Samaa News Issue 2 of 2016 - Nats Edition by Bob Skinner

news

Issue 2 of 2016

Special edition on the 2016 National Championships!

The 2016

SAMAA

NATIONALS! PC Pelser Airport, Klerksdorp. 23 to 26 April

Published and distributed electronically/digitally. Our Mission: To add value to your flying experience through communication, information, promotion, education and the support of dialogue

2016

Aerial Concepts & SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Bob Skinner, photos by Marietjie Skinner Early-morning shot arriving at the PC Pelser airfield in Klerksdorp. A spot of rain the previous night was just enough to pack the dust on the sandy surface.

The participants at the 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nats were unanimous in their opinion that this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event was a most enjoyable affair, and that they will be back. The Event Director, Johan Groenewald is compiling a questionnaire to establish what could be done better, what date is suitable for next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nats, etc. Planning will start soon, so watch the SAMAA News for details and start preparing! The PC Pelser aerodrome is a full-size facility just outside Klerksdorp, and it offers a near-ideal layout to accommodate the flying of multiple disciplines simultaneously. One has to be careful though, that the delicate balance of a combined event, and opportunity for flying in more than one event, is maintained. This is true for competitors, helpers, and officials. When the event grows to be large enough, the budget will allow for more officials, but one has to ensure that the budget is spread evenly and thinly enough, without detracting from the quality of the event. Our sincere thanks to Dean Grobbelaar and Aerial Concepts for the cash sponsorship, to help defray the costs. Every competitor also received an Aerial Concepts embroidered cap. Pieter Frylinck and his daughters Maureen and Lorraine manufactured and sponsored 150 goody bags, which we were able to fill with a variety of items, also from the FPV sponsors. Our thanks to Paula Denysschen of Wingbags, who sponsored lanyards for all the competitors and officials

position, and to generally use the opportunity to visualise the discipline activity that they were responsible for. Our judges and officials were accommodated in various B+Bs, of which there are an abundance in Klerksdorp. This cost, plus the travel cost of our officials, accounted for the major expenses of our budget, and we will have to manage this carefully for future events. The weather was most kind, and moving the event to April from June, definitely had benefits. There was a large contingent of people who camped on site, and they must have been grateful for the kind weather. We did however have quite a strong wind on Sunday, which resulted in the cancellation of one Control Line event. As usual, the support from Cliff Lotter, his staff from Exodus Communications, and his crew, is much appreciated, from the preparation of the field, office space, hangar storage, and the catering, to the traffic management. The Klerksdorp-Matlosana City Council made it clear in their letter of approval for the event, that the airport cannot be closed, but the arriving and departing visiting and locally-based aircraft did not pose major disruptions to the flying programme.

The organising corps was very small, with Johan Groenewald (SAMAA vicechairman) taking the lead as Event Director. Bob and Marietjie Skinner did most of the administration and coordination, officials accommodation, office functions, etc. and Marthinus Potgieter looked after the finances. A lot of equipment had to be transported to Klerksdorp; computers, printers, supplies, a generator in case of power interruption issues, gazebos, tables, and limited marking equipment for the various flight lines. We hired a Toyota Quantum minibus and had some stickers made to brand the vehicle. Cliff Lotter, Janis Kopelowitz and their crew from the flying club provided support with site preparation, catering, communication and all the many items required to ensure a smooth-running event. The Klerksdorp Radio Flyers provided valuable support by allowing competitors to practice at their facility for the Nats, a quad bike for score sheet running, and organisation of the braai on Sunday evening. A week before the Nats, we made an arrangement for the SIGs to attend a site meeting, to view the facilities, to mark out flight lines, check the sun

Cliff Lotter was very supportive of the Nats, in a variety of roles. Many thanks, Cliff! Ably assisted by Janis Kopelowitz (his PA), and Bonnie Lotter (his daughter).

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For future events, the closing date will have to be somewhat earlier, as it made planning and scheduling a little more difficult. The budget will have to be tighter as well, with much of the expenditure going towards travel and accommodation of judges and officials this year. With the regular SAMAA Special Interest Groups of Control Line, RC Aerobatics, Pylon Racing, Scale, Jets, and Large Scale Aerobatics, there were an additional three disciplines, with RC Helicopters, Fun Fly, and FPV Racing being first-timers. The FPV Racing group had the largest entry of all the classes and the area of competition was adequate, but a little too rough for the quads to be unscathed after a mishap. A smooth, lush green lawn would have been to the liking of most!

There are mixed reactions about the perception and practicality of a Combined Nats, and some discipline chairmen preferred to limit the time that they wanted their activity to spend at the venue. In all, a very successful and enjoyable Nats, and the concept, with a few tweaks, is certainly the way forward. My sincere thanks to all who have pitched in to help, in whatever way. Stay tuned for information on the 2017 Combined Nats!

Fun Fly had only three competitors, and the now defunct Fun Fly SIG management did not understand the very simple request from the SAMAA chairman: “Will the SIG run a Fun Fly competition at the Nationals? Yes, or no”. The RC Helicopter Aerobatics discipline is recovering from low activity, and given a bit of time, the helicopter fliers can stand their ground against the other disciplines. There is a good core of fliers and judges, with enough interest to ensure steady growth. Many competitors who remember the pre-2000 Nationals are enquiring about a sit-down banquet, and the survey will determine if this is a majority desire among participants, and it can be managed by being cost effective. The social interaction was evident on all four days, with many participants, supporters, officials, and family members enjoying the company, shade, and the refreshments from the clubhouse bar. The braai on Sunday evening was well supported and enjoyed by all. Thanks to Cliff Lotter and Janis, the Western Transvaal Flying Club made their office available to the organisers, and this proved to be perfect. The clubhouse was even made available to a few KZN pilots as sleeping quarters, and Marietjie had arranged for a cleaning crew to keep the ablution block in good condition. The pilots briefing, and several AGMs of the various SIGs took place in this building, and it was put to good use. A fridge was available to keep the water and ice tea cool, and the CDs were able to replenish the cooler boxes for their officials on the various flight lines.

Camping was the preferred option for many...we need the Matlosana Council to jack up the ablutions.

The camping area was well supported this year, with a good few caravans and tents dotting the campground. This ensured a convivial atmosphere after hours with many a tall story around the braai fires to stave off the cool evening air, and enough lubrication from the bar. Why Klerksdorp, some have asked? We know what the site can offer, and the Klerksdorp Radio Flyers club members have proved willing and able to help where needed. I suppose in time we can look at spreading our wings to have a combined Nats in other provinces, provided the same facilities and services are on offer, and there is a SAMAA-registered club or two whose members can provide support and expertise, and perhaps a bed or two for the officials. The SAMAA made a cardinal mistake in 1992, with a compendium Nationals in April at the Gariep Dam; no support, little infrastructure, no local club, and the most severe disadvantage of all...a fierce Karoo wind hurtling through the two mountain ranges, causing all flying to be halted by about 11:00 in the morning. Central location you might say, and yet we did not have great support from other provinces.

The WTFC office served us well. Scorekeeping could be done in a quiet atmosphere.

Branding on the Quantum bus was good for going, but not for the return trip! Boet Denysschen and Koos Pretorius helping to apply the low-tack sticker.

Many participants offered to help pack the goody bags. Our grateful thanks to Piet Frylinck, Maureen Frylinck and Lorraine Morris, of Rhino Rescue Medical Supplies, sponsors of the goody bags.

And finally done, with stickers on both sides.

Pilot’s briefing on Friday night. Obviously not all participants attended, since some of them were only due to start flying on Monday.

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Tina, Tzu-Chun Lin (Fergus) and Michel Leusch having some liquid refreshments at the clubhouse. Elisna Swart, Paula Denysschen, Sherryl Clark and Sebastiano Sacca helping with the sales and distribution of the braai tickets. There were always willing hands, and great camaraderie.

Pieter Frylinck, Johan Sieling, Percy Attfield, Nici Jee, and Dirk Meyer enjoying some cold refreshments while waiting for one of the prizegiving ceremonies to start.

Johan Groenewald, Piet Frylinck, and Bob Skinner using the quick break on Saturday between Scale and Jet rounds to take a bite of the well-prepared hamburgers of the catering crew. Food was good, fresh, and well-prepared. For those who were not busy, several options in town were available.

Danie Potgieter, Nic Swart, Sebastiano Sacca, Jakes Mienie, Calvin Schroll, Elisna Swart and Burt Botha sharing some good times at the clubhouse.

RHI Tents sponsored this stretch tent, which proved ideal for the FPV racing contingent. Ideally, it could have been closer to the flight line. Generator at right sponsored by Marthinus Potgieter

Marthinus Potgieter and Bob Skinner with Danie Potgieter, the overall winner of the 2016 Nationals Victor Ludorum Trophy/Shield. Danie amassed most points for his placings in four events (required to be in separate disciplines). Shield made and donated by Maxine Smith, will be awarded annually.

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Scale at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Koos Pretorius A family affair...Herman Grobler starting the Piper PA-18 Super Cub, while son Abram holds on, and Hansie Grobler (pilot) manning the Tx.

The 2016 Combined National Championships was again held at PC Pelser Municipal Airport in Klerksdorp starting on the 23rd April. Arriving at the field on the 22nd April, I went to the SAMAA control centre, PC Pelser Airport administration building and greeted Bob and Marietjie Skinner. The wind was already blowing quite forcefully, and 90 degrees across the runway, which would prove challenging. The pilots briefing that evening was more of an introductory than a standard pilots briefing, so we briefed the pilots that were not at the pilots briefing on the Saturday morning. Saturday morning started with F4H Static judging. Bob was supposed to be one of the Static judges but was doing duty at the control line circle with judging, so I took his place for F4H and F4J Static judging. Judges Bob Skinner, Johan Ehlers, and Humphrey le Grice being entertained.

