Tag Archives: Brakpan Aero Club

American Flying Classic’s Cherokee 235

One of many light aircraft come to mind that teaches a student to fly, but Piper itself brought out one of the many of its aircraft types, that being the  Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee Charger. The first flight for this type of Cherokee was 14 January 1960 and over 32,778+ built.

For some years the aircraft was hangered at Rand Airport for some some years and eventually was brought back to live and put into the right hands of having this aircraft gracing South African skies once again!

The only Cherokee 235 based at Brakpan airfield East of Johannesburg, owned by the American Flying Classics Van der Schaar Family. The van der Schaar’s who are well known in the airshow circuit flying the Randolph sponsored Boeing Stearman. They also have a Pitts Special S2A and a couple of other flying toys in their inventory.

Ivan today is flying with Comair Limited as Captain on the Boeing 737-400 and 800 series aircraft, operating local British Airways and Kulula routes.

Ivan van der Schaar
Jeandre van der Schaar
Sonica van der Schaar
Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee Charger
Brakpan Airfield

 In 1963, the company introduced the even more powerful Cherokee 235 (PA-28-235), which competed favorably with the Cessna C182 for load-carrying capability. The Cherokee 235 featured a Lycoming O-540 engine de-rated to 235 horsepower (175 kW) and a longer wing which would eventually be used for the Cherokee Six. It included tip tanks of 17-gallon capacity each, bringing the total fuel capacity of the Cherokee 235 to 84 gallons. The aircraft had its fuselage stretched in 1973, giving much more leg room in the rear.

Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee Charger

The stabilator area was increased, as well. In 1973, the marketing name was changed from “235” to “Charger”. In 1974, it was changed again to “Pathfinder”. Production of the Pathfinder continued until 1977. No 1978 models were built. In 1979, the aircraft was given the Piper tapered wing and the name was changed again, this time to Dakota.

The Cherokee featured a Lycoming O-540 engine de-rated to 235 horsepower (175 kW) and a longer wing which would eventually be used for the Cherokee Six. It included tip tanks of 17-gallon capacity each, bringing the total fuel capacity of the Cherokee 235 to 84 gallons.

Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee Charger
O Incrível Show Aéreo de Maputo
Boeing Stearman during a display in Maputo Mozambique Airshow in 2019
O Incrível Show Aéreo de Maputo
Boeing Stearman ZU-IES

For more information contact: Ivan van der Schaar: 082 375 9180 or Sonica van der Schaar: 082 682 2825

The 2020 Brakpan Airport Navigation Rally

With the National Rally Flying Championships only two weeks away, most of the existing Protea  rally team members took part in the Class 1, or “Open” category of the sport at Brakpan Airport.  It was also encouraging to see that after all the training sessions held by Mary de Klerk, Rob Jonkers and Jonty Esser, many of the previous “Fun Rallyers” stepped up to Class 1 as well.  

Disappointingly, few of the local Brakpan pilots supported this event, even though one of the training sessions was held at the club recently.  Hopefully more of them will be inspired to put their flying and navigational skills to the tests, especially as this sport improves general flying safety.  


Organisers Frank and Cally Eckard kept the route fairly simple, so as not to discourage the first-timers.  They all managed to complete the task sheet quite easily, except for one navigator who plotted the Start point from the wrong Brakpan Airport, which found his pilot heading off to start at the Finish point, and was surprised to find another aircraft flying directly towards him.    


ZU-DUU

The  “follow-the-feature” (a railway line) was easily managed by most of the teams, except for one who followed the wrong railway line.  Frank did not include arcs in the route, as these require more skills, and will be incorporated into the next event.  

The weather cleared in time for the scheduled take-off, and the winds were light, with just a very slight cross-wind over the run-way.  It was decided to judge the landings after the rally, and the results showed that a lot of practise is required before the National Champs.   For the first time in a SAPFA event, a helicopter set the record by winning the landing stage of the rally. 

One of the tracks of the participating aircraft!

Apart from the Robbie 66, another aircraft of interest was the Mushak, which is featured in the latest Pilot’s Post. 

The route took them to a Start Point near Ergo Slimes Dam, then South towards Heidelberg, to a point along the N3, then East towards Leandra, then back North along the railway line to Delmas, and home via Selcourt.  

Although the results were far from what is required from a National standard, the selectors trust that the skills the entrants will pick up at Nationals will enable them to put together five “A” team and five “B” team partnerships to give SA the best chance of a good team result.

The full results are:

Landing Competition:


PilotNavigatorAircraftScore
1Apie KotzeFrederick KotzeR 660
2Andre KluytzDon LucasC 17210
3Antony RussellPamela RussellC 17220
4Jonty EsserSandi GoddardC 15030
5Von HammonAndy GouwsC15040

Class 3 (The Fun Rally section):


PilotNavigatorAircraftPoints
1Von HammonAndy GouwsC150974
2Hilton WolfRob OsnerMushak1374
3Roydon GilliesJustin DorringtonPA 28-1401781
4Clarrissa de CostaKerry MathysenC1521989

Class 2 (The Intermediate Section):


PilotNavigatorAircraftPoints
1Thys van der MerweSally ShawC172594

Class 1 (The Unlimited or Open Section):


PilotNavigatorAircraftPoints
1Jonty EsserSandi  GoddardC150435
2Antony RussellPamela RussellC172539
3Rob JonkersMartin MeyerC182709
4Hans SchwebelRon StirkC150741
5Andre KluytsDon LucasC1721085
6Apie KotzeFrederick KotzeR661210
7Hendrik LootsJandre LootsSling1214
8Derek BirdQuentin TaylorSuper Decathlon1586
9Milan DanizCaroline KollTC071856
10Piet MeyerAdrienne VisserJabiru J4001956
11Fanie ScholtzHerman HaasbroekSling 22800

A score less than 2000 indicates that with the training and discipline the pilots experience at Nationals, they should be able to be selected to represent South Africa in Stellenbosch in November.  

