n o i s i c pre pattern s c i t a aerob M o d e l
A e r o b at i c
A s s o c i at i o n
o f
S o u t h
A f r i c a
2014
issue
3
2
GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
GAA MONTHLY - NERF
A NEW YEAR, A NEW SCHEDULE 26 JANUARY THE NERVES “ WERE AS THICK AS
ICE COLD MOLASSES AND ALL THE PILOTS ANXIOUSLY WATCHED AS THE The GAA held their 1st monthly this past weekend, with some new faces and 1ST P-SCHEDULE all new schedules at North East Radio Flyers (NERF). Early morning saw gloomy weather, dark clouds, and windy conditions. But this is pattern, and pattern pilots WAS FLOWN BY do not fear the weather, all contestants looked excited and ready to take on the New MATTHYS BOTHA.. Year and all it has in store.
”
3
GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
GAA MONTHLY - NERF
A NEW YEAR, A NEW SCHEDULE 26 JANUARY
We welcomed 2 new pilots Hercules and Pieter, and in the morning’s pilot briefing they did the traditional welcoming ceremony, 10 Push-ups. With their arms like jelly, and the nerves shaking them in their boots, they were now ready to impress the judges. Stick time, it was decided that a stick demo is done before each class fly their respective schedules. Grant & Clint showed the guys what it is all about, and a lot of tips and tricks and invaluable information were picked up during these demos. First up was Hercules, flying in sportsman class, unfortunately his plane let him down, spitting the spinner and prop on the 1st manoeuvre, but this did not stop Hercules, and in no time he went up in his spare plane, completing 2 rounds, with his first and impressive scores of 49,5% for both rounds. Well done, and a great show of sportsmanship.
Intermediate Newcomer Pieter with his beautiful Nuance was ready to tackle the task at hand, taking the 1st round with 58.99%. But Lee Bonny fought back, putting in and impressive 2 rounds, taking 1st place in his class. And a well-deserved win. Congratulations. Keep an eye on these two fierce competitors, as great things are still to come. Final Results: 1st Lee Bonny 55.42%, 2nd Pieter 53.70%.
Advanced With only one entry in the class, and by no means a drop in the ocean, Dereck Butow was determined to put on a good show, with 2 impressive rounds, he sets the bar high for the advance class and showing that he is ready to take on the New Year with an average score of 57.41%.
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Masters Stick demo done… Plane ready… Battery checks complete… Radio check done… On the flight line... The first P schedule of the year.
The nerves were as thick as ice cold molasses and all the pilots anxiously watched as the 1st P-schedule was flown by Matthys Botha. With some close calls, and almost giving the CD (Oom Danie) a heart attack with the hourglass manoeuvre, he completed of the flight, with a respectable scoring of 59.67%. The round also saw a newcomer from
GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
GAA MONTHLY - NERF
A NEW YEAR, A NEW SCHEDULE 26 JANUARY
the workshop of John Brink, with wings that seems to be inspired from a spitfire, and a colour scheme Bruce Lee would drool over, we present the “e Superman”. Very nicely done “Oups”. The final scores for the class were as follows. 1st Matthys Botha 58.59%, 2nd Max Buizer 53.59%, 3rd John Brink 47.13%.
F3A A new schedule, but good old steady and reliable hands. Experience and excellence is what these guys are made of, and they presented their schedules with grace and precision. The pilots decided to fly one P-Schedule, and two F-Schedules. The F Schedule being some of the most brutal manoeuvres and combinations seen in a long time, and one comment was; “If I had to do that, I would cry”. But none the less, the giants of the sport managed to put in some impressive rounds and an upset in the ranks saw Grant Brook winning the final F-Schedule round of the day! The results for F3A was 1st Andre Stockwell 65.93%, 2nd Roston Dugmore 64.44%, 3rd Grant Brook 60.50%, and in 4th place Clinton Carter-Brown 59.06%.
Pilot SPORTSMAN Hercules INTERMEDIATE Lee Pieter ADVANCED Pilot Dereck MASTERS Matthys Max John F3A Andre Roston Grant Clinton
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
49.50%
49.50%
n/a
51.52% 58.99%
58.08% 53.74%
56.67% 48.38%
Round 1 59.02%
Round 2 55.80%
Round 3 n/a
59.67% 57.28% 45.78%
57.44% 56.17% 50.50%
58.67% 47.33% 45.11%
72.72% 71.39% 66.56% 68.83%
64.29% 60.00% 52.64% 54.64%
60.79% 61.93% 62.29% 53.71%
This was a great test for all pilots, and the experience gained from this clinic was invaluable and will most definitely help in the upcoming year. All in all, it was a very successful day, and a big thank you to NERF for hosting us, our Judges, without you we cannot do this sport. We also thank our Sponsor JB Switchgear Solutions for all they have done. As usual the “Boeries” were fantastic, and the atmosphere great. We are all looking forward to the next event which is going to be our very 1st league event of the year held at Snoopy’s see you there, and as always, fly safe.