Flying started at about 11:50 with Sport Scale first: Hans Grobler had the honor of flying first with his electric-powered Midget Mustang. I was surprised how well the small aircraft handled the windy conditions, and Hans had a very good flight. Chris O'Connell flew a Piper Cub and although Cub's are usually tricky to fly under those windy conditions and it being Chris's first scale competition, he did a good job and had one in the bag. Abram Grobler had a very good first round with his Piper Colt and in fact it was the second-highest of the round. Again it was unbelievable to see this relatively small aircraft perform this well in these conditions; well done Abram! Brett Black flew his big Yak 54 and had the highest round of the competition. Needless to say, these big Large Scale Aerobatic aircraft are in a class of their own, when it comes to precision maneuvers; well done Brett. RV-4 of Koos Pretorius at its first competitive outing.

Deon Zwarts flew his Extra 260 and had a solid flight, the Extra handling the conditions better than most. Leon Centner was also a first-time scale participant with his almost half-scale Decathlon. Leon managed the windy conditions even though the Decathlon proved a handful during landing. I flew my new Vans RV-4 for the first time in a Scale competition, but the landings in the cross-wind conditions proved interesting to say the least.

Abram demonstrated some very stable flying, considering the conditions, and he had the highest scoring round for F4H. Hans Grobler flew his Piper Super Cub and did very well, achieving the second-highest score in F4H.

F4H followed Sport Scale, with Abram Grobler and his Aeronca LC up first. The aircraft, in its striking red colour scheme, flew a fantastic round and

Herman Grobler flew his Blackburn Monoplane, and during the flight, one of the wheels parted company with the aircraft and unfortunately the scale rules determine that this is considered a â&#x20AC;&#x153;jettisonâ&#x20AC;? of the aircraft components and therefore the scoring stops at that point, and the pilot has to land the aircraft as soon as is safe to do so. Luckily the wheel was found but unfortunately Herman needed more time and was not able to repair the aircraft at that point, and that was the end of his competition.

Herman Grobler with the Blackburn Type D Monoplane being scrutineered by the static judges.

Hansie Grobler showing a side view of the Piper Super Cub to the static judges.

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During Sunday morning, the CD and contest management decided that there will be flown a second round of Scale, then two rounds of Jet flying, followed by the third round of Scale. We started with F4H first. Abram took-off with his Aeronca LC, and after a good start to his round, the usually-reliable engine in the Aeronca died and he did a good job of landing the plane dead-stick without any mishap. Younger brother Hansie then took-off, and after even a shorter period of time, his engine also died and he too had to perform an unplanned landing. Speculation had it that father Herman was sabotaging the boys by contaminating their fuel! Brett Black again had the highest-scoring round, followed by myself and then Deon Zwarts. Abram had another dead-stick, this time with his Piper Colt and again managed a safe engine-out landing. Leon Centner of KZN had a much better round, but the big Decathlon again kept him busy during the landing. Well done Leon, hope to see you at the Nationals again next year. Dirk Visser managed to make it to the Nationals after having a lot of problems with servos in his twin electric-powered B25 Mitchell bomber, and flew it very convincingly in the windy conditions. I had a better flight with the RV-4 but again the landing proved challenging. Deon and Chris both had better flights; this again proves that the more time you spend in front of judges, the better and more confident you will fly. During the third round, Chris and Leon withdrew due to the windy conditions. Brett flew another highest scoring round, with the YAK not affected by the wind, followed by Deon, myself, and Abram. Dirk had another good round with the B25. Hans Grobler flew the Midget Mustang but struggled in the windy conditions by having to fly the aircraft faster than usual. Hans and Abram used their better judgement and withdrew, to save their aircraft, and no third round of F4H took place.

Pit area and ready boxes always drew crowds of spectators.

I would like to thank the judges Johan Ehlers, Humphrey le Grice, and Bob Skinner, and also Annemarié Ehlers for the scoring, and Boet Denysschen for being the CD. Marthinus Potgieter stood in for a few flights, relieving Bob to have some lunch. I want to thank all the pilots who took part; without you guys no competition is possible. I hope that all the pilots that committed and promised to support the Series Scale during the rest of the year will do so. Then we can grow the Scale competitions to what they can and are supposed to be. I would very much like to see more regular activity from centres in the rest of the country. Send me an e-mail message 27725661765@vodamail.co.za and let’s partner to make this a reality. I would be very pleased to have to find more time to accommodate a very large entry at the next Nationals!

Dirk Visser’s B25 Mitchell receiving some attention. With many spectators arriving on Sunday, it was necessary for a barrier to ensure spectator safety.

Abram, Hansie, and Herman Grobler with their trophies for competing in the F4H class.

Deon Zwarts receiving his trophy and certificate from Koos Pretorius, and Johan Groenewald.

View of the flight line and the ready box area. Jets starting to arrive for the Sport Jet competition.

Leon Centner and Clive McInnes wheeling the large Decathlon back to the pit area.

It was great to see some unusual subjects at the Nats for a welcome change. This 1930s American bright red Aeronca LC of Abram Grobler being one of them.

Abram Grobler receiving his spoils from NASA chairman, Koos Pretorius.

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Abram and Hansie Grobler. Good to see building and flying skills transferred to the next generation.

Scale judges: Bob Skinner, Johan Ehlers, and Humphrey le Grice. No prizes, but many thanks for the diligent work on the flight line and static table.

Beaming from ear-to-ear...Brett Black receiving his first place trophy for his win in Sport Scale.

Second place in F4H went to Hansie Grobler.

Herman Grobler receiving third place F4H trophy and certificate from Koos and Johan.

AnnemariĂŠ Ehlers did scoring, to her usual high standard.

Results - Scale 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Place Name

Model

Static score

1. 2. 3.

Abram Grobler Hansie Grobler Herman Grobler

Aeronca LC Piper PA-18 Super Cub Blackburn Monoplane

1172.10 1188.60 1254.00

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Brett Black Deon Zwarts Koos Pretorius Abram Grobler Dirk Visser Hansie Grobler Chris Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connell Leon Centner

YAK 54 Extra 260 RV-4 Piper Colt B-25 Mitchell Midget Mustang Piper Cub Decathlon

Flight 1

F4H (Standoff-Scale) 2099.00 1887.00 1231.50 Sport Scale 2372.50 1752.00 1845.00 1935.00 0.00 1696.50 1462.00 1269.00

Flight 2

Flight 3

676.00 308.00 0.00

2267.00 1951.00 1968.50 968.00 1717.00 1667.50 1559.00 1675.50

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Average of best 2 flights

TOTAL

0.00 0.00 0.00

1387.50 1097.50 615.75

2559.60 2286.10 1869.75

2110.00 2026.00 1904.00 1803.50 1783.50 1454.50 0.00 0.00

2319.75 1988.50 1936.25 1869.25 1750.25 1682.00 1510.75 1472.25

Pylon Racing at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Arrie Schoeman Lionel Smith (with Russell vd Westhuizen holding) and Danie Potgieter (Burt Botha assisting).

The Pylon Racing Nationals for 2016 were held as part of the combined SAMAA Power Nationals at Klerksdorp, from 23 to 26 April. Standard Quickies, Hot Quickies and Q40 were the classes available to compete in. With increased interest in the FAI-F3D class, we could very well see F3D again at the 2017 Nationals. Come on guys, let’s do it!

Heat three was unfortunately again not a good heat for Russell, as he had another DNF (did not finish), with the engine that did not want to play its part, while I posted a better score than in heat two. After we completed the three heats, Russell discovered the problem on his Polecat, but could not fix it at that stage, and we called it a day.

The number of entries received, were unfortunately much lower than in 2015, with 11 entries against the 17 of 2015. Unfortunately one of the entries could not make it to the event, leaving us with 10 pilots on the starting lines. The planning for Pylon Racing was that we would fly the whole of Monday, and to finish on Tuesday should there be any heats that were not completed by Monday evening. Due to a number of pilots also participating in Large Scale Aerobatics, it was decided that we would start with Q40's first, to enable the Large Scale pilots to settle in for the day before they had to come to the Pylon start line for their heats. We were only two entries in the Q40 event: Russell van der Westhuizen, and myself. With the take-off in heat one, Russell discovered that he had a faulty rudder servo on his GR7, and could not get off the ground. He therefore posted a 200 for the first heat. Although I could complete my 10 laps, I had two cuts in this heat and therefore also posted a 200 score. For heat two, Russell changed over to his Polecat, but was plagued with engine problems during the heat, and could not finish the 10 laps. This gave him another 200, while I was fortunate enough to get some scores on the board.

Now that’s how you launch a pylon racer! Lionel Smith doing a scrumhalf launch of Russell’s aerie.

Pylon could be dangerous for spectators venturing too close. Maxine Smith did not want to go closer.

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After the Q40's, it was the turn of the Hot Q500 class, with five entries. Russell van der Westhuizen, Danie Potgieter, and Lionel Smith were all posting very good times, with myself and Craig Bell not having the best of days, as Craig's plane decided to go into it's own direction in heat one and was damaged, causing Craig to not fly the aircraft again in the event. I myself had a “mishap” around pylon 3, and thereby destroying the plane. Although I had a back-up plane, I also damaged that one in heat four, and could not continue to participate. At the end of the six heats, it was Danie Potgieter who took top honours (with his brand new Slingshot from Big Bruce Racing), followed by Russell van der Westhuizen in second place, and Lionel Smith in third. As we saved some time during the morning by flying only three heats of Q40's, we took a lunch break after the Hot Q500's, and then proceeded with the racing of the Standard Quickies after lunch. In the Standard Quickie class, we had six entries, including two of our “pattern” friends: André Stockwell, and Clinton Carter-Brown. Already in heat one it was clear that Russell was by far the quickest, with him posting the best time of all in this class in heat two. Jacques Botha's plane developed a problem in heat one due to a faulty carburettor, and he could not proceed with any racing after completion of heat one. Craig Bell and Lionel Smith were chasing each other for second place, with Craig eventually ending ahead of Lionel with 10 seconds in total time after the 6 heats (with one throw-away heat).

Russell van der Westhuizen triumphed in the Standard Quickie 500 class.

