Fun Rally At Virginia

[AndyG]

Hey all you excited aviators / trixes,
What an amazing event we held in Brits last weekend. Fantastic weather, awesome crews, great route……In total, between the Fun Rallyists and the Precision Pilots, we had 32 Aircraft with about 60 crew members take part.
What is so fantastically encouraging is to see the progress that some teams have made since their first attempt at Nav Rallies back in Sept last year. The improvement is highly visible and very rewarding. Isn’t it a nice feeling to know that should your GPS “pass away” in mid flight, you will be able to pick up a map, recognize something on the ground, and navigate comfortably to your destination?
So, we are definitely on the right “track” (no pun intended) as far as navigational skills are concerned, but ALAS………we need to pay attention to those landings! Phew guys, no names mentioned, but we ran an impromptu Spot Landing Competition after the Rally in Brits and OH MY WORD, do we need some practice??? You bet! The competition required the a/c to land in an 80m long landing box. Of the 17 landings, only 3 managed to make the box, and then only just!!!! What this translates to is simply that if those 17 pilots had found themselves in a situation where they had to put down in a short field, only 3 might have walked away…..SCARY THOUGHT GUYS.
So now we know that we need to give some focus to landing practice and run a full day workshop on landing techniques with practical applications. Watch this space and your emails to find out when and where this will be held.
OK – NOW PLEASE FOCUS ON THE FUN RALLY AT VIRGINIA ON THE WEEKEND 27-29 MARCH 2009.
The Durban Wings Club have graciously opened up their facilities to all participating in the Fun Rally, not just for the day, but for the whole weekend. So for all you “out of towners”, make a plan to get to Durbs on Friday 27th March, and leave on Sunday 29th March.
Here is the proposed Agenda for the weekend:

a. Friday : 18H00 Registration
b. Friday : 19H00 Briefing and Map Preparation
c. Friday : 20H00 Welcome Braai at pool
d. Sat : 07H00 Breakfast
e. Sat : 08H00 Final Briefing
f. Sat : 09H00 First Take Off
g. Sat : 15H00 Spot Landings
h. Sat : 17H00 Prize Giving
i. Sat : 18H00 Braai at Pool
j. Sun : Depart

You can either bring your own aircraft or fly in scareways and hire from one of the schools on the airfield. Just make sure that you book in time and allow for all the necessary validation procedures.
Please contact us should you need help with accommodation for the weekend.
Please go online to http://www.sapfa.org.za/fun_main.php to find the ENTRY FORM in the top left hand corner. Please fill this in asap and return it by email to frank.eckard@mweb.co.za (He hates getting hard copy faxes cause they still need to be captured…)
To find out more about the Rules and What to Expect, please visit the same site and get all the info from the bottom of the page.
Please get your entry in asap so that we can make all necessary arrangements in good time.
Thanks and see you in Durban on the 27th March

Mary de Klerk
0848809000

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