Articles Precision (Page 5)

Tempe – Bloemfontein – 18 to 20 November 1999

By Adrian Pilling

Well before you know it most of the year has passed and we are into another National Precision Flying Championship, this time in Tempe Bloemfontein. As per usual the famous Free State friendliness was evident with the locals helping us out and really making us feel at home. Most of the countryside was looking pretty dry and brown clearly in need of rain….. a real test of navigation skills for the pilots.

The contestants arrived from all over the country including Hannes, Waltraud and Robin from Austria. The numbers were a little down this year, clearly a reflection of the economy, most pilots arriving during the official practice week. The format was a little different this year with the competition spread over three days, allowing for three navigation tests as well as for the four landings. This year was particularly significant as the national team would be announced as a result of this competition and previous regionals. This really heightened the competition amongst the contestants.

During the practice week a typical Free State storm suddenly brewed up and changed the sky from a perfect blue into a perfect violent mud storm. People were hanging onto the wing tips of planes in order to keep them on the ground. Complete mayhem for about 20 minutes and then as quickly as it came, it disappeared leaving a clean freshness in the air. This brief rainfall served to change the colours of the landscape just enough to make the observation of some of the photos more difficult. And so to the competition.

Thursday

The day dawned windy and dry. Willem Coetzee, the Competition Director, and his team (mostly parabats in training who had the day off due to the strong winds) set a course to the South West. This course was very cunning with turning points difficult to find if you drifted off course. The route took the pilots over a little koppie, surely nobody would be up there! Wrong – the parabats were up there with a secret timing gate and this took its toll of some of the pilots. After all the crews returned, a brief but welcome rest was followed by two of the four landings scheduled for the competition ( first the powered landing and then the glide). By the end of the evening the provisional results were; Navigation – 1st Nigel Hopkins, 2nd Hans Schwebel, 3rd Adrian Pilling, 4th Frank Eckard, 5th Jan Hanekom, 6th Barry de Groot. In the landing section – 1st Adrian Pilling, 2nd Nigel Hopkins.

Friday

This was the day that Willem threw the western route at us. It was a shorter route but one that had the crews working hard. The format was the same as the previous day with two landings (glide and barrier) following the navigation. By the end of the evening the results for the day were; Navigation – 1st Adrian Pilling, 2nd Nigel Hopkins, 3rd Frank Eckard, 4th Mary de Klerk, 5th James Craven, 6th Hans Schwebel. In the landings section – 1st Nigel Hopkins, 2nd Adrian Pilling.

Saturday

This was a tough day as the scores for the previous days had been so close, this day really counted more. This was the shortest of the routes and had a really tricky short leg that created some problems for the pilots when the wind changed. By the end of the day the placing were – 1st Nigel Hopkins, 2nd Mary de Klerk, 3rd Ron Stirk, 4th Adrian Pilling, 5th Frank Eckard, 6th Jan Hanekom. The scores today were really close.

After a brief period it was rush, rush, rush to a sumptuous reception planned by Willem and Annette. A really special meal was followed by the announcement of the final placing:-

• 1^st – Nigel Hopkins 225 points
• 2^nd – Adrian Pilling 268 points
• 3^rd – Hans Schwebel 587 points
• 4^th – Ron Stirk 610 points
• 5^th – Frank Eckard 647 Points
• 6^th – Jan Hanekom 649 Points
• 7^th – Mary de Klerk 716 Points
• 8^th – Barry de Groot 917 Points
• 9^th – James Craven 1081 Points
• 10^th – Don Macintyre 1129 Points
• 11^th – Mauritz du Plessis 1460 Points
• 12^th – Dick Churley 1490 Points
• 13^th – Walter Walle 1976 Points
• 14^th – F. Lubbe 3477 Points
• 15^th – C.Bodesteyn 3656 Points
• 16^th – J.Kleynhans 4171 Points

Landings:

• 1^st – Nigel Hopkins
• 2^nd – Adrian Pilling
• 3^rd – Mary de Klerk
• 4^th – Ron Stirk
• 5^th – Mauritz du Plessis

Trophies:

• Observation Trophy – Nigel Hopkins
• Timing Trophy – Adrian Pilling
• Best Private Pilot – Hans Schwebel
• Best Club – Brits Flying Club
• Best Province – North West Province

Provincial Colours were awarded for the first time to Mauritz du Plessis. Well done

Later in the evening the National Team was announced. This team will represent the country at the 14th World Precision Flying Championships in Sweden in 2000. The team is:-

• Nigel Hopkins
• Adrian Pilling (Captain)
• Hans Schwebel
• Ron Stirk
• Barry de Groot
• Jan Hanekom (1st Reserve)
• Frank Eckard (2nd Reserve)
• Mary de Klerk (3rd Reserve)
• Deon van den Berg (Manager)

We wish the team all the best for the coming World Championships. I know we will do well. A special mention must go to Willem Coetzee – competition director, André Fourie – chief judge, Ros – computer, Annette – Social, Renier Moolman, Dave Perelson, Tempe Flying Club – facilities, the marshalls and everybody on the Tempe airfield.

A special thank you to our sponsor, IMPERIAL BANK.

 

Hamilton Airport, New Zealand – 20 to 27 February 1999

Extracted from an article by Phillip Treweek

The holding of the World Precision Flying Championships in New Zealand was quite a coup for the organisers. This was only the third time the competitions have been held in the southern hemisphere.

The competition was based in Hamilton. This is the traditional venue for the New Zealand national competition. The central location allows access to a variety of terrain for the navigation work, and Hamilton International Airport has a suitable amount of grass for the landing competitions. From the point of view of a large international competition, Hamilton city, has the accommodation and resources to support a large competition.

