SA NATIONAL RALLY FLYING CHAMPIONSHIPS – 1994

Held at Virginia  1st to 3rd September 1994

Day 1 Day 2 Grand
Pos Reg Pilot Navigator Prov Flite Photo Landing Total Flite Photo Landing Total Total
1 KVW Frank Eckard Martin Hellberg NT 154 275 20 449 99 550 200 849 1298
2 CSR Barry de Groot Mary de Klerk NT 367 400 100 867 120 300 40 460 1327
3 MVR Geoff Henschel Nico Gordon OFS 359 450 40 849 234 350 40 624 1473
4 LZV Nellis Nel Dirk Coetzee OFS 312 950 20 1282 62 500 60 622 1904
5 CIR James Craven Jake Heese WP 708 775 100 1583 72 400 100 572 2155
6 CIR Dick Churley Wally Nel WP 727 750 40 1517 100 650 200 950 2467
7 MPE Neil Warren Stephen Heath NT 568 575 0 1143 329 1050 40 1419 2562
8 JMW Johan Bence Peter Franks TVL 551 900 200 1651 358 600 60 1018 2669
9 PFC Jan Hanekom Faan Viljoen TVL 536 750 40 1326 516 800 100 1416 2742
10 MZL Jean Hartwell Malcolm Hartwell NT 923 800 200 1923 167 600 200 967 2890
11 CUX Neville Bohm Dicky Swanepoel ST 806 1000 40 1846 156 1000 40 1196 3042
12 KWC Rory Garlick Wynn Dedwith ST 660 1075 40 1775 528 800 20 1348 3123
13 MVR Zacharias Snyman Etienne Bekker ST 920 1050 0 1970 290 850 20 1160 3130
14 ELT Hans Schwebel Ulie Gerth TVL 1301 1100 100 2501 178 900 100 1178 3679
15 KNI Tony Smith Russell Davies NT 830 1450 20 2300 626 700 80 1406 3706
16 NYT Peter Graham Daniel Flannagan 1243 1100 80 2423 586 750 20 1356 3779
17 UMM Mike Burton Johan Giliomee 1186 1050 20 2256 508 850 200 1558 3814
18 DSI Tony Peeters Louise Peeters ST 1090 1250 100 2440 616 1000 60 1676 4116
19 UDX Walter Walle OFS 1214 1100 20 2334 615 1100 100 1815 4149
20 CSA Gert van Rooyen Thys Koen ST 982 1450 20 2452 592 1100 60 1752 4204
21 PFC Ron Stirk Andre Engelbracht TVL 1106 1050 80 2236 1053 950 0 2003 4239
22 JVI Ian McJannet Ettienne le Roux OP 1518 1300 200 3018 584 925 80 1589 4607
23 LGG Lex Eddy Bruce Stewart TVL 1696 1450 60 3206 270 1100 100 1470 4676
24 KVW Brian Plumpton Rian du Preez NT 1382 1250 60 2692 986 1000 200 2186 4878
25 LRI John Harrison Richard O’Neill NT 1109 1400 120 2629 1132 1150 120 2402 5031
26 MCK Faan Behrens Karien Behrens ST 1269 1350 0 2619 1099 1250 120 2469 5088

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.

1994 South African Precision Flying Team
Rear L to R: James Craven, Daroish Kraidy, Hans Schwebel, Nellis Nel and Barry de Groot. Front L to R: Adrian Pilling, Deon van Eeden and Johan Swart.

One amusing incident was when the competition director proudly marched in with our flag to show us just how on the ball they were … you guessed it, the wrong flag. We had to lend them one of ours, which was much smaller than their large, non-standard ones.

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…

1994 President’s Trophy Air Race

Held at Tempe, Bloemfontein – 26 to 28 May 1994
Pictures and article by John Miller

Cold and windy conditions at Tempe for the 1994 President's Trophy Air Race.
Cold and windy conditions at Tempe for the 1994 President’s Trophy Air Race.

