Krautkoerant
	April 2000

No 2000-02

THE NEWS COLUMN

Peter Wooley

Now that the big meeting is over, we can relax and leave most of the work to the new committee and get on with some serious flying. But by careful observation, I can't help thinking that if one was to put a CGC member on a spit over a fire, there would be no shortage of other CGC members to turn the handle, especially if the one on the spit happened to be a committee member. If we are going to move forward, we will have to leave off the hatchet attempts and give the new committee all the support they need during the rather difficult period which presently faces the club.

Thanks to all those who completed the Krautkoerant questionnaire, it helps to know what you want. Examples of suggestions are: glider utilisation stats, maintenance matters, articles relevant to students, photos and cartoons, more in-depth flying panel reports, personal gliding experiences and fun flights, experiences of visiting pilots, technical soaring articles and personal aviation success stories.

The students must PLEASE remember also that much priceless knowledge can be gleaned from other more experienced pilots, on the flight line and even aroung the bar. NEVER be afraid to ask what may seem to you stupid questions, or to show your ignorance. There will always be somebody only too willing to explain things to you, and none of the instructors have all the answers. Keep you ears open and talk to as many experienced pilots as you can.

I must also say that I was utterly surprised and somewhat warmed by the recent Pilots' Award. I never ever thought that I might one day get that one - perhaps I have a few more friends than I thought!

In the interim, who's done what? Well, as far as real soaring is concerned, not much distance has been covered since Christmas, barring some self-launcher flights. But it's congratulations to Paul Baines who has finally completed his Silver Duration five hour flight. Well done!

A warm welcome is extended to the members who have joined since the last newsletter, Fraser Alexander and Jon Jaaback - we hope that you are enjoying your training and that you are going to participate at Worcester regularly. Welcome back also father and son team, Maurice and Ari Cotton, who have returned to gliding after a long break.

Members are asked to spare a thought for that evergreen gliding personality and man of letters, Klaus "Sammy" Samson. Sammy suffered a stroke recently and has been recovering in the Panorama clinic. We hope that he regains his faculties sufficiently to continue flying at Worcester.

Those that were involved will be pleased to hear that Craig Hawtrey is recovering well from the multiple injuries he received while coming to earth rather suddenly in GTO a while back. At the time of writing (21/3) he is still in hospital, but there's a letter from him further on describing how things are.

If anyone was wondering why Alan and Kathryn O'Regan have been so scarce at Worcester, you can blame it all on Benjamin O'Regan. Congratulations!

Fleet news is that now we have trashed GTO, pressure is mounting to get GHB in the air once more. Fabric covering alone has cost in the region of R17000.00, and a vast amount of members' labour will still be needed. This is a chance to get in there and do your bit, so if you can assist, please contact Andrew Lightfoot right now.

Many of you will have attended the absolutely stunning Stellenbosch Air Show, where Sandy Hultberg amazed the audience with his elegant demonstrations of silent flight in ZS-GRW. What many of you don’t know is that the ferry flights by the tug between Worcester and Stellenbosch were sponsored by our maintenance organisation, Stellair. We are therefore very grateful for their generous support towards publicising gliding at the air show. Thank you Stellair!

Those that read of a Pawnee that crashed at Fisantekraal while doing a banner pick-up in December should know that it was not our old stand in tug ZS-FBB, but ZS-EYH. Sadly the pilot lost his life in the crash. And yet another more recent report involves a winch launching accident on 19/3, which claimed the life of an Olympia pilot at the Bloemfontein club. Unfortunately all this does little to project an attractive and safe image of recreational aviation in the eyes of the public.

The recent death of that devoted aviation enthusiast and CGC member, young Michiel de Kock, is also the kind of news we don't like to hear.

In a recent Krautkoerant you were warned about the prowlings of light-fingered individuals around our airfield, but now there's more, though fortunately not at Worcester. Leonie Ellis of Howick Gliding Club in Natal was shocked recently when she discovered that the complete instrument panel as well as the oxygen system of her beloved K8 had been removed from the aircraft by persons unknown. Nothing was broken or forced, all items carefully removed. Be careful and check that any second hand glider instruments or oxygen equipment you may be offered is not stolen! If you do notice any strange deals going down, please contact Leonie (via Mike Pascoe).

The long awaited book by Mike Pascoe, entitled "The Cape Gliding Club – The First Fifty Years", is now available. This illustrated definitive club history promises to be fascinating reading, as it includes all the personalities, aircraft, anecdotes, triumphs and tragedies of our own club's convoluted gliding past, right up to the present time. These professionally produced books can be obtained on a cash-with-order basis from Mike for R125.00 (plus R10.00 for local postage, if necessary). You can contact Mike at 531 1952 (home) or pascoe@uctgsh2.uct.ac.za. Alternatively visit him at 18, New Way, Pinelands.

The only down side of all this is that you can now forget about reading more "historic times" in the Krautkoerant, as most stories have already been covered in the book.

