FROM:  The Editor’s Desk:

Dear Friends and fellow enthusiasts

I trust this communication finds you well and rested after the series of public holidays we have just enjoyed.  Unfortunately, the weather has not been very kind to us over the past two months since our previous news letter.  Our proficiency day was hampered by rainy weather and unfortunately we did not manage to do the Gold and Instructor ratings – more on this under the training and instructor section.  Another casualty from weather was our War Bird day, which followed the same fate as our friends from Barnstormers and their War Bird day.  Both had to be cancelled due to weather.  Please refer to the events calendar for info on the revised days for both these events.

Please join me in welcoming the following new members who joined us since the last news letter:

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• Francois Pieterse
• Marius Kruger
• Deon Stols
• Anton Van Den Berg
• Wicus Pretorius
• Leon Loubser
• Deon Viljoen
• Leon vd Merwe
• Petrus Botha
• Marchant Olivier
• Jack Yennaris
• Andreas Yennaris

 

Chairman’s Desk/Van die Voorsitter:

Baie welkom aan al die nuwe manne by die klub – daar is heelawat nuwelinge maar ook n hele paar ou hande wat weer begin vlieg het.  Baie dankie aan Francois, Jan en die ander instrukteurs wat die nuwelinge help om in die lug te kom en daar te bly!  Die nuwe ouens het almal al reeds goed ingeskakel by die klub, en vir die ouens soos ek wat maar sukkel nog om al die name te onthou, raai maar Leon, Deon of Andre en jy sal waarskynlik reg wees!

Alhoewel ons finansies maar skraps is sal die sterker ledetal ons in staat stel om voort te gaan om ons fasiliteite weer op standaard te kry.  Ons sal graag aandag aan die skouers van die aanloopbane wil gee en ‘n tweede helipad suid van die klubhuis wil bou, maar dit sal n bietjie moet wag tot ons finansies sterker is.  Soos dit nou gaan met ons landings gaan vermoed ek die ouens sal nie te onwillig wees om by te dra as ons op ‘n Saterdag of sondag middag ‘n blikkie skud vir bydraes nie.

 

 

Dit lyk (en voel) vir my asof die winter nou regtig hier is, maar saam met die koue kom die lekker sonnige winter wee rook.  Ek was vanmiddag by die klub, en vir die eerste keer in ‘n lang tyd was daar twee rye motors, en die vluglyn was ook vol.  Die ligte wind was reg op die hoof aanloopbaan en die manne het almal baie lekker gevlieg (ook die een of twee wat vliegtuie in die lang gras of mielieland moes gaan haal ;-)

Een van die dinge wat ons klub so interessant maak is die wye belangstellings van ons lede.  Die ouens vlieg enigiets van sweeftuie, vaste vlerk vliegtuie, helikopters en turbines by die klub.  Verlede Saterdag het Gert sy “Quadrocopter” by die klub gehad wat hy met sy selfoon beheer het!  Ek moet erker dit het maar vreemd gelyk toe hy dit met sy selfoon stuur, maar die affere lyk baie stabiel.  Hopelik kry hy die sagteware uit gesorteer en bring dit weer saam klub toe – dit het blykbaar baie goed gewerk tot hy die sagteware op sy foon op gegradeer het (Gert, as dit werk los dit uit!).

Baie geluk ook aan Leon Cilliers wat laas Sondag op Swartkop sy “Vlamgat rating” behaal het (soos ek verstaan is dit solo op turbine jets).  Die kompetisie vir turbine jets wat vir daardie dag gereel is moes gekanseleer word (te min inskrywings), en die dag is gebruik vir algemene vlieg met turbines.  Leon se Scorpion het onderstel problem gegee, en moes toe sy Mirage gebruik vir die toets wat n bietjie moeliker was, want die Mirage het nie ‘n rigtingsroer (“rudder”) nie.  Ons wag nog vir Shakes om ons sy nuwe jet te wys – hy het hom al in Newcastle gevlieg, maar nog nie hier by ons nie!

