May 2005

Imperial Bank LogoImperial Bank Logo

2005 Imperial Bank President’s Trophy Air Race

Held at Tempe, Bloemfontein – 26 to 28 May 2005

 

By Graham Luppnow, FAWB ATC

ATNS recently took the bold step of entering two of its staff members in the President’s Trophy Air Race from 26 to 29 May 2005 to promote relations between ATNS and the General Aviation community. A really novel idea of putting two ATC’s in an aircraft and letting them compete on equal footing with other pilots on arguably one of the more important events on the South African aviation events calendar.

ATNS entry: Warwick Henley and Graham Lupnow
ATNS entry: Warwick Henley and Graham Lupnow
The two pilots chosen to represent ATNS in this absolutely incredible experience were Warwick Henley from Lanseria and myself, Graham Luppnow from Wonderboom. The aircraft we used was a C172, ZS-FUJ, from Lanseria Flight Center with cool decals on the side sporting the ATNS logo and the phrase “We don’t just push tin… We fly it too!”

For those you wondering (like we were when we first entered), just how an air race with an array of different aircraft types and performances works, here is a brief rundown. The various aircraft are given an average “Handicap” speed at which compete against on the prescribed race route. The handicaps are worked out either using historical data from previous races and applied to standard production aircraft, or through a method of doing test runs with non-production aircraft. As an example, a Beechcraft Baron may have a handicap speed of 200kts, where as our C172 had a handicap of 117kts. The handicap system is always the subject of hot debate, with some guys happy and others not so happy with their assigned speeds.

The idea is to fly the course in the shortest time possible and therefore at the highest possible average speed in order to beat your handicap speed. This is achieved through navigating smartly and flying accurately. No GPS’s may be used, so its a raw test of both the pilot and navigator’s skills. There is a school of thought that says the lower you fly, the more you negate a headwind and the faster your groundspeed will be. Conversely, when there is a tailwind it may be more beneficial to climb to take best advantage. The aircraft that displays the best time gain over their handicap speed is declared the winner.

Right from when we landed it immediately became apparent why this event can be compared to the Comrades marathon. The camaraderie and high spirit amongst the competitors was phenomenal! What really struck me was the fact that the experienced guys, with 5,6,7 or more races behind them were still more than happy to chat to newbies like ourselves and offer tips and bits and advice. This even before our off performance on the first day, which discounted us as serious contenders for any trophies!

On the evening before the first race day, we were given a comprehensive briefing on the relevant procedures to follow and then given our route to go back and plan. What’s quite amazing for this event the very little use of radio work. On departure, ATC (well handled by 2 of Bloemfontein’s Approach controllers; Evan and Conrad) provide an information “ATIS” type of service where they continuously broadcast wind and en route procedure reminders. Position reports are briefly made on 124.8 at the various turning points and then the ATC’s provide an information service for the landing where read backs are kept to a minimum.

Race 96: Race 96 - entered by ATNS
Race 96: Race 96 – entered by ATNS
On returning to our hotel, it seemed as if most pilots staying there had the same idea and that was to invade the foyer area with maps and equipment for the planning. I’m sure this really amused other guests and staff. Once again I was over-whelmed by the level professionalism of some of the teams in doing their planning. Out came the lap tops loaded with software to assist planning, together with updated weather information. Once again teams were more than willing to assist us with the planning and we got some good tips which really helped us out.

On day 1, the aircraft with the fastest handicap gets airborne first, followed by the rest of the field of 100 aircraft at 30 second intervals. Our route on that day was to take us from Tempe, southbound to the Tierpoort Dam, then over very large mountains to Barkley East, then Springfontein and back to Tempe.

All was going well on to start with, Tierpoort came and went with no problems whatsoever. In fact we even managed to shave a few seconds off our handicap. When we got abeam Zastron (we knew we were there cause of the large letters they placed for us on the side of the mountain!), we were slightly left of track, but not too much of a problem. We continued the climb heading straight for Barkley East. At about the point where we were supposed to start our descent, we realised that although we were in the right place, somebody had gone ahead and moved the little town of Barkley East. We spent over 40 minutes looking for its new hiding place, getting tossed more than a garden salad in the turbulence! After eventually finding it, and conceding that our competitive part in race was effectively over, we did some serious fuel calculations and decided to throttle back and complete the course anyway, rather than return straight to Tempe with tails between our legs!

We got to Springfontein and back to Tempe without too many hassles, seeing the odd aircraft here and there. After being the last aircraft to land, we were somewhat surprised to hear that 1 or 2 teams had fared slightly worse than us! A few aircraft got even more lost in the mountains than we did. One aircraft landed up in Bisho, which is about 4 maps away from where we were flying! The crew of that aircraft “Echo Bisho X-ray” at it later became known managed to get some “booby prize” trophies at the Awards function and were great sports.

For someone like me who had never done any low level flying, other than the odd low-level circuit, the whole experience was something new. The low level briefing we received on the Thursday really helped. Looking at some of the large power lines, I couldn’t help but think there must have been the odd Baron or so that was hugging the earth that elected to go under them!

