The 15th Rand Airport Challenge 2019

The 15th Rand Airport Challenge 2019

By Cally Eckard. Photos by Willie Bodenstein





The SAPFA Committee, particularly Rob Jonkers and Mary de Klerk, who organised a very thorough workshop recently on Rally Flying, saw their efforts bear fruit at the annual Rand Airport Challenge, when a record 8 teams took part in the Intermediate form of the sport. In previous years most participants preferred to stick to the simplest and easiest form which is Fun Rally, but this year pilots and navigators were encouraged to enter the more difficult category. The reason for this is to elevate their skills levels, so that they can participate at national level, thereby building up a new breed of South African champion rally pilots and navigators. 


Participants and organisers at Saturday's Rand Airport Challenge

The navigators and pilots in the Intermediate category had one hour to plot the entire route, and had to do so in the cockpit, which was a first for most of them. They also had far more photo targets to identify, and these were mixed up instead of being sequential and only one per leg. The pilots had only a 5 second window to get through each turn-point, instead of 15 seconds for Fun. 


Frank during the briefing. 


Some of the participants during the briefing.


Participants hard at work plotting their routes.

Organisers Frank and Cally Eckard gave them the task of flying an arc, which is a curved track between two turn-points, and a follow-the-feature, where they have to fly along a road, river or railway line. Every pilot flew the arc perfectly, and really enjoyed the challenge. 


Jonty Esser and son Jonathan finished 2nd in the Intermediate Section.


Rob Jonkers Martin Meyer won the Unlimited Section.


Don Lucas and Andre Kluyts were placed 4th in the Intermediate Section.


Phil Wakely and Mary de Klerk did not complete the course due to mechanical problems.


Hans Schwebel and Ron Stirk were placed 2nd in the Unlimited Section.


Shane Britz and Karen Stroud were the winners of the Intermediate Section.

The route took them south from Rand Airport, around Suikerbosrand to Heidelberg, then down to two turn points on the banks of the Vaal Dam, and back again near Vereeniging to the Finish Point at Klipriviersberg Nature 
Reserve.


Leon Bouttell and Karyn Purchase finished 5th in the Intermediate Section.


Adrian Pilling and son Adam were placed 3rd in the Intermediate Section.


Thys van der Merwe and Gerda Pienaar finished 2nd in the Fun Rally section.


Kim Pratley and son Andrew finished 3rd in the Fun Rally section.


Piet Meyer Pieter Kriel were placed 4th in the Fun Rally section.


Mark Clulow and Renee Clulow were placed 6th in the Intermediate Section.


Antony and Pamela Russell who came all the way from Cape Town to compete finished in 3rd place in Unlimited Section.


RC and CJ Shillaw were the winners of the Fun Rally section.


Jakes Jacobs and Franz Smit did not complete the course due to mechanical problems. 


Shane Britz and Karen Stroud the winners of the Rand Challenge.

Rand Airport, who sponsors the Rand Airport Challenge Trophy, also waived landing fees on the days for the participants. The trophy was won by the defending team of Shane Brits and Karen Stroud, who have been putting a lot of effort into their sport. 

The full results are:

The Fun Rally section: 

Pilot Navigator Points
1 RC Shillaw CJ Shillaw 319
2 Thys van der Merwe Gerda Pienaar 870
3 Kim Pratley Andrew Pratley 1231
4 Piet Meyer Pieter Kriel 1410

The Intermediate Section:

PilotNavigatorPoints
1 Shane Britz Karen Stroud 750
2 Jonty Esser Jonathan Esser 967
3 Adrian Pilling Adam Pilling 982
4 Don Lucas Andre Kluyts 1488
5 Leon Bouttell Karyn Purchase 1955
6 Mark Clulow Renee Clulow 2170

Unfortunately the two teams consisting of Phil Wakely and Mary de Klerk, and Jakes Jacobs and Franz Smit did not complete the course due to mechanical problems. 

