November 2009

Aero Club of South Africa – Gold Wings – Ron Stirk

Ron Stirk started flying in 1988 and is a PPL with a night rating. He has been active in promoting sport and recreational aviation over along period of time.

Not only has he served on the South African Power Flying Association Committee for an unbroken period of 10 years, some of those years as Vice Chairman but has also been a nominated representative on the Board of the Aero Club. He has also served on the Committee of the Brits Flying Club in various capacities, including that of Chairman.

Ron has not only been active in the administration of General Aviation but also in competitive flying. He has represented South Africa twelve times in World Championships. He is the only pilot that has won the World Landing Competition twice, in 2000 and 2006.

Ron was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident in April 2008 in which he lost his right arm. While in hospital his first thoughts were how and when he would be able to fly again. In less than a year after the accident he was back in the air and competing in the National Precision Flying Championships. Ron was placed fifth in that competition and won the landing section. His performance resulted in him being selected to represent South Africa at the World Championships. His performance in Poland contributed to South Africa being awarded the bronze medal in the Team Landing Competition at the World Championships.

Ron is a worthy recipient of Gold Wings.

2009 SA National Rally Championships

Parys 5 – 7 November 2009

By Mary de Klerk

The South African National Rally Championships were held from 5 – 7 Nov in Parys. Twelve teams entered, six in the Sportsmans Class and six in the Open Class. The Open Teams consisted of four good old stalwarts being Barry de Groot, Mary de Klerk, Ron Stirk & Walter Walle and four teams made up of guys that have only flown Fun Rallies for a year and who decided that it was time to upgrade to the real thing. They were Jonty Esser and his partner Sandi Goddard, Rob Kennedy and his partner Wikus Kritzinger, and Emmie Oelofse and her partner Andrew Lane.

These 3 new teams were quickly brought up to speed with the Open Class Plotting requirements in a few Classroom sessions held by Mary prior to the event. This training stood them all in very good stead during the competition and all sailed through the plots with ease and confidence.

All Teams were welcomed by Wynn Dedwith and his wife Tacye in their cottage on the Vaal River and in their beautiful home in Parys.

The Competition Director, Frank Eckard, worked tirelessly for weeks to plan and produce the routes with his normal military precision.

Day 1 dawned and brought with it a very challenging route which was not made any easier by the strong westerlies. There was also much murmuring about confusion in the plot because 2 roads were marked N1…..Results after day 1 were:
#1 Barry de Groot Mary de Klerk
#2 Walter Walle Ron Stirk
#3 Jonty Esser Sandi Goddard
#4 Rob Kennedy Wikus Kritzinger
#5 Emmie Oelofse Andrew Lane

Scores were close between the 2nd and the 5th position so the competition screws tightened on Day 2. Again the wind was not on their side. Other challenging factors for some of the teams were the choice of aitcraft. Rob was flying an RV7 and Emmie her Dyn Aero. Neither of these aircraft are suitable for Rally Flying for two reasons – Low wing and Too Fast. Whilst there was nothing they could do to alter the wing structure, they both reduced their speed on Day 2 and both improved their performances enormously.

Day 2 also brought with it some new faces and 6 teams arrived to fly Sportsman’s Rally which is in essence exactly the same route as Open Class, but it is pre-plotted on the ground and flown with sequential photos as opposed to random.

The Final Results for the competition were:
OPEN CLASS:
#1 Barry de Groot Mary de Klerk
#2 Jonty Esser Sandi Goddard
#3 Walter Walle Ron Stirk
#4 Rob Kennedy Wikus Kritzinger
#5 Emmie Oelofse Andrew Lane

SPORTSMANS CLASS:
#1 Kobus Kotze Frank Smook
#2 Ralph Hurwitz David Stein
#3 Roger Bazolli Freek Stegman
#4 Corno Badenhorst Ronsard Lazare
#5 Rick Barnardie Esmond Erasmus
#6 John Shaw Chris Shaw

Prize Giving was held in the clubhouse and by 15H00 the last aircraft had flown back to base to avoid the nasty weather that was approaching.

This 2009 SA Rally Flying Championship results will count towards the SA Team selection to attend the World Rally Flying Championships in Slovakia in August 2010. The final selection will take place at the next SA Rally Flying Championships to be held in April 2010.