Cape Town Flying Club enews 28 January 2007
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Courses
Aircraft refurbishment
From Pieter's Desk
Achievements
Sean's African Adventures
Aircraft accidents and incidents
Out and About
In the news
- South African Stowaway
- Every PPL's dream
Humour
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Dates to diarise
6 February: Navigation course (see below)
7 February: Radio Course (see below)
16 February: Solo and Wings party at the club
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Courses

Please diarize the following courses.

Course Starting date Lecture days Starting times Number of lectures Lecturer
Navigation 06-02-07 Tues and Thurs 18.00 for18.30 8 Peter Erasmus

Radio 07-02-07 Wed and Fri 18.00 for18.30 6 or 8 Pieter Wesselman

Students are requested to phone Beverley to get there names on the list.

Students for the navigation course need to buy from the club the following items:
1. Navigation notes,
2. Protractor,
3. Computer,
4. Ruler,
5. Cape Town aeronautical charts 1:500 000 and 1;1 000 000.

Students for the radio course need to obtain Dietlind's radio book before the course starts and they will also need the same aeronautical charts as needed for the navigation course.

Qualified pilots can join the above courses as a refresher for half price.

The cost of the radio course will be (in the event of 8 lectures) R 804,00. Of course when the course is completed in only six lectures then the cost will decrease proportionately. The radio exam and skill's test are not included in the price.

The cost of the for the navigation course will be (without notes and tools) also about R 804,00.

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Aircraft refurbishment

While you are reading this, the finishing touches are busy being applied to KKC. The committee, following the advice of the instructors, is going to postpone the cosmetic work on the aircraft till winter, when flying hours are generally down.

In the meantime, look out for a spanking new KKC (hopefully some pictures will be available soon)
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From Pieter's Desk --> P Wesselman

Away flights.
All members are reminded of the fact that for away flights, which are flights with one or more overnight stay aways:
1. have to be approved by the club,
2. the intended route has to be approved by the club,
3. the destination airfields and alternate airfields have to be approved by the club,
4. the pilot will have to attend an away briefing given by the CFI or an instructor appointed by the CFI,
5. a deposit of 50% of the estimated flight time has to be paid before a booking can be entered onto the booking sheets.

The Tomahawks and the C152 are the clubs basic trainers and will only be approved for away flights when for the period concerned there is not training demand on the aircraft. This approval can be granted only by the full instructors panel.

The Piper Warrior is the club's main instrument training aircraft. She will only be allowed to go on an away flight when the aircraft is not needed for instrument training during the period under discussion. Again, this approval can only be granted by the full instructor panel.

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Achievements

As you can tell by the dates, I'm a bit behind. You can help by emailing me when you do something notable! Save a tree and email (I only get your name currently if the sheet of paper outside the office is updated....which it does not appear to be....)

Date Name Achievement Aircraft Instructor Examiner
? Russel Wolsen First Solo JDN J Van Zyl -
22/10/06 Matthew Rawlings PPL KKU W Watkins ?
9/11/06 Robert Upshon Night rating KBK P Wesselman PW
08/11/06 Russel Wolsen PPL JDN J Van Zyl B Barnes
17/11/06 Simon Mackenzie First Solo KFV J Van Zyl B Barnes
08/12/06 Bradley Gargan Com IF KSS B Barnes G Smith

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Sean's African Adventures --> Sean O'Connor

Flying Airborne Surveys in Gabon

The word is out that Central Africa may be situated on massive basins of oil and minerals so the usual gang of exploiting nations is here to “assist” Gabon and its neighbours in the realisation of their own wealth. Instead of raising my blood pressure with that subject and even though we’re ultimately working for some of those people, I’ll tell you what we’re doing here.

The company operates two C208B Cessna Caravans and one Squirrel helicopter in Gabon. We’re based in Lambarene, on the massive Ogooue River, about 150 km east of the coast. There’s a good airport / runway here, built for President Bongo to be able to easily access his holiday villa here.

The aircraft are equipped with magnetometer, spectrometer and photographic survey equipment. The magnetometer gathers data about the earth’s magnetic field and any disturbances in it. The spectrometer contains sodium iodide crystals, which are sensitive to radiation from uranium, thorium and potassium. The cameras take pictures of the surface which are overlaid onto digital terrain models.

Clients’ requirements vary, but they are generally looking for clues to the whereabouts of fossil fuels or mineral deposits and / or they could want a large portion of the earth’s surface digitally mapped and photographed.

ZS-RZJ, Squirrel B2, with a good view of the booms containing the magnetometers














ZS-OTV, C208B Caravan, with magnetometer pods on the wingtips











ZS-JAK, C208B Caravan with magnetometers in wingtip pods and the tail stinger











The sensitive sodium iodide crystals in airtight, lightless containers and the processor stack in the back of a “Van”.



We are required to fly extremely accurately along predetermined lines, following the contours of the terrain, maintaining a height of 120 metres above the ground. The guidance system is similar to that used in crop spraying, with extra precision achieved by paying a premium to the U.S. GPS authority to gain access to their military quality GPS positioning data. Accurate height above ground information is provided by radar and laser altimeters.

The area to be flown is represented on a custom GPS monitor, which is situated between the front seats of the aircraft. In front of the pilot (mounted on the glare shield) is a light bar, which provides lateral guidance to the pilot in the form of rows of red, green and orange lights. The system starts warning the pilot as soon as the aircraft is more than 50cm off track. Also mounted on the glare shield is a monitor that constantly confirms that all the survey systems are functioning and also digitally displays the height above ground for vertical guidance. All this electronic wizardry is driven by a stack of processors / power supplies / etc, situated behind the pilots.

