South African Power Flying Association

SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PRECISION AND RALLY FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ladysmith 22 to 25 March 2006

By Adrian Pilling

The Sunday before the event (19th March), the teams started arriving and put their time to good use practicing in the unfamiliar terrain. Most of the teams arrived the following day and checked into the airport motel. Suddenly, the place was a buzz with excitement as old acquaintances were renewed and friendships made. The locals were out in force supporting the teams and a great camaraderie was developing amongst the flyers and their supporters.

Much training was being done with the odd avoiding action being taken, in order to skirt the ever present thunderstorms that completely flooded valleys and swelled rivers well beyond what they looked like on the map, representing a serious challenge to the crews navigating ability.

Much training was being done with the odd avoiding action being taken, in order to skirt the ever present thunderstorms that completely flooded valleys and swelled rivers well beyond what they looked like on the map, representing a serious challenge to the crews navigating ability.

Wednesday – 22 March

The day dawned grey and murky. Immediately the organizers factored in a one hour delay. The wind was gusting up to 20 knots which was a big shock to the pilots (who had been training in relative calm) and it was decided, after much discussion about the bad weather, that the best thing to do was to complete the flight planning for Navigation Test #01. This was duly completed in the hangar and several hours later the crews emerged having completed this exercise.

The weather was still threatening so rest of the day was dedicated to the flight planning section for Navigation Test #02 and this was duly done, again in the hangar. This proved to be the correct decision as at least now we had the basis for a competition result.

The provisional results were posted on the board and the landing results were: First Place Adrian Pilling (17 penalties), Second Place Jan Hanekom (23 penalties), Third Place Ron Stirk (57 penalties), Fourth Place Frank Eckard (66 penalties), Fifth Place Mary de Klerk (118 penalties), with the rest of the field scoring higher penalties as a direct result of the very unstable weather.

The flight Planning results were also posted with most people scoring between 0 and 10 penalties. Some however were caught out by the strong theoretical computer wind added by the competition committee.

Thursday 23rd March

The day dawned bleak and grey. The organizers were really concerned about the weather and decided to investigate the route themselves. Eventually after a check flight by the competition director to ascertain the weather conditions, the route was declared a “go”.

Navigation Test #01 was flown with the pilots departing at 10 minute intervals. The route took the crews up into the mountains and with the strong rains in the area many of the rivers were unrecognizable. The mountain tops were in and out of the clouds and all round it was most challenging for the pilots. The route lasted over an hour and a quarter and most of the pilots incurred big penalties due to bad weather and unfamiliar terrain. Many pilots had to take avoiding actions, but making it through. Jan Hanekom having particularly difficulty on one leg as the weather closed in and the cloud base dropped alarmingly.

• Jan Hanekom – 276
• Adrian Pilling – 280
• Barry de Groot – 485
• Ron Stirk – 762
• Mary de Klerk – 763
• Frank Eckard – 851
• Walter Walle – 1460
• Hans Schwebel – 1593
• Wayne Bond – 1808
• Ernie Alexander – 1808
• Quentin Taylor – 2954

A quick lunch was had by all, organized by the local Wimpy and then back into the planes for Navigation Test #02.

This Test was flown more to the North West of Ladysmith and offered some spectacular scenery including the well known Van Reenen’s Pass. The weather had lifted somewhat but was still not ideal, with the odd cloud belt drifting in front of crews. Mary had to divert on one leg as the cloud obscured her track.

This route lasted just over an hour and the competitors for the most part did better than earlier. Again the competition committee was really on top of things and the provisional results were posted within minutes of the last pilot returning. The results, including the previous day’s landings were:

• Jan Hanekom – 354
• Adrian Pilling – 368
• Hans Schwebel – 898
• Barry de Groot – 929
• Frank Eckard – 981
• Ron Stirk – 1002
• Mary de Klerk – 1022
• Ernie Alexander – 1261
• Walter Walle – 1470
• Wayne Bond – 2063
• Quentin Taylor – 2356
• Larry v d Merwe – 2164 (a new competitor flying in the sportsman class for the first time)

When the crews returned the Competition Director had decided to cancel TP6 and secret check 9 on route #01. The provisional results reflected this. A protest had been received. As this would require the convening of a Jury to rule on the protest the final results would be delayed until such time as the protest had been dealt with.