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KZN AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
VALLEY, MFC, DURBAN
AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIP 19 JANUARY BY NEIL ALLEN
“
WHAT WAS PARTICULARLY PLEASING WAS THAT EVERYONE SEEMS TO HAVE UPPED THEIR GAME, AND WERE EARNING GOOD SCORES.
”
6
At our events the number
of entrants fluctuates, but everything seemed to come together this time, to give us a new record of an incredible fifteen flyers. Maybe the lovely setting of the Valley club did it. It is also in Durban which helps many people travel, except for our mustard keen MAASA chairman, Arthur, who probably left Himeville before dawn!
MAASA CHAIRMAN ARTHUR EGGAR
KZN AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
VALLEY, MFC, DURBAN
AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIP 19 JANUARY
JUDGES AND FRIENDS KEEP AN EYE ON THE FLIGHTS
The aircraft parking area looked like an end-of-season closing sale for the Sebart factory. Eight of the fifteen planes were one of the Wind variants, or the newer Mythos. In Sportsman we welcomed new guy Ian Becke, who has only been flying a few years since his retirement. He went on to achieve a very respectable 49%, flying his glo powered Drastik. On Dave Charl’s second round the judges got confused as to what was a pattern and what was flying in between. He was offered a reflight, but did not get around to it. Angus gave us more than enough excitement.
Flying over the weed covered lake, he had a deadstick on the first round, but glided home safely. Then on the second round, he did it again. But this time he did not reach shore, and landed in the long weeds close by. Arthur Coleby very gallantly crawled over the surface of the muddy lake, and retrieved the plane, for which he deserves a special Medal of Honour. In Intermediate we had another new flyer, Malcolm Carlyle. He had had a bit of coaching from Dave Greer, and showed great competence. The Cobra Roll I saw was one of the best I have seen in a long
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KZN AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
VALLEY, MFC, DURBAN
AEROBATIC CHAMPIONSHIP 19 JANUARY
time. Dave got the top score. Gijs flew his new very pretty Miss Wind biplane. In Advanced we had very close results, with three flyers getting over the 60% target. Arthur Eggar came out on top, closely followed by Craig and Ian. Arthur Coleby got a bit distracted with the mud wallowing. In Masters Mark and I traded top scores a few times, with Mark ending on top. Clive did very well, but succumbed to a touch of illness and did not complete the rounds. John is a case of having improved his flying nicely, but so had everyone else in the class. In F3A we saw our first display of the new F15 pattern from Michel. A bit difficult for the judges to follow at times, and amazing to watch, with many integrated rolling loops and eights. You certainly need good knife edge flight to do this one. We are very pleased to have a KZN guy going all out in the F3A class, and have high hopes for him. A highlight of the event was that we welcomed back after recovering from a stroke our Chief Judge Bruce Clark. He looked even fitter and more bouncy than ever. Thank you to him and our stalwart Des Cooper for a long days effort. We are very grateful to Dave Charls and his fellow Valley club members, who let us take up a flying Sunday for our aerobatics. We were also pleased to welcome so many guys from the Valley club and others who came to watch for a while.
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SPORTSMAN Ian Becke Angus McInnes Dave Charls INTERMEDIATE Dave Greer Malcolm Carlyle Gijs Wijgers ADVANCED Arthur Eggar Craig Christianson Ian Morris Arthur Coleby MASTERS Mark Savage Neil Allen Clive McInnes John Dorse F3A Michel Leusch
52,0 47,0 57,0 0.00 53,25 0.00
43,0 0.00 0.00
49,5 28,5 26,63
58,35 60,6 49,1 58,63 52,0 42,7
61,0 62,42 0.00
60,8 60,53 47,35
63,2 62,75 61,09 44,7
64,0 61,65 60,10 58,6
62,1 63,48 61,27 0.00
63,6 63,12 61,18 51,65
67,17 62,33 61,9 57,11 P 71,58
56,91 62,9 54,0 50,0 P 71,0
62,09 66,33 0.00 53,5 F 68,28
64,63 64,62 57,95 55,3 P&F 69,93
GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 2
GAA LEAGUE - SNOOPY’S
CLEAR SKIES SQUADRON LEADER 23 FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 23, “ AND IT IS LEAGUE
TIME! THE GAA HELD ITS 1ST LEAGUE OF THE YEAR AT SNOOPY’S SQUADRON THIS PAST WEEKEND.
”
06:00am - Clear skies over the
07:30am Pilots briefing: The turnout was
southern parts of JHB as the pilots made their way to Snoopy’s, but on the horizon clouds were looming, and lots of it.
great, and once again we were fortunate enough to welcome 3 new Pilots to this great sport.
At the field, and the picture changed with low cloud coverage coming in from every direction. Some of the warm-up flights saw planes magically disappearing and re-appearing… It would seem that the weather daemon that lurk near Snoopy’s is out in full force.
