Articles Rally (Page 39)

10^thWestern Province Air Rally

Held in Fisantekraal – 1985

By Mike Seymour

Ten years ago a then ten years younger Di Marshall was asked to represent the Aero Club of South Africa in the Western Cape. In those days Aero Club was not as streamlined as it is today and poor Di not only looked after power flying but also hang gliding, parachuting, ballooning, etc. It was also Di who brought us the lst Western Province Air Rally.

What a Rally that was! It was going to be the biggest flying do the Western Cape had ever seen. Plans were well on the way to making it a real humdinger of an air display cum rally and a great deal of money was being spent on the strength of the committee’s dreams and visions. Then the law struck – fuel restrictions! The axe fell. Dreams and visions do not put money in the bank. The Controller of Petroleum Products said no air show, no gate money and no public. Somehow or another the show went on without the public and gate fee which we needed to bail us out of the mire.

The whole world came to that rally, including Sheila Scott from the U.K. The day dawned and true to Cape Town weather form, it was foul and the alternate route had to be flown. All 45 aircraft did a two leg trip to Oudtshoorn and a two leg trip back to Fisantekraal. There were no secret check points, no ground markers and no photographs. We had not yet thought of such nasties. Our timing devices – Pidgeon Clocks! When the clocks came home they all read different times – what a calculation. However, help was at hand, Nigel Forrester had a real live digital watch and he kindly loaned it to us to time the aircraft on the home leg. By the way the master clock also got heat stroke!

The flying side of the rally was a little unexciting but the function went according to plan. A Friday night pre-rally party was held in Rondebosch, most of the pilots and navigators were still there in the early hours of the next morning. The wine always tastes better in the Cape. The, lunch at Oudtsboorn, was smashing and the gala dinner at Fisantekraal in a marquee was a party that few people will ever forget.

Di had to face the Aero Club Central Committee and ask to be bailed out of a debt amounting to R 1 500 and that was a heap of bread way back in 1974. In 1975 we repaid our debt.

Some things never seem to change. You still have to get permission from the Controller of Petroleum Products to host a rally and Di Marshall still helps with the Western Province Air Rally.

Today, I feel that our Rally is very close to world class. We still have excellent rally parties (also world class) both before and after the event. This year’s pre-rally party was a winner and Stellenbosch Farmers’ Wineries were not shy in helping us make it a sparkling affair.

On the flying side we try to make it as challenging as possible. The crew have become so expert at time keeping that if there were no photographs or ground markers, the winner would be extremely difficult to find.

As this was our tenth year, I tried to make the route as scenic as possible and took the risk of crossing the mountains. Once in a while we are lucky with the weather, this was it, our gamble paid off.

Leg 1 and 2 took the competitors towards the west coast and up past Darling. By the time check point 2 had been reached they were timed three times and should have seen three ground markers and two photographs. Leg 3 was an unrestricted leg – there were seven railway stations circled on the maps and two carefully taken photographs of two of the stations. On this leg circling etc. was allowed, all that was required was that the photographs should be matched with the correct stations and that check point 3 should be reached on time. This leg went across from the west through the Gouda Gap and down the valley to Worcester. Leg 4 was straight on down the valley. Leg 5 was a 105 nm curve on out of the valley over Stormsviei over Stanford and the Hermanus lagoon, along the Hermanus coast line, over the Botrivierviei lagoon through the Botriver valley, over the Threewaterskloof Dam and ended at the top of the Franschhoek Pass – the most scenic curve ever flown. (Some competitors forgot that it was a rally and opted for a scenic drive.) Leg 6 down the Franschhoek valley to an intersection 5 nm east of Fisantekraal. Leg 7 – 5 nm long back to Fisantekraal, just to sort the men from the boys.

When they landed back at Fisantekraal our intrepid aviators should have seen 10 photographs, seven ground markers and had been timed at seven points. Finally the pilots had to land in a demarcated box for bonus points.

This year’s rally was won by the superb team of Eric Stratford and Colin Jordaan from the Transvaal. Second were Jury Steyn and Frans Grotepass, local pilots, and third place went to an old guest of ours Malcolm Spence and Tony Downs from the Eastern Cape.

