CTFC Enews 20 Feb
==========================

Solo and wings on the 23rd February
Booking sheet chaos
FASX Fly in 2-4 March
New requirements for IFR alternates
Aircraft accidents and incidents
In the news
---New name for Cape Town International
---Why we avoid thunderstorms
A picture of the "new" KKC

Humour
==========================
Dates to diarise

23 February: Solo and Wings party at the club
2-4 March: FASX Fly in
==========================

Solo and Wings on Friday 23rd February

Don't forget about the solo and wings party at the club on the 23rd!

All new soloists are requested to wear a tie (failing that, please wash certain other garments...)

Vossie will have the fires burning from 18:00, and obviously food will be available. Come meet and congratulate our achievers!

=================
Booking sheet chaos --> P Wesselman

Many members will agree with me that all is not well with our booking sheets. Bookings are incorrectly made or are made with the wrong instructor or some simply disappear.

This is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs and is one of the causes of increased member dissatisfaction.

What is the cause?

Mainly, too many people, with inadequate knowledge of the legal and club requirements concerning the reason why the booking is made in the first place, take down these bookings. This is one of the areas in the club where too many hands do not make light work but create chaos and dissatisfaction.
The reception at times can be extremely busy and unfortunately even Beverly can only handle one call at the time. Willing helping hands in such a case answer the other ringing phone and take down the booking when that is why the caller called. Why is this bad. Well here are a few examples.

* The caller is not a member of the club. No deposit is taken and no details of the caller are taken down as a result we are unable to call the caller to set matters straight.
* The caller is booked with an instructor who as a result of existing legislation or as a result of the requirements according to the club's Manual of Procedure cannot be of service to the caller. We usually find this out when he shows his face.
* Inadequate time is booked in order to do what the caller intends doing. The result is that the club ends up losing the utilization and the instructor the time.
* Callers receiving incorrect answers to their questions.

It should be abundantly clear that both club and instructors are the losers in this sorry state of affairs. What needs to be done to improve the situation.

* Bookings have to be left to Beverly, Hilda and the instructors.
* If a member would like to assist then answer the phone when it is ringing but take down the callers details and pass them on to Beverly so that she can attend to the callers need as soon as possible.

Everybody's assistance will be very much appreciated.

=================
FASX Fly in 2 - 4 March

Swellendam, the 3rd oldest town in SA, lies at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains. Your are all invited to join the Swellengrebel Flying Club's annual Fly-In.

Camping, >70 B&B's or Hotel accommodation. Ablution facilities, braai facilities, bar service and meals available.

Elevation: 407ft; Radio Freq 124.8 Mhz;
Runways: 15/33 1000m Tarmac (Lit) 06/24 600m grass;
GPS: 34°03.00S 20°29.00E

Contacts:
Colin Langridge: 082 552 4126
Gustav Tomlinson: 082 788 1213
Donald Buxton: 082 552 4126
Bontebok Tours (B&B, Accomm): 028 514 3650
Clubhouse: 028 514 1000

=================
Requirements for IRF alternates affect feasibility of GA flights --> AWSA newsletter

Subsequent to the promulgation of the 24th amendment of the CARS, the
monitors of AWSA have received various communiqués detailing concern with
regards to section 91.06.34 (3) which states’ “(3) No pilot-in-command of
an aircraft may nominate an aerodrome as an alternate aerodrome unless
there is a procedure for an instrument approach authorised by the
Commissioner, and the aircraft complies with the requirements for
Regulation 91.06.25, and there is reasonable certainty that the
requirements for flights conducted under IMC authorised by the Commissioner
will be complied with. ".

This regulation could effectively rule out legal IFR for GA flights to the
more remote areas of the RSA due to the limited range of light aircraft.

See page 16 of Gazette 29511 dated 28 December 2006 found at :

http://awsa.co.za/docs/gg29511_nn1317a.pdf

and

http://awsa.co.za/docs/gg29511_nn1317b.pdf

=================
Aircraft Incidents & Accidents 5/20: Famous people – Golfer Payne Stewart --> Danny Buitendag

On 25 October 1999, a Learjet 35 crashed near Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA. The aeroplane departed Orlando, Florida, for Dallas, Texas. Radio contact with the flight was lost north of Gainesville, Florida, after air traffic control cleared the aeroplane to FL390.