The route for the second day was from Tempe to Edenburg then Koffiefontein and back to Tempe for the halfway check, then northbound to Bultfontein, Boshoff and back to Tempe. On the second day you are assigned a take-off time depending on your performance on the first day, taking your handicap speed into account. The idea is that the ultimate winner should cross the finish line first. This year the winner of the race was a Piper Cherokee, with C172 in second place. I heard that the finish was quite exciting as many of the faster aircraft which had later take-off times tried their best to catch these two.

Day 2 for us was a lot better. Our navigation was spot on and we generally set out to enjoy ourselves. Given our late take-off time and our slow aerie, we soon realised in our planning that we would be passing the halfway point at Tempe at about the same time the winners would be arriving! This would no doubt make things interesting, so we elected to stay high in race terms (about 700ft) to cross over Tempe. The rest of the route went well. At certain points we even had sight of our “company” traffic which an paper is a much faster aircraft, and very nearly overtook them! Once again we landed last, but results will at least say we were not placed last!

On the first day, we lost 1 hr 8 min mainly due to our explorations in the mountains, but on the second day we only lost a few minutes against our somewhat stiff handicap speed of 117kts. We landed having an average speed of 93.38kts over the 642 nm combined course for both the days, which equates to 1 hr 23 min later than our handicap speed. Our final placing was 92nd out of 95 finishers. A further 5 aircraft did not complete the course.

All in all, a truly awesome time. We made some good friends, learnt A LOT and I’m sure we earned the respect of members of the General Aviation community in the process.


Also read the experiences of the winners of the Stayers Trophy as well as an analysis of the Logger Tracks

Day 1

From To Distance
Nm
Cumulative
Distance
New Tempe Tierpoort Dam 23.4 23.4
Tierpoort Dam Barkely East 120.3 143.7
Barkley East Springfontein 106.9 250.6
Springfontein New Tempe 77.4 328.1

Day 2

From To Distance
Nm
Cumulative
Distance
New Tempe Edenberg 44.5 44.5
Edenberg Koffiefontein 52.1 96.6
Koffiefontein New Tempe 65.6 162.2
New Tempe Bultfontein 45.5 207.7
Bultfontein Boshof 50.4 258.1
Boshof New Tempe 55.8 313.9

Total Distance – 642.0 Nautical Miles

Attachment Size
2005_ptar_route.kmz 1.29 KB

2005 Imperial Bank President’s Trophy Air Race

Held at Tempe, Bloemfontein – 26 to 28 May 2005

Total Distance: 642,0 Nautical Miles

 