Nationals take place from Thursday 2 – 4 April, with training at your own discretion.  Look out also for our very exciting Speed Rallies. Please see our website sapfa.org.co.za for our events calendar.

By Cally Eckard

SAPFA Rally Practical Training Camp – 22 Feb 2020

SAPFA Rally Practical Training Camp – Brakpan 22 February 2020 – by Rob Jonkers

After learning the theoretical side of Navigation plotting at the training camp held at Aerosud on the 18th of January, it was time to put into practice what was learned with a practical flight. The SAPFA national coach Jonty Esser put together a short route in the Brakpan Heidelberg area with 4 turnpoints to be flown by participating teams.

The weather however did not play ball at all, restricting participants to arrive by air, however many decided to drive in, to at least do some ground school. At the end there were 9 teams that participated. On hand from the SAPFA Protea members were Jonty Esser, Frank Eckard, Sandi Goddard and Rob Jonkers imparting their knowledge to the teams.

The theme of the morning was to gain knowledge on practical flying, how to accurately bingo each turn point in time, how to approach the start, this always being the most difficult part of any rally, firstly to find it, and then to get there at the start time. Then the dynamics of keeping on time on each leg, approaching the next turn point and identifying the photo being correct or incorrect. First up was Frank Eckard who explained all the required strategies of flying, explaining that you have to be in the right frame of mind to take part in this sport, extreme focus and concentration will get one to the winning post.

Frank Eckard – Strategies of Flying a Rally

Thereafter Jonty provided an outline to the planned flight route for the day – which could not be flown, but an explanation of how to set up the aircraft to fly the route, to get to the nominated 1000 ft altitude, set the flaps and power setting, then to adjust timing by changing the aircraft’s attitude to speed up or slow down, rather than utilize power changes as power changes disturb the fundamental speed set up.

Jonty Esser – How to set up your aircraft in flight

After Jonty, Rob showed a short video of a practical flight demonstrating what photos look like on the ground and the visual angles and distances to be able to recognize them, and from what altitude these would be best visible.

A practical out of the cockpit view of en-route photo recognition

After a short break, it was decided to carry out a real plotting exercise of the Rand Rally Challenge against the clock with a 30 minute deadline, essentially 2 minutes per plotting point. It gave everybody an incentive to attempt to beat the clock. With new teams this proved daunting, thus more focus was provided on techniques of using the tools and developing the skills to use them.

Clarissa & Kerry busy with their plot

Clarissa & Kerry busy with their plot

Milan, Caroline & Andy busy with their plots

Karyn & Leon happy they have aced their plot in the allotted time

The Track shown of Route 2 – an anti-clockwise route

Brakpan Aero Club Celebrates Women in Aviation

Saturday the 17th August 2019,Brakpan Aero Club celebrated women in Aviation at the East Rand Airfield this past weekend. Women as pilots, groundcrew, cabin crew and Air traffic controllers congregated at the airfields club house for cake and tea. Some of the lucky ladies were awarded with a bouquet of flowers for their contribution in the South African Aviation Community.

Newly paved runway at Brakpan Airfield as seen from a Alouette III

Santjie White provided a short talk on Search and Rescue in South Africa as she explained more in detail as the Chief of Aeronautical Search and Rescue coordination centre.

Santjie White

Santjie started at the Aeronautical Search and Rescue coordination centre in April 2008 and received The Director civil aviation special industry award for exceptional individual contribution to the Aviation industry. Santjie White is responsible to Establish a Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) to co-ordinate all participating search and rescue unit’s facilities within her area of responsibility. Ensuring effective and efficient co ordination of SAR processes and operations.

SkyRaider work in progress in full swing

Amelia Mary Earhart one of many women in aviation ,who was an American aviation pioneer and author. Earhart was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots.

Brakpan Aero Club House

The rest of the day, saw some of Brakpan’s local aircraft take to the skies, an Alouette III owned and flown by Rob Osner ,A Mushask MF17 flown by Hilton Wolff, Boeing Stearman flown by Ivan van der Schaar and a visiting Yak 52 flown by Wim Kotze were some of the favourites seen during the afternoon period.

Alouette III
Savannah
Cessna 152
Sling 4
Piper J3 Cub

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Mercedes Day-Brakpan Airfield

A different type of fraternity, The Mercedes Benz club of South Africa, get together every year with the last event taking place at Brakpan Airfield. The same venue under the Brakpan Aero Club Members including organiser Hilton Wolff and many other role players put together a day which many visitors of the day wont forget for years to come.

Hilton Wolff, Marcus Goldring and other Mercedes Benz members.


The history of Mercedes-Benz in South Africa by far outstretches the history of the marque’s club here. Although the enthusiasm, interest and involvement of “fans” of the marque throughout its history, this cannot be denied and underplayed, it was not until the late 1970’s that this was harnessed and organised into the beginnings of the Mercedes-Benz Club.

Lucky Mercedes Benz club member with one of the prizes that were won on the day.

The purpose of the day, was to give members of the club, a taste of flight in small aircraft, and not just any aircraft but some unique and modern flying machines. With vintage era up to the modern Mercedes vehicles parked in the vicinity of the club house, both aircraft and car enthusiasts were in their element.

‘Little Annie’ AN2 Taking another load of happy passengers for a flight.
ZS-DFK

Grant Timms flew in a Rand Airport based Harvard ‘7526’ which belongs to John Wright, the aircraft was a major draw card as its not to often to see a Harvard at Brakpan Airfield. It made a excellent photo opportunity as some Mercedes Benz photo bombed the aircraft.

