Articles Precision (Page 12)

14th WORLD PRECISION FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Vasteras, Sweden – 21 July to 6 August 2000.

By Adrian Pilling

The South African Team to the World Precision Flying Championship in Sweden this year comprised of the following people:- Adrian Pilling (Captain) Nigel Hopkins Hans Schwebel Ron Stirk Barry de Groot Deon van den Berg (Team manager) Dicky Swanepoel (Judge) Frikkie Lubbe (Judge Observer). This is one of the strongest teams we have ever sent and to put it mildly, the competition was one of extremes.

The team notched up:- one blow out, one world champion, one landing double and two trophies. This is how it happened.

The team were seen off at Johannesburg International with a great farewell party. After transiting through Zurich, the team rented a mini bus and made their way to Vasteras airport about 100km north of Stockholm. The airfield is huge and is at sea level. Our accommodation is in a military compound, reserved for apprentice military mechanics – very professional indeed, and our home for two weeks.

We got to work practicing as much as we could. The area is very difficult to navigate in, with lots of lakes and forests, it takes a lot of time to get your mind tuned into the maps, which are very accurate. Sweden was also experiencing a wet spell with floods and daily rain, and this really messed up our training schedule. We did manage to practice our landings at a nearby airfield called Johannisberg (can you believe it).

The official opening ceremony was a formal affair with a great fly past from a Viggen fighter and a perfect replica of “The Spirit Of St Louis”. There was even a flight by the only remaining Swedish WWll bomber, a B24, all very impressive stuff.

The Official Practice Navigation Day and the Official Landing Day went off without a hitch, just proving how fantastic the organisers were. Then it was an early evening in order to prepare for the competition.

Day one (Navigation task 1).

The rest of the team also battled through bad weather with Nigel Hopkins doing the best of the South Africans followed by Hans Schwebel, Ron Stirk and Barry De Groot. By the end of the day Swedish pilot Mats Warstedt was in the lead. The bad weather affected quite a few people and the organisers had to make some serious adjustments to the results in order to compensate for the weather.

The only good that came out of Adrian’s experience is that everyone applauded his professionalism and sportsmanship – the ATC also asked permission to use the actual voice recordings in future for training.

Day two (Landing Contest)

The weather forecast was not so great so it was decided to run the landings as soon as possible, so the schedule was changed and the landings brought forward a day.

This day was “revenge day” for South Africa. The first two landings, the powered and the glide, were followed by lunch. Wow this was turning out to be a battle royal. The conditions were great for landings and as of lunch the South Africans were doing great. Adrian had scored two perfect bulls and Ron had scored a bull and a +1. This put them at first and joint second respectively. Something was happening here and everybody was wishing us good luck. Next in the SA team were Nigel, Barry and Hans. At last we were in with a chance!!!!

After lunch we strolled out to the planes and then the real battle began. The next landing was the glide without flaps. Ron came up with a +1 and so did Adrian. After the landings Ron and Adrian strolled back to the landing line to check out the rest of the field. We discovered that, we were in the front. There it was, either one of us could win this, we could be world champions – but which one?

Adrian turned onto finals and approached the line – he touched down and also did not know what he had scored, but the team did and the entire field of pilots were thrilled at the result. As Ron and Adrian climbed out of their aircraft, they were greeted by Nigel and Hans running at full speed to congratulate them. They were jumping up and down and shouting well done. Adrian had scored +1. This meant that Ron was first with only 4 penalties. Fantastic!!! – at last we had our very own world champion. Well done and congratulations Ron, a first for South Africa.

Second place went to Adrian with 5 penalties, followed by Jakes from Czech Republic with 6 penalties and followed by Opat also from the Czech Republic. This gave South Africa the honour of being second as a country in the landings behind the Czech Republic, the results being calculated from the performance of the top three pilots in each team. Well done lads.

Day three (Navigation task 2)

This day dawned beautifully with early fog, delaying the start. The route was very carefully planned with secret checkpoints in all sorts of places that were difficult to judge. We flew over several islands and even these had secrets and targets. It was a tough course. The team did better but this did not improve the overall results by much. When the results came out our team positions for the day were, Adrian, Nigel, Barry, Ron, Hans. It was a tough navigation task and a real anti-climax after the day before.