The official opening started with a march on. Each team was led by a ‘Marching Girl’ bearing a sign identifying the team. Precision marching of this kind is a very New Zealand sport, and is a women only competition, very different to the military style of marching. The teams gathered in the car park, and then marched out to the ramp in front of the Waikato Aero Club (which served as the base for the competition).

The next stage was the Powhiri. That’s the Maori term for a ‘welcome’. Although mainly friendly these days, its origins are in the time when visitors might not have come with amicable intent. The Powhiri starts with a Karanga or call, inviting the Manuhiri or visitors to come forward. The next step is the Wero, or challenge. Two Toa (warriors) step forward and lay a token on the ground in front of the approaching visitors. If the token is picked up, this indicates the manuhiri are friendly – if it is not, then the vistors intentions are seen to be hostile.

Bill Ottley, as the FAI representative was the most senior of the visitors and accepted the Wero. As well as FAI representative Bill Ottley, the speakers included representatives from the organisors, local government, and the New Zealand Governor General, Sir Michael Hardie Boyes.

The competitions consisted of several navigation tasks (and a practice day) and two landing days. The weather had some interesting effects. It was such a dry summer that the aerial photographs of some of the navigation targets had to be redone. The look of the targets had changed changed considerably as they dried out. The landing competitions also had to be moved as they disintegrated, and watering was required. Ironically, one outing late in the week (to Wharepapa South) was cancelled due to rain.

A good crowd of spectators gathered to watch the various attempts during the landing competition. It was interesting to note the different styles utilised by the different competitors. Some made a curving approach, some made a drop from on high, some came in low and keep the power on. The level of success varied too. Most competitors were on the grid, but one or two were short, and many went long.

The most amazing part was being so close to the active aircraft. The grid was only 15 or 20m wide, and was lined with officials. A watcher sat on set divisions of the grid. Closer in, more observers made a measurement on each of the competitors who were closer to the mark. Several cameras recorded each attempt. And of course the judges sat and watched all the activity. A small portable control tower provided by the Airways Corporation kept track of movements, and was positioned next to the grid. It was really something to see the aircraft flying in and out amongst all these people. The aircraft came thick and fast. The tower recorded 81 competitors passed through the grid in 68 minutes during one section of the competition. Precision flying indeed. For a photographer it was quite stunning to have all these opportunities parade past my lens. It was different to see so many aircraft in the circuit.

The eventual outcome of the Championships saw Poland win (for the eighth time), with New Zealand in second place, and the Czech Republic third. A prize ceremony was held at Vilograd’s, a local restaurant set in a vineyard at Ngahinapouri.

Individual winners were Janusz Darocha of Poland followed by Daroish Krady of New Zealand and Jiri Jakes of the Czech Republic. In the Women’s competition Nathalie Strube of France was the winner, followed by Dee Bond-Wakelin of New Zealand and Ines Meier of Switzerland. Amongst the low houred (under 500) pilots, the competition winner was Greg Ward (New Zealand) followed by Hakon Fosso (Norway) and Johan Nyler (Sweden). The navigation competition went to Hungary (Laszio Bodis) with Poland in second (Michalski Ryszard) and third place (Janusz Darocha). The landing competition was taken out by Croatia (Zelimir Trifunovic) followed by New Zealand (Daroish Krady) and Slovenia (Robert Verbaci). The award for sportsmanship went to Sofia Svellossanova of Russia.

Full article and more picture on the website of Phillip Traweek – Kiwi Aircraft Images

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Held in Brits – 22- 24 September 1995

By Mary de Klerk and Adrian Pilling

By Thursday 21 September, the Brits skies were full of aircraft practicing Navex’s and landings. Everyone was hyped up and ready to go. That night a dinner was arranged at a restaurant in Brits called Saddles. About 40 people took over the restaurant for the evening.

Friday 22nd September – the official practice day. Adrian Pilling had arranged the route with photos. All were given official flight planning and takeoff times, and these were adhered to with military precision. Although there were no marshalls or ground markers, there were no undue hitches and everyone seemed happy with their individual performances.

That afternoon the SAPFA AGM was held at the airfield and chaired very precisely by Geoff Henschel. At 19h30, the mayor of Brits Mr. Kobus de Jager, hosted the official opening ceremony and welcome party at the Mayoral Chambers in Brits. This was attended by most of the councilors and their wives. The Brits Flying Club is most fortunate in having the support of the Town Council in providing assistance in whatever way they can.

Saturday 23rd September 1995 – the big day. The ball started rolling at 0800 with the first man in the flight planning room. Thereafter everyone entered at three minute intervals, and besides one minor glitch in the computer system, everything ran on oiled wheels. With professionals Uli Gerth, Andre Fourie and Ros Gibson at the helm, precious little could go wrong. Hats off to Johan Schraader for setting routes which were very fair and without hidden complications. The biggest problem was eleven year old maps and precious little on the ground fitted the paper. Thank goodness nobody moved the mountains and rivers because the roads and mines have developed so dramatically in some areas. We could have been flying on a Grahamstown map. It’s at times like this that a little local knowledge goes a long way. The first day’s navigation exercise was a real challenge, as the route flown took one over the beautiful Hartebeespoort Dam and along the ridge of the Magaliesburg mountains. It was a constant battle to stop looking at the natural beauty of the surroundings and concentrate on the task at hand, and you had to concentrate as there were 8 turning point markers to be found along with 4 secret checkpoints, 8 photographs and numerous ground markers.

The marshalls were all well briefed, and the numerous secrets and ground markers were accurately displayed. Only one timed secret which had no identifiable marker, tended to catch a lot of unsuspecting “speedsters”. At the end of the first day a braai was arranged at the club house, and a lot of weary pilots tended to relax and let their hair down, and one or two cases, their pants … (no names – no pack drill!!!)

