FROM:  The Editor’s Desk:

Dear Friends and fellow enthusiasts

Unbelievable as it is, we are already at the end of the first quarter of 2011. We continue to enjoy a great turnout on Saturdays and Sundays and it is great to see so many new members at IRF as well as some of our old friends who have joined us again. We would also like to mention our regular loyal supporters, you very important are never taken for granted!  On this note, please join the committee in welcoming the following new members who joined in the first quarter of 2011:

• Dave Black. – Good to have you back Dave!
• Robbie Wilson. – You are making good progress and it is great to see you at the club on both Saturdays and Sundays.  4^th week-end and your have achieved your first landing – well done!
• Eben and Christo Brand – we may find that a Volksrust trip for IRF is organised soon!
• Laurence Perkin
• Cobus Pretorius
• Deon Viljoen
• Henry and Thinus Maartens
• Leon Van Der Merwe
• Jean Botha

Chairman’s Desk/Van die Voorsitter:

It is very encouraging to see the increase in the number of cars at the field on a Saturday, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the good attendance on Sunday afternoon as well.  I was concerned about flying on my own, and when I arrived there were already a few guys flying!  Although the membership numbers have increased and we need a few more members to increase the financial viability of the club, it is still a pleasure to find that the flight line is never crowded and rarely have more than two or three guys flying at the same time.

The warbirds have also returned to the skies above Irene  - Peter recently had to organise a scramble to ward off the enemy!  We hope that there will be enough survivors to defend the skies on the 16^th of April when we have our “Warbirds and all (that flies)” fly-in.  “All that flies” is to provide for the armada of Ugly Sticks, trainers and other aircraft that will be called to the rescue!.  Seems that some guys are digging out their warbirds, dusting them off and re-commissioning them.  Others are even building new Mustangs (not sure where these kits were stashed away) to make sure that they are ready for action.  Rumour also has it that some guys are considering to “electrocute” their steeds to improve power and reliability.  Not sure what they intend doing about the eyesight of the pilots though, as some of us have difficulties in identifying the position of the runway on landings.  Maybe Eben can help on this one ;-)

Dit is interessant om die veskeidenheid vliegtuie en kragbronne by die klub te sien.  Deesdae is elektriese motors en petrol enjins volop, en die “ducted fan” jets word al hoe meer.  Hopelik sal ons binnekort weer turbine jets by die klub sien – dit sal help as Shakes kan leer om sy vliegtuie met net die helfte van een elevator te vlieg!  Leon het die bewyse op kamera dat turbine jets beide elevator helftes nodig het om horisontaal te vlieg, want sy laaste fotos toon die jet in ‘n vertikale posisie net bokant die doringbome.  Dankie aan Leon vir die fotos wat hieby aangeheg is, ons sien uit om hierdie vliegtuie by IRF te sien.  As die manne nie op ‘n Saterdag middag by IRF is nie sal jy hulle by ODI kry, waar die aanloopbaan so breed en lank is dat selfs ek elke keer op die aanloopbaan land!  Die enigste problem is dat die gogga my ook gebyt het, en ek op soek is na ‘n ou “ducted fan” lugraam want die ouens vertel my dat die elektriese motors baie beter werkverrigting gee as die ou “OS 90” glow enjins (hier het ek hulp nodig – wat is ‘n “glow” enjin in afrikaans?).

I note that they are not wearing club T-shirts (or golf shirts as we are smart pilots).  Still waiting for a volunteer to organise these for us...

Safety Officer’s brief:

In General, we continue to enjoy safe and trouble free flying at IRF.  It is in order though to remind all to continue to observe our ground safety rules, peg board discipline and general flying safety rules and no fly zones.  A reminder once again to please not start your aeroplanes directly in front of the club house stoep, which is dangerous.  Please make use of the pitts area which is reserved for this purpose.

Facilities and Security

Happy to say that so far so good, no adverse security incidents to report.  Please continue to be vigilant and always fly with other people at the club (do not fly there alone).  This is a safe habit to adopt – not only from a security but also a safety precaution as a propeller can cause nasty cuts.

From a facilities point of view, the club trainer is up and running.  We are not yet in a position to spend extra funds on other projects mentioned in the previous news letter, which include a brick screen in front of the toilets, the additional heli pad etc... as we have now just reached a break even in terms of finance and the budget for the year to December 2011.  More details under the treasury / finance report.  Members may note that they should aim for the newly painted runway centre line when landing!

Treasury and Finance Update:

We are please to advise that we now have 60 fully paid up members (Incl. Juniors) as well as our 4 life members making the current total active membership 64.  We continue to receive applications for new members, which is very encouraging.  At this stage we are at break even considering the income / expense projections for the year (to December 2011).  New membership joining fees and funds generates by special events will be used as and when available for the extra club and facilities improvements.  It goes without saying that sponsorships and donations are always most welcome and will be put to excellent use.

A membership list will be posted on the notice board and will be updated monthly.

Your membership cards are now available from The High Flyer Shop -hat is if you have provided our chairman Andre Killian with a mug shot of yourself (and he has not misfiled it – sorry guys ;-).