Pos Race
No
A/c Reg Aircraft HP H/Cap
Knots
Gain(-)
Loss
Speed
Knots
Pilot
Navigator
Province
Club
1 44 ZS-IEI Piper PA28-140 160 112.93 00:15.06- 118.16 Andre Koen
Errol janse van Rensburg
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Aero Club
2 13 ZS-CXP Cessna 172 145 102.11 00:07.38- 104.22 Kassie Kasselman
Jean-Pierre Kasselman
North West
Western Tvl F S
3 104 ZS-PJK Beech F33A 285 169.87 00:06.52- 175.17 Chris Briers
Jack Onderstall
Northern Province
Bloemfontein FC
4 58 ZS-RMA Beech F33A 295 169.87 00:05.46- 174.30 John Mayer
Johnny Mayer
Gauteng
Aero Club
5 23 ZS-WZU Lacair 320 180 188.37 00:05.37- 193.68 David Mandel
Rod Crichton
Eastern Cape
Algoa Flying Club
6 93 ZS-JCD Cessna 210L Mod 300 164.70 00:05.02- 168.33 Thys Joubert
Henty Scheepers
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Newcastle Flying Club
7 25 ZS-NHR Piaggio P166S 340 164.50 00:04.21- 167.61 Ivan Marx (Dr)
Martin Marx
North West
Rustenburg FC
8 81 ZU-DHP Vans RV 6 180 161.65 00:04.14- 164.57 Anton Willemse
Greg Smith
Gauteng
EAA Chap 322
9 14 ZS-DVN Beech E55 285 195.49 00:03.36- 199.14 Koos Coetzer
Sarel van der Walt
Free State
Western Tvl F S
10 47 ZS-MEJ Cessna T210M 310 170.34 00:03.27- 172.99 Petrus Burger
Albie van Zyl
Northern Cape
Vaalharts FC
11 73 ZS-LSW Beech 58 300 199.70 00:03.24- 203.29 Pieter van Zyl
PG van Zyl
North West
Western Tvl F S
12 103 ZS-KFM Piper PA28-R201T 200 154.86 00:03.17- 156.92 Shaun Kenny
Henry Miles
Gauteng
Aero Club
13 3 ZS-FZC Beech V35A Scim 285 168.88 00:03.11- 171.26 Eugene Swart
Jan Visser
Northern Cape
Upington F C
14 17 ZS-JTU Piper PA28-235 250 136.96 00:01.47- 137.33 Dries Briers
Maruis Schutte
Northern Province
Pietersburg F C
15 64 ZS-HJF Piper PA24-260-C 260 161.72 00:01.37- 162.83 Henk Scheepers
Johan Scheepers
Gauteng
Aero Club
16 9 ZS-IMF Beech V25B 285 168.88 00:01.19- 169.85 Sias Delport
Danie Esselen
Mpumalanga
Vaalharts FC
17 66 ZS-MLC Cessna 210L Scim 300 163.43 00:01.04- 164.17 Eddie Vorster
Meyer Jacobs
Northern Province
Letaba Flying Club
18 19 ZS-FVH Piper PA28-180R 180 136.80 00:01.04- 137.32 Sean Hughes
Harry Moos
Free State
Maluti Air
19 61 ZS-SLW Beech E55 2BL 285 195.64 00:01.02- 196.66 Jacques Griessel
Johan Ferreira
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
20 1 ZS-VYI Grumman AA1A 160 130.62 00:00.57- 131.04 Harry Antel
Barry de Groot
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Pietermaritzburg FC
21 15 ZS-KHX Piper PA34-200T 200 174.00 00:00.44- 174.57 Robert Myburgh (snr)
Robbie Myburgh
Gauteng
Aero Club
22 98 ZS-DSZ Cessna 182 230 134.91 00:00.43- 135.25 Mark Robinson
Dirk Krist
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
23 11 ZS-FSR Beech 36 285 167.88 00:00.13- 168.04 Human Wentzel
Arno Stofberg
North West
Western Tvl F S
24 10 ZS-IFA Cessna 182N Scim 230 134.91 00:00.02- 134.93 Eduard Steyn
Rudi Jansen van Vuuren
North West
Western Tvl F S
25 84 ZS-ETT Cessna 182 230 134.91 00:00.15 134.79 Jacques Willemse
Johnny O’Reilly
Limpopo
Aero Club
26 50 ZS-LXR Beech 58 285 192.75 00:00.23 192.37 Dirk Fourie
Braam van Greuning
North West
Western Tvl F S
27 72 ZS-NBB Cessna 177RG 200 139.39 00:00.29 139.14 Kobus van der Colff
Johan Nicolaison
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
28 12 ZS-JYM Cessna 210M 300 163.43 00:00.39 162.98 David Forster
Wyndham Ferreira
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
29 86 ZS-IYC Cessna 182P 230 134.91 00:00.58 134.46 Anton Schonken
Terence Warmington
Eastern Cape
Queenstown FC
30 46 ZS-NXE Piper PA28RT201T 200 154.86 00:01.02 154.21 Dana Bensch (Snr)
Jeanette Bensch
Gauteng
J L P C