The second official rally day dawned and all arrived on time. Again a hitch-free and relatively uneventful day, except for Basil Killian, a “new boy from Durbs” who somehow tugged too hard on his Carb heat and had to fly the entire rally with the dead cable handing from his hands – and short of a few revs. He knew he was late when his team mate, Richard O’Neil passed him over the dam, but decided to tag Richard and limp home.

All the landings were video’d so any disputes or protests could be very quickly ironed out. Nols van Emmenis, the manager of the club, bent over backwards to accommodate all the pilots and their families, and even when the newly installed fuel pumps let him down, he failed to get flustered. His wife, and her entourage of ladies, did a sterling job in the kitchen, feeding and watering the crews from early morning till late in the evening

At the end of the second and final day a prize-giving banquet was held in the bushveld lapa at Dikhololo. This function was attended by 150 guests, comprising of pilots, marshalls, organisers, supporters, families and friends. Andre Fourie was master of ceremonies and prizes were presented by the deputy Mayor of Brits, Mr. Matlala and the deputy Mayoress Miss Buys.

Prizes were awarded in the following categories:

• First Place Overall – Adrian Pilling
• Second Place Overall – Hans Schwebel
• Third Place Overall – James Craven
• Fourth Place Overall – Geoff Henschell
• Fifth Place Overall – Johan Dorfling
• Best Private Pilot – Hans Schwebel
• Best Navigator (Timing) – Geoff Henschel
• Best Navigator (Observation) – Daroish Kraidy
• First Place Landings – James Craven
• Best Club – Brits Flying Club
• Best Province – North Gauteng

The big moment that everyone was waiting for had arrived, the selection of the Springbok team to represent South Africa at the 1996 World Precision Flying Championships in Fort Worth Texas USA are: Adrian Pilling, James Craven, Geoff Henschel (Captain), Johan Dorfling, Hans Schwebel, Deon van Eeden (Manager), Johan Swart (International Judge).

A reserve team was also chosen: Nellis Nel, Barry de Groot and Daroish Kraidy

This story would not be complete without a huge thanks going to MLS Bank that made it all possible. Your continuing support of power flying is greatly appreciated

Held at Karlovay Vary, Czech Republic – 17 July to 31 July 1994

By Adrian Pilling

The team assembled at Jan Smuts from all over the country on Saturday 16th July. Here a cocktail party was held for family and friends before departing. The flight was on SAA to Frankfurt. We arrived the next morning and were greeted by a temperature climbing well into the 30’s.

We split into two groups. Group 1 comprising Hans, Johan, Nellis and James, Group 2 comprising Adrian, Barry, Deon and Daroish. Group 1 left by car for the airfield where their planes were based, whilst group 2, left by train for the Czech border.

After 5 hours the train arrived at the town of Marktredwitz, where a very nice couple (prearranged) picked us up and took us by car to the Czech town of Karlovy Vary (formerly Karlsbad). We checked into this magnificent hotel (Hotel Pupp with casino) built in 1701. As it was late we immediately set about exploring the town in order to find a place to eat.

Monday morning we managed to get to the airfield only to find that our plane which was supposed to be there, was in fact still in Germany and could not fly back due to really bad weather. This weather pattern persisted for three days and indeed neither our team mates or any other team could get through. What a disaster.

Tuesday was more of the same so Adrian decided to rent a plane from one of the Norwegian pilots already on the field, and flew a nice practice nav. This he prepared for the pilots as a training route for Wednesday. Still no planes and no team mates. We decided to concentrate on map work (very necessary as the scale is 1:200 000 and the colours very pale) and prayer wheel practice. The opportunity was taken to see parts of this magnificent old town with it’s wonderful hot spas.

Wednesday was a day when our plane returned and we decided to start the practising in earnest. Some time was spent on landings and navigation. Later the others from Germany had had enough of this waiting and decided to drive through, joining us for a late lunch.

Thursday was a really intensive training day. The rest of the team drove back to Germany and joined us by air a little later. At last we were all together. The rest of the week was spent in intensive training. The official landing slots becoming more and more precious, as the time allocated each day was reduced due to other teams arriving.

Monday was used as an official landing practise test day. This was great as it gave all the judges a work out as well as giving the pilots a dry run for the big event. Deon was in charge of the landing computer and was able to learn a great deal about this Swiss system. Valuable knowledge for this country. The official opening was held in the grand hall at the hotel. It was a very glamorous, if restrained affair. Guess what! They had made a flag for us, but had left out the yellow stripe (still 5 out of 6 colours is not bad).

Tuesday was an official practise navigation test day. This was great as it put pilots under the sort of pressure they would get on the big day. We all learned a lot, especially about how the competition organisers think. We all got to bed early as the next day was the first navigation test.

Wednesday dawned bright but not so clear. At the compulsory briefing it was decided that due to the potential for thunderstorms the landings would be held that day. What a surprise. So we all trundled out to the flight line. Here the first landing was run, a runway change was ordered due to the wind swinging around. Later the next two landings were run on a touch and go basis. This was actually a little unfair as the first 5 groups had terribly gusty weather. The management decided to call a halt for a while. Later the wind calmed significantly and the rest of the field got under way. There were many protests about this but the earlier landing results stood. The final landing was done in such a way that you took off on the grass runway and landed on the tar. This is a great system as it is very quick. At the end of the day we had a new World Landing Champion. He is Johan Gutman from Austria. His total penalties … just 4. Our team placings were Nellis (31), Daroish (34), James (36), Johan (45), Hans (47) and Barry (5 1). Johan’s was one of those pilots who was affected by the strong winds.

Thursday dawned bright and a little breezy. The first navigation test was flown this day. The organisers were quite sneaky as they gave everybody a zero wind velocity for flight planning. Our pilots returned, almost all uniformly disheartened. It had been difficult and mistakes had been made. Still the results were not known until the next morning after all the protests had been made. These protests went on until well after midnight. One of the Poles scored zero penalties!!!