At the end of the day and through all the post mortems we always say how grand it is to be able to meet with our old flying friends and to welcome the new. It is my hope that come what may we will always be able to conjure up something new and a little different and that our rallies will go on and on and on, and that we shall in some small way be able to contribute to aviation by setting a high standard for all pilots who love flying.

See you next time.

Jansenville Air Rally

Held at Jansenville – 23 March 1985

By Frikkie Moolman

Well guys, the word is out. If you’re a lover of air railies, there’s a venue that should not be missed – Jansenville. OK, I know you’ve just juggled all your one in a millions, and couldn’t find it, so I’ll tell you. Jansenville is between Graaff Reinet and Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, and the town is so small that the name appears an both sides of the signboard. But this town has a great big heart! There is no flying club as such, just a bunch of guys who love flying, with spirit and enthusiasm to make our. slick city type “flying clubs” look like they need a major overhaul.

Peter Wotherspoon and I arrived at Jansenville at around 1600 hours on Friday, and as we came overhead we saw Flip van der Merwe’s Bonanza on the field, so we knew we had found it. On landing we were welcomed by Ray, and almost immediately after by Flip in his bakkie stacked with cold beer. For the occasion the guys had bulldozed an enormnous piece of real estate as a parking area, and drums of fuel, boxes of oil and compressed air laid on for the big day. The hangar had been cleared and set up with tables, chairs, a PA system and serving tables for food and drinks. Not bad, huh. Shortly after, John, Jenny and George and Rea arrived from Cape Tovvn in the Baron, and also the Robinson brothers from ‘Maritzburg. The rest of the competitors were due the next morning.

While we stood around talking flying, Boetie Beeker and Arabier van der Merwe arrived from Robertson, as well as Barry (Pa), Willem, Piet and Andre from the Swellengrebel Gliding Club, by car. Yes, by car. They weren’t competing but they just came across for the fun. Now if that is not spirit, then I’ll trade my licence for a used movie ticker.

Rally day dawned, crisp, clear, promising to be hot. And it was! Briefing was scheduled for 1000, but some competitors arrived late so Flip delayed a bit. This caused some bunching as takeoff times could not be altered. Anyhow, with most of the planning done, we took off with ‘jors troelie’ still doing some homework on his lap, and navigating at the same time. The rally was a six leg exercise with secret check points, ground markers and photographs all thrown in. There was an interesting twist in the tail, in the form of some untimed hopping from place to place over rugged terrain, to find some of the photos and then return to the airfield to complete the timing run. Very interesting.

After landing back, everyone was treated to lunch, etc, by the girls who supplied coffee, tea and snacks all day long in the hangar. But dig this! The hangar also had a temporary licence for the day, so beer was available! This must be the only iicenced hangar in the world! That night the prizegiving and party was held at the showground, also licenced! Everyone was treated to prime beef, tremendous bar service and a disco.

At 21 00 Flip finally put us out of our misery and announced the results. Prizes were in the form of cash and some other vice goodies, and we all had a great party. My congratulations to Flip van der Merwe, Louis Nel and all their helpers, for a very vvell organised rally. If one considers that these guys are technically “in the sticks”, their efforts are even more laudable. Whether you’re a serious hot shot looking for points or whether you fly for fun, the Jansenville Rally is well worth it. Mr Dave & Mrs Ivanhoe Perelson from Port Elizabeth in a Piper Super Cub, ZS.DJR took first place with P. Wotherspoon and F.J. Moolman from Johannesburg in a Cessna 177 RG, ZS-JMW in second place.

1984 National Air Navigation Rally

Vanderbijlpark – 14 April 1984

Article in S A Aeronews – May 1984

On Saturday, the 14th April, 40 aircraft took off on a bright and sunny autumn morning to compete in this year’s Placo National Precision Navigation Rally. And again this event proved to be one of the highlights of the power flying calendar. Run with the same precision required from the pilots, the day went off like clockwork, and the general consensus from the competitors was that the organisational standard was again high. Down from the 48 entrants last year, event director, Tony Pennel, also power flying committee member of the Acro Club, prescribes this to the fact that this year’s rally was held right in the middle of the Transvaal school holidays.

As with last year, Vanderbijlpark Municipal airfield was the venue, and the local flying club provided the same high standard of service and catering. Because the event was so close to our printing deadline, we had no time to get our photographs together, but will feature a photo essay in next month’s issue.