31 80 ZS-EPR Cessna 182K 230 134.91 00:01.06 134.39 G T Willemse
Beukes Willemse
Free State
Aero Club
32 100 ZS-MED Cessna 210L Scim 300 163.43 00:01.28 162.42 Piet Ferreira
Charl Lotriet
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
33 20 ZS-KMO Beech 58 285 192.75 00:01.57 190.88 William Einkamerer
Johnny Scholtz
North West
Western Tvl F S
34 6 ZS-MTR Cessna 210M Scim 300 162.02 00:01.58 160.69 Johan La Grange
Yolande La Grange
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
35 41 ZS-KJO Beech V35B 300 172.00 00:02.05 170.42 George Jacobsz
Eksteen Jacobsz
Mpumalanga
Ermelo Aeronautical Ass
36 69 ZU-DFR Jabiru J450 120 116.29 00:02.07 115.55 Sias Truter
Andre Middel
Western Cape
Aero Club
37 97 ZS-LZT Cessna R182 RG II 235 150.90 00:02.14 149.59 Hoppie Mulder
Dean du Toit
North West
Western Tvl F S
38 49 ZS-DOS Cessna 182F 250 136.00 00:02.16 134.92 Ernie Alexander
Lloyd Mckay
North West
Brits Flying Club
39 36 ZS-KCJ Beech A36 Scim 285 167.88 00:02.23 166.15 Lukas Wiese
Johan van Gruting
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
40 26 ZS-MOR Cessna 210N Scim 300 162.02 00:02.41 160.21 Chris Booysen
Jim Tucker
Eastern Cape
Algoa Flying Club
41 65 ZS-ODT Meyers 200D 285 172.33 00:02.46 170.21 P W A Senekal
W R Prigge
Mpumalanga
Ermelo Aeronautical Ass
42 68 ZS-CBD Mooney M20C 180 144.50 00:03.43 142.51 Simon Sykes
Damian Sykes
Free State
Aero Club
43 71 ZS-VFA Rutan Long EZ 180 161.54 00:04.14 158.71 Shawn Uren
Nick McFall
Western Cape
Stellenbosch F C
44 51 ZS-IPZ Cessna 180 225 137.89 00:04.15 135.82 Johann Bornman
Brian Davidson
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
45 40 ZS-OSM Cessna 340A 310 185.27 00:04.18 181.53 Gary Hughes
Andries van Tonder
Gauteng
Krugersdorp F C
46 39 ZU-SXL Urban AI Samba XL 100 122.94 00:04.30 121.20 Ranier Frieboese
Dicky Swanepoel
North West
Brits Flying Club
47 38 ZS-LAI Cessna R182 RG II 235 150.90 00:04.45 148.14 Mark Hughes
Bryan Engels
Gauteng
Aero Club
48 55 ZS-MVO Cessna T210L 285 170.34 00:05.01 166.64 Rex Barnard (Dr)
Andy Brink
North West
Vryburg Flying Club
49 42 ZS-IOS Cessna 182P Scim 230 132.47 00:05.02 130.21 Sam Joannides
Tracy Simms
Eastern Cape
Algoa Flying Club
50 79 ZS-PAS Beech B55 260 187.15 00:05.37 182.18 Chris Wiid
Ben Zietsman
Gauteng
Aero Club
51 89 ZS-NBY Piper PA28-R200 200 137.28 00:05.38 134.57 Louwrens Smith
Kottie Breed
Gauteng
Pietersburg F C
52 56 ZU-APZ Lancair 320 160 191.62 00:06.07 185.97 Dieter Bock
Mark Steyn
Gauteng
Krugersdorp F C
53 5 ZS-KSZ Cessna R182 RG II 235 150.90 00:06.45 147.01 Wally Brink
George Brink
North West
Vryburg Flying Club
54 60 ZS-CCO Urban AI Samba 100 124.13 00:06.57 121.41 Peter Hengst
Ulie Gerth
North West
Brits Flying Club
55 74 748 Cessna 185E 260 138.40 00:07.08 134.94 Scott Logie
Thibang Mashilane
Gauteng
Defense Flying Club
56 63 ZS-IIJ Cessna C337F 210 155.00 00:08.04 150.12 Almero Retief
Stephen Breytenbach
Gauteng
Krugersdorp F C
57 30 ZS-MAE Cessna 172M 160 117.00 00:08.56 113.90 Christiaan du Plessis (Jnr)
Mauritz du Plessis (Snr)
Western Cape
Walker Bay Aero Club
58 77 ZS-TVR Beech F33A 285 169.87 00:09.28 163.06 Theuns van Rensburg
W F Labuschagne
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Newcastle Flying Club
59 70 ZS-OXD Cirrus SR22 310 183.61 00:09.31 175.64 M J Nienkemper
Frans Nel
Free State
Aero Club
60 2 ZU-LAJ Jabiru J450 120 119.82 00:10.39 115.97 Leslie Jagger
Nigel Townshend
North West
Rustenburg FC
61 21 ZS-ESU Piper PA28-140 160 112.93 00:11.06 109.37 Bonnie Steyn
Shona Hughes
Free State
Maluti Air
62 22 ZS-OMJ Piper PA32-260 260 146.05 00:11.24 139.99 Tienie Prinsloo
Francios Vorster
Limpopo
Letaba Flying Club
