NATIONAL PRECISION FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Cato Ridge – September 2001

By Adrian Pilling

Well can you believe it, before you know it another year has passed and it’s time for the National Precision Flying Championships again. This year it was held in Cato Ridge which is well known for it’s difficult terrain and great hospitality.

The pilots gathered from all around the country and before long the competition was in full swing. The usual stunning organization by Barry de Groot and his crew was evident and for the first time ever – in fact a world first – the national competition was run using GPS loggers (designed by Jan Hanekom). That means no room for argument and the device tells you where you are along the track every second. Boy was this going to be difficult! To top it off the results counted for selection of the National Team to the World Championships in Croatia in 2002, pressure indeed.

Thursday – Competition Day 1

The first day’s navigation exercise was interesting to say the least. The route took us over typically difficult countryside and all this with the accurate GPS Loggers to scare us. Later when all the crews returned it was into the first two prescribed landing tests.

The landing test was carried out on the rather bumpy runway with gusty winds. This resulted in more than one major bounce by competitors and this added some really scary penalties to the scores of several crews. Only two of the four landings were completed that day.

Later the provisional results for the day were announced. There were some recalculations required in order to interpret the results of the loggers correctly. After this was done the results were released as follows: Open Class positions; 1st place Nigel Hopkins, 2nd place Adrian Pilling, 3rd place Mary de Klerk, 4th place Jan Hanekom, 5th place Hans Schwebel. The navigation was so close that only 2 points separated the first two places, however the landings added significant penalties. In the Sportmans Class 1st place Wayne Bond, 2nd place Wendy Barter, 3rd place Paul Barter.

Friday – Competition Day 2

Well this was a fun day because the weather was so bad that the take off was delayed. In fact the route took the pilots way out over the Valley of a Thousand Hills. The cloud was so low in places that the pilots really had to fight the weather as well.

Due to the bad weather closing in, the pilots only managed to squeeze in one landing as part of their landing test. After this was completed the results for this day were announced.

Open Class positions; 1st place Nigel Hopkins, 2nd place Adrian Pilling, 3rd place Jan Hanekom, 4th place Mike Cathrow, 5th place Hans Schwebel. In the Sportmans Class 1st place Wendy Barter, 2nd place Wayne Bond, 3rd place Paul Barter.

Saturday – Competition Day 3

This was the final day and it took us out over some majestic areas. Out over farmland, incredible cliffs and down to the coast and back. This was a great navigation route and a real challenge to the crews.

Later the last of the landings was accomplished and then it was back to the club house for the prize giving. The results for the day were: 1st place Nigel Hopkins, 2nd place Adrian Pilling, 3rd place Mary de Klerk, 4th place Frank Eckard, 5th place Ron Stirk. In the Sportmans Class 1st place Wayne Bond, 2nd place Wendy Barter, 3rd place Paul Barter.

There was an air of expectancy at prize giving as the pilots wandered what their positions would be. After a great dinner the results were announced. 1st place Nigel Hopkins, 2nd place Adrian Pilling, 3rd place Mary de Klerk, 4th place Jan Hanekom, 5th place Mike Cathrow. In the Sportmans Class 1st place Wayne Bond, 2nd place Wendy Barter, 3rd place Paul Barter.

After a great prize giving the team to the World Precision Flying Championships in Croatia was announced: Nigel Hopkins, Adrian Pilling, Mary de Klerk, Jan Hanekom, Barry de Groot, Hans Schwebel (1st reserve), Mike Cathrow (2nd reserve). Adrian Pilling was elected Captain and Paul Barter was selected as team manager.

A very special thanks goes out to Barry de Groot and his team for a fantastic competition and of course to all the marshals, without which nothing would have happened. Thanks to the supporters who traveled from far and wide even coming from Brits (Deon Van den Berg and his team). We wish the team all the best for Croatia and thank the folks at Cato Ridge.