Grant Timms and his Happy Pax
Harvard ‘7526’

Very well known helicopter pilots at Brakpan airfield Rob Osner and Charles Fuller flew both an Alouette II and III. Nothing like flying in ex air force helicopters and flying over the once rich mining areas of the east rand of Johannesburg.

Alouette III Pilot Rob Osner and his ground crew Willie Schutte
zu-rec
Alouette II and III
Charles Fuller’s Alouette II

Other aircraft that gave flips, namely the Cessna Grand Caravan flown by Frederick Kotzee, Dornier Do 27 flown by Rodney Benn,An2 ‘Little Annie’ flown by Jon-Marc Hill. A Piaggio Albatross,Cessna 210 and many more!

ZS-DFK
Cessna Grand Caravan
Dornier DO-27
AN2 ‘Little Annie’
Piaggio Albatross
ZS-MFI
Cessna 210

At non airshow type events its always crucial to have safety as your main priority, Both Colonel Keith Fryer and Colonel Keith Andrews from the South African Airforce kept all flights as well as the ramp safe and running smoothly during the course of the day.

Colonel Keith Fryer helping disembark passengers from Charles Fuller’s Alouette II.
Colonel Keith Andrews keeping an eye as Ramp Controller.
AN2 & Caravan Formation

The Brakpan Aero Club welcomed guests with muffins and coffee and provided boerewors rolls and Hamburgers for the rest. Local flight schools and Mercedes Benz dealership also provided excellent offerings of their latest deals on both pilots licences and car purchase deals.

Piper Colt getting airborne
Little Annie AN2 with some company.

Well done Hilton Wolff and the Mercedes Benz Club Members as well as all the pilots and ground crew who made the event possible and safe. We look forward to the 2020 edition of the event.

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Aero Club of South Africa 2018 Awards

Aero Club of South Africa 2018 Awards

Aero_Club_100_LogoThe past weekend the Aero Club of South Africa hosted their annual Awards dinner in a stunning Black-tie event hosted at the Wanderers Club, this where the Aero Club awards all that excelled in the Year or over a prolonged period. To the Airshow loving public this is where they announce the top 3 airshows of the year!

Awards Dinner 2018

The Top 3 airshows for 2018 are:

In 3rd Place FAW Ermelo Air Show

Ermelo Airshow

Photo Credit: Mark Mansfield – M³ Media

Ermelo Aeronautical Society was the first airshow of the 2018 season. The officials went out of their way to accommodate those professional photographers. The overall logistical management of fuel and smoke oil, air traffic control, spectators, vendors, sponsors, the large beer garden tent and of course the participating pilots was outstanding. The pre-show documentation was high quality. This was an excellent day of exciting entertainment as the display pilots excelled to keep the crowds on their feet and cheering with delight. As an outlying town on the air show circuit the Ermelo team went beyond the normal call of duty to earn this airshow a place among three best in South Africa.

2nd place Rand Airshow

Rand Airshow 2018

Photo Credit: Garth Carlitz – Flightline Weekly

The annual Rand Airport Airshow is known to be one of the bigger shows on the circuit. Not only in footprint but also in the offering to the public. The complexity of the layout in terms of airspace and other logistics is a challenge to any organiser. The Rand team have managed to capture this winning formula to near perfection. Crowd numbers is proof of this concept. A line-up of participants can’t wait to be part of this event to entertain the crowds. A wide variety of stalls compliment the crowd area with plenty of opportunity to view static display and other aviation related stalls. Despite the economic constrains in South Africa, the Rand Air Show management continue their support and commitment to host a show of such magnitude and maintain the world class standards in the flying displays. The Rand show has become a “landmark” on the SA calendar.  The show style and presentation of the airshow programme are aligned with world class standards.

We at Aviation Central is proud to be part of this as we ran the official Facebook page for The Rand Airshow 2018 and we will be running the Facebook page again in 2019 for the Rand Airshow

1st place Lowveld Airshow

The Kishugu Lowveld airshow started with early morning action in the sky from early morning with the launch of several hot air balloons to well after sunset with the night formation flight of the Puma Energy Flying Lions, followed by incredible fireworks display and a rock band on the airside. A very first in South Africa.

With a good mix of military aircraft, including the Gripen, two Airlink Embraer E195 displays, Working on Fire Huey helicopters and water bombers, the brand new to South Africa magnificent Blackhawk helicopter as well as a fantastic line-up of individual display aircraft and aerobatics teams this was an airshow to remember. The general layout of operational matters and the professional handling of the pre-show planning, post-show debrief to ensure continuity and identify areas of improvement is a huge contributing factor to ensure a place amongst the top three air show in South Africa.


Most Enthusiastic Flying Club

2nd Place for the Most Enthusiastic Flying Club award is presented to

 Brakpan Aero Club

One of the older flying clubs, founded in 1928, it has been continuously active especially with training since Sluggy started instructing in 1963. They now own the airfield and have upgraded the facilities to make it a destination of choice for the $100 breakfast. The overall enthusiasm is demonstrated in hosting the Safety First Aviator presentations and continuing to find reasons to celebrate aviation such as a Womens Day or a Bi-plane day, or even a Cessna Day.

1st Place for the most enthusiastic Flying Club award is presented to

Ermelo Aeronautical Society

Their general enthusiasm is demonstrated throughout the year in their activities, from a willingness to host the PTAR, to organising distinguished guest speakers, to being an early participant in African Pilots Flying Club articles. They boast about 60 members, and 35 aircraft. But it is there enthusiasm and support for Aero Club activities that we celebrate tonight.