Chopper just about to go “online”. All systems OK on the left monitor, height 108m. The lightbar on the right indicates a correction of 2m to the right is required.
















The precision GPS system, situated between the pilots’ seats in the “Van”.





















Hand flying with this kind of accuracy at 300kmph is very exhausting for the first month or so, but then your brain and muscles do begin to develop a “memory” for the tasks and you are able to start doing other things too, like remembering to keep the fuel tanks balanced (just kidding) and making the odd radio call; although there’s not much aircraft traffic in Gabon at 120m above the ground. There is lots of feathered traffic though and at dusk thousands of giant fruit bats take to the air. Our NASA developed paint design on the propeller has been very successful in preventing a bird strike.

On the ground, the aircraft are supported by a base station, which gathers data about the ambient magnetism and a very busy data processor called Scott – he’s a fitness fanatic from Durban. Scott downloads all the data from the aircraft the minute after they land, checks the quality and digitally polishes any pilot errors. The data then gets emailed to South Africa where it gets analysed by very smart people with multiple doctorates in geophysics and other mysterious disciplines. The end product is a series of charts, graphs and explanations that the client pays truckloads of money for in order to make an educated guess about where to sink a shaft or drill a well.

For more stories and photographs from Africa, visit my website / blog and feel free to comment and / or contact me, it’s always good to hear that there is still a world beyond the jungle. http://flybyguy.spaces.live.com/

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Aircraft accidents and incidents --> Danny Buitendag

Aircraft Incidents & Accidents 2/20: Famous people – Corey Lidle

On 11 October 2006, an aircraft cost the life of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. Lidle and his flight instructor were killed when their Cirrus SR-20 crashed into a 50-story building on the east side of Manhattan, New York.

The aircraft departed the airport at Teterboro and traveled south along the Hudson River west of Manhattan. It circled the Statue of Liberty and proceeded to travel around the southern tip of Manhattan and then north along the East River on the east side of Manhattan, climbing to about 800 feet.

Shortly after the aircraft flew past the United Nations building and the Queensboro Bridge, it was seen to veer toward Manhattan. It then made a sharp turn to the left, crashing into building at about the 30th floor level.

This accident is a mystery and the investigation is ongoing. It is unclear what role, if any, the aircraft's performance, weather conditions, or the pilot's actions played in this event.

There was a distress call from the pilot involving a problem with fuel, government sources close to the investigation told, however the NTSB at one stage denied this. Evidence shows that the propeller was turning at the time of the accident.

How the plane managed to penetrate airspace over one of the most densely packed sections of New York City was not clear to the NTSB either.


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Out and About

Comet McNaught in our skies --> M Joffe













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In the news

1 ) Jet stowaway was South African --> News24.com

Johannesburg - A 17-year-old stowaway found dead in the wheel well of a British Airways plane in Los Angeles is a South African citizen, the department of foreign affairs said on Tuesday.

"We have now confirmed that the stowaway who was found in possession of South African documentation was indeed a South African citizen," said spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa.

Associated Press reported that a pilot found the body of the 17-year-old in the front right wheel well of the 747-400 during a routine inspection on Sunday afternoon.

Mamoepa said the stowaway's identification on Tuesday followed consultations between South Africa's diplomatic mission and British authorities in London.

"We are currently in a process of locating his next of kin who have yet to be informed of his death," said Mamoepa.

The British Airways flight had arrived from London Heathrow Airport on Sunday.

Before that, it had made trips to Hong Kong, Singapore, Cape Town, and Vancouver, the report said.

The aircraft had been in Cape Town on January 22.

The stowaway was identified as a black male carrying South African identification.

There were no traumatic wounds on the body, indicating that the young man's death had not been caused by the impact of the plane's wheels retracting.

Stowaways often died as the wheel well was not pressurised or heated despite being enclosed.

(Ed: Astute readers may remember that in June last year SAA had it's own stowaway, whose body was discovered in New York (After falling onto a woman's roof when the Airbus was landing. That story: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,9294,2-7-1442_1717745,00.html )

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2) Every non-airline pilot's dream

Private Pilot helps land 757 --> Airport Business ( http://www.airportbusiness.com/article/article.jsp?siteSection=3&id=9926 )

Albuquerque businessman Stephen W. Brown doesn't consider himself a hero.

But when a medical emergency struck down the captain of a nearly full Continental Airlines jet flying to Mexico, Brown climbed out of his passenger seat and into the cockpit.

The 47-year-old licensed private pilot, who usually flies a single-engine Cessna, helped land the Boeing 757-300 loaded with 209 other passengers at McAllen-Miller International Airport in McAllen, Texas, on Saturday.

The plane had taken off from Houston on a flight to Puerto Vallarta when the co-pilot called for help. Brown responded.

"Yes, it was a rush," Brown told the Journal in an e-mail Wednesday from Puerto Vallarta, where he was still on a business vacation. "A combination of sheer excitement and shock kept my heart racing from beginning to end.

"I suppose most private pilots daydream about this sort of scenario where assistance is needed on the flight deck," he said. "The sad part, of course, is how I ended up on the flight deck."

The captain later died. The nature of his illness has not been disclosed.

While a few flight attendants and passengers tended to the stricken pilot, the co-pilot took over as captain of the plane. He then asked over the intercom whether there were any pilots on board.

"There's nothing wrong with that," said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Roland Herwig, who confirmed Brown's role in the emergency landing. "The (acting) captain can take any action for the sake of safety."

For some passengers on the flight, the broadcast request may have caused anxiety, Brown said, "but everybody remained calm."

A co-owner of Johnstone Supply, Brown was on the flight with his wife, Kristin Brown, and several business associates and customers.