Welcome, Brett & Gavin Spiers, the Father & Son Duo who is going to fly up a storm in the sportsman class this year! We also see a returning pilot who came out of retirement to challenge the pilots in the Masters Class, Coenraad De Beer. Customary to our traditions, newcomers were informed that push-ups are the only way to calm the nerves and sooth the shakes. And with 10 of them completed they were ready for whatever action the day had in store.
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BULLETIN 2
GAA LEAGUE - SNOOPY’S
CLEAR SKIES SQUADRON LEADER 23 FEBRUARY
08:00 am, and still no flying, the clouds were low, and it was decided by our official of the day Oom Danie Potgieter that we should wait before taking to the skies. 09:00am, and the cloud cover lifted, the wind died down, and we were looking at having a great day’s weather at Snoopy’s! The flying kicked off with Sportsman class, and the new pilots took to the sky, some impressive flying by these pilots, handling the small planes to the best of their ability. Hercules flying in his 2nd competition of the year, lead the pack from the start, and Finished in 1st place with and average Score of 54,33%. In 2nd place was Gareth with 48%, and in 3rd place Brett with 40%. The skills of these pilots increased exponentially over the course of the 3 flights, and I bet we will see an even bigger increase in scores at the next meeting. Well done guys!
Advanced: In the advanced class we saw some familiar faces with Nico Erasmus and family traveling all the way from North-west to come and attend the GAA’s league. Thank you for the support and we will return the favour by joining you at the North-West league. Results in the class were as follows: 1st place Hadri Lombaard, flying up a storm and dominating the class with an average of 67,41%. I’m pretty sure we heard someone murmur “Masters” during the prize giving. In 2nd Place we had Nico Erasmus with a score of 52,52%, and in 3rd place Dereck Butow with 44,30%.
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GAA AEROBATICS
GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 2
GAA LEAGUE - SNOOPY’S
CLEAR SKIES SQUADRON LEADER 23 FEBRUARY
Masters: The Biggest field for the day, saw 5 Pilots flying the P Schedule in Masters Class. Newcomer Coenraad de beer, put in some impressive flying, impressing the Judges and other pilots. We also saw Chris Halgreen flying, and sharing a plane with Danie Potgieter, now that is some serious skills flying the same plane, and not being familiar with the radio and settings. Results Saw Danie Potgieter in 1st place with the highest scoring P schedules of the day at 71.36%, Well Done Danie! 2nd place was Chris Halgreen with an average of 60,67%, 3rd place Coenraad De beer with 58,47%, 4th was Matthys Botha with 57,08%, 5th place went to Max Buizer with 53,47%.
F3A: And the boys are back! Grant and Clinton Flew like there was no tomorrow, and as a result saw them ending up in medals! Congratulations guys! With undesirable weather early in the day, and the pilots having to wait out the cloud cover, we finally got the ball rolling, and boy did it roll, with reports of afternoon showers. Oom Danie had his work cut out for him, but the experience of Oom Danie came though and the F3A Pilots managed to fly the 3 flights for the day. In 1st Place we see the familiar veteran, Andre Stockwell blowing away the the P & F Schedule, and scoring an impressive 70,47%, it’s always a pleasure to Andre fly, and in most cases unbelievable. 2nd Place was Clinton Carter-brown with 66,97% a definite masters qualifier, and in 3rd place and still in the medals was Grant Brook with 64,61%.
Pilot SPORTSMAN Hercules Brett Spiers Gareth Spiers ADVANCED Hadri Nico Dereck MASTERS Danie Chris Coenraad Matthys Max F3A Andre Clinton Grant
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
48.17 35.67 48.00
54.33 40.00 17.33
56.00 0 49.50
66.44 47.04 44.30
67.41 52.52 33.85
52.37 0 0
70.61 54.28 51.94 57.72 52.56
70.22 57.22 60.94 57.72 54.39
72.11 64.11 56.00 55.94 50.33
69.67 65.44 63.00
64.86 53.52 54.38
68.50 71.28 66.22
THE COMPETITION IN THIS CLASS IS FIERCE, AND ALL PILOTS ASPIRE TO FLY LIKE THESE GUYS. Good food, good weather, a great venue, and awesome company was the order of the day, and we look forward to come through to Snoopy’s again. All in all, the pilots could not have asked for a better day at Snoopy’s. The weather played out perfectly, with just a little drizzle during break, and Boerie time! We thank our Judges and organizers, without you we cannot do this amazing sport. We are looking forward to see all of you at the next meeting, and don’t forget to support NW in their 1st league. And as always, Fly Safe.
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NW AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
NORTH WEST
NORTH WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS 1 - 2 FEBRUARY BY NICO ERASMUS
Anders as ander jare het ons besluit om
NA DIE “ MASTERS IN
OKTOBER HET DIE NW SO VER GELYK, MAAR VOOR ONS ONS KON KRY WAS DIT OP ONS EN VERBY.
”
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meer van Pilot judging gebruik te maak, en om die volgende redes : 1) Dit sal goedkoper wees en dus die inskrywings gelde laer hou. 2) Die Pilots ‘n ander insig gee in die skedules, en , hoop ek, hulle eie vlieg verbeter.