Training and Instruction (incl. Proficiencies)

I am pleased to inform that our records are now 100% in sync with SAMAA’s.  Our first proficiency day at IRF will be on 19 March 2011 (this week-end). Until then, when we receive the results in respect of our members attempting the higher proficiency ratings, please join me in saying well done to:

• Andre Beukes – SAMAA Fixed wing Judge
• Frik De Beer – SAMAA Fixed wing Judge
• Philippe De Ravel – Solo
• Christiaan Van Der Schyff – Solo
• Jan Van Der Schyff - Solo
• Christiaan Korf – Solo
• Krisjan Korf – Solo
• Anthonie Botha – Solo
• Andrew Botha – Solo
• Quinton Botha - Solo
• Francois De Ravel - Silver
• Eben Laubsher – Heli Solo & Fixed wing proficiency

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 only difference is that now they may take the test on any Saturday at the field and do not have to wait for the quarterly proficiency assessment days, which will be now reserved for the Silver, Gold and Instructor proficiencies.

The Official club instructors are:

SENIOR INSTRUCTORS: (SAMAA Ratings)

• Andre Beukes (SAMAA fixed wind and Helicopter Judge)
• 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 only (poor guy cannot start/tune glow motors)
• Dawid Nel – Fixed Wing
• Francois De Ravel (Also responsible for club instructor and training portfolios)
• Jan Kooiman – Fixed Wing

Club Proficiency Day – 19 March 2011

As previously communicated, we are having our first proficiency day on 19 March.  We will have a bring and braai on the day and the club will provide the fires, just bring your meat and cool drinks!! Since this will be our first attempt at such an event, we ask for your forgiveness in advance for those who would like to enjoy a day of normal general flying.  We will try as much as possible to be considerate to all. I am sure you will agree that the club also need to provide quality facilities for our members who wish to qualify for the higher available proficiencies.  As such, please find herewith the proposed agenda for next Saturday:

Forthcoming Events:

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

• Next club proficiency day  Please refer to training and proficiency section for more info.
• Barnstormers War Bird day 27 March 2011 – Barnstormers airfield.  It would be great if we could get a couple of IRF pilots together for the day. If interested, please contact Andre Kilian.
• IRF War Bird and open day 16 April 2011 – Bring and Braai.  We will advertise this event for the public as well and charge an entrance fee of R10.00 per car.  Catering will be available. Members will not be required to pay an entrance fee. There will be a registration fee of R20.00 per pilot and this will include a free entry in the raffle. Jumping Castle will be arranged for our younger friends. Stalls welcome for a small fee (Contact Carl Brandt our minister of finance!).  Thanks to SAMAA for flyer (see club notice board)
• Andre will have a donations bin next to the Radio pound.  Please bring all your unwanted/redundant second hand RC equipment as a donation to the SAMAA development programme

Other events of note include:

• Gariep2011– 16 July 2011.  Note early booking advisable 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.
• Oodtshoorn – The event of the year on 29 September  - 2 October.  This is the 40^th anniversary of the event  - watch SAMAA news for updates.

SAMAA:

Please ensure that your SAMAA membership is always current – no flying if it has expired!  Two of our members recently had mishaps which proved that SAMAA insurance is essential, but fortunately we did not need it (thanks to their piloting skills and good fortune!)

We appeal to our members 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.  The collection bin will be available at our event on 16 April.

KIT Recommendation for beginners

Many new student pilots and aspiring members enquire as to what are the best kits to start with. This is a question always difficult to answer as taste, opinions etc... are something always open to great debate? .40 or .60 size? Glow or Electric? High wing trainer, Sport scale, low wing, war bird? Here, I can only use my experience to make a few recommendations and please, this is my own opinion and not an official club or hobby shop point of view.  I have found the following Kits to be excellent first plane  / trainer equipment:

Glow

• .40 Or .60 size Sticks – (any make but Great Planes is my all time favourite if budget is not an issue), from R980 to R2200.
• Phoenix Trainer (.60 size) – (R1357)
• Hangar 9 .40 size Cessna trainer (R950)
• More or less any high wing trainer – Glow .40 to .60
• For student pilots who wish to spend their hard earned bucks in something that looks like a real airplane, I have found the Hanger 9 .40 size Mustang PTS to be a very impressive machine. Forgiving and very controllable.

Electric

The Cessna makes a decent trainer but here I have found the “Discovery” to be one of the best on offer.  I cannot say that I have been exposed to much electric flying as I am an avid and certified petrol head, but I have flown both the above with student pilots and was impressed by their flying characteristics.

For me one of the biggest factors is training time.  Glow engines have a longer flight time, in some instances up to 20 minutes (to be safe) VS electrics which vary between 5 and 8 minutes.  I am therefore inclined to recommend starting on a regular glow trainer and once proficient, the hobby shop is yours for the spending on an airy or aeries of your choice.  Another factor is radios.  Most of the electrics come with own factory radios and one that not necessarily will readily buddy with our conventional JR, Futaba, Hi-Tech and Spectrum radios.  I found that students have better quality training and certainly more chance of using their prized procession again and again if on the “buddy” system.  For me instructing, it certainly helps the nerves and heart rate!!! Passing the radio back and forth between student pilot and instructor has too many draw backs for my nerves, especially when the radio is not passed on with the urgency it deserves.

Andre states that flight times of about 30 minutes are possible with electric trainers, but as training flights normally do not exceed 8-10 minutes most electric trainers are supplied with fairly low capacity batteries.  He has promised to share his experience with us in the next issue of this newsletter).

F De Ravel

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.

Donations:

We would like to thank Patrick McCullough of Autowiel Centurion for the generous donation to the club of the wind socks.

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

Francois and the Committee