Brown and one of his companions, also a licensed private pilot, stepped up to the front of the plane in response to the call for assistance.

Brown said that at that point, he wasn't nervous because he knew one pilot can land a 757. And as a licensed pilot himself, he also knew about a protocol called cockpit resource management.

"The captain knew full well he could land the aircraft without my or anyone else's help; however, protocol dictates he look for assistance," he said.

Brown, who has logged 150 hours of flight time since he got his pilot's license 1 1/2 years ago, got the nod over his companion.

"When I sat in the right seat, the captain looked at me and asked, 'When was the last time you flew?' '' he said. "I told him last week and he said, 'Good, you're current.' ''

The co-pilot-turned-captain told Brown that he had 28 years of experience.

"At that moment, I was undoubtedly the least nervous person on the plane," Brown said. "I knew, while technically it was deemed an 'emergency situation,' the captain would land the aircraft without incident."

Brown's role was to perform some standard radio work, coreview checklists and lower flaps and landing gear as instructed.

A 757 is nearly twice as long as a regulation basketball court, with a wingspan of 125 feet. Pilots use a computerized, fully integrated flight control system with electronic displays.

"What an incredible opportunity," Brown said about helping to land the plane.

He said the real credit goes to the flight crew members and passengers who tried to revive the captain.

Brown said credit also goes to the pilot who took over but who hasn't been identified by Continental Airlines.

"The pilot next to me was a true professional, dedicated to doing his job even in the most difficult of emotional situations," he said.

Continental Airlines confirmed basic information about the flight but would not release any detail, pending a federal review.

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Humour

Alexia Michaelides





















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CTFC Enews 20 January 07
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Farewell to JP

A Big goodbye to our CFI, JP Rossouw, who has accepted a job flying for Air Mauritius. We all wish him luck in the new venture (and expect lots of pictures!)

The committee has started the interview process for a permanent CFI, in the meantime we have secured the services of Markus Langguth, who is willing to serve for a temporary basis.

So, a goodbye and a welcome!
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Club Aircraft --> The committee

As many of you are aware, our training fleet can at times look rather "tatty". As was mentioned in the last newsletter, the committee is aware and working on this.

KKC is in for cosmetic refurbishment at the moment, and she will shortly be followed by the other aircraft. Further updates will be forthcoming as the aircraft go in and return, looking good and clean and fresh.

Also, because so many of us are lucky enough to fly the aircraft, they are only as clean as the messiest person. Please, look after our aircraft!

Happy flying!
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Aircraft Incidents & Accidents --> Danny Buitendag

1/20: Famous people – John F. Kennedy Jnr


As with ZS-JDN’s incident discussed by Pieter in last week's newsletter, the pilot in this instance also left late; 3 hours late. On 16 July 1999, a Piper Saratoga II was destroyed when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean approximately 7 miles southwest of Martha's Vineyard. John F. Kennedy Jnr and two passengers received fatal injuries. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated from Essex County Airport, New Jersey, and was destined for Barnstable, Massachusetts, with a scheduled stop at Martha's Vineyard Airport.

Witnesses stated that they saw the pilot using crutches while loading luggage into the aircraft. This was to be a daylight flight, however, they took off about 3 hours later than planned, as dusk approached. This meant that part of the flight would be conducted at night.

After take-off, the aircraft continued eastward at 5,500 feet. A study of the radar data revealed that the aircraft began a descent from 5,500 feet about 34 miles west of Martha’s Vineyard. The speed during the descent was calculated to be about 160 knots, and the rate of descent was calculated to have varied between 400 and 800 feet per minute. About 21h38, the aircraft began a right turn in a southerly direction. About 30 seconds later, the aircraft stopped its descent at 2,200 feet and began a climb that lasted a further 30 seconds. During this period, the aircraft stopped the turn and the airspeed decreased to about 153 knots. The aircraft leveled off at 2,500 feet and flew in a southeasterly direction. About a minute later, the aircraft entered a left turn and climbed to 2,600 feet. As it continued to turn left, it began a descent that reached a rate of 900 feet per minute. When the aircraft reached an easterly heading, it stopped turning, but continued to descend. At 21h40, while still descending, the aircraft entered a right turn. The turn rate increased so did its rate of descent and airspeed. The aircraft’s rate of descent eventually exceeded 4,700 feet per minute, after which it impacted the ocean.

The pilot obtained his private pilot certificate for single-engine aircraft in April 1998. He did not possess an instrument rating. He received a "high performance aircraft" sign-off in his Cessna 182 in June 1998 and a "complex aircraft" sign-off in the accident aircraft in May 1999. The pilot's estimated total flight experience, excluding simulator training, was about 310 hours, of which 55 hours were at night. The pilot's estimated experience flying without an instructor on board was about 72 hours. The pilot's estimated flight time in the accident aeroplane was about 36 hours, of which 9.4 hours were at night. Approximately 3 hours of that flight time was without an instructor, and about 0.8 hour of that time was flown at night, which included a night landing. In April 1999, the pilot returned to begin an instrument rating of which the pilot satisfactorily completed the first 12 of 25 lessons.

According to the weather service personnel, a search of their briefing logs indicated that the pilot, or someone using his user code, made two weather requests from the web site on 16 July 1999. These observations indicated that visibilities varied from 10 miles along the route to 4 miles in haze.

Flying in this haze, over the ocean, meant that no horizon was visible. This caused the pilot to become disorientated, causing him to loose control of the aeroplane.
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Duxford Aerodrome --> Russel Wolson

It was quite an experience to walk in to a Duxford hanger and see (for the first time in my life) a B-52 long range Bomber, SR-71 Black Bird, A-10 Tank Buster, F-111 Swing Wing, U-2 Spy Plane, F-4 Phantom and B-17 Bomber. If that jaw dropping experience wasn't enough, the next hanger was all the English stuff like Vulcans, Harrier Jump Jets, Mosquitoes, the second prototype Concorde (you can't believe how tiny the windows are in it) and a cut away of a Trent 800 motor (for 777) I can just imagine how big the Trent 900 motor (for A380) must be. Talk about a sensory overload for me.