Omdat die ekonomie maar druk, en dit is die jaar nuwe skedules, en dis kort na die Desemer vakansie en reën word voorspel, was ons by KRF. maar redelik bekommerd of ons genoeg inskrywings gaan kry, maar ek is verheug om te sê dat 17 Pilots ingeskryf het, en net John Brink moes om gesondheids rede ontrek. Vrydag was dit reënerig en my moed was maar swaar, maar dit het onmiddelik gewyk toe ek by die veld kom en sien omtrent almal is al hier, selfs Danie en Burt met hulle woonwa en Mathys met sy tent, sommer so onder die afdak. Daar was ‘n gees van opgewondenheid en almal het uitgesien na die naweek.
NW AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 1
NORTH WEST
NORTH WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS 1 - 2 FEBRUARY
Pilot
Rd1
Rd2
Rd3
Rd4
Norm
%
INTERMEDIATE 1 Sebastian Sacca
55.96 50.71 59.29 51.17
2954
57.47
2 Hugo Erasmus
50.40 53.13 55.25 61.01
2932
56.46
1 Michael Sacca
63.12 64.42 66.88 64.13
3000
65.14
2 Hadri Lombaard
62.54 62.39 62.03 63.77
2954
62.90
3 Nico Erasmus
60.72 60.43 58.91 60.22
2839
60.46
4 Arthur Eggar
59.06 59.13 62.25 58.84
2784
60.14
1 Danie Potgieter
70.39 70.39 67.28 70.56
3000
70.44
2 Burt Botha
57.50 61.22 57.56 61.83
2602
60.20
3 Max Buizer
57.94 61.39 50.61 0.00
2448
56.65
4 Mathys Botha
56.78 57.78 52.94 57.00
2435
57.19
5 Frik de Beer
52.44 54.44 51.06 55.94
2325
54.28
ADVANCED
Saterdag 08h00 was die Pilots briefing en 08h30 het ons begin met die Intermediate klas, waar ongelukkig net twee Klerksdorpers in deelgeneem het, wonder waar die ander provinsies was? Hugo en Sebastiano het mekaar goed opgekuil, en dit was op die ou einde Sebas wat met ‘n kortkop gewen het. In die Advanced klas was ons weer twee Klerksdorpers, een Gautenger en ‘n Nataler wat die stryd aangesê het met die jongheer Michael wat stof in die ander se oë geskop het en ‘n taai stryd tussen Arthur en Nico. Die eind resultaat was toe Michael eerste, Hadri tweede Nico derde en Arthur vierde. By die groot manne in die Mastersklas was die stryd nog groter, want ‘n paar eks F3A manne het besluit om af te gradeer na Masters. Op die ou einde het Danie gewen met Burt tweede, Max derde, Mathys vierde en Frik vyfde. Met die F3A het die dinge nog stywer gegaan, want hier was ‘n paar jong Turke wat die meester wou uit lig uit sy nr. Een posisie, maar soos die eindresultaat aantoon moet hulle nog bietjie gaan oefen. Voor die begin van die derde ronde en die F skedule het Clinton en Grant eers deurmiddel van ‘n hand model die skedule aan die Judges en Pilots gedemonstreer, en was dit nie vir hulle moeite in die verband nie sou ten minste een pilot, waarvan ek weet, tenminste een van die bewegings verkeerd gevlieg het. Ek hoop almal waardeer wat die twee manne vir ons sport doen, vir die tyd en moeite wat hulle insit. Ek moet ook byvoeg dat hulle demonstrasie geweldig vir ons Judges gehelp het, veral ons groentjie Judges. Die eindresultaat was toe Andre eerste, Roston tweede, Clinton derde, Calvin vierde en Grant vyfde.
MASTERS
F3A
P
P
F
F
1 Andre Stockwell
74.39 75.00 66.95 68.71
3000
72.70
2 Roston Dugmore
70.61 71.00 64.38 69.33
2911
70.31
3 Clinton Carter-Brown 64.00 66.83 62.48 65.29
2766
65.37
4 Calvin Schroll
68.50 71.00 58.62 58.62
2759
66.39
5 Grant Brook
60.94 68.33 61.24 62.52
2728
64.03
Ek moet darem ook byvoeg dat die KRF. ouens ook lekker kan kuier soos die ander provinsies Saterdag aand agterna agter gekom het. Ek het selfs een hoor sê dat hy vrek jaloers is op ons omdat ons so gesellig kan kuier sonder dat daar oneenigheid is. Ons sien uit daar na om nog meer van die ander klubs met die Leaque in Maart hier te ontvang.