The announcements and awards were made:-

The new World Champion is Jiri Jakes (Chech Rep) with Mats Warstedt (Sweden) second and Janusz Darocha (Poland) third. The team results are Poland first, Sweden second and Chech Rep. third. Our placing were: Nigel Hopkins – 16th, Barry de Groot – 51st, Ron Stirk – 59th, Hans Schwebel – 61st, Adrian Pilling – 66th.

For South Africa the best was yet to come….

Ron was crowned World Precision Landing Champion 2000 – Fantastic – well done, a marvelous achievement. Adrian was awarded the Masonhall Sportmanship Award for airmanship.

It was a great event and one that we can learn from. Watch out world… We will be back.

A special thanks to our supporters and families.

 

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2000 NATIONAL PRECISION FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Brits – 29 to 31 June 2000

By Adrian Pilling

Well before you know what has happened another year has passed and it’s time for the National Precision Flying Championships again. This year it was held in Brits. That incredible small town that is the home of some of the friendliest people in the country, and is the heart of the Precision Flying community in South Africa.

I think that the economy has taken it’s toll on flying competitions as the field was fairly small, just as it was last year. Still the organizers did a great job of getting together 15 open class competitors and 3 sportsmans class competitors. The competition was to be used as a selection process for the team to the World Air Games in Spain in 2001.

The pilots started arriving from their various provinces during the previous week, with the bulk arriving the week of the competition. Wednesday was designated as the official practice day and most of the competitors took advantage of the official practice route. That evening after a short briefing and a great meal the group decided on an early night and went to bed.

Competition Day 1 (Thursday 29th June ) The usual ice blue winters day dawned. Breakfast was served at the club and the first crews started flight planning at 8am sharp. The navigation route was most interesting with an away start. The competitors having to climb out over the hill behind the airfield and fly to the west in order to approach the start point which was a road junction.

The route comprised the usual tricky tracks. We flew to the south, around seven turning points (excluding the start and finish). Along the way we had to find eight photographs, thirteen ground markers and negotiate three secret check points.

When the crews returned they were efficiently debriefed by Dale de Klerk, Deon Van den Berg and Dave Perelson. Peter Grobler’s ground marshals expertly had all the aircraft refueled and readied for the landings to be flown later.

After lunch landings 1 and 2 were flown on runway 20. This caught the pilots by surprise as everyone had practiced on runway 02.

After a brief interlude the results were announced for the day. First place Nigel Hopkins, followed by Barry De Groot, Jan Hanekom, Mary De Klerk, Ron Stirk, Frank Eckard, Hans Schwebel and Adrian Pilling (I had succeeded in missing a turning point – the first time in 16 years – this costing me first place for the day).

The results of the landings were also announced. First place Hans Schwebel, followed by Adrian Pilling, Frank Rehl and Mary De Klerk.

After a great meal, sponsored by Deon and Brenda Van Den Berg we all retired to bed.

Competition Day 2. A typical winters day dawned. A great breakfast was laid on at the club as per usual and the competition got underway at 8am sharp. The route today started off towards the east and then moved in an anti clockwise direction over Hartbeespoort Dam and around Brits. The route comprised eight photographs, seven turning points, eleven ground markers as well as three secret check points.

Returning crews were again treated to fantastic ground support and efficient debriefing. After lunch the second set of landings were held, this time on runway 02. Turbulent wind conditions making for some interesting landings.

Later the results were announced for the day. First Place Nigel Hopkins, followed by Ron Stirk, Hans Schwebel, Barry De Groot, Jan Hanekom, Andre Koen, Adrian Pilling, Mary De Klerk.

The landing results for the day were withheld so that the combined results could be announced at the prize giving. Competition Day 3. This was always going to be a tough day. Dale had planned a route that was full of very sharp turns and relatively short legs. This made map marking very difficult. The route comprised seven turning points, twelve ground markers and four secret checkpoints.

Later the results for the day were as follows. First Place Nigel Hopkins, followed by Adrian Pilling, Barry De Groot, Jan Hanekom, Hans Schwebel, Ron Stirk, Mary De Klerk and Frank Eckard.

After some re-adjustments to the scores on day two’s results, due to a distance error, it was off to the Mayor’s offices for a very formal and special closing function.