In the next hanger were guys do nothing but restoring war birds. It looked more like a production line than a workshop it was so massive. (You guys have to see this to believe it!) Time had run out, so I didn't get to go to the last two halls/hangers. Outside they had more planes. The ones that stood out were:- a Comet, Shackleton (I'm not sure if it's the one we gave them) and a WW2 V1 rocket complete with launch ramp. There is a lot of WW1 & WW2 history at Duxford. It is well worth a visit. (Where else can you taxi in while a P-51 Mustang is taxing out.)

If anyone is interested, I have more photos.

Regards

Russel Wolson

(ED: You can email me, and I'll forward your email to Russel. Very nice pics that I couldn't include to try and keep the size of the newsletter down!)







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Sean's African Adventures --> Sean O'Connor

Hello to you!! Here’s another little update from Lambarene, Gabon.

Libreville is a strange mix of cultures. At the supermarket, called Mbolo, you can buy the finest cheeses and cured meats from Europe alongside strange looking plant and animal products of the jungle. Things are really expensive! A glass of fresh juice costs 3500 Central African Francs (Cfa) – about R46 – in a restaurant. Dinner for 2 of us in a mid-priced restaurant; main courses only and a drink each cost Cfa35000 (R470)! After a bit of practice though, one can bargain for fresh local fruit and eat quite well for a reasonable cost, although the jungle bananas, avos, papayas and pineapples look and taste wild and very different to the ones we’re used to in SA.

President Bongo (no jokes, that’s his name!), in power since 1968, enjoys personal jets, helicopters, yachts, mansions, etc, as any good African leader should. The elections are apparently rigged and his son seems to be in line to inherit the “democratically” elected post of president from his father. Most of the population seems to think that Bongo is a puppet of the French. As long as he’s in power, the French get the rights to minerals, oil, logging, etc and he gets a superbly healthy retainer to maintain this status quo. I’m indirectly employed by a French oil co. on this survey contract, so vive la France and all that.

Solenta Aviation’s Hangar at Leon M’ba Int. Airport, Libreville. In front: ATR 42 on contract to DHL. Inside: Our survey equipped C208 and Squirrel B2.


I was stuck in Libreville for a week while the CAA did their best to extort 2.5 million Cfa from the company I fly for as a fine for landing with an invalid international landing clearance no. The fact that the CAA issued us with that no. was irrelevant as far as they were concerned. They suggested putting me in jail for 5 months; I said “Whatever!”, but then I think they forgot about that shortly afterwards. They finally released the Authority to Fly, but still haven’t released the Authority to Conduct Exploration – they want the fine to be paid first. If they ask, we’ll just say that all those low-level sweeps we’re doing over the forest every day in a C208 and a Squirrel Chopper are just to look for a pen we dropped down there somewhere!

The main seaside boulevard. Most of the cars on the road are the red and white or red and blue taxis that most of the population uses


The general population on the other hand is peaceful, friendly and helpful, especially when you make them laugh with attempts at French. There are no tourists and apparently no beggars or crime. My theory is that because they’re one of the few African states that have never had war, there is no culture or collective memory of violence. On the other hand, I did see a woman rip off her clothes at the market and threaten to do something violent to another woman. Maybe the clothes ripping thing was an indication of the extent of the anger – I certainly found the sight frightening! While I’m on the subject, a local told me that the best way to prevent malaria was with Gabonese mother’s milk. I have since doubled my dosage of quinine (read G&T) and also use a can of Peaceful Sleep a day. It says on the can that it lasts for 8 hrs, but here it only kind of works for 2, so we’ve dubbed it Peaceful Power Nap.

The Market is huge! This photo shows less than 10% of its size.
















The streets of Libreville never sleep. I was stuck at the office of the company’s Gabon representative, Serge, until nearly midnight one night, trying to sort out the aircraft documentation. When we finally left, I complained that I was starving and would never get anything to eat now. Serge said what he always says, “No problem!” as he hailed a taxi, negotiated the price with the driver and told him where to take us. All the taxis are battered Toyotas which you can use on your own for a surprisingly reasonable R30 or so across town or about a quarter of that price if you’re willing to do a Guinness Book of Records attempt at squeezing people, shopping, fauna and flora into the car.

When we popped the car door open, the pressure inside ejected us onto the pavement. It was long after midnight now and we were at the intersection of 2 roads at the top of a small hill, close to where Serge lives. It is difficult describe the sights, sounds and smells, but the place was ROCKIN!

A shack selling Chinese rip-off DVD’s and CD’s was providing the Franco-African hip-hop beats for everyone within the radius of a couple of blocks. Next to that a roadside workshop was providing 24hr repairs to a queue of cars, mostly taxis and next to that, also at the roadside was an electric oven with a baker not coping with the 1a.m. rush for baguettes. On the other side of the road were a couple of bars, one just a stall with some stools in front of it, the other was actually a brick and mortar room with chars and tables in it. There was also a row of stalls selling carefully polished fruit and veg (hardly anything recognizable though!), dried fish stalls, a street braai selling cuts of wild smelling meat, clothing shops, etc, etc. Almost everyone was going about their business unconsciously keeping time to the break beats with head, shoulder and pelvic movements and a small crowd of people were dedicatedly dancing in the street while the taxis hooted and made their way through the intersection.