In Cessna’s 1979 model 310R brochure, the blurb at the back quotes a top speed figure of 207 knots at sea level and 195 knots at 75% power at 7500ft. That this year’s handicappers gave 1994 race winners Werner and Johan van Gruting a speed of 188.50 knots should, therefore, come as no surprise. Over the two days of the competition, the Van Gruting brothers managed an actual speed of 201.30 knots and yet competitors were still poking around the 310’s airframe for hidden speed mods. It didn’t help that the only other 3108 in the race, ZS-JOS flew at 193 knots which doesn’t explain anything.

Aero Club of South Africa boss and past race winner, Mike van Ginkel summed it up, “The only entrants ultimately satisfied with the handicappers are the winners”. This year, the competition, sponsored by aviation finance group MLS Bank, produced more than its usual bevy of objections, most of them aimed at the handicappers, which many thought they were running the race against. To make matters worse, weather conditions over the two day event should have favoured the higher powered aircraft – winds on the first day were gusting to 25 and 30 knots at times. Although the first three places were taken by a fast twin and two high performance singles, Free State farmer, Charlie Bosman’s fast B58 Baron was the next twin home at only 12th place. In between were plenty of ‘low powered’ singles. Last year’s winners, Steve Hartley and Joe Grove flying the same Baron B55, ZS-OOG claimed a compass malfunction, which left them well out of the race after the first day and second from last overall. Steve was seen consoling himself on the floor of the Bloemfontein Flying Club bar after the first day’s racing.

Chris Briers puts the wheels away quickly but still battles against the handicappers.
Chris Briers puts the wheels away quickly but still battles against the handicappers.

There were 67 competitors this year and judging by the show of hands at the prize giving ball, 50% were first time entrants. On the first day the fastest aeroplanes launch first at one minute intervals and the order is reversed on day two with separation based on first day results. The competition is essentially won by flying straight, accurately and figuring out the best height under the prevailing winds. Those serious about winning often practice low-level navigation for weeks prior to the contest and the top teams navigators will call out check points some two minutes before they appear along the course, also giving plenty of time to warn the pilot at each turn point – usually over an airfield. Needless to say, GPS is banned. Entrants further prepare by polishing their aircraft and extract maximum performance by flying with the ball in the middle at power settings a thin line from never-exceed limits. Winning can be a matter of seconds, and turbocharged aeroplane pilots have to decide if the extra time climbing to take advantage of their blowers is worth the effort – at around race heights – typically between 5000 and 7000ft, turbo’d engines have the barest advantage which is taken into consideration by the handicappers anyway. Van Ginkel, himself a winner in 1969 and 1972 has won by a nail-biting seven minutes and eleven seconds over a 1000nm course and reckons the first ten crews across the line on the second day will have made virtually no mistakes.

1994 PTAR - van Gruting: van Gruting Brothers - 1994 Winners.
1994 PTAR – van Gruting: van Gruting Brothers – 1994 Winners.
The race has an excellent record of safety, but isn’t always without incident. This year, Carltonville team Bill Stewart and Johann van Rensburg had an engine stoppage and skillfully forced-lobbed onto a dirt road near Ladybrand without damaging their Turbo Arrow lll. Bloemfontein Pilot Jack Onderstall made a successful precautionary landing in a field a few miles short of Tempe after suffering a fuel leak.

It was suggested by one long time pilot that the disatisfaction over handicapping has turned competitors away from the race – something which needs to be addressed. The system appears to be confusing and perhaps needs explaining – the race committee has recorded individual aircraft speeds throughout the past 30 years and many parameters are taken into account including crew experience. The number of entrants has reached 120 in the past and the organisers need to look at their publicity and media efforts to attract greater interest in the event. The air race is an exciting occasion for all participants and hones both flying and navigation skills – the weekend is strong on aviation-talk, the prize giving evening is splendid and the event attracts great support from NAC, the Bloemfontein Flying Club and Midwest Aviation, not to say those most valuable of sponsors – MLS Bank.