The 13th Rand Airport Challenge 2017

11th February 2017

By Cally Eckard

It was 13^th time lucky for this event, with no incidences for organiser Frank Eckard.  Rand Airport waived landing fees for the sixteen aircraft who took part, and provided Paul Roberts to be the Safety Officer for the event.

The weather was perfect, and the route took the competitors to the Vaal River, and across the wall of the Vaal Dam and then across the dam, with part of the route requiring the pilots to fly along the river.  Beautiful views of a nearly-full dam and rivers and streams bursting their banks and green fields from horizon to horizon were a welcome sight.  The return journey was almost a straight line back to Rand, with only one crew mistakenly grazing the fringes of OT airspace, in their effort to find Rand Airport’s runway.  Two teams flew helicopters, one of them, manned by Jason Stimson and William Levene, achieving a respectable fourth place.

Teams consisting of pilots and navigators who both have their colours flew in the Unlimited category.  For the first time, another category was introduced, being the Advanced category, consisting of one Fun Rally pilot and one pilot who has earned their colours either as a navigator or as a pilot.  The Protea team are trying to encourage keen pilots and navigators to participate in Nationals, and flying with them in order to share their skills.  Jonty Esser, who scored a perfect 0 was the only participant in the Precision category, where only a pilot takes part.   The other teams flew in the Fun Rally category.

Protea  navigator Mary de Klerk and Karl Jensen, who have flown this rally for the last few years, earned first place in this new category.   Newcomers to rally, Willem Greyling and Gavin Lundie won the prestigious Rand Airport Challenge trophy in the Fun Rally section, beating the other 10 teams.

The Fun Rally section was hotly contested, and the five top places were:

The Advanced Class results were as follows:

The Precision section:

And the Unlimited category:

The very popular Virginia Fun Rally has been postponed.  Please keep your eyes peeled for the new date.  The next event is the Precisions National Championships, with a Fun Rally on the Saturday, venue and date to be announced.    Three Training Camps will be held leading up to Nationals.  Please watch the SAPFA website for updated information.

Full Results Below: