handicap after the day one race was as follows:


1st Race 32 ZS-ACA Cirrus SR22 Steve Abbott and Chris Shillaw


2nd Race 56 SU-SAX Vans RV10 Stephan Fourie and Derek Bird


3rd Race 44 ZU-IHH Vans RV7A Johan van Eeden and Cor Esterhuizen


4th Race 84 ZU-KKL Jabiru Clive Louw and Leonard Hawkins


5th Race 39 ZS-KOB Piper PA-28-235 Mark Bristow and Quinteon Warne

Day two. Saturday 26th.

Day two took participants to Bultfontein. Contestants had to be mindful to keep the CTR boundary to the east. The turn point at Bultfontein was a Gazebo erected at the side of a pan near the Protespan Railway Station from where they headed towards Boshof where they again had to turn left staying above 200 feet AGL and head towards New Tempe for the cross over and then head for Jagersfontein where the turn point again was an orange Gazebo. From Jagersfontien they turned left and headed for Edenburg where they were required to turn left and head back home. 


Race 63, ZU-EWL the Vans RC10 flown by Boetie Herhold and Johan Greyling was placed 12th overall


Gustave Bester and Helius Smit Race 58 finished 10th in ZS-NFI the Beech A36

With everybody now having had practice on day 1, the accuracy of navigation and flying improved dramatically on day 2, with hardly anybody having wandering tracks, and even with the Bloemfontein CTR and TMA boundaries being close and with good briefings to remain well clear, the airspace was well managed by the competitors, with ATNS having issued transponder squawks, they were fully aware of everybody's position at all times. To give an idea of how close the race was on day two, the first 20 or so competitors were within around 20 secs of each other. The handicap system which is always a controversial topic, with this year being the 2nd year where the handicap algorithm has been used, the narrowing down of accuracy is seen to be improving given the closeness of the race results.




First to depart were Race 33 Kevin Reeves and Ken Hawkins in ZS-IXL Grumman AA-5





2nd Race 88 Danie and Yvonne Kritzinger in their Jabiru J-430 ZU-IEI


3rd Race 25 Ivan and Martin Marx in ZU-ACY Aermacchi AM 3C

The line-up on day two is where the slowest aircraft is off first and fastest last with the attempt to get everybody over the line at the same time, and some of the aircraft had very close start times of 8 seconds apart, just enough to provide take-off spacing, quite a sight to see as each was released to go. 

 

 

 
Other arrivals overhead the field

Normally the race ending is planned for a 13h00 finish time, this year it was moved to 13h40 to accommodate Bloemfontein scheduled traffic timing, and at the planned time the first aircraft came over and within the first minute around 20 aircraft had crossed the finish line, quite a sight to see as they came over. 



 

 







The Awards dinner, sponsored by Puma Energy, was held at the legendary Ramblers Club in Bloemfontein and what a lavish affair it was and the meal was awesome.


Master of Ceremonies Robin Spencer-Scarr had those attending in stiches with his quips and jokes before getting down to serious business, the announcing of the prize winners and the results.




The Presidents Trophy awarded to the aircraft and crew gaining the most time on handicap went to Race 76 the Beechcraft BE 33 ZS MYB flown by Joggie Prinsloo and navigator Rufus Dreyer




The Air Charter Trophy awarded to the second place crew went to Race 84 the Jabiru ZU-KKL piloted by Clive Louw and Leonard Hawkins who navigated




Third place finishers Simon Abbott and Chris Shillaw Race 84 who flew the Cirrus SR22 ZS ACA


4th Stephan Fourie and Derek Bird in Race 56 ZU-SAX Vans RV10



5th Hennie and Dandre Bisschoff in race 64 ZS-BNA Beech F33A 


6th Mark Bristow and Quinton Warne Race 39 ZS-KOB Piper PA-28-235


The Saldanha Bay Flying Club will host the 2019 PTAR

Extremely well organised organised by the Bloemfontein Flying and made possible by the generous support of Puma Energy, DJA, Wings and Things, Aviation Direct as well as Comet Aviation Supplies the 2018 was incident free and lived up its name as one of the world's premier air races. Pilot's Post looks forward to report at the 2019 Saldanha Bay Flying Club. 