André Stockwell and Clinton Carter-Brown battled a bit to settle in into the pylon course, and with that, unfortunately had just too many cuts to catch up on Russell, Craig, and Lionel. However, they did manage to finish most of the heats, and that in itself was already a big achievement (keeping your plane in one piece). So well done to you two, hope to see you at next year's Nats again! The final results are shown below. The prize-giving ceremony was held at the field after the end of all flying on Monday. We especially would like to thank Marthinus Potgieter, Oom Danie Potgieter, and Johan Groenewald for doing the timing for us, as well as Zane Mannell who played the role of starter and running the flight line. Last but not least, a huge thank you to Alan and Juanita Smith from Al's Hobbies for sponsoring the fuel for the event. The next pylon racing event will be held on Saturday 16th July at the Rand Model Aeronautic Club, south of Johannesburg. Come and see what Pylon Racing is all about...telephone me on 082-789-9500, and experience this exciting aeromodelling activity!

Craig Bell second in Standard Quickie 500. Represented the Free State...let’s see more FS pilots!

Arrie just could not complete the turn around pylon one, and the timekeepers recorded a cut!

Thank you, Zane Mannell. Starter for Pylon Racing. Marthinus Potgieter, Johan Groenewald, and Arrie Schoeman making the awards.

Results - Pylon Racing 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Pl. Name

Heat 4

Heat 5

Heat 6

TOTAL

205.83 400.00

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Hot Quickie 500 (FAI Class F3R) Danie Pogieter 105.69 103.24 200 90.25 Russell vd Westhuizen 200 92.61 92.50 92.80 Lionel Smith 96.84 121.10 104.46 93.83 Arrie Schoeman 200 200 106.81 200 Craig Bell 200 200 200 200

89.41 113.80 200 200 200

85.50 90.85 85.32 200 200

474.09 482.56 500.55 906.81 1000.00

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Russell vd Westhuizen Craig Bell Lionel Smith Clinton Carter-Brown Jacques Botha André Stockwell

Standard Quickie 500 96.09 105.41 104.48 109.32 200 155.01 104.41 112.15 200 200 132.55 200 200 200 200 200 136.59 200

103.77 154.25 200 134.55 200 200

111.75 117.38 200 200 200 200

506.18 735.96 746.54 824.33 932.90 936.59

1. Arrie Schoeman 2. Russell vd Westhuizen

Watching control line flying is hungry work...and Mommy would not let me go to the pylon course on my own to support my Daddy! Charlie Smith building up his energy. Lionel third in Hot Quickie 500.

Scores in red are the discards.

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Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Q40 (FAI Class F3T) 200 108.90 96.93 200 200 200

96.43 200 129.98 157.23 132.90 200

Control Line at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Percy Attfield. Photos by Theo Kleynhans, Maxine Smith, Marietjie Skinner Control Line Stunt action, with Dirk Meyer wishing he had put less fuel into the tank of his aerie. Nici waiting patiently for the engine to quit.

This was the second Combined Nationals attended by the Control Line fliers. As last year, the newly-surfaced aircraft parking apron was assigned to the Control Line SIG, CLASA. Early on Saturday 16th April, Theuns Hattingh from Ventersdorp, who farms 80 kilometres from Klerksdorp, Christiaan Hattingh, and Jurgens Smit arrived at PC Pelser Airport to mark the control line circles for the Nats. Theuns brought three friends to help as well, and he had also made three marking cables, one for each distance, 3 metres for the centre circle; 19,6 metres for the racing circle; and 25 metres for the larger aerobatic planes. With the Northwest team in operation, the circles were marked out in under three hours. In addition, the site for combat was identified and Theuns returned to the airport on Monday with a team of workers to level the area, cut the grass, and mark the outer circle for Combat. A big thank you to Theuns and his team for the work that was done to ready the site for the Control Line Nationals which commenced with a practice day on Friday 22nd April and ended Monday 25th April.

Long, early-morning shadows, before the start of Stunt activity.

Control Line competitors came from the Western Cape, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Ventersdorp district, and Gauteng. In all, 26 entries would compete in Aerobatics, Team Racing, Speed, and Combat. Aerobatics commenced on Saturday morning with round 1 of 5; four entries in Novice and four entries in FAI F2B. Unfortunately Theuns suffered serious inner ear infection, and after a visit to the doctor, he had to withdraw due to illness. A great pity after all the work you did Theuns. All went smoothly for the remaining competitors except that Danie Potgieter suffered engine failure during the inverted flight of his schedule. Danie made an excellent inverted landing on the uncompromising tar apron, and was ready to fly again on Sunday morning.

Stunters of Theo Kleynhans and Henry Kurowski waiting in the pit area.

Percy Attfield helping to prepare the C/L circle.

Theuns Hattingh mixing lime...came very prepared!

Percyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s smooth-flying Centurion gained third place in F2B Aerobatics for him.

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Saturday afternoon it was Slow Goodyear racing. To encourage new entrants into racing which can be hectic at times, this event has a maximum speed of 2,8 seconds per lap. This year Theo Kleynhans entered his first racing competition; well done Theo. Later in the afternoon the Speed event took place. Due to the many different types of planes entered into this event, it was a percentage speed event. Lionel Smith used the internet to identify the record times for each class, and the times achieved by the planes entered were calculated as a percentage against the record speeds. He flew his Pulse Jet, which made enough noise to make sure everyone at the Nats knew about it, to 246 kilometres per hour; 96% of the speed for that class. The plane, the lines and the handle were pull tested to 42kg before it was flown. Russell van der Westhuizen releasing Lionel Smith’s stunt machine for one of his flights.

Saturday evening the AGM for CLASA took place and was followed by a social dinner event at a local restaurant. This is becoming a Control Line Nats tradition, giving opportunity for the wives and partners of competitors to get to know each other and to catch up with the past year's events. In Control Line, wives and partners play a major role in all events, tabulating aerobatic scores, timing and lap counting for racing, and timing and cut-judging for combat. Without their interest, support, and participation, the Control Line competitions cannot take place. Sunday again started with Aerobatics; two rounds this time. It was followed by Open Goodyear racing. This class has no speed limit; it is the faster, the better. With two pilots in the circle, it is hard work to fly 100 laps or 10 kilometres, with two pit stops during the heats, and two hundred laps with 5 pit stops during the final. Should you decide to enter this event next year, also enrol at the local gym or start training for your annual marathon. During this event the wind arrived with gusts up to 12 metres per second, and sustained wind speeds of 9 metres per second, which is the cut-off point for safe Control Line flying. The final had to be delayed, and when a lull in the wind gave an opportunity, the final was completed in difficult and windy conditions, but the experienced pilots, Dirk Meyer and Lionel Smith with their respective pitmen/mechanics proved themselves equal to the task.

Lionel’s pulse jet had Nats participants racing to the CL area to see what the noise was all about.

This stunter modelled on a YAK was Lionel’s choice for aerobatics. Served him well for first place.

Dirk Meyer flew this fast little Eze with ease...even if the run-time of the engine-tank combination caused him to lose landing points each time. I think it was a way for him to practice his manoeuvres! The Eze control line aerobatic plane is simple to put together, and is a great flyer, for experts and beginners alike. Get in touch with CLASA, get building, and join in the fun of control line flying.

Racer was damaged enough to put Lionel and Russell out of Slow Goodyear racing.

The Matt Kanja-designed Sterling Ringmaster, ca. 1951. Control Line never goes out of fashion!

This pretty Como stunter with classic lines belongs to Henry Kurowski. Built by Roy Harvey.

This picture says a thousand words! Lionel Smith: “Now hold on both of you...this is how it’s going to be. One hundred laps, with maximum three pit stops”. Russell van der Westhuizen listening intently while Libby Kurowski gets the lowdown on the finer points of timekeeping.

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The wind stayed for the afternoon, gusting often and reaching 9 metres per second for sustained periods. Once again there would be two pilots in the same circle; this time trying to cut the opponents streamer, and in the interest of safety it was decided to cancel the Combat event. Sunday evening, the Klerksdorp Radio Flyers braai and the prizegiving for the events that were completed took place at the club house. The competitors of the completed Control Line events. Slow Goodyear and Open Goodyear racing, and Speed received their certificates and trophies as well. Monday morning the remaining two Aerobatic rounds were flown. Libby Kurowski gave the final scores for Aerobatics and the Control Line Victor Ludorum Shield to the Nats office, and the SAMAA management was kind enough to handle the remaining Control Line certificates and trophies during the lunch break of the other disciplines. Thank you for that.

The Stick-and-Stump racer. Stick = Conrad Cloete, Stump = Dirk Meyer.

Lionel Smith walked off with the two most coveted Control Line trophies; the Ford trophy for Aerobatics, and the Victor Ludorum Shield for Control Line. Both these trophies originated in 1948 and have many names, important in the history of South African aeromodelling, inscribed on them. Everyone enjoyed their weekend at Klerksdorp and the good organisation by SAMAA. Bob and Marietjie Skinner, Marthinus Potgieter, and Johan Groenewald deserve special mention. Thank you to all the competitors and especially to the Aerobatic judges John Withers and Bob Skinner, the wives and partners for assisting as tabulators for the aerobatic scoring, and as timekeepers and lap counters during the racing events, for your contributions.

Danie Potgieter had to be satisfied with second place in Novice Stunt.

Lionel Smith doing what he does best. Took first place in Expert Stunt (FAI/F2B Aerobatics).

Stunt judges Bob Skinner, John Withers, and score tabulator Libby Kurowski.

The Ford Trophy for first place in FAI-F2B Control Line Aerobatics has an illustrious history. It was first awarded in 1948 at the Nats, jointly to Monte Malherbe and Cliff Culverwell. Nats took place at the Pretoria Aeromodelling Club in Queenswood, Pretoria.

Results - Control Line 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals FAI-F2B Aerobatics

Second place in FAI-F2B Aerobatics went to Henry Kurowski.

Pl. Name

Flight 1

Flight 2

Flight 3

Flight 4

Flight 5

Best 4

1. 2. 3. 4.

Lionel Smith Henry Kurowski Percy Attfield Dirk Meyer

1739.0 1557.0 1618.5 1291.5

1730.0 1691.0 1601.5 1420.5

1838.5 1690.0 1605.5 1519.5

1866.5 1633.0 1258.0 -

1876.0 1718.0 1693.0 -

7320.0 6732.0 6518.5 4231.5

1. 2. 3. 4.