The Unlimited Section:

PilotNavigatorPoints
1 Rob Jonkers Martin Meyer 409
2 Hans Schwebel Ron Stirk 766
3 Antony Russell Pamela Russell 1344

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of this sport, and is all very motivated to take part in the next events:
· 1-2 Feb - Cape Speed Rally, Morning Star
· 16 Feb - Training Day in Brits, with the focus on the role of the pilot, and cockpit-management
· 23 March - Virginia Rally, Durban (with a training course on 22 March)
· 4 - 6 April - Rally Nationals, Stellenbosch
Please enter online at Sapfa.org.za

SAPFA Rally Training Camp - Aerosud Premises 19 January 2019

SAPFA Rally Training Camp - Aerosud Premises 19 January 2019

By Rob Jonkers

SAPFA held a very successful training event on Rally Navigation on Saturday 19th January as the first SAPFA event of the year. Initially planned for a maximum of 30 participants, and at Grand Central, the eventual total participation was 50, and fitting everybody into the Aerosud training hall proved a challenge.



Alan Evan Hanes - GM of the Aero Club with a short Aero Club Intro


It is great to see the sport being supported so enthusiastically, and the willingness to learn these basic skills of map reading and planning. The GM of the Aero Club Alan Evan Hanes opened the day with a brief overview of the Aero Club and its functions, that the Aero Club has as its mission to protect all forms of Recreational Aviation, and supports Sections of the Aero Club such as SAPFA to be able hold successful events within the procedures governing recreational aviation in SA.




The Participants - 50 in total


With that Mary de Klerk took charge and laid out the objectives of the day, by initially going through the theory of plotting, and then to practice on an actual plot. With this year of 2019 having a full calendar of events, and the Nationals coming up in April in Stellenbosch, and with SAPFA having won the bid to host the World Rally Flying Championships in 2020 (which is also the Centenary year of the Aero Club), this training event would serve as an excellent platform to entice new members to the sport and to start training for the Internationals and obtain Protea Colours. 



The Rally Plotting Class of 2019


Mary first started off with having everybody introduce themselves, and what they each had as objectives for training, some were there as newbies interested in taking part in the sport, some having takien part previously indicated they needed some formal and expert training, and some others indicated they just wanted to delve more in depth than what a ppl course would give on the art of paper based navigation.





From there Mary outlined the theory on plotting procedures and described the tools of the trade. Then it was off to plotting an example course which had to be done from basic plotting principles of co-ordinates, bearings (which could be in either true or magnetic) and distances (either in nm of km). Each turning point then had to be found and identified and linked into legs, some of which could be arcs or follow map features. 


The goal in getting to National level standard is to be able to plot in the aircraft with a papers time of around 30-40 minutes prior take-off, which means speed is of the essence in doing the plot, so that the navigator can assist with finding and identifying the ground photos. 


The morning's training ended off at around 11 am, and after a short break, everybody got their first route in an envelope, got the laminated transparent tool, which they had to cut out, and proceeded to plot each of the turn points making up the route. It was decided to proceed right through lunch, and most had finished their plot by after 2pm. The course was ended off with an in cockpit video of one of Rob & Martin's 2012 rally flights to show how the leg photo features match up with the real world outside to give the perspective of what one sees outside the cockpit from the flying height and distance.


Everybody left with some knowledge gained on plotting and techniques of planning & flying a rally, and it is hoped that many will come to the Rand Challenge on the 26th January and Nationals in April.




Daniel Ralefeta and his team of Rise Above Aviators getting ready to plot




Feverously map reading and plotting




Martin Meyer assisting Dave Thomas



Mark and Rene Clulow figuring the plot. 




Newbies to the sport, Time Scharf, Conrad van Coller and Daniel Ralefeta




Mary de Klerk assisting Melika Mohapi with Franz Smit & Ashley Loynes at left



Kim Pratley and his son Andrew Pratley working their plot


Protea pilot Adrian Pilling and newly minted ppl pilot son Adam learning from the expert


Arthur Piercy working his plot


Michael Stofberg & Bryony Martin from 104 squadron


Virtual Aviators Johan van Wyk and Freek Stegman


Shaun Barron with Cally Eckard helping in the background


Rob Jonkers explaining some flying techniques

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

SPONSORED BY

                                                                                

Brought to you by

SAPFA

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
  1. Rand Airport and SAPFA - Fly-in and Adventure Fun Rally
  2. SAPFA Fun Rally Virginia 3 March 2018
  3. Dare to Excite-the SAPFA Rally at Rand Airport 2018
  4. Kitty Hawk ANR Rally Results