Drie jaar terug was ek omtrent die enigste lid wat elektries gevlieg het, maar nou is daar heelwat elektriese vliegtuie by die klub, wat wissel van ligte polistireen vliegtuie tot 1/3 skaal vliegtuie.  Leon Janeke het sy nuwe Mustang elektries gemaak, en as hy krag oop maak lyk dit of die ander vliegtuie stilstaan!  Ongelukkig het die ander Mustang wat onlangs by die klub sy verskyning gemaak het besluit om sy eie koers in te slaan, en die laaste wat ons van hom gesien het was die vliegtuig sterk op pad Delmas toe.  Ook interessant dat al die ouens wat “pattern” vlieg nou oor geskakel het elektries toe – die gewone “glow” enjins het blykbaar nie genoeg krag nie.  Frik het gereeld sy vliegtuig by die klub, en hy bring nou nie meer ‘n kannetjie brandstof saam klub toe nie, maar ‘n hele  tas vol batterye (moet hom net nog oortuig om die nuwe Hyperion batterye te probeer ;-)

Daar is ‘n hele paar “ducted fans” wat gereeld vlieg, en sommige raak ook al lank in die tand (epoksie herstelwerk weeg al amper soveel as die vliegtuig!)  Vir die ouens wat wonder waarom ons draadpale na een kant oor leun – dit is soos hulle koets vir die jet as Leon Cilliers hulle gebruik vir ‘n anker vir sy “bungee launch”.  Gelukkig het hy my ook voorsien van ‘n stuk “surgical tubing”, en my klein AMX jet kom darem nou ook gereeld in die lug!  Daar ook nou ‘n paar elektriese F86 Sabre vliegtuie wat gereeld vlieg, maar ons moet nog net die opstyg en landing onder die knie kry - myne het ‘n onderonsie met die grensdraad gehad en Shakes het ‘n mielieland verwar met die aanloopbaan...

 

 

 

Safety Officer’s brief:

Very pleased to say that from a Security point of view, nothing adverse to report.  Members are urged to continue to be vigilant and please, do not fly on your own.  We have now experienced almost a year without further incidents; let’s see to it that we maintain this good record by being alert and not taking chances alone at the club.

Flying Safety Rules.  We are most grateful for the general good flying discipline at the club.  Pilots are being careful and very considerate of each other, without necessity for any policing by committee members or other members. This is great and we must strive to keep up this spirit of camaraderie and enjoyment for what it is we do.

Thank you for your consideration in observing the Ground Safety Rules as well.  Planes are now generally being started and operated in the pits area.  There are some slip ups, sometimes, but in general very good discipline there as well.

Finally, please continue to observe the “No Fly” zones.  There were a few instances in the past two months where pilots almost overflew the club house.  No fly zone includes flying over yourself and pilots standing on the designated flight boxes – and definitely not over the clubhouse and cars!

 

Facilities and Security

We are pleased to advise that it has almost been 1 year since we had the last incidence regarding personal security at IRF.  The perpetrators are now I believe all sitting in jail as well as the persons responsible for equipment theft to the club and surrounding premises.  Even our toilet doors that had a habit of disappearing now stays put.  Just remember to bring some paper, as it seems to be used for the cleaning of planes etc. and not for its intended purpose!

Please continue to be vigilant and we strongly recommend that you avoid flying alone at the club.

We have a few plans on the table for improvements to the club facilities and these include (a) a brick screen in front of the ablution facilities and (b) a new Heli-pad on the Northern side of the club house.  Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, we are currently 100% on budget in respect of club funds and do not have any extra funds for these two projects.  Unless we receive some form of sponsorships or donations, these two projects will continue to be on hold until funds become available (new members, donations etc...)

It seems that we have the weeds on the runway under control again, and that we will be able to do some minor repairs to the damaged areas.  We are also keen on building shoulders on the existing runway, or to at least have a 1.5m clear runoff area on either side of the runway – important for planes with minimal directional control on landings!

 

 

 

Treasury and Finance Update:

Finances are in good order and we are in a position to meet all commitments for the year to 31 December 2011.  Any extra expenses towards club facilities and improvements will require additional funding by way of donations or joining fees.  Further new members will provide additional funds which may in future be employed for extra-ordinary, non-budgeted expenses.  Thanks to Carl who has been doing a sterling job in managing our finances – as long as the lawn mower does not break down again we may even think of improving the club facilities as mentioned earlier.