Friday 25th March

The day dawned with mixed weather, clearing slightly but completely flyable. The first crew received papers at 10h15 and were airborne at 10h30. The flight was approximately two hours. This two crew competition introduced new tricks to the mix as the competitors had to follow a railway line on one of the legs. This curved track proving challenging as there were three photos cunningly placed along the railway line.

The returning planes were then treated to a spot landing penalty that was added to the total penalties. After shutting down, the crews had only 5 minutes to complete their paperwork and then hand the completed sheets to the organizers. Then the debriefing followed and finally the provisional results were posted on the notice board. It should be noted that the virtual flyers had the same route, the same photos and the same timing as the “Real Crews”, most impressive. At the end of the day the results were:-

Open Class

• Barry de Groot & Mary de Klerk – 286
• Jan Hanekom & Henk Koster – 440
• Ernie Alexander & Mike Ehrman – 506
• Hans Schwebel & Ron Stirk – 606
• Frank Eckard & Quentin Taylor – 756
• Walter Walle & Dale Joseph – 948
• Wayne Bond & Greg Wooding – 2624

Sportsman Class

• Cornel Block & Tony Martyn – 1906
• Larry vd Merwe & Larry vd Merwe – 2680

Virtual Aviators

• Smittie Smith & Hein Strydom- 2588
• Johan van Wyk & Mike Robinson – 2627
• Rassie Erasmus (no navigator) – 2798

Much fun was had by all and finally after a pub supper the crews retired for the night.

Saturday 26th March

The crews woke late and knew that there would be a delay. The cloud was low and it had rained all night. After a briefing it was decided to run the event even though it was raining. The first planes would take off at 11h00.

The route was a testing one with some people missing checkpoints due to low cloud. In order to avoid the weather the organizers removed three legs from the track and still there were weather problems. At the end of the route the crews knew that their landings would count and after the same routine as yesterday the provisional results were posted. The sportsman class counted only day 2 for the final awards.

Newcomers and local entrants Paolo and Shane found that it is difficult for the organisers to score their efforts if the GPS logger is under the seat. They must have hit some turbulence after the 3rd checkpoint as the logger did not record anything after that.

The results for the day were:-

Open Class

• Frank Eckard & Quentin Taylor – 394
• Hans Schwebel & Ron Stirk – 688
• Barry de Groot & Mary de Klerk – 1034
• Jan Hanekom & Henk Koster – 1686
• Wayne Bond & Greg Wooding – 1984
• Walter Walle & Dale Joseph – 2066
• Ernie Alexander & Mike Ehrman – 2522

Sportsman Class

• Mike Richmond & Jeff Richmond – 562
• Chris Linakis & Blaine Carstens – 869
• Cornel Block & Tony Martyn – 2877
• Larry vd Merwe & Larry vd Merwe – 3197
• Wichardt Olivier & Francois du Toit – 3575
• Paolo Cerrai & Shane Sinclair – 3898

Virtual Class

• Johan van Wyk & Mike Robertson – 821
• Rassie Erasmus (no navigator) – 1222
• Merwe (Smittie) Smith & Hein Strydom – 2016

The crews and families had a great afternoon letting their hair down and generally relaxing. The hangar war prepared and turned into a great banqueting hall for the final prize giving event.

The final results for both competitions were as follows:-

National Precision Flying Championships

• 1st Place Jan Hanekom – 630
• 2nd Place Adrian Pilling – 648
• 3rd Place Barry de Groot – 1414
• 4th Place Ron Stirk – 1764
• 5th Place Mary de Klerk – 1785
• 6th Place Frank Eckard – 1832
• 7th Place Hans Schwebel – 2491
• 8th Place Walter Walle – 2930
• 9th Place Ernie Alexander – 3069
• 10th Place Wayne Bond – 3853
• 11th Place Quentin Taylor – 5355
• Landing Champion – Adrian Pilling.
• 2nd Place Landings – Jan Hanekom
• 3rd Place Landings – Ron Stirk
• Observation Trophy – Jan Hanekom

National Rally Flying Championships

Virtual Aviators

• 1st Place John van Wyk & Mike Robertson – 3619
• 2nd Place Rassie Erasmus – 3849
• 3rd Place Smittie Smith & Hein Strydom – 4606