63 32 ZS-DWJ Piper PA28-235 235 135.90 00:11.24 130.65 Abel Fourie
Riaan Louw
North West
Vryburg Flying Club
64 85 ZS-PCO Socata TB10 180 116.22 00:11.34 112.30 Frans Hiemstra
Peter Ladiellis
Gauteng
Aero Club
65 8 ZU-CNG Jabiru SP 80 107.37 00:11.57 103.90 Jan Hanekom
Hugo Stark
North West
Brits Flying Club
66 62 ZS-ITB Beech C23 180 118.00 00:13.47 113.22 Carl Parsons
Alewyn Burger
Gauteng
Pretoria Flying Club
67 75 ZS-MLB Piper PA28R-200 200 137.28 00:14.01 130.74 Chris Visscher
Johannes Viljoen
Gauteng
Aero Club
68 91 ZS-FNI Cessna 182 230 134.91 00:15.44 127.86 Dirk Visser
Marc de Klerk
Gauteng
Kitty Hawk Flying Club
69 18 ZS-NOY Cessna 182P Scim 230 134.91 00:16.02 127.74 Coen Ackerman
Willie Marais
Gauteng
CFA
70 33 ZS-CBX Mooney M20E 200 155.90 00:16.06 146.36 Phil Gidish
Richard Gundersen
Gauteng
East Rand Flying Club
71 90 ZS-PEB Piper 601P 290 211.21 00:16.10 194.01 Deon van Zyl
Madeleen van Zyl
Gauteng
Pretoria Flying Club
72 28 ZS-EXM Piper PA28-140 160 112.93 00:16.21 107.76 AJ Coetzer
Willem Coetzer
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
73 82 ZS-KJB Cessna 210N Scim 300 164.70 00:16.40 153.75 Otto Wypkema
R Knoetze
Gauteng
Aero Club
74 95 ZS-NET Cessna 172K 150 108.94 00:18.18 103.58 Warren Baynes
Lawrence Bettesworth
Gauteng
CFA
75 7 ZS-IXM Grumman AA5 160 120.73 00:18.25 114.14 Arthur Karatzas
Tony Georgio
Gauteng
AFOS
76 53 ZS-BAI Cessna 172S 180 123.62 00:19.26 116.36 Donavan Bailey
Murray Shaw
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Durban Wings Club
77 27 ZS-IMZ Beech V35B 285 168.88 00:19.56 155.30 Hercules Boshoff
Theo Boshoff
Mpumalanga
Ermelo Aeronautical Ass
78 52 ZS-NCU Cessna 177RG 200 139.39 00:21.07 129.49 Charl Barnard
Christo van Schalkwyk
Gauteng
Kitty Hawk Flying Club
79 31 ZS-IIK Cessna A150L 115 101.50 00:23.16 95.63 Pieter Ferreira
Jamie Hughes
Free State
Maluti Air
80 88 ZS-PBX Mooney M20F 200 154.26 00:26.00 139.71 George Spencer
Deon Roestorff
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Durban Wings Club
81 94 ZS-BOK Cessna 182P 230 134.91 00:33.14 120.84 Eric Stadlander
Lumon Stadlander
North West
Western Tvl F S
82 99 ZS-MYO Cessna 172L 160 117.00 00:33.33 106.13 Joanita la Grange
Christophe Roelofse
Free State
Bloemfontein FC
83 37 ZS-JFP Beech V35B 285 168.88 00:36.55 145.35 Deon Hanekom
Hannes Otto
North West
Western Tvl F S
84 57 ZS-CBB Piper PA28-180 180 122.77 00:45.43 107.15 Josias Delport
Leon Viljoen
Mpumalanga
Witbank Aeronautical
85 83 ZS-CHL Beech 58 285 192.75 00:47.51 155.51 Johan van Staden
Martin Meyer
Kwa-Zulu Natal
Aero Club
86 34 ZS-FDZ Piper PA28-235 250 136.96 00:49.32 116.45 Christa Greyvenstein
Michael Earl
Gauteng
Aero Club
87 59 ZS-IXL Grumman AA5 160 120.73 00:50.45 104.16 Christos Linakis
Blaine Carstens
Gauteng
AFOS
88 76 ZS-JCM Cessna T210L 315 176.60 00:51.20 142.96 Rob Waghorn
Wade Gomes
Gauteng
Aero Club
89 43 ZS-IDL Cessna A150K 100 100.00 00:56.52 87.13 Morne Kleinhans
Jacobus du Toit
Western Cape
Cape Aero Club
90 67 ZS-OWS Cessna U206F 300 143.13 01:10.48 113.31 Robin Spencer-Scarr
Stuart Sinclair
North West
Rustenburg FC
91 48 ZU-JHA Van’s RV 6 180 175.53 01:16.55 129.97 Johan Ackerman
Richard Moore
Eastern Cape
Algoa Flying Club
92 96 ZS-FUJ Cessna 172K 160 117.00 01:23.16 93.38 Warwick Henley
Graham Luppnow
Gauteng
Lanseria Flight
93 24 ZS-VMF Beech BE35B 285 168.88 01:28.30 121.66 T F Marx
Francois Boshoff
Mpumalanga
Ermelo Aeronautical Ass
94 78 ZS-FVL Piper PA32-300C 300 143.00 01:52.06 100.97 Spencer Watson
Denise Engelbrecht
Gauteng
Pretoria Flying Club
95 29 ZS-IZM Rockwell 112 200 140.00 02:08.22 95.46 Bill Cook
Henri Meistre
Gauteng
Aero Club