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GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 3
GAA MONTHLY - MODDERFONTEIN
TRAINING FOR THE NATIONALS 30 MARCH
“
THANKS VERY MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO PUT IN SO MUCH WORK TO MAKE THIS COMP HAPPEN ORGANISERS AND JUDGES
”
The GAA held their 2nd Training Session this past weekend, with excellent weather and an awesome field to fly at. Thanks to the guys at Modderfontein for hosting us. Early morning saw excellent
14
trimming weather, with zero wind, and awesome visibility. Exactly what our country is famous for, it’s weather.
and receive the invaluable information and feedback from our judges.
to get in the air, and show the judges what they are made of, again the feedback from the judges made the Intermediate: The day Being a monthly, and training started off with 2 intermediate worlds difference, with both pilots improving their flying session for the nationals, the Pilots, Pieter Botha & Lee exponentially round after pilots were eager to get flying, Bonny, both pilots anxious round.
GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 3
GAA MONTHLY - MODDERFONTEIN
TRAINING FOR THE NATIONALS 30 MARCH
Pieter took the honours with an average score of 55.4%, followed by Lee with his score of 51.01%.
Masters: Next up was the Masters Class, with 4 Entries, it was also nice to see Rui Martins and family competing this year. Again the feedback from the Judges made a huge impact, and the pilots were able to tweak their planes and flying to perfection for the nationals. Rui Martins won overall with 3 impressive rounds and an average of 70.94%, followed by Max Buizer in 2nd place with 54.81%, Matthys Botha in 3rd place with 56.42%, and John Brink in 4th with 46.83%.
F3A: The two top pilots were at it again, this time putting in the time and energy to get ready for the nationals and next year’s world champs. Andre took the overall score for the day with an average of 77.17%, followed closely by Roston with a score of 73.42%. It was truly some impressive flying.
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GAA AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 3
GAA MONTHLY - MODDERFONTEIN
TRAINING FOR THE NATIONALS 30 MARCH
I have also been asked by Roston to include a word or two he had to say about the competition. Herewith the letter from Roston in regards to the weekends flying: “Thanks very much to everyone who put in so much work to make this comp happen - organisers and judges. Also thanks to all the Modderfontein members who sacrificed their Sunday morning flying - it was great flying weather after all the rain we have endured lately. We precision aerobatic folk really appreciated the nicely mowed grass and well prepared site. This was the last chance to prepare for the nats and having three of SA’s top judges on duty and prepared to freely offer so much good advice was extremely useful to all the Intermediate, Masters and F3a pilots present. Thank you Ivan Olivier, Bob Skinner and Chris Theron Two of SA’s top F3a pilots, Roston Dugmore and Andre Stockwell were very fortunate the organisers managed to fit in two P schedules and two F schedules for them. These two are strong contenders to make the team for the 2015 world F3a championships and it’s obvious they have already started serious preparation, the countdown has started to July 2015. It was so beneficial for them to be judged by world class judges in a relaxed competition where the emphasis was on feedback and training. Regards Roston”
All in all it was a wonderful competition in preparation for the nationals. We hope to be able to fly here again, as the field looked awesome, thanks to Modderfontein for hosting us. Thank you Judges for sacrificing your Sunday to judge our flying without judges this sport would not exist. We would also like to thank our Sponsor JB Switchgear Solutions for all you have done for us. As always the Boeries were legendary, and I feel that we should send the “Boerie Braai Team” to the Braai Master competitions. So the next one is the nats, and we hope to see all of you there, this year it will be held in Himville KZN, entries are already open, so enter now! See you there, and as always, fly safe (and inverted)
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Pilot
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Pieter Botha
54,44
56,36
53,33
Lee Bonny
30,51
54,04
47,98
Rui martins
67,83
68,61
73,28
Max Buizer
51,06
58,56
49,72
Matthys Botha
53,67
53,67
59,17
John Brink
41,06
52,11
41,56
Andre Stockwell
76,78
77,56
65,48
Roston Dougmore
72,61
74,22
70,14
INTERMEDIATE
MASTERS
F3A
NW AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 2
NORTH WEST
NOORD WES LEAGUE 2 16 MAART 2014 BY NICO ERASMUS
“
EK HET NOOIT GEWEET ‘N MENS KAN TWEE EMOSIES GELYKTYDIG ERVAAR NIE, MAAR EK HET DIT WEL VOOR DIE KOMPETISIE ERVAAR.
”
Ek was op gewonde en lus vir vlieg en om weer te kuier saam met die manne, maar ek was ook baie benoud want ek het nie geweet wat die weer gaan maak nie, of dit gaan reën , en of die manne van Gauteng gaan kom of nie, maar my bekommernis was alle verniet, want sesuur Sondag oggend toe bel Max om te vra hoekom die hek nog nie oop is nie. Ek het toe geweet dit gaan ‘n fantastiese komp wees, en dit was toe ook so gewees. Dit was maklik die beste vliegweer wat ek nog op ‘n kompetisie ervaar het, seepglad, kan dit nie op ‘n ander manier beskryf nie.