 

 

 

EAA Vryheid Convention 2018 Adventure Rally

EAA Vryheid Convention 2018 Adventure Rally

By Rob Jonkers

The EAA convention this year was held at Vryheid, which is situated close to the escarpment and in the heart of the Anglo Boer & Zulu war zones. It was decided to hold an adventure format rally which is becoming a signature EAA event in conjunction with SAPFA, which is a format that EAA'ers enjoy, as a more relaxed fun kind of event mostly involving observation out of the window recognition of ground features and learning about the area being flown over. The Vryheid area is rich in history especially in the war times at the turn of the 20th century. The Vryheid club were new to this type of event and a few members took part, as well as members from other local clubs and of course a number of EAA members.


The Competitors

The theme for this event were following railroads and rivers, and finding a few battlefield sites. The route was mostly towards the north and west, in the mountainous areas of the region, but is also the most scenic area as well, which was one of the objectives for everybody to at least enjoy the local scenery.


 
Plotting the route

The route started at the local Klipfontein dam just south east of the airfield, and then in an anti-clockwise manner followed the railway line towards the northeast until it disappeared into the mountainside, and then continued to follow the railway northwards until the crossing with the Bivane river, where the teams had to follow the river westwards until they found a prominent farm house complex. From there southwards with no real following features to the Kambule Memorial site, which required recognition of a photo taken at ground level from the air. It was this part of the route that a few of the competitors lost their bearings given the wayward tracks see from the loggers. 
The competition map showing the route. From this first battlefield memorial, competitors had to climb a little onto a plateau to find the head waters of the Nsondo river at the top of the Aasvoelkrans gorge, and then fly descending into the gorge where three distinctive waterfalls could be seen, making this the most worthwhile scenic part of the route. At the bottom of the gorge another farmhouse was a waypoint and then to another battlefield memorial of Scheepersnek, and from there to a small farm dam to end off at the Stilwater railway station.


As part of this rally, it was decided that to add some spice as well, to track everybody with loggers to check how accurately they fly to keep within a 1 km corridor, which should have been easy given that one is allowed to fly with GPS. The map and task booklet were provided 20 minutes prior the take-off for everybody to either plan their route with traditional map plotting tools or to program their GPS's - if they were more at home following the magenta line.


Each route's leg had turning point photographs to be recognised (either being correct or incorrect), then a few questions had to be answered on ground features or sites that were historic or scenic, mostly cryptic in nature. 

 
An example out of the task booklet for one of the turning points....The tracks of some of the competitors - the blue one flown the most accurately and the yellow track of a competitor that got lost

The booklet contained a section of wiki notes that would enable the crews to answer all the questions - with a warning - "Don't read at your peril….", and guess what…., most forgot to find the answers in the most obvious place…. Some crews of course were googling for answers on their cell phones - because they can - somewhat inefficient given everything was right in front of them.

There were 14 crews who registered by briefing time, with a broad spectrum of aircraft participating, from a fast Cessna 210 to slow open cockpit Bat Hawks. 


Alan Lorimer assisting with getting the task booklets and loggers ready for the competitors

After the briefing, and with 20 minutes prior take-off of handing out papers prepared in sequence by Alan Lorimer, the first competitors took to the skies at 10:15, with the last off at 13.15. The weather was good for flying but the wind had picked up somewhat, which made navigation a little challenging.

With everybody successfully home, it was time for marking the exam papers which was left to Clive King to do, and Rob downloading loggers, and then printing the results.







When all was tallied up, two crews tied for first place, Carl Visagie with Navigator Mike Terreblanche in their Ikarus ZU-EOV and Shane Brits with Navigator Karen Stroud in their Jabiru ZU-FEP. Greg Clegg and Keaton Perkins in a Jodel ZU-UEK attained 2nd place, with third place going to Wayne Giles and Mark Clulow in their Bearhawk LSA ZU-IKO. In the spot landing that everybody carried out after the rally, the winner was Mike Ehrich flying a Bantam ZU-ADW.

Thus came to the end of a hopefully enjoyable day for everybody who took part, and given the interest in the event, should bode well for future rallies of this type and also gain an expression of interest in the more formal and timed rallies.


The Overall Results

Rand Airport and SAPFA - Fly-in and Adventure Fun Rally

By Rob Jonkers



This was the 2nd Rand Airport Easter Rally, the event being part of Rand Airport's Easter Open Day with many activities for the family. It was primarily a Fly-in with the Airport waiving landing fees and reducing fuel prices to attract visitors from out of town. 

With the success of last year's event, another Adventure Rally was planned in the style of the EAA Sun & Fun rally events, which of course is all about answering clues and finding Easter Eggs.
The route map - showing the partial route. The Adventure Rally format is a more relaxed fun kind of event mostly involving observation out of the window recognition of ground features and learning about the area being flown over, rather than the high workload of accurate timing.