Don Tilley Trophy

The Don Tilley Trophy is presented to Nigel Musgrave for his significant Contribution to Safety in Aviation
Nigel has been an ASSA Accredited Safety Officer for more than 10 years. He was the Chief Safety Officer at the President’s Trophy Air Race since 2016, the Designated Safety Officer for EAA Chapter 322 and of EAA of South Africa for at least 4 years. Nigel has acted as Safety Officer for numerous air shows, fly-ins, air races, rally and other Aeroclub member organisation flying events at many centres all around South Africa. He works tirelessly at all these events. Nigel also assists the flying clubs, AeCSA member organisations in the tedious process for all pre-event and post event documentation required. Without doubt, Nigel’s dedication has been a major factor in enhancing flight safety. Most often, Nigel Musgrave’s oversight costs him financially on most occasions when he carries out Safety Officer duties.


Dennis Jankelow Trophy

The Dennis Jankelow Trophy is presented to Sean Russell for exceptional airmanship. It is not often that we award someone who steals an aircraft.

Our candidate DID actually steal a motorglider at the age of 12, and sent himself solo in the process. He invited a friend to join him in running away from home in Cape Town, to see his mum in Johannesburg. He was most successful in this venture arriving safely at Robertson to refuel, where his conscience and the practical aspects of the adventure finally overtook him. He elected to return the plane and took off back for Cape Town which would have too been successful other than an unseen three wire fence in the forced landing ground following a genuine engine failure (it was not caused by fuel starvation). Buy him a beer and you can hear the full story that was much publicised in 1988. He went on to fly fixed and rotary wings rather successfully and is a recreational aviation enthusiast still after some near 8,500 hours. Sean Russell is currently the chief test pilot for The Airplane Factory, producers of the magnificent Sling series of aircraft. When not flying for TAF you can find him tugging gliders for fun on his days off. But that is not why we celebrate Sean Russell tonight. In April of this year Sean noticed that a fellow aviator was attempting to land at Tedderfield without his nose landing gear extended. He quickly ran to a radio and advised the pilot to go around and the nature of the problem.  Whilst the pilot flying around nearby, Sean quickly grabbed a plane to assist – he did not steal it this time. Despite advising the pilot to pull G and a close visual inspection by Sean they were unsuccessful in getting the nose gear to deploy. Then the pilots radio began failing, the pilot could only agree to commands via clicking. Sean assessed the situation and took action against pilot overload, failing communications, lack of emergency services all compounded by diminishing fuel and daylight. He directed the pilot to fly in formation with him to Rand Airport where there were full emergency services. He then advised Rand of the problem, declared an emergency on behalf of the pilot and escorted him in formation all the way to finals. We can celebrate that the landing was without injury. Sean then flew overhead to ensure all was well and flew back to Tedderfield.  He considers this willingness to help a fellow aviator in distress just a normal thing, totally unworthy of any attention. And that in itself, shows just what we are celebrating tonight. A display of exceptional and exemplary airmanship, care for a fellow aviator in need and expert assistance without reward.  Sean is a very worthy recipient of this award, so long as he does not steal any more planes!


James Gilliland Trophy

The James Gilliland Trophy is presented to Patrick Davidson for the most meritorious feat over the past year.
In 2018, Patrick Davidson became the first pilot from South Africa to fly in the Challenger Class in the Red Bull Air Race. Although a newcomer to the Red Bull Air Race, he achieved a 2nd place on the Podium in Kazan in Russia, and a third place on the podium in Indianapolis in the United States.
Patrick says “I feel that becoming a part of the Red Bull Air Race is one of the highest accolades that an aerobatic pilot could dream of. This is a different kind of flying and I would like to learn as much as I can, but having the personality that I have, I also want to achieve as best I can! It is an awesome privilege and an honour for me to fly the South African flag in this sport.”  Read more on this great man here 


SA Eagle Trophy

The SA Eagle trophy is presented to Aldo Vos for the Most meritorious achievement at in international event
Aldo (age 15) participated for the first time at the FAI F3J World Championship for Model Gliders, only 18 months after he started flying competitively. Through his dedication, skill, and competitive drive, he improved his skills through the many training sessions, by the experienced seniors of the team. By evaluating himself against the seasoned senior pilots due to a lack of junior competition, he inadvertently pushed himself to a very high standard. After 14 rounds at the world championships, he made the fly-offs. Under lots of pressure he stayed calm and consistently flew well through the 6 rounds of finals and achieved a FAI Silver Medal. This performance is well worth a most meritorious achievement award, and we wish him all the best for his flying future.


PGS Trophy

The PGS Trophy is presented to Bat Hawk South Africa for its significant contribution to Manufacture or Design in South African Aviation.
The Bat Hawk is a proudly South African “Light Sport Aircraft” designed and built by Micro Aviation in Nelspruit. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready to fly aircraft and complies with the ASTM2245 Build Standard rules and regulations as well as South African Civil Aviation Type Approval. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration open cockpit, fixed tricycle landing gear and a single Rotax engine in tractor configuration. It is a conventional 3-axis light sport aircraft with unrivalled STOL capabilities and out-of-cockpit visibility. The Bat Hawk proudly plays a major role in the attempt to combat Rhino and Elephant Poaching in Africa.


Silver Wings

Silver Wings

Silver Wings are presented to an Aero Club member for an exceptional project to further the goals of the Aero Club of South Africa.

Richardt was instrumental in making Aero Club’s Airweek 2018 a success, by personally making use of his facilities, aircraft and financial support. He ensured that wherever a problem was raised, he stepped in to find a pragmatic solution that prevented Aero Club from having to absorb significant costs. He went further by personally making a donation to the Transformation and Development teams expenses. And there is more, he provided rides in his jet at cost to himself to ensure that Aero Club was not out of pocket. His enthusiasm and support for all Aero Club members is truly noteworthy.