Thanks to Francois for organising us club golf shirts.  Seems that the first batch has all been sold, and further orders will be placed on an “as and when required” basis.  Please contact him if you want to order your club shirt.  He has also promised to look into the possibility of some warm jackets for club members – essential for the winter!  Information on this will be circulated to members, as orders will only be placed after payment (considering the cash flow position of the club). 

Training and Instruction (incl. Proficiencies)

We held our first proficiency day on 19 April 2011. Since this was our first time after quite a few years without such exercise and definitely a first for the 2011 committee, we learnt a few meaningful lessons.  Going forward, we will apply all insights gained on the day.

Unfortunately, the 19^th of April was hampered by inclement weather!  Despite this we had 9 applications for proficiencies and managed to see through all Bronze and Silver proficiencies.  Gold and Instructor ratings scheduled for the afternoon had to be cancelled due to heavy rain.  We learnt a lot from our SAMAA judges and I will share some of their insights with you.

1)      Pilots must prepare ahead of time if they intend taking higher proficiencies.  They must familiarise themselves with what is required of them for the level they wish to be assessed on and practice the sequence well before taking the assessment

2)      Pilots need someone on the day to call the sequence.  The caller needs to know when and how to call, so practice here is also required.

3)      If any pilot flies off the runway and so much as overshoots the grass on the no fly zone side, the test will immediately be terminated.

4)      Practice, practice, practice!

I can only thank our Instructor judges for their time on the day and the professional manner and fairness they applied on the day and look forward to promoting these facilities further in future.

Members’ feedback:

Members felt that we should not book a full day for proficiency assessments.  Many want to continue with general flying but have to wait for a small window between assessments to sneak in a flight.  On the other hand, members taking the assessment are in a totally different “zone” and are stressed enough not to be rushed on the day.

 

 

In order to balance this, I propose the following:  Please drop me a mail and let me know what proficiency you would like to tackle and by when you feel confident that you are able to perform the required manoeuvres.  I will then arrange with the Judges for a date when we will only probably do one or three assessments, thus only stopping flights on the day for 1 hr max.  In two or three, 30 minutes slots, with general flying in between. If we have a large number of pilots wishing to be assessed for higher ratings, I will make a plan over two or three week-end.  Overall, IRF offers these facilities for our members and we will always make a plan to accommodate all.  We also need to take judges availability under consideration.

 

Solo Proficiency Ratings will be done at club level and may be granted by the club instructor/s and co-signed by the safety officer and Chairman.  We can accommodate our members any time during week-ends, just give me a heads up and I will organise for you.

 

Bronze Rating – We can also accommodate at club level, provided we have about two weeks’ notice. This is in order to ensure that we will have at least one of our SAMAA Instructor / judges available on the day.  For this proficiency, one of the club instructors and a SAMAA judge may complete the assessment rating, which will also be signed by the club Chairman.

Silver, Gold and Instructor ratings, require two SAMAA Instructor/judges to mark the assessment sheet; therefore a bit more advance planning is required here.

In all instances, should you wish to be assessed for higher proficiencies, just jot me a note on fderav@gmail.com and I will make the necessary arrangements.  Perhaps, prior to doing the assessment it may be wise to ask one of the instructors to stand next to you and provide comments on whether or not you should book your “test” since you are ready for it.

Finally congratulations to the following pilots on obtaining the following proficiencies since April 2011.

• Philippe De Ravel – Silver
• Christiaan Van Der Schyff – Bronze
• Henry Maartens - Bronze
• Riaan Nel (Snr) - Solo
• Francois Pieterse – Solo
• Deon Viljoen - Solo

 

Student Pilots and Solo tests:  A reminder that every new student pilot will be issued with a training and progress report sheet. Once deemed ready to take the Solo test, the club instructor will sign off the training sheet and the student pilot will be able to take their solo test.