Sportsman Class

• 1st Place Mike Richmond & Jeff Richmond – 562
• 2nd Place Chris Linakis & Blaine Carstens – 869
• 3rd Place Cornel Blok & Tony Martyn – 2877
• 4th Place Larry vd Merwe (Snr and Jnr) – 3197
• 5th Place Wichardt Olivier & Francois Du Toit – 3575
• 6th Place Paolo Cerrai & Shane Sinclair – 3898

• 1st Place Frank Eckard & Quentin Taylor – 1150
• 2nd Place Hans Schwebel & Ron Stirk – 1294
• 3rd Place Barry de Groot & Mary de Klerk – 1320
• 4th Place Jan Hanekom & Henk Koster – 2126
• 5th Place Walter Walle & Dale Joseph – 3014
• 6th Place Ernie Alexander & Mike Ehrman – 3028
• 7th Place Wayne Bond & Greg Wooding – 4608
• Observation Trophy: Frank Eckard & Quentin Taylor

A fine prize giving was held in the hangar and the guest of honour was her worship the Mayor of Ladysmith, Dudu Mazibuko accompanied by a senior advisor to the Premier’s Office. Several crews received their provincial colours and Henk Koster has officially qualified as a member of the team to the World Championships in France this year. After a great evening the crews sang Shosholoza and then got into the party spirit with a great braai with the locals.

It was a great weeks flying with much fun and flying had by all. It goes without saying that this event could not have happened without the huge input from the Ladysmith Flying Club and their very friendly members. Although we are scared of leaving anybody out the following must be mentioned: – John Trollip President and in charge of Fuel. Larry vd Merwe is the immediate past President, in charge of all the arrangements, Cornell and Leonie Block for organizing the food, Vaughan for keeping the bar stocked and to all the others who ran around and made an airfield our home. Also to the guys that vacated the hangar to make space for the competing aircraft. One only had to look on with amazement as Walter Walle directed the aircraft into the hangar at night

In addition the following need to be thanked for their huge help. Mr David Perelson – Chief Judge, Chris Booysen – the Competition Director, Denise Booysen – Competition Secretary, Dickie Swanepoel – Chief of the Jury and Jacques Jacobs – Chief Marshal. Wives and friends for going the extra mile. Well done to you all and thanks for making the championships special.

Till Next Year.

South African National Precision Flying Championships – Ladysmith 2006 – Detailed Results

					Day One						Day Two
Pos	Name	Reg	Class	Prov	The	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	The	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	Land	Grand Total
1	Jan Hanekom	CVA	O		4	0	0	327	0	331	0	0	90	186	0	276	23	630
2	Adrian Pilling	KXF	O		1	0	20	330	0	351	0	0	40	240	0	280	17	648
3	Barry de Groot	APF	O		4	0	20	677	0	701	2	0	40	443	0	485	228	1414
4	Ron Stirk	IWD	O		86	0	60	799	0	945	0	0	80	682	0	762	57	1764
5	Mary de Klerk	KXF	O		0	0	60	844	0	904	2	0	40	721	0	763	118	1785
6	Frank Eckard	MOC	O		15	0	0	900	0	915	4	0	40	807	0	851	66	1832
7	Hans Schwebel	IWD	O		11	0	20	582	0	613	0	0	100	1493	0	1593	285	2491
8	Walter Walle	KNI	O		3	0	40	1175	0	1218	0	0	80	1380	0	1460	252	2930
9	Ernie Alexander	AHM	O		0	0	40	509	0	549	16	0	80	1712	0	1808	712	3069
10	Wayne Bond	DVA	O		2	0	80	1599	0	1681	43	0	120	1627	0	1790	382	3853
11	Quentin Taylor	MOC	O		45	0	140	1516	0	1701	33	0	165	2756	0	2954	700	5355
1	Larry van der Merwe	DOW	S		11	0	120	2579	0	2710	0	0	120	2744	0	2864	386	5960
	Max score				350	0	160	3400	0	3910	350	0	160	3800	0	4310	700	8920

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More Pictures of the National Flying Championships
Click to enlarge

Sample of weather – Practice day	Aircraft loggers – waiting for the start	Theory in progress
Landing spectators in the rain	The Virtual Aviating Team	Scoring the event
Precision Sportman Class Winner – Larry v d Merwe	Trophy table	Rally Sportman Class Winner
Ladysmith Hangar – before	Ladysmith Hangar – after	Ladysmith – parked aircraft

Ladysmith Airfield