S.A. National Precision Flying Championships – Cato Ridge 2001 – Detailed Results

Day One Day Two Day Three
Pos Name Theory Mkrs Photo Flight Other Tot Theory Mkrs Photo Flight Other Tot Theory Mkrs Photo Flight Other Tot Land Grand Total
1 Nigel Hopkins 0 20 0 162 0 182 2 0 70 27 0 99 4 0 20 27 0 51 37 369
2 Adrian Pilling 0 0 40 144 0 184 1 0 30 84 0 115 0 60 20 66 0 146 374 819
3 Mary de Klerk 0 40 60 441 0 541 2 70 140 528 0 740 0 40 40 162 0 242 41 1564
4 Jan Hanekom 0 110 70 450 0 630 1 0 100 129 0 230 0 70 130 338 0 538 180 1578
5 Mike Cathrow 0 70 100 779 0 949 3 50 80 165 0 298 5 60 80 363 0 508 82 1837
6 Hans Schwebel 0 90 0 683 0 773 6 40 100 270 0 416 0 80 120 165 0 365 367 1921
7 Frank Eckard 0 60 40 720 0 820 1 40 160 507 0 708 8 40 60 186 0 294 136 1958
8 Ron Stirk 0 60 40 738 0 838 3 40 140 336 0 519 0 110 40 222 0 372 258 1987
9 Mauritz Du Plessis 0 80 80 1329 0 1489 0 70 160 1125 0 1355 350 270 160 1404 0 2184 228 5256
10 Walter Walle 43 160 120 1535 0 1858 0 70 160 413 0 643 350 250 100 1826 0 2526 283 5310
Sportsman Class
1 Wayne Bond 0 150 160 189 0 499 0 90 200 465 0 755 3 80 160 144 0 387 565 2206
2 Wendy Barter 2 450 160 1200 0 1812 25 170 180 165 0 540 0 340 160 657 0 1157 391 3900
3 Paul Barter 2 450 160 1200 0 1812 350 310 200 909 0 1769 350 280 160 549 0 1339 346 5266
4 James Lidderd 8 480 160 1280 0 1928 350 450 200 1200 0 2200 12 510 160 906 0 1588 1000 6716

President’s Trophy Air Race

Tempe, Bloemfontein – 9 to 11 August 2001.

By Jan Hanekom

Aircraft Lined up at the start
Aircraft Lined up at the start
This year’s race had to be moved to this date due to the World Air Games taking place in Spain on the dates where we had the Race planned originally. Everyone thought that this will be OK and that we will have fine weather. Just to be proved wrong.

Planning went very well after an initial hiccup when the company contracted to do the advertising etc, withdrew. This left SAPFA, Bloemfontein Flying Club and Race Organizer, Johann van Gruting very little time to do all the planning in.

Pre-race day (Thursday the 9th) dawned a nice cool day with 41 aircraft and crews arriving from all over. This decline in numbers compared with last year, were mainly due to the worsening economic conditions, at least according to some of the old participants we have phoned in advance.

Oom Doep and Oom Doors getting the aircraft on their way
Oom Doep and Oom Doors getting the aircraft on their way
The Air Observer (a GPS based logging system) was for the first time officially used to test fly AC and to determine handicap speeds. This system is locally manufactured by Tilt-tech and is also internationally approved by the FAI for Rally/Precision flying at World Championship level. This was done by flying the AC under test at maximum power in a rectangular course with two legs cross-wind and one into wind and one down-wind. The unit then logs flight parameters every second of the flight. After the flight the data is then transferred to a PC and verified with respect of track and altitude holding. The result is then fed into a spreadsheet calculating the two average speeds. One for the into-wind and down-wind legs, and one for the two crosswind legs. The into-wind and down-wind average is then used for the Handicap speed. Of the twelve AC tested, not one’s speed could be proved wrong. For example, one was tested at 161.07 Kts and achieved 162.08 Kts on day two. Another was tested 109.30 Kts and achieved 108.09 Kts on day two.

