CTFC Enews 20 January 07
==========================
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!
==========================
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!
==========================
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.
=================
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!)
=================
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
=================
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
=================
Humour
Running out of runway --> Rafi Weiner
Members should avoid indulging in large meals before taking off in a tomahawk.
=================
==========================
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!
==========================
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!
==========================
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.
=================
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!)
=================
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
=================
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
=================
Humour
Running out of runway --> Rafi Weiner
Members should avoid indulging in large meals before taking off in a tomahawk.
=================
posted by Cape Town Flying Club at 10:07 PM
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