Friday was the day for the second navigation test. This was a great day and the route was loved by everybody. The Czech team decided to host a party in the hangar. This was great as it allowed everybody to blow off steam. The results were announced at 9 pm in the hotel. Our boys had done well today but the main damage had been done the previous day. Daroish and James scoring particularly well today.

Saturday was a free day and an excursion to the aircraft museum by bus was arranged. The trip was almost three hours there. We were given lunch in Prague and then off to the aviation museum. This is well worth a visit. We had a coke under a SAM 2 missile, stood next to a Vl flying bomb, looked into a Soviet space capsule and had our pictures taken next to dozens of MIG and Sukhoi jet fighters. What a great experience. The bus ride back was hot and rushed as the official closing ceremony started at 8pm.

The ceremony was fun and the results predictable. Poland 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Sweden 4th, Czech 5th. Overall team positions were Poland lst, Czech Republic 2nd, and Sweden 3rd.

Our placings were: Daroish 30, Barry 51, Nellis 58, Hans 55, James 54, Johan 57. Officially Hans was an independent and as such his scores are not reflected in official results. Our team placing was 12th out of a total of 19 countries and 75 pilots.

We did a roaring trade in T-shirts and if any team should have got a prize for trying the hardest, for being the most fun team and for being the most colourful team, then it should have been US. Well done to the team, who did extremely well, considering their experience level. We now have a good basis upon which too choose for the 1996 WPFC in the USA. I am proud of our team and of the friendships made. We flew our new flag well…

Held in Tempe – 25-26 March 1994

It was time to fly to Bloemfontein, or more precisely Tempe Airfield, and all those wonderful people, the hosts for the 1994 National Precision Flying Championships held in March from Friday 25th to Saturday 26th.

Everything in the OFS is different. One pilot, Adrian Pilling, arrived on the Monday to do some practice only to be told that his aeroplane was in fact in a town to the north called Bultfontein. Kassie Kasselman in ZS-DUM very kindly gave him a lift to this town to fetch the plane. The plane was not on the airstrip there, but parked in front of the owners house in town. The owner sped out to meet the pilots and gave Adrian a lift to where the plane was standing. After a tour of the take off strip (a strip cut out of the veld, which the owner had freshly scraped with his tractor), it was decided to get the plane back to Tempe. Well, the taxying out was fun, through a farm gate, along a track, between two large trees, and a quick run up under the power lines and then full power to be airborne in 350 meters running parallel to the railway line. “Well this is the OFS, you know”.

The flight back was uneventful except that upon landing, it was discovered that the airfield had run out of fuel. It eventually arrived the next morning. Mind you, this was not all, getting maps was another story, but enough of that, only tough people fly.

The organization was up to the usual impeccable standard now expected from Tempe. The routes were cunningly selected to confuse the senses of any sane pilot and push your blood pressure up high enough for you to fail your medical, whilst simultaneously allowing you to enjoy the amazing view of a green Free State.

Friday dawned bright and beautiful. The route was unusual in that there was an away start on a completely different map to the north of Tempe. The route kicked off with a long leg and plenty of photographs, targets and the inevitable secrets separating the men form the boys. After all the aircraft returned home it was decided to hold the first two landings. This really set the cat amongst the pigeons. By the end of the first day the leader board read: first Adrian Pilling, second Barry de Groot and third James Craven. Positions 2,3,4 and 5 being very close. What’s more the new member of the OFS team, Boet Louw, had scored a near perfect set of landings (with a zero and minus one) to finish the day with only 5 landing penalties. Well done.

The prize giving got underway after cocktails at the Bloemfontein Club. A very formal and fun affair. Dinner and prize giving started late, Johan Swart and Deon Mitton printed certificates for everybody (thanks guys), a very nice touch. Geoff Henschel was the MC and Ros Gibson presented the trophies. There was a lot of expectation as nobody knew the results and there were many trophies to be won this year, several being donated by Pilling, Craven, Schwebel, Kasselman and MLS Bank, thanks guys. An unusual trophy was the ‘Pisspot Trophy’ donated by Adrian Pilling for the most (shall we say …) ‘Interesting’ landing.

The final placings were : 5th place Etienne Le Roux (EP), 4th place Nico Gordon (OFS), 3rd place Barry de Groot (Natal), 2nd place James Craven (WP), and lst place Adrian Pilling (TVL).

Trophies were awarded as follows:

• First Place Overall – Adrian Pilling
• Second Place Overall – James Craven
• Third Place Overall – Barry de Groot
• First Place Navigation – Adrian Pilling
• First Place Observation – Adrian Pilling
• First Place Landings – Barry de Groot
• Second Place Landings – Adrian Pilling
• Third Place Landings – Kassie Kasselman
• Best Private Pilot – Barry de Groot
• Best Newcomer – Boet Louw
• Best Province – Transvaal
• Best Club – Brits Flying Club
• Pisspot Landing Trophy – Dickie Swanepoel

The other big event of the evening was the announcement of the Springbok Team to the world event in the Czech Republic later this year. The selection committee decided to introduce new blood into the team and selected the following people: James Craven, Barry de Groot, Nellis Nel, Daroish Kraidy, Johan Swart, Etienne Le Roux (Reserve) and Adrian Pilling (Team Manager)

The A very special thanks to Geoff Henschell (Competition Director and magic man who put it all together), Johan Dorfling (Chief Judge), Herman Kemp (Jury), Ros & Andre (all that behind the scenes stuff), the Henschell Family and women, fuel people, cleaners and the background workers and marshals that make this type of event possible. Not forgetting MLS Bank for their generous sponsorship. Well done to you all. look out for the provincials and nationals in 1995, they are in the first part of the year.