Unofficial Entry

Pos Race
No
A/c Reg Aircraft HP H/Cap
Knots
Gain(-)
Loss
Speed
Knots
Pilot
Navigator
Province
Club
42 105 ZU-DNM Compare 7SL 700 188.74 00:03.02 185.98 Andre Mojet
Herholdt Gauche
Gauteng
Aero Club

2005 President’s Trophy Air Race

Tempe, Bloemfontein – 26 to 28 May 2005

Trophy Name Awarded to Race A/c Reg Pilot/Navigator
Aircraft
President’s Trophy The Competitor gaining most time on Handicap 44 ZS-IEI Andre Koen/WC (Errol) janse van Rensburg
Piper PA28-140
Air Charter Trophy The Second Pilot Home 13 ZS-CXP Kassie Kasselman/Jean-Pierre Kasselman
Cessna 172
Vincent Maclean Trophy The Third Pilot Home 104 ZS-PJK Chris Briers/Jack Onderstall
Beech F33A
Natal Mercury Trophy The First Kwa Zulu Natal Pilot Home 44 ZS-IEI Andre Koen/WC (Errol) janse van Rensburg
Piper PA28-140
Hoofstad Pers Trophy The First Northern Provinces Pilot Home 58 ZS-RMA John Mayer(Snr)/Johnny Mayer (Jnr)
Beech V35B
Stellalander Trophy The First Cape Pilot Home 23 ZS-WZU David Mandell/Rod Crichton
Lancair 320
Phoenix Volkswagen Trophy The First Free State Pilot Home 14 ZS-DVN Koos Coetzer/Sarel van der Walt
Beech E55
Gatsby Trophy Best Handicap Performance on First Day 44 ZS-IEI Andre Koen/WC (Errol) janse van Rensburg
Piper PA28-140
Professional Aviation Trophy Best Handicap Speed on Second Day 44 ZS-IEI Andre Koen/WC (Errol) janse van Rensburg
Piper PA28-140
Wakefield Trophy The First Woman Pilot Home 34 ZS-FDZ Christa Greyvenstein/Michael Earl
Piper PA28-235
Kassie Kasselman Trophy The First Father and Son Combination Home 13 ZS-CXP Kassie Kasselman/Jean-Pierre Kasselman
Cessna 172
John Sayers Trophy The Crew of The First Turbocharged Aircraft Home 47 ZS-MEJ Petrus Burger/Albie van Zyl
Cessna T210M
Bloemfontein Flying Club Trophy The First Team with less than 1000 Hours 44 ZS-IEI Andre Koen/WC (Errol) janse van Rensburg
Piper PA28-140
A T N S Trophy The Youngest Competitor 31 ZS-IIK Pieter Ferreira/Jamie Hughes
Cessna A150L
Dolf Kruger Trophy The First Homebuilt Aircraft Home 23 ZS-WZU David Mandell/Rod Crichton
Lancair 320
C A A Trophy For Professionalism (For handling a fuel problem) 102 ZS-CMU Roland van Tonder/M Smith
Cessna 182C
Beechcraft Trophy The Pilot of the First Beechcraft Home 104 ZS-PJK Chris Briers/Jack Onderstall
Beech F33A
Comair Trophy The Pilot of the First Cessna Home 13 ZS-CXP Kassie Kasselman/Jean-Pierre Kasselman
Cessna 172
Placo Trophy The Pilot of the First Piper Home 44 ZS-IEI Andre Koen/WC (Errol) janse van Rensburg
Piper PA28-140
Southern Africa Mooney Trophy The First Mooney Home 68 ZS-CBD Simon Sykes/Damian Sykes
Mooney M20C
Vickers Trophy The Competitor Giving the Most Meritorious Performance 81 ZU-DHP Anton Willemse/Greg Smith
Van’s RV6
Stayers Trophy The Crew Finishing under Exceptional Circumstances (Landed at Bisho after missing Barkley East) 54 ZS-EBX Werner Blignaut/Viv Benkunskas
Piper PA28-180
Kwa-Zulu Natal Advertiser Trophy The Competitor covering the course in the Fastest Time 73 ZS-LSW Pieter van Zyl/PG van Zyl
Beech 58
Carletonville Trophy The Pilot of the First Baron Home 14 ZS-DVN Koos Coetzer/Sarel van der Walt
Beech E55
Preller/Germishuys Trophy Handicapping Committee Award (To welcome the first Black navigator) 74 748 Scott Logie/Thibang Mashilane
Bock Moolman Trophy The Best Economy Speed Per Horsepower 8 ZU-CNG Jan Hanekom/Hugo Stark
Jabiru SP

Race
No
A/c Reg Pilot
Navigator
Aircraft Reason for exclusion
4 ZS-FRV Jacques Vercueil
Chris Spencer-Scarr
Beech V35A Did not start Day 2
54 ZS-EBX Werner Blignaut
Viv Benkunskas
Piper PA28-180 Landed at Bisho
101 ZS-KBJ Wessel v d Westhuizen
Francois Pieterse
Piper PA32-300 Did not finish Day 2
102 ZS-CMU Roland van Tonder
M Smith
Cessna 182 Fuel problem – Returned to Tempe

2005 PTAR – Top 3 Crews and Aircraft

2005 PTAR

2005 PTAR – Banquet and Trophies

Imperial Bank LogoImperial Bank Logo

2005 Imperial Bank President’s Trophy Air Race

How to win the Stayers Trophy

Article by Viv

After much encouragement and persuasion from George Brink, which included the phrase, “it’s the most fun you can have with your headset on”, being said, (and posted on Avcom), many a time, Nasser and I decided to enter the President’s Trophy Air Race 2005.

Budget was in the lower end of the scale, so we decided on using a Jabiru SP. The plane was booked, and we were counting down the days.

Race 54 Crew - Viv and Nasser
Race 54 Crew – Viv and Nasser

The Monday preceding the air race, we found out that our little aeroplane would not be ready in time, due to it having been for an engine overhaul, and still needing a few parts. People were phoned, pleas were posted on Avcom, and eventually we came across a flight school that was willing to hire out their Cherokee 180 to us…. Check rides were done, documents filled in, we were sorted.

Thursday morning arrived, and while preflighting, we realized that the rotating beacon was not working, and a replacement bulb wasn’t available. Not a huge dilemma, so we set off on our journey to New Tempe. En route, our intercom decided to cease functioning properly and didn’t allow communication to occur from pilot to co-pilot, obviously a problem in a race situation. No problem. We continued being confident that we would be able to sort something out once in Tempe.

At Tempe we organized the loan of another intercom (thanks George), got down to the business of attempting to clean the aircraft for the extra streamlining of our aircraft, and then attended the briefing which exposed the route of Day 1. Tempe – Tierpoort Dam – Barkley East – Springfontein – Tempe. Seemed easy enough. We plotted our navigation – the obvious lack of waypoints along one particular leg became apparent, namely the Tierpoort Dam – Barkley East leg.

Friday morning we took off at the prompt of the green light. First turning point was found easily, and then we turned onto our planned heading for the second leg. By this stage there were no other aeroplanes in sight. On turning onto the heading, it became apparent that the magnetic compass was not behaving as it should be, but was instead spinning non-stop. Not the end of the world, so we continued unperturbed.