Theo Kleynhans Danie Potgieter Theuns Hattingh Christiaan Hattingh

805.0 218.0

Novice Aerobatics 776.0 847.0 744.0 751.0

847.5 857.5

835.0 812.5

3334.5 3165.0

Withdrawn, due to illness Consequential withdrawal

Percentage Speed Pl. Name

Flight 1

Flight 2

km/h

Perc.

1. Lionel Smith 2. Conrad Cloete 3. Henry Kurowski

11.78 22.80 22.33

11.48 22.04 22.13

246.0 163.3 162.9

96.05* 53.17** 53.02

Slow Goodyear Racing

Percy Attfield; third in FAI-F2B Aerobatics. Receiving trophy and certificate from Johan Groenewald.

Pl. Pilot/Mechanic

Heat 1

Heat 2

1. Dirk Meyer - Pilot Conrad Cloete - Mechanic 2. Theo Kleynhans - Pilot Henry Kurowski - Mechanic 3. Russell vd Westhuizen - Pilot Lionel Smith - Mechanic

6:20:50

6:38:19

Final Aircraft damaged at 160 laps

6:54:17

7:48:53

Aircraft damaged at 145 laps

Aircraft crashed in practice

Open Goodyear Racing Pl. Pilot/Mechanic

Heat 1

Heat 2

Final

1. Dirk Meyer - Pilot Conrad Cloete - Mechanic 2. Russell vd Westhuizen - Pilot Lionel Smith - Mechanic 3. Theo Kleynhans - Pilot Henry Kurowski - Mechanic

4:39:68

4:38:10

09:21:19

5:00:07

5:01:69

13:34:41

Engine developed malfunction during practice

* 7 laps. 1/2 mile on line length. ** 10 laps. 1 kilometre on line length. Result is percentage of current AMA record (USA). Theo Kleynhans receiving the Novice Aerobatics trophy for his win, from Percy Attfield.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 11

Helicopters at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals No report received at time of publication

(l-r) Sam van Zyl, Bryan Currie, Arney Sieling, Johan Sieling, Awie van Wyk, and Rudie van der Schyff.

Bryan Currie during one of his flights. Finished second in the FAI/F3C class.

Wiehan Vosloo did the scorekeeping. Helicopter judges were Pieter Mulder, Danie van der Linden, and Killearn Ritchie-Robinson.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Baas Pietâ&#x20AC;? Frylinck kept things moving on the flight line.

View of the RC Helicopter flight line.

Johan Groenewald, Bryan Currie (2nd), Arney Sieling (1st), Marthinus Potgieter, and Bob Skinner.

Prizegiving took place on Saturday afternoon 23 April.

Results - RC Helicopters 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Pos.

Name

Flight 1 Actual

Normalised

Flight 2 Actual

Normalised

Flight 3 Actual

Normalised

Flight 4 Actual

Normalised

Total

Normalised

220.35 211.25 155.75

1000.00 959.13 707.15

221.50 210.25 0.00

1000.00 949.20 0.00

3000.00 2853.80 2128.35

1000.00 951.26 709.45

1. 2. 3.

Arney Sieling Bryan Currie Sam van Zyl

203.00 188.50 146.50

1000.00 928.57 721.67

215.50 203.75 150.75

FAI-F3C 1000.00 945.47 699.53

Awie van Wyk

113.00

1000.00

125.50

Advanced 1000.00

118.50

1000.00

125.00

1000.00

3000.00

1000.00

Rudie van der Schyff

61.50

1000.00

60.50

Sportsman 1000.00

86.00

1000.00

93.50

1000.00

3000.00

1000.00

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 12

Aerobatics at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Stuart Nix. Pics by Michael Borcherds and Marietjie Skinner This is the future of RC Aerobatics in South Africa! Young Joshua Twomey cleaned up in his first Nationals to win the Sportsman class.

The general pit area at the aerobatic flight line was always busy.

Cobus Malan checking the trim settings on his aircraft.

This was the second time the pattern Nationals had been part of the SAMAA Power Nationals, and it proved to be even better than last year.

The forecasted weather for the weekend was warm, sunny, and with a slight breeze. How right they were. The conditions were just perfect for some good flying, although the Cape Town guys did find the thin air rather challenging.

This year the MAASA Precision Aerobatics (Pattern) competition was held over two of the four days of the SAMAA Combined Power Nationals, sponsored by Aerial Concepts and hosted at Klerksdorp PC Pelser airfield The MAASA event was held on Saturday and Sunday, with each class flying two rounds per day. This format proved to be a huge success and surely sets the tone for future Nats. A huge word of thanks to the officials that supported us and made it all possible. Competition Director was Danie Potgieter Snr. Judges were Bruce Clark (MAASA Chief Judge), Sebastiano Sacca, Martin Knoetzen, and Craig Bell. Cheryl Clark did a great job with the scoring. Our thanks to Bob Skinner and the rest of the SAMAA team that planned and coordinated the event.

After a long day in the sun, Friday practice was over and a welcome beer and a bite to eat at the club house were a welcome end of the day relaxing with friends, some of which only get together once a year at the Nationals. Saturday morning was the start of the competition. All pilots arrived at the field. The Klerksdorp weather once again was hot and sunny, and everyone was enthusiastic to get started. Danie Senior was once again CD and got everyone in order and kept the flight line on schedule, which was challenging at times when we had to give way for full-size aircraft landing and taking-off during the event.

The entries from the Cape had made the long 12-hour drive on the Thursday and were first at the field Friday morning. (Cobus showed his full size RC skills!) They were soon joined by local entries, all looking for the opportunity to check out the conditions.

Sportsman class was the first to go in round one, with a great entry of five pilots, including Michael Borcherds from the Cape in only his first season. Watch out boys, Michael was second after round one winner, Hugo, followed by Len, Joshua, and Kobus. As per the sporting code rules, Sportsman pilots are not allowed to compete with a 2x2 plane, and Hugo had to compete with his Stik,which was set up just the night before; great flying.

Michael Saccaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Episode takes to the air.

Michael Borcherds fourth in theSportsman class.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 13

Grant Brook flying; Clinton Carter-Brown calling.

Six Advanced entries were next. There was a close battle between Chris O'Connell and Pieter Botha, Chris being the victor. Local pilot Nico was not too far behind for third. Cape entries Cobus and Jacques were 4th and 5th, both finding the thin air quite difficult and finding it all a bit too much. Ian Becke rounded off round one. At this moment the ground shook from an underground explosion or tremor, wow! We all thought it was Cobus knocking his knees together. The Masters class had seven pilots. There was a film called the “Magnificient Seven”, but I don't think it was applicable in this case. The three Cape entries found the going very tough. Ozzie had crashed his Sensation the week before but still took part flying his Galactik 90. A great show of “nowhere to go” left his caller losing his place on the call card.

Aeries and pilot’s patiently waiting their turn to fly. Clinton flying, with Grant calling.

Danie Potgieter, last year’s winner, was a close second behind the winner of round one, “home build” Craig Bell. Freddie Kotze was a close third and Burt Botha with his Angel’s Shadow, placed fourth. It was clear that the Masters class was going to be a close battle between the top three. And to complete round one was the F3A “big boys”, all flying for SA team selection. The F3A pilots took on the P-17 schedule. André, Roston (no longer the junior) and Calvin hit the 70's right from the start. Clinton not far behind and determined to show the rest a clean pair of heals to Grant and Michael. Michael is the new junior in the class and it is his first year in F3A. André showed that he is still the master, winning round one but only just ahead of Roston and Calvin. Lunch, a burger and cool drink, and there was the opportunity to look at the many other SIG disciplines taking part, from Control Line to a very well supported Multi-Rotor FPV racing. Wow, now that was hectic to watch.

More patience, aeries, your turn will come!

With everyone well refreshed we took to the skies with Round 2. There was very little change in the excellent weather. The scores were anticipated to get better. Well some did, and some didn't… Sportsman pilots Len and Joshua found their form and with only eight-tenths separating them, it was a great battle. But it was Len just creeping ahead to win the round. First round winner Hugo was relegated to third, ahead of Michael who dropped to fourth, and Kobus Steinmann still at fifth place but with a much improved percentage. Could Chris do it again and win round two in the Advanced class? Well Pieter said, “not a chance” with not quite the same high scores as round one, but good enough to win the round ahead of Nico, with Chris relegated to third. Cobus was improving and keeping his knees together ahead of Jacques and Ian. Chris told me afterwards that he had made a stupid mistake and thinks that he would otherwise have won that round as well. Right Chris, you can believe that.

Stuart Nix contemplating a move back to monoplanes?

The Masters trio of Craig, Freddie, and Danie were in a class of their own. The WC pilots could certainly learn much from them...after all, they are ex F3A pilots who at some time or other have represented our country. Anyway, Craig improved on his first round scores to win round two, but this time ahead of Freddie, with Danie relegated to third. Burt again took fourth but only just ahead of an improving Rodney who beat Stuart (now that was a first). Ozzie was still battling with his Galactik and decided enough was enough. He decided to spend the rest of the day and one night and return to the Cape on the Sunday, Shame Ozzie, you kept us all entertained even if we had to wear hard hats! Round 2 for the F3A class, and once again André Stockwell won the round. Roston was relegated to third behind an improved Calvin. Grant had a big smile his face and beat Clinton and Michael to fourth place. Clinton had a couple of silly mistakes, and had given fourth place to Grant (well, that's what he said). Michael's fantastic score with his Episode pushed Clinton down to sixth, not a place he likes to be. So round two was done, and Saturday was over. We were left to reflect on our flying, relax, have a beer or two, even more if you had a bad day, and visit one of the local restaurants. (Mike’s!)

Burt Botha’s Angel’s Shadow with contra drive breaking ground.

Pieter Botha and his Visa missed first place in the Advanced class by only 2 points out of 3 000!

Colombo/Anderson Mystery on landing approach. Flown by Stuart Nix.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 14

André Stockwell’s VISA cruising by after a winning flight in the FAI-F3A class. André competed in his 26th consecutive Nats, winning many of them of course. A most impressive feat, André!