S A NATIONAL PRECISION FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS -1994
			Flight	Foto	Mkrs	Nav	Day 1	Flight	Foto	Mkrs	Nav	Day 2	Landing	GRAND
Pos	Reg	Pilot	Plan	Pen	Pen	Pen	TOTAL	Plan	Pen	Pen	Pen	TOTAL	Pen	TOTAL
1	EGY	Adrian Pilling	0	80	0	87	167	0	100	0	114	214	47	428
2	KUI	James Craven	27	120	0	105	252	0	100	20	153	273	254	779
3	CSR	Barry De Groot	9	60	40	237	346	0	120	40	759	919	36	1301
4	EGY	Nico Gordon	3	80	20	438	541	64	100	40	465	669	224	1434
5	NAL	Etienne Le Roux	12	100	80	195	387	0	120	80	747	947	344	1678
6	JSV	Ron Stirk	0	140	100	303	543	2	170	120	666	958	289	1790
7	LZV	Nellis Nel	9	100	20	447	576	0	140	40	516	696	610	1882
8	ELT	Hans Schwebel	35	130	100	180	445	8	120	80	957	1165	366	1976
9	JYU	Johan Swart	2	100	20	261	383	0	140	120	1269	1529	138	2050
10	JVI	Ian Mc Jannet	4	160	190	645	999	28	140	140	375	683	369	2051
11	NAL	Daroish Kraidy	0	60	120	462	642	160	100	80	1014	1354	132	2128
12	UGX	Walter Walle	53	120	100	782	1055	8	140	40	897	1085	697	2837
13	???	Kassie Kasselman	5	150	140	783	1078	67	120	100	1446	1733	102	2913
14	MAD	Boet Louw	400	160	200	420	1180	70	140	180	1577	1967	145	3292
15	CUX	Dickie Swanepoel	350	160	160	321	991	122	160	160	1062	1504	1050	3545
16	IOP	Renier Moolman	4	100	80	732	916	3	160	120	1983	2266	458	3640
17	JYU	Deon Mitton	1	120	190	920	1231	0	170	220	1878	2268	182	3681
18	IOP	Richard Thornton	0	160	160	1597	1917	10	170	100	1533	1813	436	4166
19	ISW	Jeff Shaw	0	160	200	1113	1473	24	160	100	2407	2691	585	4749

By Peter Norton

There was thunder and lightning of all types at the recent Precision Flying Nationals held on 23-24 June at Tempe airfield near Bloemfontein. The weather-gods organised an out-of-season thunderstorm, that was matched only in ferocity by the thunder and lightning coming from the debriefing room where the provisional results were being discussed!

For those unfamiliar with power flying competitions, precision flying is for solo pilots with no navigator (as in the rallies). The National Championships consist of two “navexes” and a spot landing competition, with four man teams from each province, as well as last years “invited” winners. The navex consists of accurate flight planning, and then navigating over checkpoints at a nominated ground speed with an allowed margin of error of two seconds either way, while at the same time looking for ground markers and 10 or so photographs along the route. Up to 12 legs are fitted into an hour-and-a-half, with a couple of sneaky secret checkpoints thrown in and, oh yes, you’re still supposed to fly safely! It never fails to amaze me that the better pilots manage to get most of their photos and ground-markers and “bulls” (zero time penalties)for at least half of their checkpoints!

The first day’s rally took us out east of Bloem towards Thaba ‘Nehu chasing roads that no longer existed, and koppies that disappeared in the rain showers. An apparently unmanned checkpoint with a rather familiar looking Kombi lying stuck in the mud a few hundred metres away showed that the ground marshalls were also making heavy weather of it! Local knowledge helped when one of the Free Staters managed to read the name of a railway station on a photograph, and mark it before he even left the briefing room!

A howling 25 knot wind with a strong cross-wind component made for an interesting spot landing competition in the afternoon. Some of the old hands showed their class, but I for one was blown all over the place, and the taildraggers were just glad to be able to get on the ground, let along anywhere near the line! As if to drive home the unfairness of it all, the last few pilots flew in absolute calm. We tried to make them do night landings just to counteract the advantage but, unfortunately, the competition finished just before sunset!

Friday was a perfect day for flying, in all respects. A really memorable moment for me was just after turning at the infamous turning point 3, when a herd of springbok “pronked” in the early morning light in a field below me, bringing home the magic of flying low over the African veld.

The course was generally easier than the previous day, but had lots of timed checkpoints to catch you out and some very difficult photos. As well as turning point 3, which led to most of the fireworks in the debriefing room! Strict application of the international “off-track” rule led to a number of pilots receiving maximum penalties for the checkpoint, and much unhappiness. It is clear that, if the rules are to be applied strictly, some test situations should be accurately described in the rule book. However, the general feeling was that far too much responsibility is put on the shoulders of the volunteer ground marshalls and that, whether the rules are correct or not, they should be modified to take the pressure off these much-needed volunteers.

At a very pleasant prize-giving at the Old Students’ Centre the following results were announced:-

• 1^st Adrian Pilling (Natal) 381 – 1989 S.A Precision Flying Champion
• 2^nd Geoff Henschel (OFS) 640
• 3^rd Pete Norton (OFS) 732
• 4^th Colin Jordaan (Tvl) 785
• 5^th Dave Pereison (EP) 1 009
• 6^th Johan Swart (WP invited) 1 740
• 7^th Nico Gordon (OFS) 2 148
• 8^th Jake Heese (WP) 2 285
• 9^th James Craven (WP) 2 582
• 10^th Malcolm Spence (EP) 2 919

The team prize was won by the OFS “home team”, followed by Western Province. A hearty word of thanks to Roy Waldek, Kassie Kasselman and their team of organisers, computer operators, ground marshalls and helpers for an enjoyable, if stormy, competition.