Kevin Storie for an exceptional project to further the goals of the Aero Club of South Africa.
This award is given to Kevin not for a single project but for his continual passionate behind-the-scenes support of Aero Club in various projects. Such support has not always been popular, but it has been conducted with a clear focused goal to create a stronger and better Aero Club across all its sections, for all its members. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that the recreational aviator remains able to pursue their freedom without undue costs and regulatory impediments. Whilst it is true that Kevin started many of these projects whilst being an employee of the Aero Club, he has continued his efforts and support well beyond his tenure with passionate determination.

Marie Reddy for an exceptional project to further the goals of the Aero Club of South Africa.
In every organisation you get someone who sits quietly and often their exceptional deeds possibly go unnoticed. They are often the first to help in a crisis and get the job done. Silver Wings are awarded for exceptional service for a particular project for the benefit of Aero Club members, but in this instance it would be hard to identify one, but we can name a few – FAI Conference bid proposal for 2020 (which we withdrew from due to finally establishing that the costs exceed the potential benefits), overall 2020 Centenary Planning , the 2017 Awards dinner and tonight’s function. Marie Reddy is a constant supporter of Aero Club efforts often at huge personal cost who over-delivers and is a pleasure to deal with, making her a real asset to our club.


Gold Wings

Gold Wings

Nigel Musgrave for 10 years continuous contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa.
Nigel Musgrave has been an AeCSA Member for 13 years and has been a major contributor to flight safety during this time as an ASSA Accredited Safety Officer. Nigel used to fly his own microlight aircraft but no longer pursues this activity.
He is a gentleman and an asset to the Aero Club of South Africa

Rowena Kraidy for 10 years continuous contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa.
Don’t let her size fool you because “dynamite definitely comes in small packages”! Skydiver, Balloonist, Microlighter, PPL’er, Instructor,
Administrator, Mother and wife, golfer … Rowena’s recreational aviation involvement began in 1985 when she started running the Grahamstown Parachute Club.
In 1988 her aviation career and interest in aviation began when she won a complete skydiving rig on a raffle at the Swakopmund Christmas Boogie.
The Grahamstown Parachuting Club became Eastern Province Skydivers in 1989 which she ran together with her husband, Deon, for 13 years boasting
with an impeccable safety record. During this time, she got her PPL and accumulated over 1000 skydives and dedicated her time to teaching skydiving.

For a period of 10 years, she acted as a skydiving judge of her life to judging skydiving at both national and international skydiving competitions in
Switzerland, France, Turkey, Australia and the USA. She established Leading Edge Flight School in 1995. She is passionate about teaching.
Training started initially on weight shift microlights and then progressed to conventionally controlled microlights and light sport Aeroplanes.
In 2002 she relocated the school to Hoedspruit and found that she was a little closer to the action in Gauteng and started getting more involved.
Rowena was first elected to the MISASA Committee in 2008 as the Technical representative, a portfolio she has held and managed till today.
She has diligently served on the Aero Club Approved Person Technical Committee for the past 10 years. She was very involved with the startup
of RAASA in 2008 as a consultant assisting to draft many of the regulations and documents. She has personally sacrificed valuable time away
from home to be involved with the RAASA run Project 24 as the Secretariat and has served as a member of the board of Aero Club of South Africa
since 2013. She currently holds an A-grade instructor’s rating.
A deserved award for Rowena and thank her for her dedication, sacrifice and her immense contribution to MISASA

Gold Wings are presented to Nico Willemse for 10 years continuous contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa.
Nico started his microlight flying career in 2000 under the instruction of Piet Junius on a Windlass Weightshift Controlled Microlight. He would
later purchase this aircraft. Johnty Esser did his final flight test. Most of Nico’s flying was done in the Potgietersrus area. Sadly the flight school
closed at Potties. Nico later did his PPL in Pietersburg but personally found the joys of microlights far outweighed fixed wing aircraft. He obtained
his instructors rating in Gauteng. He assisted several flight schools in the Johannesburg area as an instructor and in doing so accumulated many
logged hours but also valuable experience. He started his own school in 2013 and was the first RAASA Part 62 approved school. The school’s
He has trained several instructors, has a thriving school and trained students from as far as Namibia and Botswana. Limpopo Flight School
is a fully fledged ATO offering ground school, radio courses, online examination centre and flight training is done on a variety of trikes. There are
10 WCM’s to choose from. He currently has 18 students and a full waiting list for prospective aviators.Nico has accumulated over 6000 trike hours,
is a respected aviator and family man and a valuable member of the MISASA Committee. We thank him for his contribution.

Gold Wings are presented to Charlie Marais for 10 years continuous contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa.
For his contribution to develop and facilitate the officials training courses for special air events in the Air show environment, now also been extended to other disciplines. He has been involved for the past 10 years in the ASSA discipline and also served as ASSA chairman previously. His knowledge and unconditional eagerness to help is an asset we need to acknowledge with the highest order in the Aero Club ”

Gold Wings are presented to Barrie Eeles for 10 years continuous contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa.
Barrie started flying at the age of 17, and did his first solo at 11hours, achieved his PPL in 1986, and started flying Aerobatics in April 2005.
Barrie has been a very active member of the SAC committee since 2008, serving as Chairman for 2 of those years. In addition to all the normal duties of the SAC committee, Barrie has very successfully organised special training camps, and has coached numerous pilots in aerobatics. Barrie is very passionate about the sport of Aerobatics and is always willing to find new ways to encourage new pilots into the sport. He has often taken on the role of contest director, and organiser at our local aerobatic contests.
Barrie is a very focussed competitor, and as such he has won several National championship titles in the various categories as he has grown in the sport. He was Sportsman National Champion in 2007, Advanced National Champion in 2012, and represented SA at the World Advanced Aerobatic Championships in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
In 2010 he was part of the very successful South African Advanced Aerobatic Team who won the silver medal for South Africa. Barrie has been awarded full national colours for Aerobatics no less than four times. He currently flies in the Unlimited Class and has also represented SA at this level in 2017.