The rally was flown over two legs, one in the morning (starting at 9:30am) and one in the afternoon (1:30pm). Both legs are time over distance tasks and for the first leg in the morning pilots were given flight plans that included true headings, co-ordinates and ground speeds from which times are calculated. This means that pilots and navigators have to keep on track, on time, all the time. Checkpoints, both secret and manned are dotted along the route where time and track are checked. The end of both legs is overhead the Holiday. Inn, and then pilots go on to finish for the spot landing section of the rally. The morning requires a power on landing and in the afternoon a power off glide approach. The landings had to be done over a 2m high barrier located 50 metres before the zero line. Dennis Jankelow in a TC Bonanza can tell you all about the banner, as he wanted to take it home with him as a trophy. This was an area of the rally that gave most pilots a lot of trouble, and 16 of the competitors in the power on section scored a maximum 100 point penalty. Only two managed a zero. The common problem was that the approach glide slope and initial circuit altitude were too low, and they had to apply power on very late finals, giving them too much speed and inertia with no attitude. Flaps were useless and most aircraft should have paid up to 8 landing fees. Mooney ZS-FHM gave a particularly hairy display on both landings.

The afternoon leg gave pilots a lot to worry about, and was divided into three tasks. One was a group of eight circles in which a photographic reference point had to be identified, one of which didn’t exist inside the circle, (just to make matters more interesting). Secondly, a series of trig beacons on route had to be identified, with only the total distance supplied. Some beacons were but mere miles apart. The third task was to fly a curved track that was drawn on the last section of the map and again at a given constant ground speed, with the last checkpoint over the hotel. The afternoon proved to very demanding and took its toll on the competitors, who missed beacons, couldn’t identify features from photos, and found the curved track more difficult than it looked.

After a ding dong battle between the top ten competitors all day, last year’s winners Gavin Beck (navigator) and Chris Kyle (pilot) in a Cessna 172 ZS-JTC again showed their consistent skill and took the navigational section honours of the rally. This year the overall results were a lot closer than last year, and showed a vast improvement in the general standard. The spot landing section was won by Bob Olthoff in a Piper Cherokee ZS-ESV with a 35 metre total error, including a zero in the morning. (33 entrants scoring the 100 point maximum penalty in the afternoon landing.)

The evening’s festivities at the Riverside Holiday Inn again featured a great meal and cabaret with Brian Mulder. After the prizegiving and some revelry the tired, but satisfied competitors turned in after another very enjoyable event.

Our thanks to Acro Club of S A for organising a super event, to Placo (Pty) Ltd for their sponsorship of a route recce aircraft and marshalling aircraft and enthusiastic control marshalls on the day, and also the engineers and mobile workshops and prize fund contributions.

Results Navigation Rally

• 1. ZS-ITC – C Kyle/G Beck – Cessna 172 – 175 points
• 2. ZS-ESV – B Olthoff/S Levin – Piper Cherokee – 180 points
• 3. ZS-KXR – I Boyd/G MacKenzie – Cessna 210 – 186 points
• 4. ZS-IUY – M Spence/A Down – Cessna 182 – 215 points
• 5. ZS-JMW – P Wotherspoon/F Moolman – Cessna 177 – 224 points
• 6. ZS-IFB – D Tarboton/V Kaiser – Cessna 182 – 232 points
• 7. ZS-IFT – M Nathan/J Stratford – Cessna 172 – 236 points
• 8. ZS-KSI – K Grinaker/B Eager – Cessna 210 – 240 points
• 9. ZS-IIY – G Sweidan/J Allison – Cessna 150 – 253 points
• 10. ZS-FUD – N Jacob/S Louw – Cessna 172 – 261 points

Landing Competition

• 1. ZS-ESV – B Olthoff – Piper Cherokee – 35 metres
• 2. ZS-KCZ – G Vos/E Bekker – Cessna 172 – 51 metres
• 3. ZS-FWP – D Hague/J Snow – Piper Cherokee – 67 metres

1st Novice

• ZS-IFT – M Nathan/J Stratford – Cessna 172 – 236 points

Directors Award

• Only aircraft with zero photograph task errors. ZS-AGM I Anderson/G Hugo Maule

Team Prizes

• 1. Aero Club of South Africa
• 2. Wits Flying Club
• 3. Pietermaritzburg Flying Club