By Johan Swart

Fog and poor visibility test the precision flying champions at Stellenbosch

This year’s precision flying championships was a historic occasion for Western Province because, for the first time, the event took place at Stellenbosch. Maybe the pilots from other provinces will now appreciate the efforts that the WP pilots have gone to over the years to attend these events “very” far from home.

From 10 to 12 March, nineteen of the top precision pilots (commercial, private, new and old) in the country met at Stellenbosch Airfield to do battle for the highest honour in the sport – namely the S.A. OPEN PRECISION FLYING CHAMPION and S.A. PRIVATE PILOT PRECISION FLYING CHAMPION for 1988. Seeded through from the 1987 Championships were: Springbok Adrian Pilling, John Campbell and Springbok Dave Camphell. The other 16 pilots were from WP, EP, OFS and Natal.

Days 1 and 2 were re%rved for Flight Planning, Navigation and Observation tests while Day 3 was used for the Spotlanding Competition. The route for Navigation test 1 took the competitors from the start at Stellenbosch Airfield to the east of Kuilsrivier, then over the built-up area of Durbanville, to the heart of the Swartland, past Malmesbury, then north of Wellington, over Paarl Mountain and back to Stellenbosch. Over the nine leg route of 96,7 nm the competitors had to find and identify nine photographs and 11 ground targets.

Navigation test 2 ran from Stellenbosch past Klapmutskop, right over the “Taalpaal” into Paarl. From there over Paarl Mountain (again) to the south of Perdeberg, then north of Wellington and on to Malmesbury and Atlantis. Back over Philadelphia, the Kraaifontein built-up area, over the Bottelary Hills to Stellenbosch. Navex 2 also had nine legs, a total of 95,8 nm long and there were eight photographs and 11 ground markers to identify. In total for the two navigation tests there were 25 manned checkpoints, of which five were secret.

The handling of the championships was done very professionally – from the flight-planning room through to the debriefing after each test. At each checkpoint a proper timing gate was used for accuracy. For the landing competition the runway was marked every metre with side markings for the video camera, according to international rules.

The championship briefing took place on Wednesday 9th March and was followed by a cocktail party hosted by the University of Stellenbosch Flying Club. On Thursday afternoon, all competitors were invited by Doug Eyre to visit the Flight for Hope Project. Doug and Ellaine Eyre treated the participants to a super cocktail party.

The landing competition on Saturday was a bit of a nightmare for the participants, because everyone had been practising before the competition on runway 19. On the Saturday, however, the wind had swung north-westerly, with runway 01 in use for the landing competition.

The prize-giving dinner was held at Spier Jonkershuis Restaurant – a perfect setting for an occasion like this. Guests, pilots, marshalls and friends were all seated under the oak trees enjoying good food and wine from the Stellenbosch area.

These first four competitors all belong to the University of Stellenbosch Flying Club (John Camphell – country member) and as a result, the Club Trophy went to USFC. Scoring a lst, 2nd and 4th place the Provincial Shield obviously went to Western Province with Eastern Province second, followed by Free State and then Natal.

André Schoeman received the trophy for Best Navigation, while Springbok Adrian Pilling won the Landing Trophy. The gold, silver and bronze shields went respectively to André Schoeman, Johan Swart and John Campbell.

The following Precision Flying team was also announced: André Schoeman, Johan Swart, Dave Perelson, John Campbell and Colin Jordaan.

Our thanks go to Maj.Gen. Gilliland and Mike Hartley for acting as the jury, Roy Waldek for setting the route and being chief judge, John Adams and Dane Gerneke for proof-flying the route, taking the photographs and for doing all the computer work. Thank you also to Arno Neethling for the use of his computer, to Di Norton and Ellaine Eyre for preparing the cocktail parties and Ros Gibson for being a super flight-planning room examiner. Very special thanks must go to all the marshalls and helpers who did a splendid job – and, of course, the University of Stellenbosch Flying Club for the use of their facilities.

Last but not least – thank you to all the participants: we hope to see you all next year in the “VRYSTAAT”.

By Vic Kaiser

The abovementioned championship was held at Grand Central on Saturday 27th February 1988 with disappointingly few entries. Only three contestants made it to the start on a somewhat chilly and overcast morning. To add to this there was a fresh 15 – 20 knot cross wind blowing which was to play havoc during the landing competition later on.

After having some coffee and sandwiches the competitors were given a briefing on the day’s proceedings. Following this they were each given a 1:250 000 map of the Reef area with 7 turning points marked on it. They were then allowed 30 minutes in which to complete the leg distances, true headings as well as leg times using the wind of the day. After the 30 minutes they were given a correctly computed navigation log as well as 10 photographs (and allowed a further 30 minutes to prepare their maps for their allocated take off time).

Best results for the flight planning section were achieved by Benjamin Meyer.

First off was Benjamin Meyer in a Cessna 180 followed by Glen Dell in a Cessna 150 Aeirobat who in turn was followed by Frank Rehrl in a Grob.

Of the 10 photographs given only 8 were on the route and there were also 2 secret, timed checkpoints as well as 4 manned turning points. All the competitors managed to find their way around the course with only one spotting one of the secret checkpoints and all of them struggling to place the photographs correctly. The best performance for the Nav. phase came from Frank Rehri in the Gob.

The wind had dropped slightly to 12 knots when the landing competition got under way in the same order. Judged by 2 international judges, all the competitors overshot the line on all 3 landings with Glen Dell doing best overall. With each of the competitors having won one section of the championships at this stage, the final results looked like this:

• 1^st Glen Dell – 89%
• 2^nd Frank Rheri – 87%
• 3^rd Ben Meyer – 73%

Well done guys – keep it up when you represent Transvaal at the Nationals in Stellenhosch on the 10 – 12th March.