Serge spent 5 minutes negotiating the price of 2 onions at a stall, then did the same at other stalls for 4 tomatoes, a hand of bananas, 2 baguettes, 1 avo, 2 large local Regab beers and a small bottle of pink vinegar. Then we walked down a road, around a corner and into his aunt’s house where he lives when he’s not with his girlfriend or his fiancé.

At home with Serge (blue shirt) and his brothers, Alban and Alain


The aunt was away in France, so of course the brothers and mates were all there having a party. One of the girls was sent to the kitchen (just like the good old days!) to prepare the food, grumpy that she had to stop dancing. After assuring everyone that I liked Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, etc, I was accepted and we were soon served a delicious salad with bread and beer. I got a Coconut tree climbing lesson at about 2am and then said I really had to go and get some sleep.

Picked my first coconut at 2am


Serge and 3 of the other revelers insisted on escorting me to my hotel, so with 6 of us in the 4 place taxi, the driver somehow managed to drop us at a pub and not at my hotel. After more music and dancing at the classy and funky beachfront “No Stress Rhythm Bar”, I eventually crawled into the hotel at dawn, exhausted.

Please send me some of your news from home!
Take care,
Sean
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Out and about

Coming up on Eland's Bay --> G Pinnock/ M Joffe


The green oasis in the desert (Vredendal) --> G Pinnock/ M Joffe



Whales in St Helena Bay (even saw a giant ray and lots of dolphins!) --> G Pinnock/ M Joffe


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Humour

Running out of runway --> Rafi Weiner

Members should avoid indulging in large meals before taking off in a tomahawk.




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==========================
CTFC News January 15 2007

Happy new year
JDN Incident report back
Committee report back
Aerobatics at FAWC
Sean's Adventures
General
Out and about
Humour
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Happy new year

Happy new years to everyone connected with CTFC (or aviation!), hope you all had a fun new years party (and that you at least remember parts of it :) )

Happy flying in 2007!
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Dates to diarise

20/21 Jan - Aerobatics at FAWC

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TO BE OR NOT TO BE --> P Wesselman

On August 28th ZS-JDN did a precautionary landing on the R 43. Here follows the report of the Club's investigation into the incident.

Members should read this report with great interest because the "desire to please" is present in everyone.
------

Incident / Accident report form

Incident / Accident:

Date: 28-08-06 Time: 16.30Z

Aircraft Type: C172 Registration: ZS-JDN

Name of Pilot:

Type of License: PPL Expiry date: 04-07-08

Total hours: 216,54 Hours on type: 30,8

Names of Injured Persons: nil

_____________________________________________________________________________

Name of Person submitting report:

Brief description of Incident / Accident, including relevant information, e.g. weather:

On a flight from FACT to the Breede River and back we encountered a lower cloud base than expected about 40 nm East of Cape Town. I did a 180 degrees and decided that the visibility was going too quickly to return to FASX and to rather do a precautionary landing in the Botriver/Caledon area. I could not find a piece of land I was confortable landing on and because of the darkness setting in I decided to land on the R43 between the N2 and Villiersdorp. After landing I turned onto a side road and shut down. I pushed the aircraft of the road and secured it.
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CFI'S report.

Sequence of events.

1. The flight under investigation was booked at approximately 10.00 B. The reservation on the aircraft was from 14.00 B till 19.00 b.

2. The purpose of the flight was to fly a friend of the pilot to the Bergriver, where the friend had a holiday house, to inspect damage done to the property by the heavy rains the area had experienced the previous days.

3. The planned route was as follows:
From FACT to SP and on to Caledon and then to Robertson to pick up the river. Along the river to the river mouth at Witsand. From Witsand via Bredasdorp, Caledon and SP back to Cape Town. Total distance 245 nm.

4. The aircraft was booked until 19.00B while sunset was at 18.24B. The pilot is the holder of a night rating but according to his logbook was not current to carry passengers by night. He intended to be back in Cape Town before sunset so night currency is not an issue.

5a. The pilot obtained a weather briefing from the Cape Town Weather Office at 10.55Z. A front was approaching but according to the briefing the rain was not expected to start before 20.00B.
5b. The pilot regarded the flight as a "local flight" and consequently did not prepare a flight log, neither were the fuel requirements calculated.

6. Though the aircraft was booked from 14.00B, the pilot only arrived at 14.30B.
The fact that the pilot did not have his flight bag at his office and consequently had to go to the airport via Table View to collect his bag, was given as an explanation.

7. The time of take-off was 15.45B. The reasons for this late departure were given as follows.
a. The late arrival at the airport stated in paragraph 7.
b. The aircraft was hangered and was parked in the third row from the front.
c. Pre-flight took longer than normal because the pilot, though rated on the C172, flew ZS-JDN for the first time.

8. During the pre-flight the tanks were not dipped. According to the flight folio the previous pilot had refueled and had only flown for 1,2 Hobbs meter hours, which meant that there was enough fuel for his flight of 245 nm estimated to take approximately 2,5 hours. It was the pilot's intention to refuel in Swellendam.

9. When at the holding "position" the pilot realized that it was "late" but his mind was set on "going".

10. The leg to Robertson was uneventful but it was observed that the aircraft went like a "bomb". From Robertson the flight was continued along the Breede River to Swellendam. No refueling stop was made here on the outbound leg of the flight. On the leg from Swellendam to the river mouth various 360's were flown, which caused severe discomfort to one of the passengers. It was consequently decided to fly direct to Cape Town from the river mouth.
11. On the leg from the mouth of the Breede River it was observed that the groundspeed was very low. Botrivier was reached at 18.20B. Crossing the mountain range behind Botrivier into the Elgin Basin it appeared that the weather conditions were such that continuation of the flight to Cape Town was undesirable. Diverting to Robertson was not feasible due to the fading light. The pilot did not know about the existence of Caledon airfield.