3rd Place: Harry Antel and Barry de Groot
3rd Place: Harry Antel and Barry de Groot
A lot of participants felt that this will bring back the guys who are staying away from the Race due to Handicap speeds perceived to be incorrect. Three aircraft have also been monitored on the second day to check for irregularities.

“The worst weather in the 70 year history of the race” That is how World Airnews described what faced the contestants in day one of the race. The day (Friday, 10th) started with quite a strong westerly wind (up to 25kts) that blew in a lot of clouds. The route took competitors from Tempe – Reddersburg – Zastron – Barkley East – Bethulie – Tempe. At 10h00 the fastest aircraft took off with the rest following at 30 second intervals. Everything went well until Barkley East where severe turbulence was experienced and a number of competitors also could not get close to, or overhead Barkley East. Some aircraft even flew through a snow storm.

A large amount of radio chatter followed and some competitors called it a day and returned to Tempe. One even landed on a private strip to re-think strategy (or should it read to find out where they are – just joking Mauritz). The fact that all 45 landed safely back at Tempe despite the adverse conditions says a great deal about the responsibility of the crews and the safety of the race.

Twenty-seven aircraft completed the course by getting timed at all the points This left the organizers with only these aircraft still in the Race should the normal rules be applied. This was a first ever and something had to be done to keep the Race alive. The Jury had quite a long session with the Handicapping/Scoring committee and a penalty system (minutes per turn point missed) was introduced to keep everyone in the Race. Extra time penalties were added to aircraft that returned to Tempe without trying to move on to the next point, Bethulie. One of the pilots reported that this was indeed a scary flight and another aircraft lost its compass (got stuck) during the flight.

2nd Place: Errol j v Rensburg and Andre Koen
2nd Place: Errol j v Rensburg and Andre Koen
Race day 2 (Saturday the 11th) started very cold but at least with clear blue skies and a moderate wind. The route was Tempe – Smithfield – Trompsburg – Tempe – Harmony – Bultfontein – Tempe. This time the slowest aircraft started just after 10h00 with the fastest starting last.

This proved to be a very nice flying day with all but a few crews who got lost somewhat, achieving much higher speeds – very close to their Handicaps. We had the TV there to witness the finish and Capital Sounds did their usual best to excite the local crowd. At 13h02 and 19 seconds Race 16 (ZS-CHL) with pilot Chris Briers and navigator Dries Briers, blasted through the finish point at an incredible 198 Kts to become the winners of the 2001 PTAR. Race 11 (ZS-PWC) closely followed them with Errol van Rensburg and Andre Koen in second place and Race 30 (ZS-VYI) with Harry Antel and Barry de Groot in third place.

Winners of the 2001 President's Trophy Air Race - Dries and Chris Briers
Winners of the 2001 President’s Trophy Air Race – Dries and Chris Briers
As usual the price-giving banquet at the “Glas Paleis” was a grand finale to the Race with a lot of silverware changing hands. The feedback that we got from participants and sponsors alike was that under the circumstances (the weather on Friday) they thought it was an Air Race well run and enjoyed by most. Here I have to say that one crew, unhappy with the way the penalties for day one were applied, approached me after the price giving, with their problem. Although they have my sympathy I can only say – please follow the rules and your complaints will also be handled according to the rules. On behalf of SAPFA I would like to thank all our sponsors – Imperial Aviation, Coca-Cola, WCT, Ferreira Aviation, ATNS, Capital Sounds. I also would like to thank Johann van Gruting Race organizer), Bloemfontein Flying Club, the SAAF, Midwest Aviation, ATNS, the Handicapping & Scoring committee, the jury, all the marshals, Oom Doep and Oom Doors, and everyone else who helped to make this Race the success it has been. Without you it could not have been done.

To the competitors – thank you for your incredible sportsmanship and friendliness, and for spending the time and money to participate. Let us take up Marius Venter’s (Imperial Aviation) offer to give everyone who brings another entry next year, R200 back on his or her entry fees. Let us make PTAR 2002 another race to remember.