I am somewhat perturbed with the apathy with which a lot of members approach sport aviation in general. We at SAPFA go to a lot of trouble and expense to organise these events and rely on your support to make them a success. At the same time, it is all so quite easy to organise an event of this nature on a club basis and any club interested in honing its flying skills, should please contact its local SAPFA representative to assist with the running of such events. For 1,5 hours of flying in a Cessna 150 the cost surely can’t he prohibitive. Also watch the events calendar on the inside cover of Aeronews for an update of dates and venues of various events. Time and cost do not always allow us to print and distribute posters before each event.

By Colin Jordaan

NATAL PILOTS MAKE IT 1-2-3

Natal pilots have shown that they mean to be at the forefront in the race for Springbok Colours next year by pulling off most of the line honours in this year’s Nationals. Twenty-seven of the top Precision pilots in the country met at Krugersdorp Airfield late month to do battle for the highest honour in the sport – National Precision Flying Champion. Seeded through from last year were: Springbok Dave Perelson (reigning Champion), Andre Schoeman and Johan Swart. The remainder represented their various provinces after competing in Provincial Championships.

The latest FAI Championship Rules were used for the competition. Day 1 consisted of a Flight Planning Test, Navigation Test and an Observation Test. Day 2 was a repeat of Day 1 but over a shorter route. This was followed by a series of spot landing competitions which included flapless forced landings and approaches over a 2 m high barrier, places 50 m before the touch-down line.

The rules require that only single engine aircraft are used being flown solo by each competitor. Penalties are awarded for failing to meet certain requirements in each task and the pilot with the least number of penalties at the end of the last day is the winner.

The World Precision Champs are being held in Finland this year and for obvious reasons, South Africa will not be there. However, we have been invited to compete in the European Championships next year and a Springbok team will be chosen on performances in this and next year’s Nationals. Having flown in three World Championships, I have formed the opinion that not only do we suffer from lack of International Competition, but our training and preparation has been a bit off course (no pun intended).

With this in mind, I set the two navigation courses with the purpose of applying various types of pressure on the competitors. Obscure turning points were chosen, the pilots only being able to spot the marker about 30 to 40 seconds before crossing. This only if they were no more than 250 metres off track. Secret checkpoints were placed in cuttings and behind trees to ensure that these would only be observed if competitors were dead on track. Timing had to be to the second at all times and no circling was allowed in order to waste time.

Only 1 point behind Ivanhoe was Gerrit van Wyngaardt from S. Tvl. The Rookie of the year award must surely go to 19 year old Gerrit for this performance with only 90 hours, flying in his second competition. I hope this will serve as an inspiration to all of you who have been too chicken to have a go at competition flying.

On day 2, aircraft were sent out on a 74 nm. course (curse?) consisting of 8 legs. The observation task consisted of 6 photos and 9 ground markers. The competition is meant to be flown over various types of terrain. On the West Rand 1:250 000 map this means having to navigate on large yellow blobs while overflying built-up areas. I used 1:50 000 maps while setting these stages and I take my hat off to those pilots who were able to stay on track using the competition map.

The prize giving dinner was held at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve where nearly all the pilots were staying. The Nationals were part of the Krugersdorp Centenary Celebrations and Mayor Gert Visser and his lovely wife were our guests of honour. The provisional results were once again handed out and after all protests were considered, the computer churned out the glad tidings for some, bad news for others.

Mr Charles Wotherspoon, former Chairman of Power Flying, presented the prizes to the deserving winners. Springbok Adrian Pilling had managed to hold on to his lead to take the crown and become the 1987 S.A. National Precision Flying Champion. All competitors were very glad to hear that Erika Moolman has agreed to reintroduce the Frikkie Moolman Memorial Trophy for First place. Natalians, Dave and John Campbell took 2nd and 3rd places respectively. Having recently won the Natal Air Rally as a team, these achievements must have been extremely satisfying.

In 4th place overall, and winner of the Private Pilot’s Trophy was Springbok Rally pilot, Chris Kyle from S. Tvl. Chris also has the distinction of being the winning navigator in this year’s State President’s Trophy Air Race.

Dave Perelson had to be content with only a fifth place this year and will be a real force to be reckoned with next year at the coast. After a very good second day, Geoff Hanschel from the OFS managed to take 6th overall and 2nd in the Private Pilot Section.

The Team Event was very obviously won by Natal with S. Tvl, E. Province and W. Province following.

S A National Precision Flying Champs

Held at Margate on 10-11 May 1985

By Renier Moolman

Pretty-Boy Bass, Sideways Seymour, Able Adrian, Good Better Beck, Joystick Jordaan, Killer Kyle. No! This is not a list of whatchamacallits. These are some of the most accurate and skillful pilots in this country. Twenty seven competitors representing six provinces and no less than five Springboks took part in the 1985 South African Precision Flying Championships held at Margate. Natal had two Springboks in their team, Mike Basson and Gavin Beck, whilst Western Province had Mike Seymour and Northern Transvaal boasted two Springboks, Chris Kyle and Colin Jordaan (who has already been capped three times).

Well, you might ask how did I know about all this? A nice guy by the name of Dennis “Pitts Special” Spence kindly invited me along for the ride.

So, jors troelie fox-trotted down to Margate in Dennis’ Warrior. Dennis is an SAA Airbus pilot but showed that he is equally at ease behind the stick of a little “gogga” when, in the Northern Transvaal/Southern Transvaal Provincial’s Landing Competition, he finished 20 percent ahead of the second pilot.

This year, the Precision Flying Champs were based on the World ones. It consisted of two navigation exercises, one on the Friday morning and the other on the Saturday morning. These exercises made up for 70 percent of the total score, with the remaining 30 percent consisting of a landing contest.