Sunday. The day started with perfect weather. Even hotter in fact as compared to Saturday, and we struggled to find shade. No rain was expected, but there was the chance of the wind picking up later in the day. Joshua was the clear winner in Sportsman. Finding the line, he impressed the judges with some great flying. Second and third places were closely contested between Michael and Len. Phew, that was close. Hugo, who started off really well, was relegated to fifth ahead of Kobus. Three rounds were completed and there was a different winner in each round. Round four was going to be interesting. It looked like it was going to be between Joshua and Len. What a great scrap. In Advanced, Pieter once again won the round, but had to keep a close eye on Chris who was just behind him. Cobus started to find his breath, with a great score putting him third ahead of Nico, Jacques, and Ian. Like in the Sportsman class, the final round was going to be close, with bets on between Chris and Pieter for the win. Masters was once again dominated by the top three pilots. This time though Freddie showed Craig that he couldn’t have it all his own way, but only just. Danie with some CG modification found it much better but still not good enough to threaten the top two. Burt was once again fourth, and the battle between Rodney and Stuart continued, with Stuart taking fifth place. By this time Ozzie was on a plane back to the Cape reminiscing on what could have been had he still had the Sensation. In F3A, the youth finally came through on this round, flying the 'F-17' schedule. Roston pulled off a fantastic flight to win the first round of the 'F' ahead of André. Calvin was third. Like the Masters, it's the top three who are in a class of their own. Leaving Clinton (who improved from his second round) beating Grant and Michael. Clinton was so happy to shut up Grant. Let's see if he can do it in the final round.

The conclusion of the MAASA Nationals was the final F-17 schedule. Calvin was at home in the conditions, and it must be the Klerksdorp wind that he is used too. André was a close behind, with Roston third, closely followed by Clinton in fourth, and in the last two places were Grant and Michael. Once the dust had settled, André was the clear winner ahead of Roston and Calvin. Clinton managed fourth in front of Grant and Michael. If you haven't watched the F-schedule, wow, how they remember the sequence and do the manoeuvres is wonderful to see. So that's that. Another Nationals over. A great event, and it worked really well having the MAASA portion of the Combined Power Nationals over two days. Thanks to Bob and his staff at SAMAA, all the staff in the back rooms, and all the judges and officials who sat out in the hot sun and wind. We really appreciate your support. From the guys from the Cape… can Klerksdorp please inform us of more places to eat at. Three nights of Mike’s Kitchen was a bit much, but at least Cobus was happy. (Calvin, or Sebastiano and Michael,or Nico and Hugo Erasmus would have been a good source to advise you of the many eating places in Klerksdorp. Peer’s Place served excellent steaks - Ed.) Note from the MAASA management: we sincerely regret the error in the results of the Masters class, discovered only recently. Competitors in all four classes, when flying four rounds of competition, can potentially get a maximum normalised score of 3 000 points (with the results based on normalised scores, not actual percentages). The Masters class results were somehow incorrectly calculated to a maximum of 2 000 points, and resulted in the competitors placed second and third being affected. We sincerely apologise for this honest mistake, to both Danie Potgieter (now second), and Freddie Kotze (now third).

Lunch was short and most of us were melting in the heat. Danie Senior gathered the judges and opened round four. Joshua was just amazing in Sportsman, and landed to loud cheer. What a flight. He hit the seventies. That just sealed the class win ahead of Len, Kobus, Hugo, and Michael. What a fantastic Sportsman class to be in, with some great flying and enthusiasm. Advanced pilots should beware of such talent. Well done Joshua, with a very respectable sixty six percent. In the Advanced class the battle for first place was between Pieter and Chris . Chris produced a great final flight to beat Pieter and win the class. Nico was third, ahead of Jacques, Ian, and Cobus. It was great to see Jacques, Michael, and a few others competing in their first Nationals. I am sure they will all be back next year. As there was a small break before the Masters, someone switched on the fan and the wind blew to the extent that some of the Masters pilots hung up their radios and were scratched from the final round. Rather go home to fly again next week than damage their planes.

Above and below: Chris O’Connell used ex-André Stockwell VISA; gained first place in Advanced.

So that left just the top three in Masters. Craig showed us why he was an F3A pilot, being the clear winner ahead of Danie and Freddie, both of whom made some mistakes due to the conditions. Craig was the overall winner ahead of Danie, with Freddie close behind. (see the results table for the corrected results in this class - Ed.) A great class with a clear divide.

Calvin’s Opium has served him well, proving that one does not need the latest airframe.

The ex-Wolfgang Matt Peridot flown to second place in the FAI-F3A class by Roston Dugmore.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 15

Hugo Erasmus steered this Stik well enough for third place in the Sportsman class.

Clinton celebrated a birthday at the Nats.

Expert win for Craig Bell garnered him this trophy.

Grant Brook carries his Galactika back from the flight line. His smile indicates that it might have been his over-70 percent second flight.

The aerobatic aeries are becoming ever-more colourful. Nose of Grant Brook’s Galactika.

Sebastiano Sacca indicating the start of Calvin Schroll’s flight.

Danie Potgieter’s Sebart Hera S now without contra-drive.

Results - Aerobatics 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Place

Name

Flight 1 Perc. Normalised

Flight 2 Perc. Normalised

Flight 3 Perc. Normalised

Flight 4 Perc. Normalised

Ave best 3

Normalised

1000 901 860 813 656

66.77 62.98 61.36 59.49 47.12

2989 2845 2783 2781 2110

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Joshua Twomey Len de Villiers Hugo Erasmus Michael Borcherds Kobus Steinmann

57.27 58.64 62.12 61.06 34.09

922 944 1000 983 549

66.06 66.82 61.36 60.00 52.58

Sportsman 989 1000 918 898 787

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Chris O’Connell Pieter Botha Nico Erasmus Cobus Malan Jacques Botha Ian Becke

69.28 68.99 61.16 56.01 52.61 45.65

1000 996 883 809 759 659

62.32 64.78 63.19 61.16 46.16 54.86

Advanced 962 1000 975 944 713 847

65.00 65.14 53.26 56.59 45.95 44.35

998 1000 818 869 701 681

67.68 66.30 64.86 50.36 63.26 56.16

1000 980 958 744 935 830

67.32 66.81 63.07 57.92 54.01 52.22

2998 2996 2816 2621 2407 2357

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Craig Bell Danie Potgieter * Freddie Kotze * Burt Botha Stuart Nix Rodney Potter Ozzie Parenzee

66.61 65.44 64.28 58.83 56.22 53.39 35.44

1000 982 965 883 844 802 532

68.33 64.89 66.11 54.28 51.61 52.00 24.67

Masters 1000 950 967 794 755 761 361

65.17 64.67 65.78 58.94 45.56 43.61 0

991 983 1000 896 693 663 0

62.11 61.89 42.67 0 0 0 0

1000 996 687 0 0 0 0

66.70 65.00 65.39 57.35 51.13 49.67 20.04

3000 *2962 *2932 2574 2292 2225 893

73.94 72.44 71.83 68.78 74.72 63.56

1000 980 971 930 875 860

73.56 71.89 72.22 63.22 70.39 68.94

FAI-F3A 1000 977 982 860 957 937

68.38 68.86 66.43 63.95 61.62 54.05

993 1000 965 929 895 785

65.95 63.71 66.33 63.00 59.33 56.90

994 961 1000 950 894 858

71.96 71.06 70.76 65.32 65.58 63.13

2994 2957 2953 2809 2746 2655

63.79 57.27 55.15 57.42 42.58

1000 898 865 900 667

70.45 63.48 60.61 57.27 46.21

* Corrected results causing change in placement

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

André Stockwell Roston Dugmore Calvin Schroll Clinton Carter-Brown Grant Brook Michael Sacca

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 16

Large Scale Aerobatics at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Owen Vuyk. Photos by Clive McInnes, Michel Leusch, James Searle, Marietjie Skinner, Sherryl Clark Flight line looks quiet, but in fact was so busy that the available daylight hours were fully maximised. Pieter Frylinck kept them on their toes all the time.

The 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals was a huge success for Large Scale Aerobatics; a total of 25 entries spread across the four classes made for some interesting competition. Sportsman saw eight entries, eight in Intermediate, three in Advanced, and six in Unlimited. Thanks to Clive McInnes from CMC Hobbies, we were privileged to have Fergus Lin from Great Power engines (Taiwan) join us as an international guest in the Unlimited class. Over the months leading up to the Nationals, Large Scale Aerobatics dedicated a lot of time to promoting and growing the SIG. This showed at the Nationals with a lot of new faces around, leading to a large increase in entries compared to the 2015 Nationals. We must applaud the Kwa-Zulu Natal pilots who arrived in great numbers and travelled a great distance to participate. They arrived well prepared and showed many of the competitors a thing or two on the flight line, as well as great team spirit. This team spirit was unmatched by others at the National competition. Well done to Clive McInnes and Michel Leusch for your part played in this. The Large Scale fraternity was also supported with the presence of a few of the Protea pilots/National representatives from the F3A team, who were all determined to show the pilots how it's done. As a result of the enormous success of last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s combined Nationals, the Large Scale organisers reached a stage where they had to eventually close the entries, due to the limited time available on the last two days of the Nats. However, this did not deter the pilots as they started flying at first light on both days of the competition. Flying continued through most of the two days, until last light. The flight line director, Pieter Frylinck, has to be commended for his energy and strict control of movements on the ground and those flying, and eventually having to clear the flight line.

Camaraderie among the KZN pilots was very evident. Well done, guys!

Clinton Carter-Brown getting his plane ready to go on the flight line.

The ingenious rotation system for judges that was arranged, saw the judges getting a break every third rotation of the classes, without ever stopping the activities on the flight line for judges' lunch and tea breaks. We may need more of this type of smart planning, if we are to accept the growth over the last year, continuing next year. Flying on day one started only a few minutes after the sun peeked over the horizon. First up were the pilots in the Sportsman class; with a lot of new contestants in this class, the nerves were high, but this did not put them off as they showed they can perform under the pressure in front of the judges. The first day saw some tough competition in all the classes and most pilots improved their scores as the day went on, and flying finished a few minutes before the sun went back under the horizon. The evening of the first day saw most of the pilots together at the club house, anxiously awaiting for Gavin Walton to reveal the first day's scores. End of day one saw Ken Lello leading the Sportsman class, closely followed by Andrew Marshall and Nicholas Morris. Intermediate was lead by Calvin Schroll followed by Stan Fincham and Clinton-Carter Brown. Deon Zwarts was in the lead in Advanced, ahead of Victor Barvik and Danie Potgieter. In Unlimited, Michel Leusch showed why he is the current SA Champion, leading the class but closely followed by Fergus Lin and Owen Vuyk.