It is important to have a good crew cooperation on roles and responsibilities, and given the comments heard from the participants after the flight, it seems some cockpits had some hilarious moments.


For this year, for some added spice, the competitors were also tasked to fly within a defined corridor, being 1 km wide like an ANR, just a little wider, with time penalties for excursions outside the corridor

. 
Rand Airport Easter Apron with DC4 and competitor aircraft lined up. The route was initially planned out to the west, overhead Nasrec and the Orlando towers, but inadvertently when the route planning was done it was forgotten that the Rand Easter Show would also be on with plenty of SAAF demonstrations, thus with the Notam issued with a 5 nm exclusion zone, had to re-route the start and first two turning points, within 1 day of the event happening, no pressure….
A typical leg task sheet in the booklet. The route was planned on a 1:250 000 map with all turning points marked up - with Martin the invigilator for the day - having to mark up the revised turning points. 


The route essentially started out south-west of the silver ball, at the Glenvista Country Club at a small pan at the 12th hole, complementary to the original start point Wemmer Pan, from there further south to the Rand Water Zwartkopjes pumping station which also has an associated Recreation Centre, from there westwards to the Olifantsvlei Nature Reserve with a sharp turn southwards towards Three Rivers and the confluence of the Vaal and Suikerbosrand river.


From the Vaal river the route went up north skirting past the Suikerbosrand nature reserve and then crossing the two airfields Circus and Kliprivier, the photos having been swopped around to confuse everybody. From Kliprivier up to the finish point Romeo Delta past the Heinken Brewery and Panorama Airfield.
Competitors plotting the route. There were 14 crews registered prior to the event, eventually 11 taking part, with some competitors having had difficulty in arriving with low mist from the east.

The weather was mostly good with some rain showers predicted and at one point at around 11 ATC was about to declare IMC with weather moving from the west, which thankfully stayed away.


Ian and Adrienne Saunders Plotting. 

After the 8h30 briefing, and with 20 minutes prior take-off of handing out papers, the first competitors took to the skies at 10.15, with the last off at 11.20.
The livetrack24 Google Earth image of two of the interesting tracks. As with some previous rally events, livetracking was done and displayed on the big screen in the briefing room, where two tracks were being followed by spectators with great interest, both tracks doing pretty well, it did appear the Zwartkopjes pumping station proved a little elusive, as well as Kliprivier Airfield with some competitors having zoomed straight past it getting close to the CTR bufferzone before correcting their flight path.

So, what were those gems the competitors struggled with….. the N1 being part of the Cape to Cairo road…., that Boswell Wilkie have / had their home base at Circus Airfield, then of course getting wrong the airfield pictures that showed Kliprivier instead of Circus, and what beer the brewery made…. All of them….

With everybody successfully home, it was time for marking the exam papers which was left to Invigilator Martin Meyer, between the clues and photo recognition, a total of 39 points could be scored. In the interim, I got to download the loggers to mark up the corridor excursions, which counted time penalties.



Third Placed Eugene Schneider and Mark Clulow


Second Placed Shane Brits and Karen Stroud


First Placed Frank and Cally Eckard
 
When all was tallied up, there was an outright winner with Frank & Cally Eckard, and it was Cally's excellent quiz answering skills that brought home the prize, with Frank's flying accuracy even with the flying corridor cut in half for being a Protea, having registered as Xtra-Fun.

Many thanks are extended to Carolle Olivier assisting with the administration of the event, Stuart Coetzee the Rand Airport Manager for all the arrangements .The prize-giving resulted in the top 3 places winning stunning laser cut aircraft and Easter hampers, the winner also winning 100 l of fuel, many thanks to Rand Airport management for the generous prizes on offer.


Rand Airport Management Stuart Coetzee and Carolle Olivier with Rob Jonkers

Thus came to the end of a hopefully enjoyable day for everybody who took part, with a reasonable field size, and hopefully will increase for next year.

The Overall Results

SAPFA Fun Rally Virginia 3 March 2018

SAPFA Fun Rally Virginia 3 March 2018

By Brian Spurr

with permission from Pilot's Post.

The SAPFA Fun Rally team hit Virginia on Friday 2 March 2018 for another of the series of rally events that are held throughout South Africa. As usual Mary de Klerk was the driving force and she spearheaded the organisation of the rally. As happened last year, the afternoon was used to introduce new pilots to the concept of rally flying and equip them with the tools to successfully complete the event. More experienced pilots, used the session to refresh their skills. These events are a unique way for upcoming pilots to mix with some of the best and most experienced in the country. The training and plotting session was once again held in the DAC (Durban Aviation Centre) training room.


