Chairmans Chirp

A letter to some extraordinary men who, like so many before have represented our country and our club in a manner befitting the quality of South African Aerobatics

Dear Barrie, Elton, Tristan, Johnie and Laszlo,

On behalf of not only the committee, but of the whole SAC, I extend a sincere congratulations for your representation at the recent World Advanced Aerobatic Championships.
You stood proudly SAC and proudly South African as you carried our name. True ambassadors and I am proud to be associated with you.  

The lead up to any sporting event on the world stage takes years of preparation, both mental and physical.  Each of you showed what aerobatics is about, a passion, a lifestyle and a dedication of time and money.  You trained hard, fought all the odds and with determination and found a way to be at the opening ceremony, practised, rehearsed, fit and ready.

It is my hope that this energy you have injected will filter through the SAC and especially to the juniors coming into our beloved sport. I urge you to continue to mentor and encourage those eager and capable pilots to test their ability as aerobatic pilots. It is mentorship from pilots and judges like yourselves that will maintain and grow the standard of our aerobatic flying, keeping us safe and keeping us competitive on the world stage.

To the South African contingent at WAAC 2023 I salute you. You did us proud.

Barrie Eeles
Elton Bondi
Tristan Eeles
Johnie Smith – Assistant Judge
Laszlo Liszkay - Judge

Warren Eva

 

Sport Aerobatics is more than a sport, it is a lifestyle that moulds who we are as pilots.  Many of us fly other aircraft in various disciplines but I think it is safe to speak for everyone when I say that we consider ourselves aerobatic pilots above all.  For each of us there is something different but there is no doubt that we are better people for it, there is a special satisfaction and happiness that we experience when we open that canopy and climb out after having been in the box.  


Cliff Lotter reporting form Shenzhen, China with the Marksmen Aerobatic Team

Good morning all from a bright and smoggy China!. Actually, I can’t figure out if its smog or moisture as we’re stuck in quarantine rooms in Shenzhen for the next five days. Each of us in his own room from which we are not allowed to leave. I was imprisoned at the age of 18 for alcohol related sins, so I know what it feels like but that was only for a day and that only because my dad told the cops to leave me there to teach me a lesson. Fat chance at that age! But this is different, not only is it much longer but every morning a Chinese lady knocks on my door to do a PCR test and then tries to talk to me in a language that sounds like a Labrador pup trying to bark whilst running into an electric fence! I return the favour by talking to her in Afrikaans and smiling.

Dear SAC member,
We are all still reeling from the tragic accident that took one of our more experienced aerobatic colleagues from us recently. As you can imagine, it has been a trying time and made us revisit what we do at contests, and reflect on what we could possibly do to avoid another similar situation from ever happening again. Our sport is a high risk activity and it goes without saying that it requires thorough preparation.

It is with great sadness that we end off the year with the passing of one of our long standing members, Glen Warden. As the saying goes, Glen was an officer and a gentleman, in the true sense of the word! Every person I know agrees with me and hence the feeling of utter devastation at the untimely loss to the aviation fraternity and particularly, to the Sport Aerobatic Club of South Africa. We will miss you Glen. We will miss your attitude to life. We will miss your willing advice based on your years of experience, which was worth its weight in gold! We will miss your friendly, welcome, hospitable, humble and courteous demeanor! I could go on infinitely, but suffice it to say, Glen’s passing leaves a vacuum that will take a long time to fill.
Rest in Peace my Friend!
Obviously the Ace Of Base was canned after the incident as we were all in shock and not fit to fly . The accident was totally unexpected and there are some lessons to be learnt and the committee will discuss and implement whatever is deemed necessary in an attempt to ensure that this never happens again.


So far, the first half of 2021 has been incredible!

The year started with its challenges once again brought on by a spike in Covid infections. The committee felt it prudent to postpone all competition until we were through the Covid Second Wave. Luckily this only impacted the Gauteng Regionals which was postponed to and combined with the Judges Trophy we held early in March.