Flying started very early, both mornings.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 17

Jacques Alberts and Stan Fincham waiting for starters orders. Roland Suhrmüller and Owen Vuyk discussing tactics. Actually modelling the new LSA shirts!

The Advanced class, although having the fewest competitors, did not mean there was no competition. Deon Zwarts had a healthy lead coming into day two and wanted to keep it that way, but with his home club friend and close rival Victor Barvik, not far behind him after day one, Deon would need to work hard to keep his position. Danie Potgieter, competitive as always, would not let the two of them have an easy one-two finish, and by improving his flying from day one, he showed that he could upset the final positioning the White Hills duo wanted to achieve.

Fergus Lin promoting GP Engines with a sticker. I suppose it can be called modern-day nose art!

The Unlimited class saw nobody taking the competition lightly; they all wanted to go for gold. Michel Leusch had his work cut out for him with international competitor Fergus Lin close behind him, and the new Unlimited pilot Owen Vuyk not far behind either of them, determined to take the trophy away from Michel. Veteran unlimited pilots Clive McInnes and Brett Black would also not give up easily, improving their scores throughout the day. The other new Unlimited pilot, Jacques Alberts, although having struggled with aircraft problems, put in some great flying to show he deserves to be among the country’s top pilots. After two long days, it was finally time to announce the winners, and I stress that the winners are not just those pilots receiving trophies. Pilots in all the classes must be complimented for their efforts put into their preparation for this competition and the level of commitment to the competition. Equipment was also well presented and not a single aircraft crashed or failed during the two days of the competition.

Above & below: Late night engine replacement on Michel Leusch’s aircraft. Clive McInnes helping, while Fergus is asking for light on the problem.

Line of beautiful aerobatic aircraft posing in front of Bruce Clark, strutting his stuff.

Now that the competitors had seen their scores, it was game on for day two. Pieter Frylinck made sure everyone stuck to the schedule Day two started at first light but this time the Unlimited pilots got the opportunity to kick off proceedings. It was clear from the get go that no one would settle for less than first place, and most of the competitors saw an increase in their scores on day two.

Fergus (Tzu Chun) Lin with Clive McInnes (CMC Hobbies), who invited him to South Africa.

In the Sportsman class, nerves finally got the better of some of the pilots seeing them drop a few places, but others were too determined to show why they deserved to be on top. Ken Lello was on top after day one but had to work hard to keep his lead on day two. Intermediate saw everyone do their best to up their game, trying to catch Calvin Scroll who had a big lead after day one. Grant Brook who was sitting in 7th place after day one, refused to be left at the back of the pack, putting in some good flying against his fellow F3A competitors. The likes of regular LSA pilots such as Roland Suhrmüller, Stan Fincham, and Leon Centner would not make it easy for Grant, each of them putting in some good flying.

Michel Leusch and Clive McInnes with Su-26.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 18

Fergus knows all about an SA Braai!

Danie Potgieter cleaning after a successful flight.

Congratulations to all the winners. The overall honours go to Michel Leusch as the country’s best Large Scale Aerobatics pilot in the Unlimited class, for a second year running. We will have to wait until next year to find out if he can make 2017 a "threepeat". With good, steady growth in LSA over the months leading up to Nationals, we suspect the 2017 Nationals are going to be even bigger, and the competition will be even more fierce.

Thumbs up for number two and number one. Satisfied with their performances.

Last but not least in my report on the Nats, a special vote of thanks to the following people for their efforts to make the 2016 Nationals such an unqualified success for Large Scale Aerobatics. The judges, who braved the long hours, with early starts and late finishes on both days: Gavin Walton, Bruce Clark, Sebastiano Sacca, and Brett Black; the judges’ callers Deon Zwarts and Arthur Coleby for reading and prepping judges for the complex manoeuvres; the Contest Director and Flight Line Manager Pieter Frylinck for his commitment and single-minded dedication to get the job done; to Sherryl Clark for scoring, and Nicholas Morris and Michael Sacca for their overall help. My thanks to the SAMAA and the organising committee, with special mention of Marthinus, Bob, Marietjie, and Johan.

Aeries with large clear canopies had to be protected from the fierce heat of the sun. Pilots too.

Apron in front of the new hangar was ideal as a pit area.

Owen Vuyk with happy group of Large Scale Aerobatic judges: Gavin Walton, Brett Black, Bruce Clark, and Sebastiano Sacca.

Now that’s how you celebrate a win! Happy group of KZN pilots.

Fergus Lin with his second-place certificate.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 19

Victor Barvik was third in the Expert class.

Calvin Schroll photo?

Andrew Marshall third in Sportsman.

Kenneth Lello took first place in Sportsman.

Winner of Expert was Deon Zwarts.

And top of the heap in the Unlimited class was popular Michel Leusch.

See you next year! Time to pack up at the end of a long day’s flying.

Results - Large Scale Aerobatics 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Pos.

Name

Round 1 Sequence 1 Sequence 2

Round 2 Sequence 1 Sequence 2

Round 3 Sequence 1 Sequence 2

Round 4 Sequence 1 Sequence 2

Best 6 of 8 flights

66.321 56.910 65.204 62.767 64.866 51.226 57.657 32.980

70.660 64.355 58.640 63.522 65.732 61.730 54.638 44.780

68.019 66.360 61.392 60.857 57.382 49.835 33.168 35.825

69.025 61.558 64.607 47.972 57.500 48.616 54.764 25.605

65.502 62.057 61.967 59.376 58.500 55.114 54.442 38.398

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Ken Lello Tony Lee Andew Marshall Ian Becke Dirk Visser Nicholas Morris Hennie Odendaal Gerrit van Deventer

57.280 44.709 62.759 41.722 57.052 52.256 52.099 12.657

60.582 52.775 59.198 38.664 19.788 52.020 52.201 26.745

58.294 60.189 48.742 60.369 17.406 58.797 55.291 44.261

Sportsman 58.404 62.940 46.785 60.770 48.875 54.654 50.684 45.794

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Calvin Schroll Clinton Carter-Brown Grant Brook Leon Centner Stan Fincham Roland Suhrmüller Arthur Coleby Glen Larsen

73.710 47.132 43.357 54.234 52.173 44.794 41.143 54.570

72.933 47.615 50.501 55.224 58.916 53.282 52.921 51.254

76.761 61.154 59.717 49.093 57.768 56.431 58.681 39.882

Intermediate 75.895 66.243 55.754 56.600 64.482 60.071 58.369 50.612

75.501 71.637 56.007 66.543 60.695 60.312 52.691 52.898

76.625 73.922 64.694 66.143 49.870 57.208 48.027 55.907

78.015 68.375 64.340 51.967 55.530 46.072 42.014 47.503

76.949 71.661 63.975 57.456 58.351 56.443 50.353 52.091

76.624 68.832 60.748 59.867 59.290 57.293 53.507 52.889

1. 2. 3.

Deon Zwarts Danie Potgieter Victor Barvik

56.421 45.920 56.480

64.772 53.160 54.276

70.123 52.022 60.683

Expert 66.352 61.985 58.142

69.818 61.835 61.949

69.372 66.088 59.080

53.834 63.324 63.566

55.865 64.777 61.266

66.143 61.862 60.781

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Michel Leusch Tzu Chun Lin Owen Vuyk Clive McInnes Brett Black Jacques Alberts

73.237 73.720 69.796 66.810 62.964 61.100

74.896 71.237 68.437 64.993 66.470 63.842

75.964 77.670 66.520 70.380 69.022 65.566

Unlimited 75.125 73.720 70.251 68.860 67.860 68.975

79.376 77.470 71.685 71.280 66.366 69.634

81.029 80.731 76.054 66.996 68.237 66.057

81.950 78.136 74.186 72.050 74.491 73.333

80.638 79.118 77.047 73.946 72.907 72.172

79.014 77.808 73.170 70.585 69.831 69.290

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 20

FPV Racing

at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals by Gert Kok

FPV Racing sweeps into the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals for the first time. FPV (First Person View) drone racing has taken the world by storm, and pilots and teams from across South Africa came together at the PC Pelser Airport in Klerksdorp to compete.

At the end of the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s racing, the top honours for the 250 Stock Class went to Jean-Paul Bredenhann, with the Open Class victor, Fred Potgieter, grabbing second place. As with the Open Class, Josua Blom got another podium finish in third place.

Not only was this the first time that FPV was represented at this event, it saw the largest number of competitors seen in recent times at a single event in South Africa to date, compete. A great atmosphere of camaraderie was experienced amongst all the pilots, all lending a helping hand to assist their fellow pilots, whether it be with flying or assistance with organisation, erection of tents and equipment, etc.

Tuesday 27th April saw the final day of racing with the 150 Superstock class. Don't make the mistake of thinking that these little buzzing hornets are slow, even though this class had the smallest number of entries, some serious racing was done and could again be seen in frame-by-frame video how close the pilots were next to each other for the final battle. In the end, Luke Johnson from Team Viking, took the chequered flag winning this class, with Fred Potgieter taking second place, and Alan Ball, who finished building his quad at 3am, taking third place.

The first practice and grouping day saw the large tent and pits area a hive of activity, where the air was filled by tech talk, beeping of components and battery chargers, and the occasional tune up or replacement of components between heats after some tumbles. Sunday the 24th April, the Open Class battled it out on the 480-metre track. Open class was also the largest represented class of the FPV racing group with 36 entries. Readers may watch some video footage posted to YouTube where it can clearly be seen that some of the heats were neck-and-neck through the gates. The pilots had also to contend with some video issues from time to time and windy conditions which at one stage sent one of the gazebos cartwheeling over the tarmac.