The flight crew's last communication with ATC was when the first officer acknowledged an ATC clearance to flight level FL390 and the aeroplane was climbing through 23,200 feet. Her speech was normal, her phraseology was accurate and appropriate. The flight crew's failure to respond to repeated ATC radio inquiries beginning at 09h33 when the aeroplane was climbing through about 36,400 feet, was the first indication of a problem on board the accident flight. As the flight continued, it deviated from its assigned course and failed to level at its assigned altitude (FL 390). There was no evidence that the flight crew attempted to intervene over the next 4 hours, as the aeroplane continued to fly off course, ascending to 48,900 feet, and finally descended to impact. These events indicate that the flight crewmembers became incapacitated at some point. Several U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard aircraft intercepted the jet as it proceeded northwest. They reported during the final stages of the flight that the aeroplane was descending and doing multiple aileron rolls in a severe descent.

The continuous sounding of the cabin altitude aural warning during the final 30 minutes of cruise flight indicates that the aeroplane and its occupants experienced a loss of cabin pressurization some time earlier in the flight. If the pilots had received supplemental oxygen from the emergency oxygen system, they likely would have properly responded to the depressurization by descending the airplane to a safe altitude. It appears that the partial pressure of oxygen in the cabin after the depressurization was insufficient for the flight crew to maintain consciousness and that the flight crewmembers did not receive any, or adequate, supplemental oxygen.

The military pilots who observed the accident airplane in flight before its final descent reported that the accident airplane's windshield was obscured by condensation or frost. Condensation or frost would be consistent with a loss of bleed air supply to the cabin. When bleed air is supplied to the cabin, the cockpit windshield receives a constant flow of warm air that prevents or removes condensation, regardless of the ambient temperature or pressure in the cabin. Therefore, the accident airplane most likely did not have an inflow of bleed air to the cabin.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was incapacitation of the flight crew as a result of their failure to receive supplemental oxygen following a loss of cabin pressurization, for undetermined reasons.

=================
African skies 3 -->Schalk Burger

The clear empty sky. No boundries, no control…just freedom to do and play. Living like a continental king in 18th century Africa. Promiscuous good looking NGO women, parties every night, and an endless supply of Jetfuel to burn low level all the way there and back. Aah…the contract pilot’s life…not?

You are damn right not!

If that is the picture you might have of contract flying, think again…and think quick!

As I am writing this, I am sitting in a little room with a bare concrete floor, a creaky steel door and an opening leading to something that resembles a solitary confinement cell from an Alcatraz movie… in this case a washroom.

Not a bathroom… a washroom. This is a cold tiled room with a toilet, a basin and a drain hole in the middle of the floor, over which is suspended what once was a showerhead. The freezing desert air streams in through a gaping vent hole/window that I have now taped over with a large sheet of plastic and masking tape.

This is my room. I cannot call it a bedroom as I do not actually have a bed. I sleep on the floor on what once was a mattress, but now resembles something more in the line of a skateboard ramp. On this “bed”, I sleep at night under a tablecloth (mine has orange lines and pictures of pot plants printed on it!) that used to adorn my very badly nailed together DIY desk. You think I’m joking don’t you?

We have electricity…sometimes.

We warm our water in black 25lt water containers we leave in the sun every morning before flying, in order not to have to wash in the icy municipal water that drip from the tap. Cold water just does not seem to wash off the sticky dust and sand that covers EVERYTHING here in Chad.

There is absolutely nothing to keep you busy out here. The sun sets just after 6 and the town curfew is just after dark. We are in a war zone after all. After an early dinner (before the food made by a local lady who went home hours ago, gets too cold) there is nothing to do but write your memoirs, count mosquito’s or sleep. I have completed the only two 500 plus page novels I brought along and now I am half way through reading, page by page, Volume 2 of the Aviation Legislation in SA. Volume 1 is already a distant, yet happy memory.

The only saving grace we had this Christmas and New Years days were that we flew on both. Not flying here means the horror of having NOTHING to do for an entire day. Our crew rest days are spend hoping for some poor person in the field to get horribly ill or shot so we can fly a med-evac. Really really! Horrible I know, but it’s true!