Barrie Eeles is an integral part of the SAC committee and we value his support and commitment to the SAC.

Gold Wings are presented to Elton Bondi for 10 years continuous contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa.
Elton Bondi learnt to fly in Zimbabwe, when he was 17yrs old, and worked as a flying instructor in that country teaching 10 pilots to fly before he was himself 20yrs old. He has been flying competition and display aerobatics for over 10 years.
Elton has been a very active member of the SAC committee since 2008, serving as Chairman for 2 of those years. Charismatic as ever, Elton often quietly sorts things out behind the scenes. He has often assisted in organising our local contests, as well as being contest director a number of times. He played a pivotal role in the success of the 2017 World Aerobatics Championship, when it was hosted in South Africa, often spending numerous hours ensuring everything was in place.
Elton has won three national titles including the Advanced National aerobatic championship twice. He has senior Protea colours for representing South Africa twice in international Advanced aerobatic competitions.
Elton believes that aviation has the power to inspire people to be the best that they can. Flying requires self-discipline, tenacity, passion and most of all a huge dose of humility, all excellent traits which we believe Elton has.


Lewis Lang trophy

Lewis Lang Trophy is awarded to Russell Achterberg for Pilot of the Year.
Russell Achterburg – Won the paragliding world cup in Aksaray, Turkey 8-15 September 2018. Started paragliding in 2004 and has been part of the SA Paragliding team since 2011. For this gold medal performance, he is awarded our Pilot of the Year.


Life Time Achievement Award

The Life Time achievement award is presented to an Aero Club member who has been unfailing in his support for the last 30 years.

He has been a member of the SAC since the late 1970s
He used to be a competing pilot in the 1970s
He has captained several International SA teams during the 1980s
He has been SAC chief judge for over 2 decades
He has been world chief judge for over a decade
He has been a very active Director on the CIVA executive for over a decade
He pioneered the first World Advanced Aerobatic Championships in SA 20years ago.
He conceived and pioneered first World Intermediate Aerobatic Championships again in South Africa 5 years ago.
He was the catalyst for South Africa hosting the 2017 Unlimited World Championships, where he was the Contest Director.
He is often invited to be Chief Judge at the national contest of different countries (European, Australian, Brazilian)
And despite all this international acclaim the guys still find time to coach Sportsmen level pilots from time to time.
Basically, the man is a legend in Aerobatics and he is John Gaillard!
John Louis Gaillard has been involved with aerobatics since the 1970s.
He initially competed in a Stampe Biplane, and was sufficiently fortunate (and skilful) to have survived a catastrophic engine failure after take-off at the old Baragwaneth aerodrome.
Not deterred by this experience, John has continued to play a very active and leading role in aerobatics to this day.
By the 1980s John had captained the South Africa team at a number of world championships. He also became very proficient at judging local contests, and was soon invited to judge at international events.
A particularly testing moment occurred internationally when John called a zero score for an incorrectly flown figure by a very popular leading pilot, none of the other judges saw the error and hence all scored the pilot highly, this made John even more unpopular. Even under significant pressure John refusing to back down on what he saw to be true. A subsequent review of the video recording proved John to be correct. From this moment onwards Johns reputation as a fair and precise judge grew enormously and he was soon appointed as the World Chief Judge, a title he holds to this day. There is hardly an international aerobatic contest that John is not invited to oversee as the chief judge.
John is so well recognised across the world, that he is often invited to be the Chief Judge at the National Championships of other nationals and to train their judges. John has judged aerobatics in North America, South America, throughout West, Central and Eastern Europe, China, Australia and of course in South Africa.
In addition to judging John is also the South African representative on CIVA, the FAI body responsible for overseeing aerobatics internationally.
John has personally pioneered two world firsts in aerobatics which have gone on to become fixed and very popular events in the international aerobatics calendar. Prior to 1995, international aerobatic competition only occurred at the Unlimited level. John pioneered and successfully organised the very first international contest at the Advanced level which was hosted in Cape Town in 1995. The Advanced class have been competing internationally ever since.
And in 2013 John again pioneered the first international contest at the Intermediate level which was again organised by John and successfully hosted in Mossel Bay. To top this all John was the initiator and Contest Director at the successful 2017 Unlimited Aerobatics Contest held last year in Malelane.
Johns pioneering spirit is showing no signs of slowing down and he is part of a team looking to introduce a new more affordable class of aerobatics involving light sport aircraft and even electrically powered aircraft.
Despite his achievements and recognition internationally, John still enjoys and is very active judging at a small local regional contests. He even finds time to coach junior up and coming pilots from time to time. John has been the Chairman of the Sport Aerobatic Club several times and remains a member of the Executive Committee.
John has also played an important role in promoting safety in aerobatics in both the competition and airshow arenas. To this end he has authored a number of policy documents which govern the safety of airshow operations as well as the qualification of airshow pilots.
John has participated in Sport Aerobatics from all perspectives, as a competing pilot, as a judge, as an organiser and as an official. He is probably one of the most recognised and long standing names in aerobatics worldwide, and there can be no doubt that a large part of the success and stature that South Africa has achieved in world aerobatics can be accredited directly to John Gaillard.
John continues to receive the highest respect and recognition from his counterparts internationally. Not scared of confrontation, John is respected for his research, foresight and wisdom in addressing areas that others steer clear of and welcome his input. His international standing was recently highlighted at a recent FAI conference where his absence was noted with genuine concern and a display of respect by many.