A great evening with many fun and formal speeches followed. Uli Gerth was a great MC. At the end of the meal the presentations were made and the results announced as follows:

 

Individual Results (Open)

• 1st Nigel Hopkins
• 2nd Barry De Groot
• 3rd Jan Hanekom
• 4th Hans Schwebel
• 5th Mary De Klerk
• 6th Adrian Pilling
• 7th Ron Stirk
• 8th Frank Eckard
• 9th André Koen
• 10th Mauritz Du Plessis
• 11th Walter Walle
• 12th Henk Koster
• 13th Frank Rehl
• 14th Frikkie Lubbe
• 15th Norman Dixie

Landings:

• 1st Hans Schwebel & Nigel Hopkins (joint winners)
• 2nd Adrian Pilling
• 3rd Frank Rehl

Trophies:

• Observation Trophy – Nigel Hopkins
• Timing Trophy – Nigel Hopkins
• Best Private Pilot – Barry de Groot

Individual Results (Sportsman)

• 1st Ted McKerchar
• 2nd Peter van der Velden
• 3rd Stephan Pienaar

Landings:

• • 1st Ted McKerchar

• • 2nd Stephan Pienaar

• 3rd Peter van der Velden

During the dinner the National Team to Spain, for the World Air Games in 2001, was announced:-

• Pilots – Nigel Hopkins, Adrian Pilling, Barry De Groot, Hans Schwebel, Jan Hanekom.
• Reserves – Mary De Klerk, Ron Stirk
• Judges – Dicky Swanepoel
• Judge Observer – Frikkie Lubbe

Congratulations to you all. We wish you all the best for Spain and hope that you will bring back the medals.

Special thanks must go to: The Mayor, the Brits Council, Tannie Truia and Oom Nick for the catering at the club. Imperial Bank, ABSA Bank, Alamo car hire for their great sponsorship. Renier Moolman (Flight Planning Marshal), Deon Van Den Berg (Competition Director), Dale De Klerk (Route Planner), Dave Perelson (Jury), Dicky Swanepoel (Jury), Peter Grobler (Chief Marshall), all the wives, girlfriends and of course the marshalls without which this competition would never have taken place. Well done to Brits for a great time, also to everyone involved.

S.A. National Precision Flying Championships — Brits   2000 : Results

 

				Day One						Day Two						Day Three						Land	Grand	Nav
	Name	Reg	Prov	The	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	The	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	The	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	Total	Total	Total
Open Class
1	Nigel Hopkins	DZT	NW	2	0	20	42	0	64	0	0	20	45	0	65	0	40	0	30	0	70	45	244	117
2	Barry De Groot	KIT	KZN	0	40	60	57	0	157	0	20	40	48	0	108	0	40	20	48	0	108	130	503	153
3	Jan Hanekom	FDJ	NW	4	20	80	135	0	239	0	20	40	78	0	138	0	70	20	30	0	120	81	578	243
4	Hans Schwebel	IWD	NW	61	20	20	243	0	344	0	0	40	54	0	94	1	20	40	69	0	130	45	613	366
5	Mary de Klerk	KXF	KZN	0	70	60	135	0	265	0	50	20	81	0	151	0	20	70	57	0	147	79	642	273
6	Adrian Pilling	DZT	NW	1	50	0	345	0	396	0	20	80	48	0	148	0	20	40	18	0	78	55	677	411
7	Ron Stirk	IWD	NW	0	0	60	222	0	282	0	20	20	45	0	85	0	0	60	84	0	144	261	772	351
8	Frank Eckard	KXF	GT	47	70	40	135	0	292	0	0	70	147	0	217	0	40	20	135	0	195	264	968	417
9	Andre Koen	EBC	KZN	0	20	70	282	0	372	0	0	50	96	0	146	350	60	40	72	0	522	443	1483	450
10	Mauritz Du Plessis	FDJ	NW	20	70	80	393	0	563	2	40	60	195	0	297	0	60	80	261	0	401	266	1527	849
11	Walter Walle	CNZ	FS	9	40	70	408	0	527	188	20	40	213	0	461	0	70	80	150	0	300	355	1643	771
12	Henk Koster	CUX	GT	17	130	130	297	0	574	0	20	100	210	0	330	0	40	80	366	0	486	257	1647	873
13	Frank Rehl	OIS	GT	350	70	160	165	0	745	0	0	110	651	0	761	2	60	140	213	0	415	60	1981	1029
14	Frikkie Lubbe	FJV	NC	5	160	140	318	0	623	15	40	130	878	0	1063	0	80	100	333	0	513	361	2560	1529
15	Norman Dixie	EEW	FS	350	160	210	1143	0	1863	350	20	120	846	0	1336	0	60	80	482	0	622	429	4250	2471
Sportsman Class
1	Ted Mc Kerchar	CNZ	NW	41	100	90	593	0	824	43	0	70	219	0	332	116	60	60	144	0	380	272	1808	956
2	Piet v d Velden	NDA	NW	350	40	0	371	0	761	8	70	40	797	0	915	1	60	20	255	0	336	690	2702	1423
3	Stephan Pienaar	JOS	FS	18	200	80	719	0	1017	0	90	80	672	0	842	1	230	80	429	0	740	303	2902	1820