Food…

The only way one can eat on contract is to never visit the local food markets. Food comes from the kitchen…that’s it. That is the line of logic you have to force your mind not to think past. Seeing the local street butchers grinding meat in dirty, rusty manual meat grinders, mounted on empty oil drums standing loosely in sandy yards next to shops, is not what gets to you. Forget the complete disregard of even basic hygiene like washing you hands…what gets to you is the smell. The smell and what the smell attracts…flies… Go to the market if you seriously want turn vegetarian. You are guaranteed to lose weight on contract from the periodic bouts of diarrhea you are bound to get a few times per tour. Imodium is about as mandatory in your flight bag as those dead battery holders CAA require we carry for flying at night. Imodium and a roll or two of white gold…never leave the ground without it.

Now, I’m not claiming that all contract locations are like this, but this has been the reality of my tours. My previous contract tour was in South Sudan where we had 24hour wireless internet access in our rooms, double beds and much more to do. Unfortunately with all that “luxury” came mosquito’s the size of homing pigeons, malaria, typhoid fever, people that spit on everything including each other and the ever present smell of human excrement in the air. Choose wisely young padawan!

Now, if we could have those nice comfortable beds and ANY internet access here in Chad, it could almost be called nice out here!

The most important and vital thing you can have on contract with you, is your crew. The three of you become family, the only evidence of the real world back home you left behind. You spend literally every waking hour of the day with these people and not getting along is simply not a consideration. Personalities, backgrounds and ethnicity become mere adjectives. The other 2 guys are my family, sharing my life and experiences out here. Not that it matters in the least, but I am the Afrikanertjie, my two brothers are English and Pedi…and combined we laugh constantly… mostly at the French.

Bonds forged on contract stay bound for a long time to come and with an industry as small as ours, you are virtually guaranteed to run into an old tour captain, co-pilot or engineer again in future. I have been blessed with the people I have had the honor to share teams with thus far, and I hope to keep contact with them all. Most of the pilots I’ve flown with will to go far beyond me, in part because of age, onto the highest levels in airlines all around the world, and deservedly so.

I really believe that anyone who comes out here to do this work, living and dealing with the challenges encountered daily, deserves to get a break when deciding to leave contracts for a more regular position back home. Maybe I am biased because I too do it, but maybe it’s just because I know that through all of the fun, games and diarrhea to be had, contract flying is paying your dues through really hard and often personally sacrificing work.

We all have people we love, and who…through some miracle of nature… manage to love us back even though they hardly see us (maybe because they hardly see us). Being away for extended periods of time in order to try build a flying career is not easy on any relationship. Not even a little bit. Some, like me, are lucky to have people we love back home who try to understand and who form our support base. However, if this is the life you want to live for a long time, do any potential partner a favor and rather stay single.

To sum up, contract flying is an adventure to be had and experience to be lived all the while getting a tough job done.

Just remember one thing though…one golden piece of advice that will keep you not only sane, but alive out on contract…
All food comes from the kitchen!

Bon appetite and Au revoir!

Last week’s question.

Abeche Christmas!

Traffic!

The blue rooms!

This is the toilet in my Hotel room in N’djemea. Yes…you PAY to have no seat!

The company Twin Otter when we were both at Guereda. Awesome machine!

The modes of transport in Chad parked next to each other.

The sandstorms make for the most spectacular sunsets.

=================
In the news

1) Cape airport name change proposed --> page 1 of Cape Argus on February 16, 2007

By Philda Essop, Political Writer

Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool has proposed that Cape Town International Airport be renamed after the late trade unionist and liberation fighter, James "Jimmy" La Guma.

The plan will form part of a broader campaign over the next few months in a bid to ensure that the heroes and heroines "of every community, culture and group" are honoured in public spaces.

Rasool made the statement on Wednesday in his State of the Province address at the opening of the legislature, where he also announced a R1-billion anti-crime initiative and a R1.2bn boost for housing in the Western Cape.

La Guma was a founder member and president of the SA Coloured People's Congress. He died, aged 67, in 1961.

Indicating that other key sites would also be renamed, Rasool said: "We submit this proposal in humility to kickstart a necessary public engagement that will hopefully take us closer to the common values that bind us together as the people of the Cape and South Africa."

He said that 12 years into democracy, "there was hardly a single street of significance that reflects the architects of our freedom".

