Weekend Report: Gareth AWOL again!
Conflicting weather reports and the Ysterplaat AAD most likely kept many away from the field on Saturday but those who were there had good flights. Paul Baily instructed and flew paxes and Andre helped out when the second duty instructor had not arrived. Louis Esterhuisen did a good job of Duty Piloting all alone! Paul had flown MIV over from FASH on Friday but she was not quite ready for tugging on Saturday morning and Johnny was on hand to fix the snag. Normal tugging then resumed. Jerry and Martin Young (all the way from Knysna) took turns in GUC and Greg from Flight Avionics flew with Andre in GOK. Reinhold also had a good flight in GWN (Astir).
At 9.20pm the Airfield lights went out!
Sunday began with a light NW wind which picked up after lunch (thank heavens as the horse flies were out in abundance!). Helmut, with the assistance of Barbera and Demi Holmwood were coping pretty well with the odd flight when suddenly things became hectic. The wave started and Marting Young, Ian Forbes , Kelvin as well as Gareth Floweday all had good wave flights. An entire KLM crew as well as 2 visitors from Switzerland arrived for pax flights. At this point we also found out the that power failure was a damaged cable and could only be repaired on Tuesday.!!! Added to that was the fact that we could not pump fuel and, when MIV ran dry, we took NIG out of the hanger (she was full – thanks to Frans for re-fueling before hangering!). Johnny and I then dashed back to FASH to fetch his generators which he rigged up to the fuel bay. We made it back in time for the start of the course where we advised all the students of the status and handed out candles to everyone.
At this point Helmut came into the Clubhouse to advise us that GUC had outlanded with Gareth and he needed help to retrieve. Again the Star of the Show – Rico Suter – (Tuggie, glider pusher, launch point manager and general factotum) together with his dogs and Kelvin, Demi, Adrian Forbes and the Swiss visitors all set off to fetch Gareth in the dark. Helmut and Rico – you guys went the extra mile after doing your duties as well! Thank you very much!
Monday and the beginning of the course was marred by strong NW as well as rain. Thank heavens, as predicted, this cleared by lunch and, at the same time, the wind changed to SW. I really think that everyone involved deserves thanks for putting up with batteries that died, ERV’s that ran out of battery power and no electricity for working cell phone chargers and lap top computers. At 13.30 the power was restored, thank heavens.
A special “THANK YOU’ to Hans Sterling for the loan of his projector for the course. We managed to keep the students occupied with gliding DVD’s powered by the generator.
Also a very special thank you (again) to Johnny for stepping in and fixing the VW RV, the gas system in the Vliegklub Clubhouse so that it was in working condition for the course and the supply of his generators to keep things going.
Please remember that the 7th of October is the Gauntlet followed by a Potjie. Please book with Wally should you want to book for dinner. There is the possibility that Good Hope Flying Club will be doing some night flying that evening and might join us for the Potjie. They will also be staying over and, should this happen, breakfast will be served by the Vliegklub in their Clubhouse. Anyone wishing to book for this breakfast, please contact my via e-mail.
Also, please remember to MOW THE GRASS AROUND YOUR HANGERS!! It is getting very long and is a Fire Hazzard!!!
See you all next weekend.
Regards
Alison
At 9.20pm the Airfield lights went out!
Sunday began with a light NW wind which picked up after lunch (thank heavens as the horse flies were out in abundance!). Helmut, with the assistance of Barbera and Demi Holmwood were coping pretty well with the odd flight when suddenly things became hectic. The wave started and Marting Young, Ian Forbes , Kelvin as well as Gareth Floweday all had good wave flights. An entire KLM crew as well as 2 visitors from Switzerland arrived for pax flights. At this point we also found out the that power failure was a damaged cable and could only be repaired on Tuesday.!!! Added to that was the fact that we could not pump fuel and, when MIV ran dry, we took NIG out of the hanger (she was full – thanks to Frans for re-fueling before hangering!). Johnny and I then dashed back to FASH to fetch his generators which he rigged up to the fuel bay. We made it back in time for the start of the course where we advised all the students of the status and handed out candles to everyone.
At this point Helmut came into the Clubhouse to advise us that GUC had outlanded with Gareth and he needed help to retrieve. Again the Star of the Show – Rico Suter – (Tuggie, glider pusher, launch point manager and general factotum) together with his dogs and Kelvin, Demi, Adrian Forbes and the Swiss visitors all set off to fetch Gareth in the dark. Helmut and Rico – you guys went the extra mile after doing your duties as well! Thank you very much!
Monday and the beginning of the course was marred by strong NW as well as rain. Thank heavens, as predicted, this cleared by lunch and, at the same time, the wind changed to SW. I really think that everyone involved deserves thanks for putting up with batteries that died, ERV’s that ran out of battery power and no electricity for working cell phone chargers and lap top computers. At 13.30 the power was restored, thank heavens.
A special “THANK YOU’ to Hans Sterling for the loan of his projector for the course. We managed to keep the students occupied with gliding DVD’s powered by the generator.
Also a very special thank you (again) to Johnny for stepping in and fixing the VW RV, the gas system in the Vliegklub Clubhouse so that it was in working condition for the course and the supply of his generators to keep things going.
Please remember that the 7th of October is the Gauntlet followed by a Potjie. Please book with Wally should you want to book for dinner. There is the possibility that Good Hope Flying Club will be doing some night flying that evening and might join us for the Potjie. They will also be staying over and, should this happen, breakfast will be served by the Vliegklub in their Clubhouse. Anyone wishing to book for this breakfast, please contact my via e-mail.
Also, please remember to MOW THE GRASS AROUND YOUR HANGERS!! It is getting very long and is a Fire Hazzard!!!
See you all next weekend.
Regards
Alison
posted by CGC Reporter at 26.9.06
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