The turbulence was unlike any I’ve ever experienced, (I now have countless bruises all over my body as the temporary evidence thereof), and after about 10 minutes into the second leg, a big bump caused me to lose hold of the stopwatch. After frantically searching for the stopwatch myself, Werner decided to give me control, unstrapped himself and jumped to the back to look for the stopwatch himself – that didn’t turn out to be such a productive move. The stopwatch was eventually located, although the digits on it no longer held any significance…..

We continued along on our merry way.

Race 54 - ZS-EBX
Race 54 – ZS-EBX

By this stage, we seemed to locate ourselves on the map, and things still made sense, but that didn’t continue for long. Soon, there were just too many hills and too many lakes, none of which appeared on the map.

While doing the nav planning, we had very unwisely cut away all irrelevant, (supposed to be), parts of the 1:250 000 maps we had, only to leave the planned route. (Big mistake if there are any big deviations in track, which proved to be our situation.)

Instead of panicking, we took the calm approach and just continued along, not really taking any decisive action, probably hoping, (and praying), that Barkley East would just somehow miraculously appear!

Just before two hours total time elapsed, Nasser casually said that we should look at a contingency plan: one that included finding out where we were. This is when Nasser decided to heed a friend’s advice as to what to do when lost (or temporarily unaware of your location). Fly low-level along a road and read the road signs. (Needless to say this friend is a chopper pilot!)

King Wiliiam’s Town 54 km
Bisho 69km

So it had seemed we may have gone just a bit too far south. Ok, not just a bit, more than twice as far as we were supposed to have! Luckily Nasser had done his PPL training down south, so he had situational awareness to his advantage, and decided to head to Bisho, where he knew there was a nice, big accommodating runway waiting just for us.

After landing at Bisho, we made our way to the ATC tower, where we got a bewildered welcome from two ATCs, playing cards. They had not even realised that we had arrived, (don’t worry, we did join and land procedurally!), and when we asked them whether they had some maps to help us plan our way back, they pointed to the large, faded map of Africa on the wall. That was not going to help us!

After making contact with a rather surprised fellow PTAR competitor, it was ascertained that with the headwind now being as strong as it was, there was no way we’d make it back to Tempe with the fuel we had left, and there was none available at Bisho. Not being too far away, Port Alfred seemed the next logical stop for us, as Nasser had friends there who were willing to assist us, and there was fuel aplenty. So off we went, (after paying our landing fees of course), experienced my first low-level flight at the coast and then landed on runway 25 at Port Alfred.

Once there our embarrassing story had to be told to many amused people, but we managed to get the maps we needed, as well as GPS as back-up since our navigating-by-map-skills had obviously much to be desired.

Off we traipsed to our aircraft, where we were greeted by a girl holding one of our wheel spats- in lots of small pieces. The consequence of what seemed to have been a very soft landing; how that happened still baffles us to this day….

So off we went back to New Tempe, by which stage the sun was already setting, which proved a good opportunity for Nasser to log some night-flying hours. After several attempts to contact Cape Town East Information were made to no avail, they eventually contacted us, and informed us that they had been made aware of our “situation”, even so, the ATC was incredibly helpful and friendly, and was very welcome in our time of distress. Nightfall arrived, and when switching on the cabin lights, we were dismayed, (but not entirely surprised), to find that they were not working. So using an alternative source of lighting, we continued our flight to New Tempe: Nasser controlling the plane, speaking to Information intermittently, and me, securing the “alternative source of lighting”, and controlling the cabin heat airflow. (It was freezing at FL095.)

President's Trophy Air Race - Stayers Trophy
Winners of the Stayers Trophy – Nasser and Viv with Denise Booysen

We landed at Tempe at approximately seven o’clock that night, a considerable few hours later than most competitors, by which stage we were completely exhausted. The first day of PTAR had proven to be more eventful than we had expected a real comedy of errors!

We decided to participate in Day Two of the race, even though we had now been disqualified. It turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable, and I’m happy to report that we never came across any overtly large bodies of water, so there IS hope for us!

At the ceremony, we were awarded “THE STAYERS TROPHY”, and a lot of laughs were had on our behalf, but it was all in good fun, and we were commended on how well we handled our situation by many of the PTAR competitors, really wonderful people – just one of the many reasons participating in PTAR is such an awesome experience.

After an experience like ours, there are the “how’s” and “why didn’t you’s” asked by others and ourselves, and we admit that mistakes were made, but at least we enjoyed making them, and I think it’s safe to say that this has been a huge learning curve for us, as well as a memorable experience, which we will not forget very quickly. (If we do eventually forget, there will definitely be someone there to remind us!)

Look out PTAR 2006, here we come!

Imperial Bank LogoImperial Bank Logo

2005 Imperial Bank President’s Trophy Air Race

Held at Tempe, Bloemfontein – 26 to 28 May 2005

Analysis of Logger Tracks

By Chris Booysen

Air Observer GPS loggers were used both for the test flying of aircraft with inadequate history as well as being fitted to aircraft in the race on both race days. SAPFA has approximately 20 loggers and so 20 aircraft were logged each day. 13 aircraft were logged on both days.

Where is Springfontein?
Where is Springfontein?