Pilot
INTERMEDIATE Hugo Erasmus Pieter Botha Sebastiano Sacca Hercules Myburgh ADVANCED Hadri Lombaard Michael Sacca Nico Erasmus MASTERS Max Buizer F3A Calvin Schroll Grant Brook
Rd1
Rd2
Rd3
FINAL % Norm
59.24 54.70 50.91 41.97
53.48 53.79 54.09 49.85
64.24 55.76 55.76 42.88
61.74 55.23 54.92 46.36
2000 1918 1868 1630
63.70 59.78 53.59
65.98 61.63 56.85
54.67 64.02 53.70
64.84 62.83 55.27
2000 1939 1703
56.83 P 71.50 69.75
52.50 P 75.25 63.92
58.42 F 44.00 57.21
57.62
2000
73.38 66.83
2000 1976
Die Judges vir die naweek was Max, Grant , Sebastiano en Nico. Alhoewel ek die werkslading so gelyk moontlik onder die Judges versprei het, was een of twee bietjie ongelukkig en het gekla dat die las te veel op hulle was, maar gelukkig het Calvin ons toe uitgehelp en was almal toe weer gelukkig. Na Sebastiano vir ons met gebed geopen het , het ons vinnig Pilotsbreefing gehou, en toe het die stryd begin met die Intermediate klas, wat verblydend die grootste klas was, aan die spits. Die twee nuwelinge, Pieter en Hercules, het maar senuagtig begin, maar het algaande rustiger geword en behoorlik die stryd met Sebastiano en Hugo aangeknoop. Aan die einde was Hugo eerste, Pieter tweede, Sebastiano derde en Hercules vierde. In die Advanced klas was die stryd hewig tussen Hadri en Micheal, en is toe op die ou end deur Hadri gewen, Michael tweede en Nico derde. In die Masters klas was dit ‘n epiese stryd tussen Max, Max en Max met Max wat gewen het. In die F3A klas het Grant weereens gewys dat hy een van die land se top Pilots is en Calvin behoorlik die stryd aangesê, Calvin was egter die keer net te goed vir hom en het eerste gekom. Na die afsluiting van die kompetisie, het die res van KRF se lede opgedaag met ‘n paar baie intersante vliegtuie en ek kon sien die Gautengers het toe nie lus gehad om terug te gaan nie, dit het nou eenmaal na te veel pret gelyk. Ek dink hulle moet maar as country members aan sluit, dit is baie lekkerder by ons as by hulle.
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KZN AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 2
MARITZBURG, MAC
MORE POWER PLEASE 2 MARCH BY NEIL ALLEN
WE WERE PLEASED “ TO HAVE MIKE COX
BACK JUDGING WITH US, TOGETHER WITH OUR STALWARTS BRUCE AND DES. THANK YOU GUYS FOR YOUR GOOD EFFORTS.
”
18
A smartly trimmed field plus good weather made for an excellent day.
In Sportsman Ian Becke made his second appearance, and handled the strange field well. In Advanced we had a good fight. Arthur Eggar has been burning up a few electrons in secret up in his “Himeville Hideaway”, and came out on top with good flying.
KZN AEROBATICS
BULLETIN 2
MARITZBURG, MAC
MORE POWER PLEASE 2 MARCH
Very close on his heels were Craig and Ian, followed by Jason and Arthur Coleby. Jason came along just for fun, with a most unusual pattern plane – A Ultrastik powered by an Evolution 20cc petrol engine! It needed a bit more power in the verticals, but Jason did a good job nevertheless. The part that was causing the most difficulty to everyone in the class was the slow roll and the four point roll. We gather that they are supposed to be at minimum four seconds long, which is rather a long time, and takes quite some practice. If the wind is blowing hard, it becomes difficult to fit it in. In Masters Mark and I had our usual tussle, and John achieved a 60% aggregate.
SPORTSMAN Ian Becke
56.60 56.00
57.00
56.80
ADVANCED Arthur Eggar Craig Christianson Ian Morris Jason Barker Arthur Coleby
65.30 63.98 61.95 55.80 0.00
63.10 61.97 61.96 0.00 54.00
64.90 62.98 62.00 58.08 53.70
64.50 58.83 62.03 60.36 53.40
Michel is as accomplished as ever, and enjoyed flying the F3A class.
FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS :-
MASTERS Neil Allen Mark Savage John Dorse
68.19 66.50 64.55 66.22 59.60 61.80
64.45 65.83 58.10
67.35 66.03 60.00
F3A Michel Leusch
P P 69.11 67.72
F 63.85
P&F 66.48
13 APR 28 APRIL 8 JUNE
HOWICK NATS HIMEVILLE MARITZBURG LEAGUE
20 JULY
KINGSBURGH
31 AUG
HOWICK
(19 OCT
MASTERS 2014)
26 OCT
MARITZBURG
23 NOV
UMHLANGA
LEAGUE
19
2014 MAASA NATIONALS 25-28 APRIL
THE BALD EAGLE RISES
“
CALM COOL CONDITIONS, AND SNOW ON THE DISTANT ESCARPMENT.