National Colours and Special Acknowledgements

The South Africa Olympics Committee – SASCOC – only acknowledges participating competitors and their team managers by awarding them Springbok colours. Yet many sports require the support of others for competitions to actually take place. Aero Club acknowledges these whose dedication, commitment and sacrifice is equal to that of the competitors, and as necessary; by awarding their efforts with Special Acknowledgement Certificates.
Balloon and Airship Federation of South Africa (BAFSA)

Danie Minnaar and David Mac Gregor are awarded with Senior Protea Colours for participating in the 23rd FAI Hot Air Balloon Championships held at Austria from the 19th to the 25th of August 2018 and special Acknowledgement to the Crew who was Heinrich Hoffman, Jos Minnaar, Burger Minnaar.

Parachute Association of South Africa (PASA)

1. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Christopher Teague for participating in the 7th FAI World Championships of Canopy Piloting held at Wroclaw, Poland from the 2nd to the 7th of July 2018.
2. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Johannes Liebenberg for participating in the 2nd FAI World Wingsuit Flying Championship held at Prostejov, Czech Republic from the 26th to the 31st of August 2018.
3. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Bailey Edmunds, Bernard Janse van Rensburg, Carmen Edmunds, Ian van den Berge and Yolande van den Berge for participating in the 23rd FAI World Formation Skydiving Championship held at Goldcoast, Australia from the 6th to the 13th of October 2018.
4. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Bailey Edmunds, Claire King, Diederik Venter, Nicolaas Hickley for participating in the 3rd FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving held at Zallaq, Bahrain from the 25th to the 28th of October 2018.
5. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Matteo Pagani, Christopher Teague and Warren Hitchcock for participating in the 9th FAI World Cup of Canopy piloting 2017 held at Dubai, UAE from the 25th of November to the 2nd of December 2017.

Sport Aerobatic Club (SAC)

1. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Eugene du Preez and Leigh Le Gonidec for participating in the Advanced World Aerobatic Championships held at Ploiesti, Romania from the 15th to the 28th of August 2018 and Special Acknowledgement to Quintin Hawthorne, Johnnie Smith, Lazlo Liskay and John Gaillard for Judging the Championships.

South African Modelling Aircraft Association (SAMAA)

1. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Evert Scholtz and Keith Renecle for participating in the FAI F2 World Championships for Control Line Model Aircraft held at Landres, France from the 14th to the 19th of July 2018.
2. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Alan Smith, Craig Goodrum, Michelle Goodrum for participating in the FAI F3J World Championship for Model Gliders held at Ploiesti, Romania from the 22nd to the 28th of July 2018 and Junior Protea Colours to Aldo Vos for his participation in the F3J World Championships for Model Gliders.
3. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Alan Ball, Devon Barnett, Luke Bakke and Ruivan Branco for participating in the FAI F4U World Drone Racing Championships held at Shenzhen, China from the 1st to the 4th of November 2018. Junior Protea Colours to Jadon Churchman for his participation in the FAI F4U World Drone Racing Championships
4. Senior Protea Colours awarded to André Stockwell, Clinton Carter-Brown, Grant Brook and Roston Dugmore for participating in the F3A World Championship for Aerobatic Model Aircraft held at Villa Gesell, Argentina from the 5th to the 11th of November 2017.

South African Power flying Association (SAPFA)

1. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Caroline Eckard, Frank Eckard, Jonathan Esser, Martin Meyer, Mary de Klerk, Matthys van der Merwe, Rob Jonkers, Ronald Stirk and Sandra Goddard for participating in the 21st FAI World Rally Flying Championships held at Dubnica, Slovakia from the 5th to the 11th of August 2018, and Special Acknowledgement to Hans Schwebel for being the 1st International Judge, Ursula Schwebel, Jozef Jacobs and Barbara Frieboese who was the International Judges and Leon Bouttell who was the Judge Observer at this event.

Soaring Society of South Africa (SSSA)

1. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Attie Jonker, Dawid Pretorius, Uys Jonker, Nico Le Roux and Stephan van den Berg for participating in the Club, Standard and 15meter classes of the 35th FAI World Gliding Championships held at Ostrow, Poland from the 1st to the 7th of July 2018.
2. Senior Protea Colours awarded to Abraham Kotze, Carol Clifford, Laurens Goudriaan, Oscar Goudriaan and Uys Jonker for participating in the Open, 18meters and 20 meters, 2-seater classes of the 35th FAI World Gliding Championships held at Hosin, Czech Republic from the 28th of July to the 12th of August 2018.