The loggers record the longitude and latitude and altitude every second, in other words the three dimensional position of the aircraft every second. Using these plotted positions the software can calculate the heading, climb/decent and ground speed of the aircraft. In addition the actual distance flown each day is calculated by the software

What is important to note is that there are a number of factors that affect the speed achieved by an aircraft. There is the inherent speed of the aircraft and the crew ability. The crew can increase the overall speed by flying in a straight line, using the winds, climbing and descending at the correct speeds and flying the aircraft in the most aerodynamic configuration (ie as “smoothly” as possible). Handicaps are set to remove the differences in the inherent speed of the aircraft and not the crew ability. GPS logging of aircraft can give an indication as to the accuracy of the flight. It can also give some indication of the usage of winds but it cannot give any indication of how well the aircraft was flown by the pilot. For example, it is impossible to detect a pilot that provides constant control input on the horizontal and vertical plain by means od a logger download. Constant input increase drag and reduces speed.

Race 67 - ZS-OWS improving as they go
Race 67 – ZS-OWS improving as they go

It is still the intention of SAPFA to purchase additional GPS loggers out of any surplus made at the Air Race until we are in the position to fit a logger in each aircraft.

On both days of the race there was a strong North Westerly wind. An analysis of the logger tracks shows that it was essential to climb as early as possible and as high as possible on the leg from Tierpoort Dam to Barkley East. Aircraft that climbed quickly to 10 000 ft gained approximately 40 knots when compared with the average speed they achieved in the next two legs back to Tempe into the headwind. Those aircraft that climbed slowly only gained about 36 knots while those that stayed low gained far less.
A table of the information gathered from the aircraft logged for both days is set out below.

Dieter Bock (Race 56 - ZU-APZ) showing that an off-course error does not cost much if handled correctly.
Dieter Bock (Race 56 – ZU-APZ) showing that an off-course error does not cost much if handled correctly.

The tracks flown on Day 1 by logged aircraft were fairly accurate with the exception of two aircraft that got lost. One flew past Tierpoort Dam, almost to Edenburg and the took approximately 35 minutes to find the dam. Another aircraft flew to the right of the mast at Springfontein and missed it. That aircraft flew approximately 120 NM until they eventually found the station (see top map).

The tracks flown on Day 2 were also flown fairly accurately. The leg from Koffiefontein back to Tempe seemed to catch most participants as that leg showed the largest deviation by most aircraft.

On an overall basis the shortest distance (of aircraft logged) was flown by Race 56 – ZU-APZ flown by Dieter Bock and Mark Steyn and the second shortest distance by Race 5- ZS-KSZ flown by Wally and George Brink. These competitors were placed 52nd and 53rd respectively. As mentioned above there are other factors that affect the speed of an aircraft but both these teams are experienced and their positions must be (at least partly) due to a harsh handicap. The Day 2 track of Dieter Bock shows that it is possible to go off course and still remain competitive. The correction when off track must be done to intercept the track at the next turning point.

It is interesting to note that the additional distances flown this year were greater than last year. Last year the winner was logged and only flew 2.4 miles over the two days racing. As the 2005 winner was not logged on Day 1 we do not have a comparison. The aircraft in 3rd (Race 104 Chris Briers and Jack Onderstall) and 5th position (Dave Mandel and Rod Crichton) in 2005 were logged and flew additional distances of 5.99 NM and 7.27 NM respectively.

A number of GPS loggers had problems. There were instances of loggers that were turned on late which meant that the software could not calculate the accurate distance flown. There was one instance where the logger lost satellite reception, one instance where the logger was turned off by the crew (after getting lost) and one instance where the logger failed to download any information.

 

Logger data – aircraft fitted with loggers for both days

Race
No
Pos Distance Flown
Day 1
Additional Distance
Day 1
Altitude on B/East leg Remarks Distance Flown
Day 2
Additional Distance
Day 2
Additional
Distance Race
Remarks
1 20 330.58 2.63 10 000 Cruise climb 319.54 5.49 8.12 None
5 53 330.54 2.59 9 000 Fast climb 316.58 2.53 5.12 None
8 65 331.02 3.07 9 000 Cruise climb 324.54 10.49 13.56 None
23 5 330.08 2.13 8 500 Steep climb 319.19 5.14 7.27 None
26 40 329.29 1.44 8 500 Fast climb 321.34 7.29 8.73 Shortest Day 1 Track
32 63 336.70 8.75 10 000 Cruise climb 319.16 5.11 13.86 None
38 47 331.43 3.48 6 000 Cruise climb 316.41 3.36 5.84 None
50 26 329.84 1.89 9 000 Fast climb 326.61 12.56 14.45 Antennae not unwrapped.
Inadequate satellite reception
on day 2.
Visual inspection of the track
indicates a far more accurate flight
51 44 332.19 4.24 8 500 Slow climb 318.17 4.12 8.36 None
56 52 329.96 2.01 8 500 Slow climb
Cost some minutes
317.02 2.97 4.98 Shortest track for race. Did not make full use of tailwinds
60 54 333.88 5.93 9 500 Fast climb 318.68 4.63 10.56 None
65 41 331.89 3.94 9 500 Cruise climb 318.08 4.03 7.97 None
104 3 330.94 2.99 8 000 Fast climb (stepped to 7000 first) 317.05 3.00 5.99 Day 2 distance estimated as logging only started during leg 1