”
HOSTED BY UNDERBERG POLO CLUB, HIMEVILLE BY: CLINTON CARTER-BROWN
20
MAIN PICTURE - CONTRA SHADOW OF BURT BOTHA, INSERT THE AUTHOR
The 2014 MAASA nationals took place between 25 and 27 April at the Underberg Polo Club near Himeville in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Southern Drakensburg. The fantastic venue and arrangements were coordinated by the MAASA Chairman, Arthur Eggar, who is a local resident in Himeville. It proved to be a wonderful location, with an inspiring backdrop of the Drakensburg. Several competitors camped on site, and had the use of the excellent local facilities. The event was a success due to the considerable support from the local community. In particular the following need to be thanked; Underberg Polo Club, Underberg Farmers Association, Mike Clark (the overseer at the polo grounds), Ray Eggar (supplier of the lamb on the spit), the Underberg MOTHS, the Coffee Coach and Berg Protection Services. It would
not have been possible to host such a great event without their assistance and support. Thank you. This years competition was attended by 20 pilots, with 1 in Sportsman, 2 in intermediate, 4 in advanced, 8 in Masters (one of which was forced to retire) and 5 in F3A. The contest director was Danie Potgieter Snr, who as always ran an efficient event. No competition is possible without judges, and the judging panel consisted of Chris Theron (MAASA Chief Judge), Bob Skinner, Bruce Clark, Sebastiano Sacca and Mike Cox. Official practice started the day before the event, and saw most competitors arriving early to fine tune their equipment and flying skills. They were welcomed with calm cool conditions, and snow on the distant escarpment. The only incident of the weekend occurred during practice when a local bird of prey decided to take on Matthys Botha’s (AKA the Bald Eagle)
CompARF Pegasus. The Pegasus won the dual, but sustained major damage. Matthys managed to land, but a damaged wing and ripped out landing gear saw an end to his competition. The bird was not so lucky and was no match for 5kg of carbon composite “bird ammunition”. Even though his pattern competition was at an end, Matthys stayed for the duration of the event, enjoying some of the other fun flying activities mentioned later in this report. Well done Matthys, you showed true spirit. Birds beware… After the official practice day there was a welcome finger supper at the club house, and the event was officially opened at the pilots briefing. The first day of competition started on Friday, with cool calm conditions ideal for precision aerobatics. These wonderful conditions continued onto Saturday. With only 20 pilots and 3 competition days, the event was held on a single allday flight line, and there
was ample time to include other flying activities. To allow a measure of fun, the aerobatics was interspersed with pylon quickie racing. Danie Potgieter Jnr had put the word out, and there were 7 pylon planes doing circuits. The polo field provided an excellent venue, and the pylon racing was great fun, with many circuits being flown without incident. For several of the aerobatic pilots it was their first go at pylon racing, and in many cases the bug has certainly bitten. It is a mix that is sure to be supported again in the future (should time allow), and had many participants discussing proposals for combined nationals with other disciplines such as pylon. Friday evening was concluded with a hot dinner in the club, and some time well spent with great friends. Saturday proved to be a fantastic flying day, with perfect calm conditions, blue skies, and a full two rounds flown in the various classes. It was concluded with a wonderful dinner comprising
21
MAASA NATIONALS of a sheep on the spit, as was donated by Ray Eggar, a local farmer (and Arthur’s son). With only one Sportsman pilot the result of that class was inevitable with Ian Becke taking top honours. It was good to see a non-2 by 2 pattern plane being flown in the introductory class, as per the requirements of the MAASA sporting code. The Intermediate class saw a duel of two Gauteng pilots, Pieter Botha and Hercules Myburgh. Both are new to competition aerobatics, and rose to the challenge. Pieter managed to persevere and win all four rounds taking the Intermediate competition. In the Advanced class Michael Sacca dominated, beating second placed pilot Hadri Lombaard, while Arthur Eggar finished in third place. The standard of flying of the advanced pilots has improved considerably, and it won’t be long before several of them are flying the P schedule in the Masters class.
22
Danie Potgieter Jnr showed poise and skill by comfortably winning all four rounds in the Masters class, well ahead of the rest of the competition. His closest competitor, Burt Botha, was a full 10% behind Danie Jnr. Third place was taken by Mark Savage. Masters had the largest number of competitors and the P15 schedule is proving to be popular schedule. The 2014 Nationals is the first of the three team selection events to finalise the team to represent South Africa at the 2015 F3A World Championships in Switzerland. The competition was fierce, with all 5 F3A pilots competing for a spot on the team. The standard of flying has improved considerably
2014 SOUTH AFRICAN
AEROBATIC NATIONALS 25-28 APRIL
over the last 2 years, with pilots flying both the P15 and F15 schedules with accuracy and precision. The format for team selection sees each pilot flying two P15 and two F15 schedules. For the first time in many years the competition was so tight that three different pilots won the first three rounds,
with Andre Stockwell winning the first P15, Calvin Schroll winning the second P15, and Roston Dugmore Jnr winning the first F15. It hence came down to the wire as the result was determined by the outcome of the final F15 schedule, which was flown on the Sunday morning. In stark contrast to the rest of the competition, the weather on Sunday was bitterly cold with a strong cross wind pushing in. These proved to be very difficult
conditions and pilots had to work extremely hard to keep the line and fly with precision. In the end Calvin showed the skills and poise of a champion, putting in an excellent final flight that saw him take first position, with Andre in second and Roston Jnr third. Calvin is a fitting National Champion and joins a select few that have held this honour. It was gratifying to see the excellent level at which the relatively new P15 and F15 schedules are already being flown, and this bodes extremely well for the success of the team at next years world champs. The next team selection event will be at the MAASA Masters, and the final of the three team selection events will be the 2015 MAASA Nationals.