Many lessons were learnt and many new friendships made; overall a successful event. Special thank you to the SAMAA and FlyFPVSA for organising the event, as well our grateful thanks to all the sponsors: Flying Robot, Zeroplus Printers, Flightpro, Hobby Centre, RHI Tents, Tattu, Cobra, DYS, Team Black Sheep, UAV Industries, DGiT Media and Marthinus Potgieter and family, who donated the first floating trophy for racing at a Nats event. We are looking forward to an even larger field of FPV pilots in 2017!

After a full day of non-stop racing, the most consistent pilots were rewarded with places in the final battle, which saw Fred Potgieter taking top spot in Open Class, and a qualification spot for this year's Droneworlds International Event in Hawaii where all the big names in FPV will be competing. Antonio Silva flew consistently the entire day and came through in second place, with Josua Blom in third place. Monday 25th April saw the 250 class pilots competing. Racing was still neckand-neck with all pilots flying as smoothly as possible and pushing the edge of the envelope. Some pilots that were competing in Open Class had to rebuild their quads overnight to have them ready for pre-race scrutineering on Monday morning. Some amazing throttle and flight control was seen by the pilots, which resulted in some very fast lap times, as seen in semi-final group two, when Jaco Koekemoer attained the fastest lap time for the event of 35.8 seconds.

As introduction to readers of SAMAA News, this is what the quad racers look like. On the left, is a racer minus its four props, and at right, in full flight.

Gert Kok (Port Elizabeth) hard at work.

Bryan Limerick navigating the course.

Dave Jones rinsing away the dayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dust.

Luke Johnson setting up his ground station.

Monique Alberts, aide-de-camp to Werner Schutte.

Chris Austin doing a post-tumble check.

Francois Kotze headed for the flight line.

Werner Schutte.

Lourie Jacobs checking for potential damage.

JP Bredenhann following the course.

Stephen Gore.6th in 250 Stock class and forth place in the 250 Super Stock class.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 21

Alan Ball focused on job at hand.

Neville Pienaar agrees!

David Jones doing some fine electronic enhineering, and adjustment to his equipment

Gert Kok all the way from Port Elizabeth.

Eddie Oosthuizen has his hands full.

Antonio Silva looks quietly pleased after race.

Bryan Limerick doing some fine-tuning.

Briefings were important for participants and officials at this first Nats event.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ever bring a knife to a gunfight! Ammunition for the weapons.

Continuous charging throughout all four days.

Processing is a meticulous task. Only precision instruments will do.

Two quad racers battling it out. Ready to race.

Roland keeping things rolling.

The 3-metre high nylon safety net...

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 22

...works!

Monique Alberts and Werner Schutte.

Josua Blom and Jaco Koekemoer.

Start line action!

Close encounter with the gate.

Roland SuhrmĂźller and Caitlin Ward kept the show moving.

Ridwaan Ebrahim and Alan Ball going through scrutineering.

Participants burning the midnight oil under the stretch marquee tent.

Managed to make it through!

Follow path with the light at the end of the tunnel.

Collisions with the timing gazebo left deep scars!

There was always action happening at the gates on the course.

There were many opportunities for advertising.

Underweight quad had to be beefed up.

Many of the sponsors were visible at the Nats, with banners and branding.

Sponsor banner. Thanks to all the sponsors!

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 23

The safety fence, sponsored by UAV Industries.

Early-morning view of the FPV course.

Marthinus (SAMAA), Greg Donaldson (UAV Industries) and Ridwaan Ebrahim (Fly FPV SA chair).

Happy group after their first national competition. You guys made history!

Greg Donaldson handing over prize to Frederik Potgieter, winner of the Open class.

Poetry in the North West night skies.

So small, yet so powerful!

Jaco Koekemoer, fifth place in the Open class.

Lourie Jacobs, fourth in Open class.

Joshua Martin (KZN), 5th place in 250 Stock class. Alan Ball, third place in 150 Super Stock class.

Josua Blom...two third places; in Open class and 250 Stock class. Frederik Potgieter receiving the SAMAA Chairmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Trophy for his win in the Open Class.

Results - FPV Racing 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Open Class Pos. Name 1. Frederik Potgieter 2. Antonio Silva 3. Josua Blom 4. Lourie Jacobs 5. Jaco Koekemoer 6. Jean-Paul Bredenhann 7. Eddie Oosthuizen 8. Neville Pienaar 9. Stuart Leibbrandt 10 Francois Kotze 11. Luke Johnson 12. Werner Schutte Jean-Paul Bredenhann, winner of the 250 Super Luke Johnson, winner of the 150 Super Stock class. Stock class. KZN and Cape pilots did really well.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 24

250 Stock Class Pos. Name 1. Jean-Paul Bredenhann 2. Frederik Potgieter 3. Josua Blom 4. Ridwaan Ebrahim 5. Joshua Martin 6. Stephen Gore 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

150 Super Stock Class Luke Johnson Frederik Potgieter Alan Ball Stephen Gore Ridwaan Ebrahim Jaco Koekemoer

Jets at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

by Zane Mannell Michel Leusch and his big Tomahawk Futura, flown very impressively to first place in Sport Jets. Assisted by Clive McInnes.

The second SAMAA Combined Power Nationals was held at the full-size PC Pelser airfield in Klerksdorp, from 23 to 26 April 2016, with the SAMJA management choosing to use Saturday and Sunday for the Jet part of the competition, partnering with Scale for the same location (the junction of the taxiway with the main runway), equipment, and personnel. This year, there were nine disciplines, so it took careful pre-planning, starting soon after the closing date for entries, for a flying programme where SIGs could share the facilities, equipment, time, and manpower. This event at the Combined Nationals was also a SAMJA qualifying round for those fliers wanting to get a spot on the F4J South African team to compete in the F4J class at the 12th Jet World Masters, to be held in Jämijärvi, Finland from 13th until 19th of August 2017. Last year South Africa did not take part in Germany, and a few fliers are motivated to attend next year’s championship. There were three entries for the F4J class, Dean Grobbelaar with his de Havilland T-55 Vampire; Freddie Kotze, also with a de Havilland T-55 Vampire, but in the commemorative light blue, white, and red colour scheme; and Pierre Fouché, with his Aero Vodochody L-39 Albatross. Unfortunately Dean damaged the landing gear on the Vampire during a practice session prior to the Nats and he was unable to get it repaired in time. It is good to have Freddie back in the competitive fold again. Freddie Kotze with the ex-Mark Savage Vampire.

This colourful Viper Jet was flown by Brett Black in the Sport Jet class.

Burt Botha as methodical as ever, before one of his flights in his first Jet Nats.

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 25

A big thank you to Pierre Fouché for the consideration to the other entrants and accommodating the organisers by entering his Aero L-39 in the F4J scale class, thereby ensuring that there were at least three entries to constitute a valid competition, and that the results of this event would be able to be considered as a qualifying score.

Thank you to Johan Ehlers, Bob Skinner, and Humphrey le Grice for doing the flying judging for us, and Annemarié Ehlers for the usual prompt service with scorekeeping. I am sure everyone enjoyed their weekend at Klerksdorp and the good organisation by SAMAA, Bob and Marietjie Skinner, Boet Denysschen, Marthinus Potgieter, Johan Groenewald and Koos Pretorius. Thanks to the support from the members of the Klerksdorp Radio Flyers club as well. My thanks also to Cliff Lotter and crew for the good cooperation.

In the Sport Jet class, we had true national representation, with Michel Leusch (KZN), Brett Black (Centurion), Pierre Fouché (Bloemfontein), Calvin Schroll (Klerksdorp), Burt Botha (Port Elizabeth), and Dirk Visser (Pretoria). Unfortunately, Dirk also experienced landing gear problems and could not get them sorted out in time for the competition. A notable omission was Neil Collins who had work commitments and an SAA pilot schedule that he could not avoid. It was encouraging to see Burt entering the Sport Jet class after only finishing his jet two weeks earlier and partaking in his first jet competition. Welcome Burt! Some participants who arrived early, used the time on Friday to put in some practice flying, and to get used to the conditions. Luckily, we had a NOTAM issued for the Nationals and there were not too many interruptions. Full-size movements during the competitive rounds did not result in significant interruptions to the flying programme. Saturday morning at 09:30 saw the static judging taking place for the F4J aeries, in an area that was easily accessible to offload and assemble aircraft, right next to the static judging area. Thank you to Johan Ehlers, Koos Pretorius, and Humphrey le Grice for the static judging and casting a critical eye over the aircraft. Saturday afternoon saw the first flying round taking place in good weather conditions. Unfortunately Pierre Fouché missed out on his first flight due to a flooded turbine. Freddie had a very nice first flight with their ex-Mark Savage T-55 Vampire.

Pierre Fouché’s Strikemaster was badly damaged during a landing.

The Sport Jet guys followed enthusiastically with some real quality flying by all the participants, Michel Leusch was the early leader of the pack, closely followed by Calvin Schroll with the Boomerang XL jet, and newcomer Brett Black with his colourful Viper Jet. Unfortunately Pierre Fouché had a flameout with his BAC Strikemaster on his first flight and had to land early; he was not having much luck at this Nats, and this was only the start of his misfortunes. Burt Botha, although nervous, was enjoying flying the sleek jet, quickly getting used to the new discipline of Jet flying, although he still found the landings a bit intimidating. Rounds two and three were scheduled to start around 11:00 on Sunday. Unfortunately the main runway at Klerksdorp faces into the morning sun so it is not possible to do flying before 11:00, at least not with relative safety. Pierre managed to finally get the turbine sorted in the L39 and was up first on Sunday, putting in a decent score, followed by Freddie posting another solid flight with the Vampire. The Sport Jet brigade then took to the skies and they were pulling out all the stops. Michel and Calvin were really giving those low level rolls horns, from horizon to horizon! Unfortunately Calvin lost signal fairly early into his flight and decided to land rather than risk the jet by trying to complete the round. A very sensible and responsible decision, well done Calvin. Brett was putting in consistent rounds at the same time.

Good camaraderie and support for Michel Leusch, by the KZN contingent.

