Weekend Report: AGM approaches - Best club member?

Both Saturday and Sunday’s weather was superb for TMG as well as glider training. Balmy, Autumn days! Paul Roos was excellent as duty pilot for Saturday and did his duty solo and as though he had done it for years!

Earlier that morning Johnny and I in RMP, Andre and Quiton in GUF, Adriaan and Adri in GXH and Brian Cole in GKM flew in to the breakfast at Robertson which was also well attended by other Clubs.

When we arrived back at FAWC, our newest member – Dietmar – was already there with two paxes who were later flown by Andre in GOK while Dietmar took advantage of having GHB all to himself and flew alternately with Reinhold and Wally who were the duty instructors.

Kelvin had a flight first in GOK and then THREE flights in GUC! Frans du Toit had about twelve tugs to do which kept him busy until after 4.30pm. It was also great to see an old friend from BaraG/Donaldson days - Dirk Gonlag - who visited us for the day!

Sunday morning’s silence was broken with Brian in GKM before he resumed his duty day. He was followed by Martin Young in GUC tugged by Alan Procter. Martin then went on to do his conversion onto GIG and flew for an hour and a half! Well done Martin! Boet Coetzee took his daughter for a flight to Hermanus in GUF. Helmut then flew GUC, too, for over an hour

Nicky and Rob K took the winch out and 4 successful winch launches were achieved. Even Hubert helped myself and Rob Tiffen on the winch runway while Marion very ably ran the aerotow launch point.

Adri and Martin flew to FACT and then later Adri flew there and back solo while June flew with Martin in the Rotax Falke. Later Martin flew with Rob Tiffin in the Falke, too. Thanks to Alan Procter who helped put away four gliders yesterday! A tuggie going beyond and above the call of duty!

This coming weekend there will be a tug pilot for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday with Rico available for Monday should anyone be interested.

Do also remember the AGM on Wednesday at the Pinelands Bowling Club at 7.30pm. We might even vote a best club member:


See you all there!

Alison

Weekend Report: Quietly busy

A quiet - but enthusiastic weekend nonetheless! Errol drew had stayed over and flown during the week and, as he is leaving today, has de-rigged his glider until he returns in a few months time.

On Saturday William Whittaker brought a few Air scouts to the club for winching and the winch team were there to get the show on the road. Nine launches were achieved with a strong 35kph NW wind so there were nice, high launches. Even Errol was amazed as to what height we get to and he had two launches, too. Sven and Ian instructed on the winch side while Paul Troskie was to instruct on the aerotow side but we had NO takers for instruction, again. Thanks to Michael Allen who drove the tractor all day and Nico Le Roux who was duty pilot.

On the Aerotow side we only had one launch and Paul tugged Gareth in GUC who flew in wave for 3.5hrs.

The morning had started with Jacobus, Gareth, Johnny and myself sanding and finishing off the repairs to GUC. After one or two glitches and lots of elbow grease, we rigged the glider with the help of Jerry and June, and managed to get the paperwork done and GUC taken to the launch point. Thanks to all concerned who made this possible! Thanks to Jerry for working on the installation of the Flarm in GHB. Hopefuly the radio in GHB will be repaired by the weekend.

The only other glider that flew on Saturday was Rico who took a friend for a flight in GWU and thoroughly enjoyed the conditions.

GXH with the Hepburns, and GZG flown by Rob Kakebeeke took to the skies as well.

Saturday evening was quiet with Ed being invited to a local party so the bar was only kept going until 7.00pm and then the few that were there went home.

Sunday’s duty pilots arrived early (Richard Harris and Maurice Cotton) to get things going. Johan Gericke was the first to turn up with a friend, Barry, and they flew together later in GOK after helping much at the launch point . June had booked the Rotax Falke with Phil Surridge and flew for almost an hour in really still, great conditions. Kelvin then had a check flight in GOK with Paul Troskie tugging (again) and then Ari took to the skies in the LSpatz and landed an hour and a half later just as the wind started to pick up. Very well timed, Ari! Adriaan and June in GXH and Peter Wooley and Susan in GXZ also took off with both flying again later. Kelvin then few in GUC (with an ASI that was u/s) landed and thought that he had fixed it, flew again only to find that it was not fixed but managed to stay up for half an hour. This is when your ‘blank panel’ exercise really counts!! Errol Drew also had his last flight in his Antares before packing it away.