South African Hang and Paragliding Association (SAHPA)

1. Special Acknowledgement Certificates awarded to Andre Rainsford-Alberts, Andrew Smith, Jon Pio, Khobi-Jane Bowden, Russell Achterberg, Stephan Kruger, Theunis de Bruin for participating in the Paragliding World Cup Tour held at Aksaray, Turkey from the 8th to the 15th of September 2018.
FAI Continental record is presented to Bailey Edmunds,Carmen Edmunds, Ian van den Berge, Yolandi van den Berge and Bernard Janse van Rensburg for setting the new African record for parachuting in formation 4 Way and highest average for ten rounds with a performance of 14,4 points
FAI Continental record is presented with two Certificates to Hendri Liebenberg for setting the African Record for the greatest distance of 3.898 km and greatest speed 260.3 km/h

Special Recognition

1. Alard Hufner for winning the Icarus Trophy 2018.
The Icarus race is a 1000-mile, unsupported, cross country paramotor adventure race. This is you and your flying machine against the wilderness in the ultimate test of pilot skill and endurance, this is the world’s toughest air race which took place in Southern Africa in July 2018 and started on the 25th of July with 27 paramotorists taking to the skies just north of Johannesburg and took them across Botswana to finish near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Alard completed the journey over a period of three days, 27 pilots from the UK, Europe, North and South America, South Africa and the Middle East made it to the finish line. Alard also won the shorter weekend-long-X-series event in April this year.
2. Christopher Teague for the splendid achievement on setting the African Canopy Piloting Record of 2.404 seconds over a 70meter carved speed at Wroclaw Poland on the 4th of July 2018. The previous record was 2,434 seconds also set by Christopher Teague on the 5th of April in 2015.
3. Naomi Kotzee for being invited to be part of the Vertical Elite Team to participate in the Vertical Formation World Parachute Record 2018 attempt held at Skydive Chicago, Ottawa, IL, USA from the 13th to the 18th of August 2018.
4. Bailey Edmunds, Nico Hickley, Claire King and Dirk Venter for achieving the great distinction and honour of representing South Africa in the sport of parachuting Indoor Formation Skydiving.
5. Middelburg Aero Club Team for successfully hosting the Aero Club Airweek 2018. The team accepted the challenge of hosting the Aero Club Airweek 2018 with enthusiasm and met every problem with a solution. This was a true team effort and it would be unfair to single out any person, however under the guidance of
Richardt Lovett, an excellent air meeting was achieved. The event was marred by imperfect weather but that should not discount the extraordinary efforts the team went to, in hosting the event.
6. Theunis De Bruin out of 278 pilots for winning the Nordic Open 2018, with a total score of 2507 in his Ozone Enzo 3 Glider the competition was held at Macedonia from the 26th of August to the 1st of September 2018.


End


 

Cessna Fly-In Brakapn Airfield

The Brakpan Aeroclubs Social event in June saw the Cessna Fly-in at Brakpan Airfield on the 16th June 2018.As we are definitely in Winter,a cold breeze didn’t keep visitors away from the field,as the Brakpan Airfield is now a very vibrant field. The Clubhouse had a filling  breakfast to offer and a warm cup of coffee to get the day started.

Cessna’s from all over Johannesburg made their way to the field,ranging from a Cessna 195 to a Cessna 152.We also had a couple of other aircraft that flew in for the day.We made a couple of visits to greet some of the pilots in their Hangers including Ivan Van der Schaar and his Wife Sonica at the Hangar and Bed and Breakfast .What better way to wake up to the sound of aircraft…


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Rob Osner and Charles Fuller flew their beautiful Alouette III and II around the field,no one gets tired of hearing the Turbomeca Artouste turboshaft engine on the helicopter.We were later treated to a flip around the vicinity of the field.

We had a little surprise visitor from high above the field ,a Boeing C17 of the Qatar Emiri Air Force departing outbound from OR Tambo International Airport.

Once again the Brakpan Aero Club pulled off another great Fly-In,we look forward to another event in the near future.

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Mercedes-Benz Club Day at Brakpan Airfield

Mercedes-Benz Club Day at Brakpan Airfield

horseless carriage

Horseless carriage

The first car that ever-set wheel on South-African soil was a Benz Velo.
Although the “horseless carriage”, which had been imported by a local businessman, John Percy Hess, arrived in SA at the end of 1896, it did not run under its own power until January 4 of the following year. This was due to the fact that there was a delay of a month in the arrival of the benzene fuel for the engine! The first public demonstration of the Benz Velo took place at the Berea Park sports ground in Pretoria in front of Paul Kruger, the President of the Transvaal Republic. The publicity blurb urging Pretorians to attend this “red letter day” event proclaimed that “the motor car, like the bicycle, has come to stay and will be the craze of the century.”
Hess went on to become the sole agent for the Benz brand in South Africa. The car was subsequently driven in Johannesburg as part of his initiative to promote “a revolution in locomotion.”

The Mercedes-Benz club convoyed to the East of Johannesburg,to join up with more members owning a Mercedes vehicles and sharing the same passion in the culture of cars that members and some of the public own today from the older class Mercedes to current models.


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Mr Hilton Wolff and some of the other members of the Brakpan Aero club hosted a fun filled day for members of the Mercedes Club of the Gauteng Region as well as some public member’s visiting the airfield on a lazy Sunday. Brakpan Aero Club which was founded in 1953, the  great club house offered  guests refreshments during the day as well as a swim in the clubs swimming pool for the brave hearted people out there as we soon go into the winter weather of the year.

 

Many pilots flew aircraft in to give flips to the public all for free and for a good cause, most passengers who got to fly in aircraft had a great smile for the rest of the day. The busy bees for the day, taking most pax up were Rob Osner in his Alouette III and Father and son team Mark and Jon-Marc hill in Little Annie AN2 and  a Cessna Caravan.Other aircraft we also had the privilege of seeing flying and taking pax was the D-27 Dornier, Yak52, Bosbok, Boeing Stearman, Mushak just to name a few.

By the afternoon the approaching weather scared off most of the public,the ones that stayed on were blessed with beautiful weather as the storm changed direction and missed the airport with thunder showers. By 3HooPm the public were treated to a formation of aircraft that took part in the day.And a flypast by Ivan Van der Schaar in his Randolph sponsored Boeing Stearman.Well done to a great event hosted by the Mercedes Benz club and Mr Hilton Wolff and all other members that took the time and event to make the day a success.

 

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