12. It was decided not to continue to Cape Town but to do a precautionary landing. The R43, the section from the N2 to Villiersdorp, was selected for this purpose. The aircraft landed safely on the R43 at about 19.00B.

13. After landing the aircraft was pushed of the road and the following day with the help of a farmer the aircraft was moved into a field and park enough down hill to be not visible from the road.

14. The weather on August 29th was such that recovery of the aircraft could not be considered. A security company made a security guard available free of charge.

15. At no stage of the flight was the pilot worried about his fuel situation.

The recovery.

When we recovered the aircraft it appeared that the gauge of the right tank indicated empty and that the gauge of the left tank indicated almost empty. On dipping there was no fuel visible in the right tank and the left tank gave 7 gal of which 2 are unusable.

Summary.

1. By law an aircraft may not depart unless it has the following amounts of fuel on board.
a. The amount required to fly from point of departure to point of destination.
b. The amount of fuel required to divert from point of destination to pre-selected destination alternate.
c. A contingency of 5% of a and b. The club rules require a pilot to take 10% of a and b for contingency.
d. A reserve of 45 minutes. The club rules requires a 45 minutes reserve calculated according to the fuel burn at 65% of power for that particular aircraft.

These legal minimum fuel requirements can only be know when they have been calculated. They can only be calculated after the calculation of the various elapse times for which a pilot needs to complete a flight log.

Upon calculation of the fuel requirements the pilot has to ascertain that the correct amount of fuel is on board, which cannot be done on checking the gauges but has to be done by dipping the tanks.

The pilot, however, checked the flight log and ascertained that the pilot flying the aircraft previously had "tanked up" and only flown for 1,2 hours and therefore concluded that he had enough fuel for the flight.

From the above it can only be concluded that the take-off of ZS-JDN on August 28th was a violation of the law.

It appeared during the investigation of this incident that the previous pilot did not take full fuel because of the weight limits of the aircraft.

On take-off the pilot had no idea about the amount of fuel on board but he intended to take on fuel at Swellendam. No arrangements to refuel were made with Swellendam before departure.

Though according to the forecast the rain was only expected to start at 20.00 B, any Cape Town based pilot will accept this statement with a significant amount of caution. Such an amount of caution was not at any stage included in the decision making process.

A frontal system is as always preceded by cloud, which cloud may have such a base that it is not safe to cross the mountains surrounding Grabouw. This possibility was also at no stage part of the decision making process.

The fact that on the return flight the aircraft practically stood still did not activate any alarm bells in the mind of the pilot.

While flying towards Botrivier the cloud formations most certainly must have looked rather menacing and this look should have become more threatening the closer the aircraft got. Still the thought of that the destination might be beyond reach did still not occur. Only when the aircraft was once in the Botrivier pass or just out of it did the though came that continuing was out of the question. The time the aircraft entered the Botrivier Pass was approximately 18.20 B. In few of the rapidly fading light the only option left was to execute a precautionary landing on the R43. The aircraft landed at approximately 19.00 B. The fuel situation was not part of the decision.

At no stage of the flight and of the decision-making process had the "fuel remaining" been considered.

Before take-off from the road, on the recovery, the aircraft was refueled. The hand pump cannot give us the fuel loaded but mathematically we calculated the fuel loaded at 165 liters (41,5 gal). ZS-JDN is equipped with long-range tanks with a total capacity of 54 gal of which 4 gal are unusable. This leaves 46 gal usable. On landing the aircraft had
54-4-41,5=8,5 gal of fuel left in the tanks. On dipping the tanks during the recovery there was 5 gal usable left in the left tank which means that there were 3,5 gal usable left in the right one.

In conclusion.

The pilot was asked by a friend to fly him to his holiday house on the Breede River to check for damage done by the heavy rains.

The pilot gladly obliged and had his mind set on "not disappointing" his friend.

The whole operation did not get of to a good start due to the following factors.
1. The pilot arrived late at the airfield because he had to go home to fetch his flight bag.
2. The aircraft had still to be taken out of the hangar, which required the movement of several other aircraft as well.
3. The pilot did not do any proper flight planning due more than likely to the time constraint or due to the fact that he felt comfortable with his experience. Total time 356 hours.
4. The pre-flight inspection also took longer than usual.

At the holding position the pilot felt it to be rather late but continued the departure. The aircraft got airborne at 15.45 B.

The pilot's mind was totally set on pleasing his friend and consequently none of the danger signals did enter the pilot's decision- making process. These danger signals were:
1. The late departure.
2. The time of sunset.
3. The approaching cold front.
4. The aircraft flew down to Robertson like a "bomb".
5. The aircraft stood almost still on the way home.
6. The ever changing looks of the weather picture ahead.

When the pilot in the end landed, in almost total darkness, at approximately 19.00 B, ZS-JDN and all on board had crept through the eye of a needle. We can all be grateful for the fact that thanks to the fact that the pilot's time was not yet up it was a very large needle with a very big eye.

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Committee report back --> The committee

Several months have now passed since the "Effective Date" of the amalgamation of CTFC and CAC.

The first step in this long and arduous process was the decision to amalgamate. This went ahead despite misgivings by several people, which was quite understandable. Hopefully by now these misgivings have been addressed and we are now moving together as one entity with a common goal.

After having undertaken the amalgamation of both Clubs, the next step in the process was to ensure that the operation was running smoothly and efficiently from a financial point of view as well. To this end, several changes in staff occurred, including Frank and Kay moving on to greener pastures and Beverley Combrink taking over the roll of reception and admin. We are very pleased with her appointment as those who have met her will no doubt agree.