Other challenges included another CAA audit in February. The audit went extremely well with no findings or observations discovered. The committee must be thanked for the ongoing maintenance and improvement of our quality system.

The committee has recently lost two of its stalwart members while two new ‘young guns’, Warren Eva and Dusty Hughes have been co-opted in their stead.

I personally did not believe that a Nationals in 2020 was going to happen. As lockdown prevented all forms of recreation aviation, we ended up cancelling both the Eastern Cape and KZN Regional competitions. We decided to postpone Nationals to August and then to end September. When we realised a comp was possible, we first decided to gauge interest from our members (no point organising a Nationals for 5 guys!). We were all amazed at the response which to be honest, was unexpected! The committee gave Conrad Botha the green light to commence with planning to host what you see here today, an incredibly well attended and organised Nationals 2020! I would like to extend my thanks to Conrad Botha for not only the hard work required in organising an event of this nature, but also the never say die, let’s make it happen attitude. I think he deserves a round of applause!

As I am sure you all know by now, all aerobatics is permitted.

Just recently, we were given additional permissions by the CAA to hold events (training days, training camps and competitions) - see CAA General Notice below this paragraph. This permission was granted based on the creation & implementation a Standard Operating Procedure that will be used at any of our events and when followed mitigate the risks associated with Covid 19. Our SOP may be found on our web- site - click on the Briefing Room tab.  Details of these provisions may be found in the following CAA General Notice:

In practical terms, this is what this permission allows:  

      
1. Allows a group of pilots to congregate at an airfield with an approved aerobatic box for the purposes of aerobatic flight i.e. training day, competition or camp.

2. Allows a group of pilots to congregate at an airfield with an approved aerobatic box for the purposes of an inter- provincial competition
 

Thrown into the deep end is an understatement! The Monday after a very successful 2019 Nationals, Nigel Hopkins, John Gaillard and I attended a CAA Audit of our ARO (Aviation Recreation Organisation – Aerobatics). With the dissolution of RAASA, the CAA picked up the responsibility for the ARO’s. They have for obvious reasons taken this responsibility seriously and we ended the audit with a total of 15 findings that needed attention before we could renew our certificate.

First, words of thanks to the previous committee – Nigel, Barrie, John, Q, Elton, Helm, Cliff, Bugs & last but not least, Annie. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to keep this club on the road. I didn’t fully appreciate this until I was elected to the committee. The committee put the work in because they are passionate about aerobatics, and 100% dedicated to ensuring that our club & sport continues well into the future.  The 2018/ 19 committee have all been re-elected for the next year. Thank you for once again standing for election! We have included a few new members namely, Eugene du Preez, Conrad Botha and Mike Stark, thank you gentleman!

Our objective for the coming year is the very same as the years previous, which of course is to grow our club. We need to add new members. The reasons I am sure are obvious to all. So the question is how?

In the past we have pretty much left it to the committee, and I guess mainly the chairman to wave a magic wand and produce new members, which they did and we thank them for it. However, the committee is a small group of volunteers, with a limited amount of time & resources. They can’t be everywhere on every airfield all of the time canvassing for new members. So what do we do?

Another hectic year is coming to a rapid end and we have one contest left. It has been another good year with many of our members excelling Internationally. The 2019 CIVA figures have been released and it’s good to see the plans for the 2019 International events, which also include the Intermediate World Champs. http://civa-news.com
Aeroclub Awards
Congratulations to our members for their various awards.
Aeroclub Gold Wings:
Awarded to two dedicated members Barrie Eeles and Elton Bondi for their services to the SAC and Aeroclub. Well done Gents, well deserved recognition.


National Colours:
Awarded to Eugene Du Preez and Leigh Le Gonidec who represented SA at the Advanced World Aerobatic Championships in Romania. http://www.civa-results.com/2018/WAAC_18/indexpage.htm

  1. A Review of the 2017 Aerobatic Season
  2. In Memory of Werner Nel
  3. SAC Safety Credo
  4. Michel Leusch - a Tribute