That being the end of the tugging for the day, Paul took a friend for an hour-long flight in the Rotax Falke.

During the day, Peter Clemence and his wife, Felix, had flown over from Fisantekraal in EEJ and he later flew back with his brother, Bruce to Fisantekraal while Felix drove back.

Thanks to the teams for doing their duties to make everything run so smoothly this weekend.

Please remember the AGM next Wednesday, the 25th of April, at the Pinelands Bowling Club.

Regards
Alison

Easter - Exhausted After Severe Training Exercise & Recovering!

The course ended on a high note on Friday evening with a lot of happy students. I must thank a lot of members who gave their time and energy to the successful running of the course (see the comment on this blog entry for some excellent feedback). I am not going into detail as Dietmar has already done that! The Instructors: Andre, Peter Clemence, Johan Gericke, Paul Troskie, Quintin Hoole, Martin Grunert, Ian Forbes, Nicky and Ari; Tug Pilots: Nina Grunert (every day), Paul Troskie, John Spargo, Frans du Toit and Alan Procter, all need to be thanked for giving of their valuable time. Another member, who really needs mentioning, is Andrew Standring who spent the first few days on the course helping the students and the duty pilots in getting things to run smoothly at the launch point! He also managed to complete his “C” as well as 10 solo flights! Tom and Jesse did a sterling job as duty pilots for the course. Of course, the member who stands out the most, is ED!!! Without him the course would not have run so smoothly. A big thank you Ed! I know how tired you are this morning but your contribution is highly valued.

I must also mention a person who was behind the scenes and who stayed on the airfield for the entire week just in case something should break and that is Johnny! Thanks for all your assistance and – for me – the support you gave to the course!

Now, for the rest of the weekend, the report is very short.

Saturday no duty pilots turned up so a big “Thank You” to Jerry who gave up his flying so that others could fly while he did the timekeeping! Boet, the duty instructor, took 3 paxes in GOK, then took a visiting pilot from Bloemfontein, Walter Walle, for a flight to Hermanus in GZF. Two singles who flew were Garth Milne and Bill Griffiths who both had nice long flights. Jacobus also flew GZF in between his hard work on GUC. Incidentally, Jacobus spent most evenings last week until 11.00pm working on GUC in the club hangar and repeated his efforts all weekend as well. The work is nearing completion and hopefully GUC will be polished this weekend. I am sure that Nina was pleased that the day was not as busy as anticipated as she had “drawn the short straw” and had to tug on Saturday as well! Thank you very much Nina (The guys on the course called her the “Tug Chick”)

The evening saw much entertaining in the Clubhouse with the O’Regans and the Farrels as well as Rudi and Liesl, Horst and Chrystal, Gerhard and Marianne.

On Sunday the conditions were much the same as Saturday. Calm to start off with but then the light breeze from the NW began. Peter Wooley took Susan for her first flight in his beautiful new Lambada – GXZ – and later flew a long flight down the ridge towards Robertson by himself. Rob K took off and flew to Clanwilliam and Elands Bay and back. Rudi and Gerhard flew GZF as did John Spargo and Errol Drew. Rico took Horst for a flight in GWU which, after landing, Horst described as his best flight in a long time! They flew for just over 3 hours and managed to get to 8500’ at one stage! I also managed to take VAE down the valley for an hour. Really nice TMG conditions!

Monday morning the team: Fred, Henry and Rico turned up to do duty but, disappointingly, we had NO takers for the tug. Rob K flew to the KKNK at Oudtshoorn and GZF was flown by Jacobus. Errol was the only glider which flew for close on 4 hours (ed: to Renosterhoek!)! See what you guys missed! I took RMP to Theewaterskloof and back and then had to return to pack up after the long weekend.

Just a reminder of the AGM on Wednesday the 25th of April.

Please cast your minds to the nominations for the Committee and remember that the positions to be filled should be by those who want to contribute to the WORK to be done in the Club. A position on the Committee is not a popularity poll or to appease someone’s egos. It is real hard work and self-sacrifice and a position that leaves you open for criticism all the time by the odd few. But it can also be very rewarding as we have many very nice and appreciative members, too!

See you all next weekend!

Regards

Alison.