 

 

The Official club instructors are:

SENIOR INSTRUCTORS: (SAMAA Ratings)

• Andre Beukes (SAMAA Judge fixed wind and Helicopter )
• Frik De Beer (SAMAA – Judge Fixed wing)

 

Club Instructors: (Gold and Silver Ratings)

• Jan Backer (advanced training Students only)
• Leon Cilliers (Helicopters)
• Andre Kilian – Electric aircraft only
• Dawid Nel – Fixed Wing
• Francois De Ravel (Also responsible for club instructor and training portfolios)
• Jan Kooiman – Fixed Wing

 

Forthcoming Events:

We encourage all to participate and enjoy the Club’s, as well as other club invite Fly –INS

• Barnstormers War Bird day 27 March 2011 – Cancelled due to adverse weather – New date is 5^th June 2011 at Barnstormers airfield.  It would be great if we could get a couple of IRF pilots together for the day.  If interested, please contact Andre Killian.
• IRF War Bird and open day 16 April 2011 – Cancelled due to VERY adverse weather – New scheduled date is 23 July 2011.  .
• We have decided not to advertise to the public since we now have a very good attendance at the club and feel that this should be a real fun day for our members and guests, in a relaxed atmosphere. We will still have a caterer on the day so that we can all concentrate on flying rather than making food. We will also invite our friends from Barnstormers, PRF Meerkat and Brits. This is our day to enjoy our flying and friends. It is Warbrid and Open, so don’t be shy and bring these scale models busy gathering dust in the garage. Sticks always fund to do formation, dogfights, streamer chopping, egg drops etc...There will be a registration fee of R20.00 per pilot and this will include a free entry in the raffle (multiple prizes to be won). Stalls welcome for a small fee (Contact Carl Brandt our minister of finance!).  Andre will have a donations bin next to the Radio pound.  Please bring all your unwanted RC equipment as a donation to the SAMAA development programme as mentioned before. We already have a couple of generous donations of new and used equipment and tools. All in all, something really to look forward to next month.

 

 

 

Other events of note include:

• Gariep Fly-in – Long weekend starting 16 July 2011.  Note early booking essential due to limited accommodation.  This is a very popular event and agin it would be super if IRF could be represented
• Dave Armitage War Bird and Scale Week-end at Swartkops AFB.  This event is usually planned for July / August each year. We will provide further details in due course.  Please check your SAMAA news.
• Oudtshoorn – Possibly the event of the year.  Usually at the end of September.  More details closer to the time.
• Bushveld Fly-in – Last weekend of July.  Normally a very enjoyable event (last year it was held in Potgietersrus)

 

SAMAA:

Please ensure that your SAMAA membership is always current.  Both SAMAA and IRF do send reminders to our members.  This is critical as it does have an impact on insurance claims should an accident happen.

 

A reminder to our membership to support the SAMAA development program for the underprivileged, by way of donating your surplus / unwanted RC equipment to SAMAA.  If you have anything you are willing to part with, please hand same to our chairman or any of the committee members and we will ensure it gets to SAMAA.

What’s new flying around?

 

It is great to note that the art of building models from scratch or sticks kit form is not dead and that ARF have not yet completely taken over.

What makes the beauty shown here even more impressive, is that this is Jan Van Der Schyff’ new Space Walker built by him from kit form.  Jan started in the hobby last year in September 2010 and this is only his second build.  His first attempt at building and covering was his blue and white shotgun.  Both planes flew true off the bench with minor corrections / trims required.  I believe that Jan is now completely and truly hooked and already busy with his new project.

Airplane; Space Walker II

Kit – SIG

Size – 1.20, 2 stroke  1/5 scale

Wingspan = 86”

Builder: Jan Van Der Schyff

 

Sponsors:

IRF wishes to thank the following people / businesses for their generous donations and continued support to the club.

 

www.huge.co.za

 

New Web Site under construction please call 012 6675757 for enquiries. We are located at the Dooringkloof shopping centre, off Botha Avenue.

 

General:

This is your newsletter.  We would be grateful for any articles of interest you would like to include in future editions. If you are building a kit and would like to offer us kit reviews with a couple of pics, please let us have this material. Tips, jokes (clean) etc... Welcome.  You may forward these to the editor: Francois De Ravel at fderav@gmail.com.  We will also include in future editions a section for Classifieds / for sale.  You are welcome to send Francois your ads.

 

Best Regards and happy flying

The Committee