Pierre got caught out while landing the Strikemaster in round two, and with the aircraft being quite far from him down the runway, he misjudged the speed and the lift that was still being generated, and did some serious damage to his Strikemaster when it turned turtle on him. Burt was still hanging in there getting some good stick time on his new jet. Round three for Jets started at about 14:30 on Sunday afternoon. The fierce Autumn wind had come up quite strongly by now and was averaging around 6m/s across the runway, measured occasionally by Percy Attfield. The F4J entrants wisely decided it was not worth risking their aircraft and chose not to fly another round. Michel and Brett flew their Sport jets with great skill as if the wind did not exist, and completed their flights and were pulling out all the stops! Well done to all.

Calvin flew the Boomerang XL masterfully, hanging the rolls on the proverbial washline!

Results - Jets 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals Sport Jet Pl.

Name

Actual

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Michel Leusch Brett Black Calvin Schroll Pierre Fouché Burt Botha

988.75 878.75 947.50 670.00 538.75

Pl.

Name

Model

1. 2. 3.

Freddie Kotze Pierre Fouché Dean Grobbelaar

DH Vampire T-55 Aero L-39 Albatross DH Vampire T-55

Round 1 Normalised

Round 2 Actual Normalised

1500.00 1333.12 1437.42 1016.43 817.32

973.75 830.00 117.50 596.25 626.25

1500.00 1278.56 181.00 918.49 964.70

Actual

Round 3 Normalised

Ave best 2

Normalised

1018.75 877.50 0 0 0

1500.00 1292.02 0 0 0

1003.75 878.13 473.75 335.00 313.13

1500.00 1312.57 718.71 508.22 482.35

F4J Jet Vintage bonus

Originality bonus

Static x0.5

22 0

40 0

1271.25 963.00

Normalised

1500.00 1135.00

Flight 1 x 0.5 Actual Normalised

1173.75 0

1500.00 0

Flight 2 x 0.5 Actual Normalised

1182.50 757.50

Did not fly due to technical problems

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 26

1500.00 960.89

Average Flt 1 & Flt 2

Normalised Flt 1 & Flt 2

1178.13 378.75

1500.00 480.44

Total

Normalised

2511.38 1341.75

3062.00 1616.44

Fun Fly at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

No report received at time of publication

Third place to Barry van der Vyver of Nelspruit.

Winner of the 2016 Fun Fly Nationals, Roston Dugmore.

Judges/organisers Lemmy Dolezal and Barry Flanagan.

Results - Fun Fly 2016 Aerial Concepts SAMAA Combined Nationals

Michael Sacca achieved second place.

Position

Name

1. 2. 3.

Roston Dugmore Michael Sacca Barry van der Vyver

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 27

The 2016

SAMAA

SAMAA management committee Marthinus Potgieter Johan Groenewald Pieter Frylinck Boet Denysschen Daniel Ralefeta Vacant Juanita Smith

Chairman marthinus@cointech.co.za Vice-chairman, compliance johan.groenewald@telkomsa.net Development & proficiencies pieter@rhinobag.co.za Club representative dennys@ballmail.co.za Transformation daniel.ralefeta@sita.co.za Special Interest Groups chairperson Treasurer info@alshobbies.co.za

Johan Ehlers Vacant

CIAM Representative ehlersjl@gmail.com Newsletter editor to be appointed

082-377-6493 079-496-9228 082-925-1116 082-449-4623 072-244-3474 083-630-8975

NATIONALS! PC Pelser Airport, Klerksdorp. 23 to 26 April 2016

news

082-804-1120

Administration & Office PO Box 7116, Bonaero Park 1622. Tel/fax 011-973-3679. Fax 086-607-8733. Office 24, Building R4, Denel Technical Academy, 131 Atlas Road (Denel North entry), Bonaero Park. GPS Coordinates: S26 08 41.80 E028 15 59.04 (co-ordinates for main entrance to building R4) Bob Skinner General Manager. samaa-admin@mweb.co.za 011-973-3679, 083-283-1681.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Keith Renecle Control Line Association of SA (CLASA) krenecle@netactive.co.za 083-415-1409 Clinton Carter-Brown Model Aerobatics (MAASA). chairman@maasa.co.za 083-630-0626 Jan Sime Model Gliding Association (MGA). 1jansime@gmail.com 082-556-1510 Wessel Vosloo Helicopters. wessel@vidextanks.co.za 082-806-7686 Roland Suhrmüller Multi-rotor FPV racing. (Fly-FPV-SA) roland@zoocentral.co.za 082-461-4889 Arrie Schoeman South African Miniature Pylon Racing Association (SAMPRA). arrie.schoeman@seb.sanlam.com 082-789-9500 Koos Pretorius National Association of Scale Aeromodellers (NASA) 27725661765@vodamail.co.za 082-928-0368 Zane Mannell SA Model Jet Association (SAMJA) mannellz@sentech.co.za 082-827-8410 Owen Vuyk Large Scale Aerobatics (LSA) owen-vuyk@hotmail.com 083-276-9861 To join the SAMAA: Request application form 011-973-3679. Visit www.samaa.org.za for MS Word form, under “Information”, then “Membership”. On-line application form www.samaa.co.za. Or submit details by e-mail: name, ID, address, tel, fax, cell, club, to: samaa-admin@mweb.co.za Subscription fees to 31 December 2016. • Regular/adult members (18 to 60 years of age) R360 • Junior members (18 & younger) R200 • Senior Citizens/Retirees (60 years and older) R240

from 1 January 2017 R390 R220 R260

Payment by internet (EFT), or cheque. SAMAA current a/c 1605 126 772 at Nedbank, Menlyn Pretoria, code 1605 45. Use clear reference of name/ surname, and membership number if renewing. DO NOT USE “Subs/ Membership/SAMAA/New”, since this cannot be identified correctly. Fax or e-mail this proof of payment with your application or renewal, to 011-973-3679. Change of address: www.samaa.co.za and sign in with your log-in and password. No log-in and password? Request automatically, if you have a correct e-mail address on the membership programme. No internet? Contact the SAMAA office on 011-973-3679 to change your address.

Protecting and serving your interests The SAMAA needs your help, to ensure that your rights and privileges are protected. Through the SAMAA, its Special Interest Groups, and numerous registered clubs, you can experience the protection of your rights, and enjoy the real benefits in all aspects of model aviation. • Advice On building, flying, competition, airshow planning, club layouts, displays, special air events, competition, illegal flying, regulations, etc. • Clubs Enjoyment of your activity in a group context. All SAMAA clubs are approved and registered with the SAMAA, RAASA, and Civil Aviation. • Insurance Cover of R20m for damage to property, or injury or death to third parties (and member-to-member cover). • Proficiencies Recognition for flying proficiency, at all levels, and all disciplines. • Guidelines On starting and registering a new club. For frequency operations. Interaction with full-size aviation. Manuals of Operation. • SAMAA News To inform, educate, advise. Your mouthpiece. Great promotional value. • Rules Local and international, specs of models, frequencies, safe flying practices. • Web pages Good aeromodelling content, great links, regular updates. Excellent membership site for self-maintenance. • Representation The SIGs represent all competitive branches of aeromodelling. • Affiliations To the Aero Club of South Africa, and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Also to other institutions (RAASA, SAAF, Denel). • Frequencies Protection by ICASA of frequencies in spectrum allocated to R/C. • Airspace Manage airspace at registered sites, through the CAA and RAASA. SAMAA is the only CAA-approved Aviation Recreation Organisation (ARO) for aeromodelling. • CIAM Direct link with CIAM (Commission for International Aeromodelling). Governs all world-wide competitive aeromodelling activities, and records. These are just a few of the services that the SAMAA is able to offer its members. Benefit from these services, and let our combined membership add to the voice and strength of SAMAA.

Get a non-member to join today, and let’s make SAMAA stronger!

SAMAA News publication, material, advertising

SAMAA News is produced in-house until the position of editor is advertised and filled. The SAMAA general manager has been tasked to edit, produce, and distribute SAMAA News in the meantime. samaa-admin@mweb.co.za. PO Box 7116, Bonaero Park 1622. Tel 011-973-3679. Fax 086-607-8733. The views expressed in SAMAA News, and the advertisements placed, do not necessarily represent the views of the SAMAA, or its management committee. These are published for the interest and comments of our members, and are not specifically endorsed, or verified. Submission of material: Check with the editor for the closing dates of submission of material. Photographs (conventional & electronic), are welcome. Long articles must be computer-generated, and must be in either MS Word, or editable text. Limit articles to 1 000 words - which is about a page-and-ahalf in SAMAA News. You may e-mail your contributions, including graphics and pictures to: samaaadmin@mweb.co.za. Ensure that captions accompany all pictures, and that the pictures are of reasonable resolution, not e-mail resolution. To advertise: Contact the SAMAA office. You must supply finished artwork in JPG format, to at least 300 dpi at the final size. Terms for all advertising is payment on receipt of invoice, as per the rate card below. Bank details are listed below. Send copy of deposit slip with placement instruction/order. SAMAA account at Nedbank, Menlyn Pretoria, code 1605 45, current account 1605 126 772.

SAMAA News advertising rate card The advertising rates are being reviewed presently, to make it more affordable to advertisers.

Description/size (rates valid until further notice) Full page (A4) Half page (landscape or portrait) Quarter page Eighth page Your Local Dealer advert, per insertion Swops & Smalls, for a reasonable number of items advertised (call SAMAA office for more details)

Contents of Issue 2 of 2016

Combined Nationals - overall view - Bob Skinner

Full-colour R2 100 R1 200 R700 R400 R100 R100

news

1-3

Scale at the Nationals - Koos Pretorius

4-6

Pylon Racing at the Combined Nationals - Arrie Schoeman

7-8

Control Line at the Nationals - Percy Attfield Helicopters at the Combined Nats

9-11 12

Aerobatics at the Nationals - Stuart Nix

13-16

Large Scale Aerobatics at the Nationals - Owen Vuyk

17-20

FPV Racing at the Aerial Concepts SAMAA Nats - Gert Kok

21-24

Jets at the Nationals - Zane Mannell

25-26

Fun Fly at the Nationals

SAMAA information page, management committee, SIGs, contacts

SAM A A News Issue 2 of 2016 - Page 28