PS: The weekend news editor’s position is also open from Saturday the 28th April. A volunteer would also be appreciated.

Big Boys & Toys: Andre turns 50!

Saturday morning got off to an enthusiastic good start with Alan’s briefing in the Vliegklub training centre which was well attended. Jacobus was hilarious when he arrived dressed as a mad scientist– blond wig and all!! Jennifer and Douglas Bradley were visiting us and Jennifer flew with Martin “Mountain Meister” Grunert in GOK. Douglas was fortunate to be invited by Rico to fly with him in the DG500. Both had wonderful experiences, and this morning’s reports from their home confirmed that! Thanks to everyone involved for making them feel welcome at our Club.

Two tug pilots had been organized and Paul Troskie (MIV) and Rico (NIG) were kept busy from just after 11.00am until 13.00 when all the gauntleteers had been launched. Alan, Peter, Quinton, Mark, Jennifer & Martin, William, Jacobus, Craig, Adriaan and Errol all took part in the competiton. All made it back with the exception of Jacobus who outlanded with a little damage to the wing of GUC. He was very fortunate as he had a VERY close encounter with a barbed-wire fence! We are all very happy that YOU are fine, Jacobus!

Garth did his annual check with Paul Bailey while Rudi took a launch in his Astir and flew for just over an hour. Paul then took Garth for a flight in GUF and Jerry and Nicky went flying in GZF.

Peter Wooley has been trying to get illusive paperwork regarding his Lambada together in order to complete his Annual Inspection and this was accomplished by Saturday afternoon. The Cherry on the Top was when he went for his first type-conversion lesson with Martin at sunset. Congratulations, Peter! I am sure it was worth the wait!

After sunset everyone gathered in the Clubhouse and the mood was very festive while everyone chatted about their day’s flights. We celebrated Andre’s 50 years of gliding with champagne and the presentation of a Certificate! Well done, Andre! Andre was also thanked for his amazing effort in getting GHB repaired in time for the course. Rudi fetched the wing from Andre’s workshop on Friday morning and brought it straight out to the airfield. Unfortunately Friday was the day that the schools closed and Rudi was caught in the Cape Town traffic from 8.00 in the morning until he reached the airfield at 13.30. Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated, Rudi!

Andre Stander drove out especially on Saturday morning in response to the request for assistance to do the LS1 to GUZ. He and Rudi completed the inspection and then we all helped to rig GHB whereafter Andre Stander and I cleaned the gliders in preparation for the course. After putting the gliders back in the hangar, Andre had to leave the airfield as he had a prior engagement. Before leaving he discovered that Ed had a plight which needed attention : the liquid refreshment order had not been delivered. Andre then drove to Cape Town, collected the order from Makro and drove back to the airfield to deliver the drinks to the Clubhouse! This surpasses anything ever done for the club in recent times – I am speechless and I can only say “THANK YOU” Andre!!!

On Sunday morning I thought that I would take Jacobus’s mind off the day before and take him for one of “Alison’s Scary Flights” in the Grob. I certainly took his mind off things for a few minutes as the 90 deg. cross wind sent the Grob (thankfully airborne) heading for the bushes at the side of the runway for a few seconds! The rest of the flight was uneventful but we had to land due to a radio problem. Adri and Adriaan were next to get airborne (separately) and flew in what seemed marginal conditions the rest of the morning. They were joined by Johan Gericke in GOK with a pax and then Errol also tried out the conditions in his Antares. Phil flew first with a Pax in GOK and then with June in GZF for an hour. Johan Gericke was kept busy in GOK and Ian did various check flights in GOK as well. Kevin had the last flight of the day in his DG400 for half an hour.

The day ended with us getting geared up for the course which starts today. My thanks to the people that have put in a lot of effort to make this happen: Andre LdT, Rudi, Andrew S, Ed, Tom, Ian, Johnny, Andre S, Rob K, Jesse, Hans (for the projector), and all the Instructors and Tug Pilots.

Anyone wishing to fly during the duration of the course must bear in mind that the course launches take precedence over any private gliders wishing to launch. Private gliders are very welcome but the pilots must bear in mind that they might have to wait for a launch until a tug is available. The course runs until Friday afternoon.

We hope to see you all at the field over the Easter Weekend.

Until then….

Alison