Robertson Fly In 21 - 22 May 2011

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Jan 2011 issue of SAMAA News

The Jan 2011 issue is here.
This is a zip file in low resolution with no advertising.

2011 MHSA Nats entry form

The entry form is here.

Experimental new layout for SAMAA home page

I've put a new layout here
Any comments?

Central Fly In -- Bloemfontein

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Entry form here.

Visit by Wolfgang Matt to South Africa. Double World Champion to compete in KZN Aerobatic Nationals -- Neil Allen

We are delighted to confirm that Wolfgang Matt will be entering our S A Aerobatic Nationals at Emoyeni microlight park, between Pietermaritzburg and Durban, KZN on April 29, 30, and May 1st 2011. It is an easy date to remember, as the last day of the Nats is "Mayday".

He will be coming earlier to coach our SA Aerobatic team before they go to the World Championships in Muncie, USA in July 2011. He will be bringing his latest design, the Peridot as in the photograph. It is powered by a Hacker electric motor. He is arranging for one of our SA Team members to acquire it from him to fly in the World Championships. His design series are named after precious stones, and his Saphir, Beryl, and the Amethyst biplane are well known, and flown in South Africa. His first famous design, the Atlas was very popular, and I myself enjoyed flying one for many years.

He comes from Lichtenstein,  a small country on the eastern border of Switzerland. It has a population of only 35,000 people, and according to the "CIA World FactBook" is the richest country in the world per head of population. This is because of their well known, very secretive, and very profitable banks. Wolfgang worked in real estate, then for his son Roland in banking, and is now retired.

Wolfgang has won the World Aerobatics Championships twice, and placed in the first three 12 times, since 1971. He has flown in South Africa before, at the World Championships held in Johannesburg in 1979, which he won. He is obviously an excellent coach, with an amazing record. The Lichtenstein team of Wolfgang, Roland, and one other flyer have always beaten South Africa, Britain, Australia, and many other major countries with vastly larger populations. He has also competed in the invitational Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas on many occasions, with his large scale aerobatic designs.

His partner is the widow of Bruno Giezendanner, who was the Swiss R/C aerobatics champion. She will be joining Wolfgang during our event, and they will then do some touring of South Africa.


The photo shows Wolfgang on the right, with his son Roland on the left. The Peridot is available from Oxai, who have a local agent, Burt Botha.

Second Annual SA Electric Indoor Challenge -- Final Instructions and Program

Final instructions here.
Program here.

North West Aerobatic Champs entry form -- Quintin Schroll

The entry form is here.

An open letter to the SAMAA Committee -- Danie Esterhuysen

Dear Committee Members,

I hereby wish to thank you all for the wonderful gift I received this XMAS (2010).

Let me explain:

A while back, I had an argument with SAMAA about some adverts I placed in various SAMAA Newsletters. The end result of this argument was that I decided not to advertise in the newsletter again. On receiving repeated e-mails to place new ads on time, I relented and decided to start advertising in the Newsletter again.

This year, with the regular e-mail prompting ad placements for the December issue, there was a notice to the following effect:

“The SAMAA Committee decided that for the 2010 edition, requests for ads on the front page would be accepted on a TENDER basis only”

At this point it is necessary for the membership to understand where this comes from as they do not know what the original argument was about.

I took SAMAA to task on the placement of my first “SANTA” advert on the front page a few years back. I felt at the time that in the absence of any guidelines for “FRONT PAGE” adverts, that I did not receive what I paid for.

1)      I ordered a Half page in Colour but the advert on the front page was slightly more than a Quarter page.

2)      I was originally charged nearly double for the ad but after I pointed out that I was only prepared to pay the advertised price in the SAMAA magazine, did SAMAA relent and we came to an agreed price which I paid.

In the following two December issues, I requested the front page again and continued with my “SANTA” delivering ASP Engines adverts. In both instances I at least got the full Half page adverts I requested but in both instances SAMAA wanted to charge me more than the advertised rate for a Half page in Colour, because they believed that an advert on the front page should cost more.

I insisted on paying the advertised price and clearly indicated to SAMAA that should they wish to charge more for a front page ad, they must decide on a suitable rate and publicise it together with the other in the newsletter.

This year, in their wisdom, they still did not publicise a special rate for the front page but rather decided to put the front page out to tender. I am sure that they were of the opinion that they were going to get some really fat offers for the front page.

One evening, I discussed this with one of my friends and asked him what he thought would be a reasonable offer to which he replied R6000. I laughed at him and said that I would never pay such an amount. He then stuck to his guns and said that dealers would possible even tender more to get the front page spot. Our friendly “argument” ended in a bet and the amount we settled on was his R6000 guess.

As we all know by now, there were no takers and our December 2010 Newsletter greeted us with the 2010 Glider Nationals.

In the absence of a publicised price for the front page, and their “Tender” process, SAMAA lost my regular December “Half page” advert and the revenue that could have been earned. I, on the other hand, won a nice R6000 bet which paid for the inside of the front page (WHOLE PAGE) and I got some change.

THANKS AGAIN SAMAA

Danie Esterhuysen