 
Durban Wings Club's committee member responsible for flying events, Brendan Adams, welcomed the pilots and outlined the housekeeping and advised that the club would sponsor two rounds of drinks and boerewors rolls on Friday night, breakfast on Saturday and student subsidies for half of their event entry fees. Cost of entry was R200 per person. In addition, the DWC put up R1000 in prize money and Mike Wright also donated flying magazines and annuals as prizes.



This year a pleasing total of fifteen crews entered and if this growth continues at other SAPFA rallies at Virginia, a larger training room will need to be found. For this round it was pleasing to see many entries from Gauteng pilots as well as crews from Scottburgh and Ballito. Several aircraft made the trip down from the reef including the tiny Ikarus of Marie Reddy. It is hoped that this outside participation will inspire more locally based pilots to take part next time around.

Mary also explained the different classifications in rally flying. The advanced section is restricted to pilots who have been given Protea colours and who have competed in a Word Championship competition. The sportsman class is where either the pilot or the navigator is a Protea who has competed in a world competition event. They fly with a new rally pilot with the aim of grooming them and bringing them up to the level of a Protea, to maintain continuity of the high standards South Africans have previously attained. The fun section is for all where the aim is to give them exposure to this type of flying, to have fun but also to provide candidates who could represent the country in the future.

Mary took the participants through the various procedures that the crews would need to follow and advised them how to plot their tracks and add minute markers etc. She also explained many of the tips and tricks that would enable them to do well. After this, time was allocated for the teams to begin plotting their routes. Thereafter there was a flurry of concentrated activity, with maps, markers, rulers, dividers, minute marker sheets (among other tools) being used to mark their maps. On completion Mary took everyone through part of the course using Google Maps, so that they could see a preview of what to expect the following day.

 
Mary de Klerk…..Fergus Snow, last year's winner in the fun section.


Chareen Shillaw and Brian Laurean.


Dirk Grobler and Russell Mann.

Enthusiastic as ever Mary encouraged everyone to raise their sights and to try and win a coveted green Protea blazer prior the World Rally Championships which are to be held in South Africa in 2020. After the session ended and entry forms and indemnities had been completed and signed and entry fees had been paid, all involved headed for the Durban Wings Club for well-earned refreshments. There was much teasing and psyching out of the opposition teams. All in jest of course and a fun time was had by all. While the entrants relaxed and discussed the day ahead Mary and her helpers were busy at the computer entering the entry data and the elected speeds. In her normal unflappable way, amidst a sea of people in the club (regulars and visitors), she managed to produce and print the lists of the competitors start and finish times. These were handed to the teams.


Steve McCurrach and Mark Warren in the Wings Club, 


Mary de Klerk and Frank Eckard at work in the pub, helped by Chareen Shillaw and Thys van der Merwe.

DWC manager Dave Harrington was once again assisted by his wife Alwina. They ensured the pub ran efficiently and organised the pool and braai area and food on behalf of the Durban Wings Club.

When crews gathered in the pool area on Saturday morning the weather was glorious with a little wind and bright sunshine. As the morning progressed the wind became stronger from the north east and there were some overcast patches before the sun was out in force again.


Andrew Lane and Chareen Shillaw relax before the start.

Crews were treated to breakfast courtesy of the DWC and many could be seen making hurried final preparations for their flights. A couple of people had to find last minute crew replacements due to illness and unavailability. Start times and sector times were confirmed and Mary briefed everyone on the rally format for the day and explained the spot landing scoring. 


Mary explains the spot landing scoring.

John Neilon then advised on the safety aspects and the frequencies to be used. All watches were synchronised with the event's official clock and the event started with the first aircraft airborne at 09:30. This was the Van's RV-4 of Dirk Grobler and Russell Mann. Their elected speed was 100 knots.


John Neilon.

The following aircraft took part in the rally: There was a Chipmunk, a Cessna 182, a Cessna 172, a Van's RV-4, a Sling 4, a Sling 2, two Jabirus, a Sportsman, a Harmony, a C42 Ikarus and three Cessna 152s (one of which flew twice.) The crews nominated their cruise speeds, varying from 100 knots for the RV-4 to 65 knots for the little Ikarus flown solo by Marie Reddy. 


All the participants prior to the start.


Winners Mark Warren and Steve McCurrach with their Harmony just prior to the start.