KZN INTER-PROVINCIAL
PRECISION FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cato Ridge – 21 May 2000

By Mike Hartley

So I hadn’t done it for a hell of a long time, but in a moment of weakness, I agreed to do it again. You would think that, at my age, I would know better! The lst time I went to a Championship was in the Argentine back in 19whatsit and I hadn’t set a course for some time even then. Anyway, I said I would do it so I was kind of stuck.

I had to go and buy maps and borrow protractors etc, but eventually I sat down and worked out a couple of routes. With the aid of Trevor Holroyd we flew the two courses in a push-pull and I took the photos from the back seat while XXX navigated, which seemed to be OK. So I then had to drive the route to check the navigation.

Some of it was good, but some was not, so many of the photos had to be thrown out. Some of it I was unable to check at first go due to running out of daylight, so I had to drive those areas again. All of which I am telling you competitors so that you know how much effort goes into the event long before you get round to arriving at the start. But it is a pleasure, so don’t feel bad about it!

I was somewhat out of touch with the state of today’s computer programs and carefully worked out the GPS location of all the check points, only to find out that this was quite unnecessary. Given the location of the start, course and distance is all the computer needs to know to work out everything else — which it does in about ten minutes flat. Ah well, we live and learn — and marvel at the things that Deon van den Berg and Jan Hanekom can do in a few minutes — printed and all! I also learnt that you can use GPS to find your way around on the ground as this was the only way I could direct one of the marshal’s to his check point. So one of my calculations of lat and long had some use after all.

Friday saw a cold front whip through the country so quite a few guys were unable to get through to Cato Ridge which was a shame. It reduced the numbers from thirteen to nine but did nothing to reduce the competitive spirit that was building up. The practice course was towards the hills around Greytown and these were misted over for much of the morning. But quite a few people were able to do the route, to their advantage.

But Saturday was a different kettle of fish. Not a cloud in the sky and vis unlimited! No one can say that we in KZN do not know how to look after our visitors. Perhaps because I was newly back at the game, a few of the locals were fooled by a slightly different location for the start, but things were soon under way. The course took everyone south towards Richmond and then north again towards the Umgeni valley. Spectacular scenery by any standards — but no time to dwell on its beauty , though a few competitors did remark on it. We are very lucky to live in this part of the world and, yes, the Valley of a Thousand Hills is most beautiful. Bad luck, you oucs from up there.

No one got lost in the Lion Park or downed in the Valley and all seemed to get around the track (although I must say that the guys from the far north did rock up from a funny direction). Well done to you all. The funny thing was that I had complaints about the vast quantity of ground clues available! Some people prefer flying from nothing to nothing, but you can bet that when they get to Sweden they will have hundreds of navigation features for every mile they fly.

Well, finally the sun set in the west, the beer came out from the behind the bar and our computer whizzes finished their work. After a couple of drinks to boost the morale and (for some) to drown the sorrows, the results were published and they went like this:

• 4th Mary De Klerk 255 points
• 3rd Jan Hanekom 242 points
• 2nd Hans Schwebel 238 points
• 1st Barry de Groot. 209 points

So we had to give his cup back to him! Again! And now the team is putting in some more practice before going to Sweden where we are sure they will do well.

To the non-team members and those who came a long way to enter — thanks for the support. It gave our Springboks Proteas some good hard work to do and showed them to be right up there. Good luck in the World Champs you guys. We know you will do well. And to the marshals and backroom boys, thanks for the help. We cannot do without you.

As for me, I am going back to my computer to see if I can make it do simple sums, let alone GPS locations.