Hilda has taken an enormous amount of strain and she deserves a hell of a lot more credit for what she has put into the Club and continues to do so without complaint.

We are satisfied that, from an operational point of view, the Club is operating smoothly and proper and effective controls and fiscal policies are in place. Our finances are in the capable hands of Charles Dickinson and Craig Mockford and, if I may say so, we are pleased to report that the Club is financially strong.

CFI

As you may know, our CFI, Pieter Wesselman has been in the crease since Rod's passing pending our engaging a suitable CFI. We have now appointed J P Rossouw as CFI who started on 1 December 2006. JP is well known to both CAC and GHFC members. Fortunately for us, Pieter will continue instructing at the Club and as the most senior instructor, will give guidance and advice to Members, Instructors and the Committee. JP has already made his mark with the instructors and with internal arrangements from an administration point of view. If members have any queries regarding training, renewals, conversions etc, please do not hesitate to contact JP at the Club.

Maintenance

Several months ago Herman Mankhe, our Maintenance Officer left the Club to further his prospects. The Committee decided to give Oom Syd De La Harp an opportunity to be the Maintenance Officer of the Club. Unfortunately, as committed as Oom Syd is in everything that he does, the task proved to be too much for him and consequently he has stepped down from this position. Naturally Syd will assist and advise the Club where necessary with his vast experience and long association with the Club. Hopefully this will continue for many years to come.

The question of aircraft maintenance is obviously upper most in the minds of the Committee and consequently Pieter has engaged a young Comm Graduate of 43 Air-School (not his fault that he chose the wrong training centre) who will perform the roll as Maintenance Officer. Carl is also doing his Instructor's Rating at CTFC and we welcome him to the Club. Carl has met with the Committee Alexia and we look forward to restful nights knowing that our aircraft are being cared for.

Our Aircraft - Where to from now?

Now that the operation of the Club is settling down, the Committee has turned it's attention to our fleet of aircraft. The Committee has given a mandate to Dale Humby of One-over-Zero to investigate, consider and report on our Club's aircraft and future planning of our Training and Hire & Fly Aircraft. In due course Dale will be producing a questionnaire which will be sent on-line to all Club Members and Instructors for their input and participation in the research. There will be more about this in due course.

With the Club up and running as it now is, next year the aircraft will be tackled as a priority in particular the condition of our existing aircraft. When you sit inside a Tomahawk you will immediately come to the conclusion that it is a candidate for an extreme makeover. Refurbishment has become a priority. Flying training has become very competitive and it is imperative that all our training aircraft make a good impression.

The Committee

Until recently, the Committee met every two weeks in order to deal with the amalgamation so as to ensure a smooth transition and to solve as many problems as and when they arose. Thankfully, we no longer have to meet this often and we now get together about once every three weeks on a Monday evening at the Club. The Committee members are in regular contact with each other telephonically and by e-mail and we try and deal with matters as quickly as possible as and when they arise without having to wait until the next Committee meeting.

The CFI, Maintenance Officer, Beverley and Hilda all attend the Committee meetings to report on flight training, maintenance and administration respectively so that your Committee is in touch with exactly what is going on.

It is also the policy of the Committee to meet all new members prior to the commencement of the meeting.

We have also met with the Instructors individually so as to give each and every instructor an opportunity to speak freely about any matter of concern that they may have either individually or collectively. We will continue this interaction.

From the very outset this Committee made it clear that we would operate the affairs of the Club transparently and accordingly members are invited to contact any Committee member should they have any concerns or, if they wish, arrangements may be made for the respective member to attend a Committee meeting and address the whole Committee.

It appears that the present Committee will hold office until some time in the third quarter of next year when the AGM will be held. The Committee will step down and a new Committee will be elected.

We are hoping that the Committee will deliver a stunning report to our members and that we will be able to hand over a strong and vibrant flying club to the next Committee.

Club House

You would have noticed that a lot has been done to our Club House, including the placing of the wendy house on the eastern side. Due to the significant increase in new membership we do not have enough briefing rooms. We have purchased another windy house which will be installed shortly. The wendy house structures are economical and can be on-sold if necessary. As members are aware, we have plans and ideas to renovate the Club House significantly and hopefully to, one day, construct a hanger for our aircraft. Naturally this will only be done if finances permit and in consultation with members.

Members will also be aware of the fact that there have been ongoing rumours and discussions concerning moving to Ysterplaat. It appears that next year Ysterplaat will start developing a new Civil Aviation Site which will be on the other side of the runway adjacent to Century City. The Committee is not yet aware of all the details but naturally, we will keep our ear to the ground. If this does work out then at least we will have a place that we can finally call home, notwithstanding the fact that we still have secure accommodation for several years to come where we are presently located. I am advised by Pieter that when this issue was investigated some time ago it appeared that there would be several restrictions placed on the field such as not allowing circuit training and no operations at all after 16h30. Although Pieter points out that there are positives there are also very serious negatives that must be considered. We will report on these issues in due course. As they say - watch this space.

On behalf of the Committee and Trustees, we wish all our members, instructors and staff a wonderful and safe festive season. Instead of buying Christmas gifts or taking the kids on holiday, members are encouraged to spoil themselves by doing a couple cross-countries, circuits or a few hours of instruction (we know that's what you would rather be doing).