Friday morning at 06h00, I was out fishing and by 8h00 having had no joy, I made my way to Uvongo Beach. I had hardly settled down with my binoculars to do a bit of bikini watching when a giant vulture filled my lenses. It was heading down the river at zero level, and right overhead it did a wing-over and headed off towards the airfield.

Dennis Spence, in his Warrior, Kilo Fox Fox, was the first competitor to pass overhead – then at regular intervals. It was interesting to watch the different ways the pilots handled their aircraft over the turning point. Some did acrobatics, some flew very casually and Steve Hartley and friend screamed into the check point “flying united”. His Bonanza looked like a biplane.

Another well loved friend of flying, John Adams, decided that this turn point was where he was going to end his navigational exercise, and zoomed off for a sightseeing flight down the coast. Eventually, he joined a normal left downwind and rolled to the parking area. When he strolled into the hangar, the chief judge asked casually. “John, what time were you overhead the windsock? We seemed to have missed you.” To which he replied: “Er, huh, hrnm….. well, I taxied past the windsock at about, er, hm……. ” It is great to see that apart from the serious flying, there is also humour in the competition. Thanks to the guys who blew this checkpoint and could still laugh at themselves afterwards.

Well, back to the serious business and how the precision navigation exercise worked.

The organisers had laid out a route which started off at Margate. It had several legs which had to be followed (one was a curved leg) and finally after about four or five turning points, ended at Margate again.

Each aircraft had nominated a groundspeed and thus the pilot, after takeoff, had to be at a checkpoint at a certain time, failing which he would be penalised for arriving overhead too early or too late. I must mention that some pilots still haven’t arrived at some check points.

One of the main factors that the pilots had to take into account was the wind direction and speed. These two factors can cause a great deal of worry if they don’t compensate and get blown off track and/or arrive at a checkpoint too soon or too late.

Each checkpoint was manned by observers – some were marked on the pilots’ maps and others were secret checkpoints en route. Their duty was to log each competitors’ time and position overhead at that checkpoint. For every so many metres, the aircraft was off track either side of the checkpoint, the judges would allocate penalty points accordingly. If a competitor flew outside the prescribed corridor, he would receive maximum penalties for that checkpoint. Great accuracy is demanded from competitors as each second that he is out on his ETA costs him one point.

Apart from having to put up with all of this, the competitors have secret checkpoints along the routes. These are in the form of a symbol in canvas or plastic placed on the ground. When a competitor observes one of these, he has to plot its exact position on the map. Before taking off, he is also handed a set of six photographs. He has to study these carefully. En route, when he recognises any of these photographs on the ground, again he has to plot the exact position on the given map.

For each observation error (check-point missed) a further 50 points are lost.

Saturday afternoon, Margate was like a little baby – wet and very windy. The wind was blowing head on runway 22 at knots-plus-plenty and left a few guys redfaced. Believe you me, I stood next to the runway trying to judge the landings, but my body was also tuned to the check or race mode – check the position if they landed or race for my life when some pilots, like Sideways Seymour, approached.

Each pilot had four landings to execute, so they were sent off in batches of four, spacing themselves as necessary.

The first landing was a normal approach with power and flap. The second was a glide approach, with flap and sideslip permitted. The third landing was a glide approach with no flap allowed. It was especially during this approach that some pilots under-estimated the wind velocity and undershot so badly that they would not have made the runway had it not been for taking power and starting up the fan up front to cool them down.

The final obstacle to fame or flush was the power landing but this time with a two metre barrier across the runway. A pilot was not permitted to sink below the barrier before he actually crossed it.

On the runway, inside the set corridor, was a white one metre wide zero touchdown line. This was the point the pilots had to aim for. For every metre a pilot overshot, he was penalised by one point, up to a maximum of 50 metres. The same applied for undershooting, except this time penalties were doubled.

The “landing point” was only scored once both main wheels were firm and running on the ground.

Mike Seymour was second. Mike runs the Good Hope Flying Club and also does a lot of Red Cross Mercy Flights. Mike has shown consistency as he was the overall winner last year. Mike was the manager of the Springbok team which competed in the World Navigational Rally Championships at Parma, Italy last year.

In third place overall, and the first private pilot was Adrian Pilling from Natal who won the Peter Wotherspoon Memorial Trophy. I tried to speak to Adrian about his flying experience but he was so up the in clouds that there was no way that I could get down to earth for a chat. The only bit of information I could get on trying to find out where he was from or what he does was a voice somewhere in the crowd which commented, “Apprentice Millionaire.”

Dave Perelson, CFI of Algoa Flying Club in Port Elizabeth was fourth.

Fifth was the S.A. Navigation Rally Champion and Springbok from Natal, Gavin Beck. Gavin, together with his pilot, Chris Kyle from Krugersdorp are the current National Navigation Rally Champions. Gavin, Chris, Frikkie Moolman and Peter Wotherspoon were the pilots in the Springbok team last year. After Frik and Pete’s tragic accident, Gavin and Chris decided to continue in the Championships. On the first day they were placed fourth overall. In the final result they were among the top pilots and both were called up to receive President of Italy’s Medal at the prize-giving for their great sportsmanship.

Usually the top five pilots selected for the Springbok team. This year due to the bad economy, finances alone will determine whether a full team will compete at the World Champs at Kissimmee in Florida, USA. Politics have marred sporting events and this might be the last time for a couple years that we will be able to send a team overseas. So all you guys with fat wallets or tax problems, it is time you did something for Sport Aviation.

But standing on the sideline, one thing became very clear on the weekend …… a little bit of the magic has gone. Can’t help but miss them, ol’ Frikkie Feathers and Propeller Pete …… don’t you?