The competition program also catered for some fun unknown schedules, as prepared by the Chief Judge, Chris Theron. Unfortunately the extremely unpleasant conditions on Sunday resulted in a very small and brief Unknown competition, which resulted in many howls of laughter given the extremely difficult task of flying a tough unknown schedule in terrible wind. None the less it was great fun, and is another addition that is sure to be well received at future events should time in the event program allow. As is customary the MAASA AGM was held at the Nationals. The outgoing committee were thanked for their work over the
23
and emerged victorious. Thanks again to Arthur Eggar for arranging a fantastic event, which would not have been possible without the support of the numerous people and organisations mentioned earlier this article. We hope to see many pilots qualify for the MAASA Masters later this year. Check out the MAASA website for updates and the latest information.
MAASA NATIONALS
2014 SOUTH AFRICAN
AEROBATIC NATIONALS
Sportsman
25-28 APRIL
AND THE RESULTS ARE... last year. Several of the previous committee elected to serve another term, and their continued involvement was supported by the membership. The competition was closed
at the awards dinner, with a fantastic meal. Arthur Eggar arranged for great trophies for the winners. Included in this article are pictures of the winners with their trophies and MAASA floating trophies. Congratulations to those that persevered and emerged victorious. Thanks again to Arthur Eggar for arranging a fantastic event, which would not have been possible without the support of the numerous people and organisations mentioned earlier in this article. We hope to see many pilots qualify for the MAASA Masters later this year. Check out the MAASA website for updates and the latest information.
THE OFFICIALS
24
Result Rnd 1 Result Rnd 2 Result Rnd 3 Result Rnd 4 Average Best
Pilot Position
Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Ian Becke
Intermediate
58.17% 1000 52.83% 1000 56.83% 1000 53.17% 1000 56.06% 3000
1
Result Rnd 1 Result Rnd 2 Result Rnd 3 Result Rnd 4 Average Best
Pilot Position
Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Pieter Botha
63.43% 1000 61.62% 1000 62.93% 1000 55.66% 1000 62.66% 3000
1
Hercules Myburgh
53.64% 846 55.15% 895 53.23% 846 52.53% 944 54.01% 2685
2
Result Rnd 1 Result Rnd 2 Result Rnd 3 Result Rnd 4 Average Best
Pilot Position
Advanced
Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Michael Sacca
68.30% 1000 66.81% 1000 65.19% 1000 65.48% 998 66.86% 3000
1
Hadri Lombaard
63.56% 931 63.19% 946 63.93% 981 65.63% 1000 64.37% 2926
2
Arthur Eggar
56.30% 824 62.74% 939 61.26% 940 52.81% 805 60.10% 2703
3
Craig Christianson
52.96% 775 53.04% 794 57.41% 881
4
Masters
0.00%
0
54.47% 2450
Result Rnd 1 Result Rnd 2 Result Rnd 3 Result Rnd 4 Average Best
Pilot Position
Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Danie Potgieter
71.67% 1000 71.28% 1000 71.44% 1000 69.67% 1000 71.46% 3000
1
Burt Botha
60.83% 849 59.06% 829 61.78% 865 52.00% 746 60.56% 2542
2
Mark Savage
52.72% 736 62.89% 882 62.06% 869 52.50% 754 59.22% 2504
3
Clive Mcinnes
58.39% 815 52.28% 733 62.56% 876 52.44% 753 57.80% 2443
4
Neil Allen
51.67% 721 43.78% 614 63.67% 891 54.11% 777 56.48% 2389
5
John Brink
54.06% 754 49.61% 696 55.00% 770 43.39% 623 52.89% 2220
6
Frik De Beer
0.00%
7
F3A
0
51.00% 716 57.56% 806 48.22% 692 52.26% 2213
Result Rnd 1 Result Rnd 2 Result Rnd 3 Result Rnd 4 Average Best
Pilot Position
Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Percent Norm Calvin Schroll
71.44% 998 73.06% 1000 68.43% 949 65.48% 1000 70.98% 2998
1
Andre Stockwell
71.56% 1000 69.00% 944 70.38% 976 64.19% 980 70.31% 2956
2
Roston Dugmore
67.67% 946 70.83% 970 72.14% 1000 61.81% 944 70.21% 2915
3
Clinton Carter-Brown 64.83% 906 67.06% 918 67.52% 936 58.71% 897 66.47% 2760
4
Grant Brook
5
61.22% 856 64.50% 883 61.19% 848 54.14% 827 62.30% 2587