2007 Natal Soaring Champs

Report and photos in F3J BLOG.

2007 Boland Aerobatic Champs entry form

Entry form is here.

Aviation discussion forum

Hi John

I got your e-mail address from the SAMAA web site. AVCOM is the aviation discussion forum in South Africa which is non-commercial and non-aviation body related, but provides a great forum for discussion for like minded aviator individuals. The realization is that many of our local pilots were involved inmodel aircraft either currently or before that got into full size aircraft and after putting it to poll, it was decided to create a new section dedicated to model aircraft….The link to the new section is here.

Or you can access the general section here.


Please feel free to visit the discussion forum and to participate and of course the invitation is open to all members of SAMAA and any individual with like minded interest to participate…..Please feel free to announce this forum to your members and of course they are free to also free to participate in the other sections as well should they so desire….

Regards
Steve Onions
(Avcom Moderator)

SAMAA workshop -- Lionel Brink's feedback to the MGA

Here's Lionel's report. He wants me to point out that it is based on his personal views and may not reflect what others thought.
But I think Lionel has a good grasp of what happened.

SAMAA management workshop -- more info

I thought it might be useful to give my impressions of how the ordinary club member might be affected by what was discussed. SIG members should get feedback via their SIG chairmen.

Subscriptions

It's likely that SAMAA subs will increase to around R250 this year.

Air space

Aeronautical maps will in future show the location of registered model flying fields. This will probably be more useful to full-size aviation than to modelling. Models must always give way to full-size aircraft but at least this is a good safety step.

At a later stage the SAMAA will continue to talk to the CAA about relaxing the current height restrictions over registered fields.

Park flying models

There was a general feeling that park flyers should be subject to as little regulation as possible. Alan Fraser is preparing a draft policy for comment. If you have any ideas on this get in touch with Alan. We noted that some municipalities were thinking of banning flying in their parks. In the light of this it is crucial that we fly safely and with thought for park users.

The status of the SAMAA as an Aviation Recreation Organization

It's still early days in this process. There is no doubt though that it will give us more control over our lives as Aeromodellers. Our standing with the CAA is much higher.

New radio equipment

We are on the brink of seeing the last of frequency control. ICASA is in the process of type certification for the new breed of 2,4GHz radios. The only downside is that it will become increasing hard to buy new 35MHz equipment Alan Fraser warned that manufacturers would reduce and then stop production of such items.

Insurance

There was some concern over the excess amounts on the SAMAA group insurance scheme. It appears we have Hobson’s Choice. We either take the scheme as it is, or nothing. If any member is aware of a better deal they should make contact with Johan Sieling.

Communication with members

There was general recognition that the management committee needed to improve the way in which it kept in touch with members. Vic de Vries will prepare a draft Communication Plan for comment. Vic is well placed to do this having spent many years in the PR business.

In the meantime the best source of information on any aspect of the SAMAA is Bob Skinner. He welcomes contact with members. Don't hesitate to get in touch with him. All it takes is a phone call.

SAMAA management workshop

We talked about many things, some at great length.
One important decision was to prepare a SAMAA communication plan. In the light of recent communication lacks this will be most welcome.
Vic de Vries will draft the document. That's him in the centre of the picture. How may others do you recognise?

2007 Control Line Nats -- Percy Attfield

Here's the entry form and the program.

The Nats will be held at the new control line facility at Barnstormers Model Flying Club (BMFC). Travelling on the R21 (Pretoria/O R Tambo airport highway) you take the Bronkhorstspruit turnoff and go towards Bronkhorstspruit.

1.8 kilometres from the turn off there is a sign for Barnstormers and a dirt road turns to the left. From there it is 0.2 Kilometres to the circles.

Thank you to Keith & Roston for the marathon job they did on Saturday 20 January and Sunday 21 January to get this site ready for the contest. Bokkie looked after us for catering for the 2 days and carried bricks when needed. Without the catering we would have been a sorry lot. She was assisted by Libby on Saturday and Rina on Sunday.

Saturday Nic, Henry and Libby also worked , with Libby being the chief sweeper of the circle so that the compacter could get it ready for team racing. Like Bokkie she was an outstanding brick carrier. They were well assisted by Dereck Walker.

Peter Lott, Loren and Gail rounded out those present on Saturday, thank you for your support

The end results of Trojans Roston and Keith are a Centre brick and cement circle for the grass circle, the grass circle cut (for the third time now) and the tar circle compacted all the way. The compacting has made a big difference to the tar surface. Just in case that was not enough for two day a few trees were planted, the pit area was created and the control line section was incorporated into the radio braai area.

We think you will like it; come to the Nats and enjoy the new facility. You will see form the activities calendar that there is a team race day in February. We hope to have few team racers present to see how they operate on the new tar surface.

Happy flying,
Percy

Black Eagle Slope Weekend

All the detail on the BERG BLOG

Swartkop Warbird Meet 9 / 10 June 2007

 

Gliding postal scores for Feb 2007 from John Lightfoot

             club                            total  disc

1            Durban Model Aircraft Club       6778  0
2            Silverton Gliding Club           6712  0
3            Midrand Model Soarers            5474  0
4            Black Eagle Radio Gliders        5172  0
5            Southern Soaring Club            2722  0
6            White Hills Radio Flyers         2143  0
7            Groengoud S&EFC                  1779  0
8            Travelling Mulberries MGC        1775  0

Individual scores and comments from the clubs.

LSMAA 2007 Nats Promo

Details here.

LSMAA Nats entry form

Entry form here.