Andrew Lane checks his Sling 4 prior to departure.

Aircraft departed Virginia at 5-minute intervals. The course commenced on the coast to the south of Durban and then followed varied sectors inland before returning to the coast to cross the finish line. The only small irritation on the day were a couple of crews saying that they had been sent off too early and this had meant them having to circle for a while just prior to crossing the start line. This was a minor factor in a very successful day. The teams then spent just over an hour finding their way around the KZN inland area.


Frank Eckard and Cally Eckard - ZS-DOS - C182.


Jica Coelho and Fergus Snow - ZU-FDZ - Jabiru.


Bennie du Plessis and Franz Smit - ZS-OHM - C152.


Thys van der Merwe and Leon Boutell - ZS-ETO - C172.


Mark Warren and Steve McCurrach - ZU-TRG - Evektor Harmony.


Dirk Grobler and Russell Mann - ZU-CDK - Van's RV-4.


Andrew Lane and Chareen Shillaw - ZU-IBM - Sling 4 (Chareen photographing the photographers!).


Pierre van der Merwe and Sandy van der Merwe - ZU-FWY - Sling 2.


Les Rhind and Lance Poynter - ZS-OWJ - Chipmunk.


Malcolm Mercer and Murray Nel - ZU-FEZ - Sportsman.


Alistair Matthews and Brian Laurean - ZS-PLS - C152.


Taylan Ayliffe and Chris Gillespie - ZS-PLH - C152.


Shane Britz and Mark Clulow - ZU-FEP - Jabiru.


Fergus Snow and Nishon Thulsi - ZS-OHM - C152.


Marie Reddy - ZU-EEE - Ikarus.

After crossing the finish line aircraft returned to Virginia perform a spot landing and this score formed part of the overall classification. As has become an institution now, safety officer John Neilon manned the spot landing cones, doing an admirable job in the unpleasant heat and humidity. 


John Neilon manning the spot landing line.

The spot landing proved to be challenging for most contestants with aircraft floating much longer than one would normally expect.

At the end of the rally, crews got together and braaied and discussed the exploits of the day. There were tales of missed and wrong tracks and other deviations. Everyone spoken to said they had a lot of fun and at the end of the day, this is what it is all about. As Mary said earlier, it was not about winners and losers it was more about learning and experience. All participants brave enough to put their skills on the line would go away with that little bit of extra knowledge that would make them better pilots.


Waiting for the results.


Fergus Snow and Nishon Thulsi putting in the finishing touches.


Pierre van der Merwe and Sandy van der Merwe.


Fergus Snow and Nishon Thulsi 

Before Mary presented prizes and certificates to the pilots, she reminded everyone that they had a spot landing world champion in their midst, namely Frank Eckard. She praised those who had taken part and trusted that they had all enjoyed the experience. 

The overall results including the spot landings were as follows: -

Advanced Class


1st Frank Eckard and Cally Eckard - ZS-DOS - C182

Sportsman's Class


1st Thys van der Merwe and Leon Boutell - ZS-ETO - C172

Fun Class


1st Mark Warren and Steve McCurrach - ZU-TRG - Harmony
(with their wives).


2nd Shane Britz and Mark Clulow - ZU-FEP - Jabiru57


3rd Dirk Grobler and Russell Mann - ZU-CDK - Van's RV-4
- Dirk Grobler and his children (Russell Mann had left).


The spot landing competition (on its own) was won by: -

1st Frank Eckard and Cally Eckard - ZS-DOS - C182 - 10 points.


2nd (tie) Pierre van der Merwe and Sandy van der Merwe - ZU-FWY - Sling 2 - 20 points.


2nd (tie) Taylan Ayliffe and Chris Gillespie - ZS-PLH - C152- 20 points.


2nd (tie) Malcolm Mercer and Murray Nel had left.- ZU-FEZ - Sportsman - 20 points.
.
All in all, a very successful air rally. Entries were up from the last event at Virginia and it is hoped that the upward trend will continue in future SAPFA rallies at this venue. It was fantastic to see the visiting Gauteng crews and their aircraft. Coastal flying is spectacular so it is hoped that more out of province competitors will be encouraged to take part. Also of course more KZN pilots need to enter and encourage their friends as well. 
  1. Dare to Excite-the SAPFA Rally at Rand Airport 2018
  2. Kitty Hawk ANR Rally Results
  3. Chairman’s Report 2017 - South African Power Flying Association
  4. SECS - SAPFA Equality Competition System