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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.
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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?”
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General
Wanted
Used Garmin III Pilot GPS. If you are willing to sell, please contact Krassimire Entchev ( 082 415 9739)
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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
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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
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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
=================
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!
=================
Dates to diarise
20/21 Jan - Aerobatics at FAWC
=================
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.
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.
=================
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
=================
posted by Cape Town Flying Club at 10:14 PM
1 Comments:
Cape town such a wonderful city, what a great experience. There is so much to do in Cape Town in is the prefect place for a holiday. One of the places you should start looking is www.cometocapetown.com they have a wide variety of information and ideas for you.
camps bay accommodationsays:
“Interesting post, we shall be following your blog more closely in future! Best Wishes from Cape Town ”
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