If the Wright brothers were alive today, Wilbur would have to fire Orville to reduce costs.
- Herb Kelleher, South West Airlines, 8 June 1994


Any Committee that is the slightest use is composed of people who are too busy to want to sit on it for a second longer than they have to.
- Katharine Whitehorn
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Aerobatics at FAWC 20/21 January --> Dale Humby (pitcure Frans Dely)

The Aerobatic Club of South Africa will be hosting an aerobatic contest at Worcester (FAWC) on 20 and 21 January 2007. All interested pilots, family and friends are welcome to join us for the Saturday and Sunday competition to learn about and watch this exciting aviation sport. There will be music, commentary, braai’s and the bar will be open all day. Accommodation can be arranged at or close to the airfield.

Aerobatic aircraft will be operating between ground level and 4000 ft AGL between the main runway and the river to the west of the field all day from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st Jan. Pilots wishing to fly in to FAWC should join on the base leg or final approach and NOT overhead the airfield. Broadcast on 124.8 during approach and landing. Always keep a good lookout. A safety briefing will be held at 0930B at the FAWC flying school on Saturday and Sunday morning, and all pilots operating out of FAWC on those days are encouraged to be at the briefings.

Dale Humby (083 474 5988) can be contacted for further details.

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Sean's adventures --> S O'Connor

Lanseria – Windhoek Eros – Ondangwa – Luanda - Libreville

After taking more than a month to install the survey equipment in our Grand
Caravan, we (Wiehan vd Merwe and me) were finally on our way. We took off from
FALA at 5pm local time on a 4 hr leg to FYWE. We had to land before 9pm or pay
a R7500 landing fee! The route over the Hartebeespoort Dam, Gaberone, reporting
point UTRIS (hehe) was uneventful. We flew into a beautiful sunset over the
Kalahari, descended from FL120 and overflew Windhoek International at FL100 for
a visual landing at Eros; touchdown time – 0859 local. Eros is in the middle of
the city, so we strolled the 200m to the Safari Hotel, got a lift to Nando’s
with some Air Namibia pilots for something and then returned to the hotel for
an early night.

Our Van at Eros, clearly showing the wingtip survey pods.


Etosha Pan




We tried a cool FL140 for a bit en route to Ondangwa, but settled for the more
favourable winds at FL120. The Etosha Pan was a blindingly spectacular sight –
we didn’t spot any game though. I never visited Ondangwa with 7SAI in the 80’s,
but as we approached on final, I could easily imagine Flossies, Noddy cars,
browns, bowsers and other familiar equipment all over the dusty airfield.

Ondangwa


Shortly after crossing the Angolan border, the weather and terrain started
looking sub-tropical; lots of water on the ground, lush low vegetation and
rapidly building Cb’s for us to dodge. My first glimpse of The Atlantic made me
very homesick and I longed to be carving my signature in those undiscovered
lines of crisp Angolan surf.

Wiehan keeping busy on a long leg.


Luanda is incredible – a huge city, with a very busy airport – much larger that
FACT and far busier. No GA traffic at all – we were the smallest aircraft on
the apron when we landed. The airport has an industrial atmosphere; non-stop
fuelling with multiple bowsers and probably more monster Russian aircraft than
Western.

A couple of the smaller Russian beasts on the apron in Luanda




Luanda


The monster Cb’s visible in fading light of dusk and the mainly yellow and red
returns on the radar told the story of what we were to expect for the leg to
Libreville. We were used to the long radio silences, with the occasional
airliner reporting at FL350 or so, Atlanta to FAJS or similar. At FL120, we
started picking up a bit of ice and unable to contact Pointe Noire on HF, had
to descend to a bumpy FL100.

At one point we watched two solid red cells ahead of us, one a bit left and one
a bit right of our track. At about 15 miles, the 2 cells started merging; first
the green returns only, at ten miles the yellow merged and the reds were moving
together rapidly. At this point there were cells and lightning all around us,
but it seemed relatively clear ahead, but only beyond the merging monster ahead
of us. We chose to go straight ahead. We tightened our 5 point harnesses,
stowed all the loose objects and shone some light on the wings to check for ice. As we
flew into the deafening solid wall of a tropical downpour, the 2 reds joined at
our position, we set power, igniters on, inertial separator open and were
standing by for the thumping of a lifetime. A few moderate thumps and moments
later, we punched through the other side! Dry, quiet and with the odd glimpse
of a starry sky and the solid undercast below us.

The rest of the flight to Libreville, which is pretty much on the equator, was
uneventful in comparison. We were welcomed on the apron by one of the 2
Afrikaans engineers based in Gabon. They invited us to their apartment if we
weren’t allergic to whiskey! They have a Gabonese protégé, called Innocent, who
learnt to speak a few words of English from them. He greeted with, “Bonjour
Sean, eet ees fokken hot for you? The fokken plane, she fly goot?”
=================
General

Wanted
Used Garmin III Pilot GPS. If you are willing to sell, please contact Krassimire Entchev ( 082 415 9739)

=================
Out and about

F1 Rocket - Michelle Joffe

Not to brag, but this is the awesome little aerie that I had the privilege of flying in! It’s an F1 Rocket, which I am advised is a derivative of the nippy RV. We cruised at about 220 knots, 50 feet (or less) over the sea. What a babe!.....The aircraft I mean! ;-) Poor guy was refueling her, little did he expect me to come along and demand a flip!



Sunset in KBK - G Pinnock






=================
Humour

Latest from the airwaves --> FACT ATC's

ZS-APC - Cape Town Approach APC
App - APC APP goodday
APC - APC airborne FAFK requesting climb to 6500'as I have a mountain to
overcome!!
(I'm glad my problems aren't that big!!)

GND - KFV give way to the PC12 taxing inbound on Hotel, than taxi to the
holding point on hotel
KFV - ok, we'll give way to the aircraft coming thru!

GND - PMY, taxy charlie to your gate
PMY - Uuuhh....charlie to our gate?
GND - PMY, apologies, your gate's taken! Hotel to the hangers it is

=================