"In fact, we still live with the daily humiliation of native yards and boulevards named after those who gave us slavery, colonialism, religious bigotry and apartheid.

"Surely enough time has passed to embark on a wide-ranging debate … to find consensus on how to honour and memorialise the architects of freedom and democracy.

"When will we allow our children to engage with the legacies of patriots such as Basil February, Steve Biko, Adam Kok, Chief Albert Luthuli, Imam Haroon, Sir Richard Luyt, Molly Blackburn, Hilda Bernstein, Alex La Guma, Gaby Shapiro, Looksmart Ngundle, Christmas Tinto, Autshumao, Sarah Baartman, Dullah Omar and others?"

To stimulate debate, Rasool said streets in the province had been lined with posters of freedom fighters. "We are fortunate that in the DA's eagerness to embrace Taliep Petersen by renaming Keizersgracht after him, they have opened the door to a renaming process … we thought they were implacably against."

Rasool's proposal follows the renaming of Johannesburg International Airport after former ANC leader O R Tambo.

La Guma was born in Bloemfontein in 1894, and spent most of his life in Cape Town, where he worked in the textile industry.

He joined the Communist Party in 1924 and also served as a secretary of the ANC in the Western Cape. He was also a founder of the National Liberation League.

His son, the novelist Alex La Guma, who was a high treason trialist in 1956, died in 1985.

--------------------------
2) Why we avoid thunderstorms

German paraglider tells of surviving Australian storm that killed Chinese pilot --> ROD McGUIRK (The Associated Press)

CANBERRA, Australia -- A champion German paraglider said Friday she did not believe she would survive when she was lifted higher than Mount Everest by a thunderstorm in eastern Australia.

Paragliding 2005 World Cup winner Ewa Wisnierska, 35, was lifted to 32,612 feet by a storm that apparently killed a Chinese paraglider in eastern Australia on Wednesday. The pilots were preparing for the 10th FAI World Paragliding Championships next week, event organizer Godfrey Wenness said.

He Zhongpin, 42, died during the same weather system, apparently from a lack of oxygen and extreme cold, Wenness said. His body was found 47 miles from his launch site.

Wisnierska described Friday how she attempted to skirt the thunderstorm and when that failed, repeatedly attempted to spiral against its powerful lift.

She said she could see lightning around her and decided her chances of survival were "almost zero."

She said she radioed her team leader at 13,123 feet.

"I said, 'I can't do anything,"' she told reporters at a news conference. "'It's raining and hailing and I'm still climbing -- I'm lost."'

Officials and Wisnierska's ground team used global positioning and radio equipment to track her altitude as she soared well beyond the 29,000-foot plus height of Everest, the world's tallest peak. Wenness said she went from 2,500 feet to the maximum in about 15 minutes.

She lost consciousness for more than 30 minutes while her glider flew on uncontrolled, sinking and lifting several times, he said.

She regained consciousness at about 1,640 feet and landed safely, but had ice in her lightweight flying suit and frost bite on her face.
advertising

She recalled feeling like an astronaut returning from the moon as her landing approached. "I could see the Earth coming -- wow, like Apollo 13 -- I can see the Earth," she said.

Wenness praised her ability to regain her senses and strength to land.

"It's like winning Lotto 10 times in a row -- the odds of her surviving were that long," Wenness said.

A paraglider is a type of hang-glider but the pilot's harness is attached to a modified parachute that can be steered rather than to a hang-glider's wing-like canopy.

Picture By: Bjørn Skarpås

ED: The image above is from the flying that day, taken from another paraglider. More images (and reports from those involved) can be found at http://ozreport.com/blog.php#2007-2-19_8:01:58pm_PST

=================
The "new" KKC (picture by Schalk Burger)

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

Things you don't want to hear over the airplane PA

1) I'm sure everyone noticed the loss of an engine, however the reduction in weight and drag will mean we'll be flying much more efficiently now.

2) Our loss of altitude allows a unique close up perspective of the local terrain. I assure you that it's all part of our airline's new commitment to make your a flight a sight seeing extravaganza

3) Ummmmmm....Sorry......(silence)

4) It would be a good idea if right now everyone closed their shades and watched the in-flight movie

5) Hey folks, we're going to play a little game of geography trivia. If you can recognize where we are, tell your flight attendant and receive an extra pack of peanuts

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