Talking of "historic times" one of the "delights" of being newsletter editor is hearing from interesting people with obscure facts from the irrelevant past. I recently had a call from Dieter Rooseboom, an engineer with a local firm of consultants. Dieter's uncle, Hans Rooseboom, flew at the club prior to WW2 in the days of Club Captain Heinie von Michaelis, the "skaedelspalters" and the Minimoa (did you read Helmut Morsbach’s article on what happened to that aircraft in the April ‘99 Krautkoerant?) Hans Rooseboom must have been one of the pioneer flyers in the standing wave, behind Table Mountain. During his first wave flight he covered quite a distance going backwards (we think nothing of negative ground speed now) and due to ignorance or inexperience, he was too scared to turn downwind or even to simply put the nose down. I guess he eventually fell out the back end of the wave, but at the time this particular flight was reported in a German gliding magazine under the title "The Backward Flyer". This came to the notice of the famous glider pilot Ernst Udet, owner of the famous gliding academy, resulting in Hans being invited to Germany to address glider pilots on the phenomenon of what we now know as "Betty’s Wave".

Then I had a call from a lady whose erstwhile boyfriend, Clive Lentin, was a tug pilot back in the 1950's. She had the misfortune one day of making a careless exit from his plane at Youngsfield, getting a few of her fingers sliced off by the propeller in the process. The prop also removed her scalp, but that part was later re-attached (not the fingers though). Shows that you can't be too careful in the proximity of revolving propellers!

And now for the food (not a finger lunch, mind you!). Thanks to Nanja, lunch time snacks and soft drinks will be provided at the launch point. Please support her in this venture - more details follow in the Club Business Section.

Aspirant journalists please read the advertisement on page 10 for the post of Editor. As we are a democratic organisation, any member deserves to have a crack at this position instead of one person hogging it all the time.

And for the bright sparks: There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are...

THE OLD AND BOLD DAYS OF "BRAKELESS BETTY" FKBBRRV

Helmut Morsbach (active Club member 1952-1964)

The last edition of our Krautkoerant featured Dave Starke's musings (quoted in Andre's article) about the advisability of getting a RRV (Runway Retrieve Vehicle) to improve Club morale and efficiency. This reminded me of RRV MARK I some forty-five years ago, when the Gliding Club (in those days still called "Heinie's Little Boys" by the Johannesburg crowd, or "Bloody Luftwaffe" by those members who had left the Club in anger due to Onkel Heinie) did indeed possess a wonderful RRV. It's full name should really be "FKBBRRV", viz. FISANTEKRAAL BRAKELESS BETTY RUNWAY RETRIEVE VEHICLE!

At Fisantekraal (still spelled "Phesantekraal" in those days), miles and miles of concrete stretched before our eyes as we were towed into the air by Heinie's black Dodge with Giso as the keen and experienced driver. While two-seaters had been invented, our very own Goevier did not appear at Fisante for quite a few years, so all our training was in single-seater gliders, with Club Captain Heinie having to shout his instructions from the ground below.

We were strapped into the extremely open A-frame-with-wings called "Schaedelspalter" (i.e. "skull splitter") Grunau IX, or the open-cockpit Cadet. At first we were pulled up in such a way that we could not climb very high and just flew straight ahead, often landing at the very end of the runway. Glider retrieval by human muscle power was admittedly good exercise, but very slow, and just as unpopular in the heat and cold as it seems to be to this very day on Worcester airfield.

One day, club member Hennie Brink remembered that an old "International Harvester" bakkie was languishing on his nearby Durbanville farm with its decidedly rusty engine (due to an absent engine cover), flat worn-through tyres, broken windscreen, lack of battery, etc. However, due to the combined genius of several dedicated club members it was brought back to life, choking and coughing, but finally running around Fisantekraal airfield. Apart from many other deficiencies (of which more anon) it had NO BRAKES. However, this was no deterrent to those bold glider pilots who, in those days, regarded brakeless gliders and brakeless Tiger Moth tow planes as something entirely natural - in any case there was no alternative!

First of all, we painted the bakkie in gaudy colours so that, when on the move, great St. Catherine's wheels seemed to shoot out from each revolving wheel, masking the atrocious state of its tyres. At least the windscreen wiper arms were able to wend their way slowly across the cracked windshield, though the wiper blades had long since departed.

This proud addition to our scanty possessions was almost immediately christened "BRAKELESS BETTY" after our popular club member Betty Rowell who had stopped at nothing to make an illegal parachute jump from a Harvard on met duty high over Table Mountain.

The bakkie was easy to push-start with the determined force of a few members. Many a budding glider pilot (including myself) learned how to drive it in its brakeless state, although some of us (again including myself at the age of fifteen) were decidedly under age for a driver's licence valid on regular roads. However, since all this was happening within the strict confines of the "Republic of Fisantekraal", different laws (including "Heinie's Law", which included the "Law of the First Night") naturally applied. By the way, although we were legally too young to drive cars, nothing in the country's laws said that we could not fly gliders...

While starting up and running "Brakeless Betty" was easy, stopping her was decidedly not. After cruising down the tarmac at up to sixty kilos per hour or more, the end of the runway would come into view through the cracked windscreen, requiring an astute shift from third to second gear, followed quickly by a gearbox-crunching shift from second to non-synchromesh first. However, this only slowed her down. To actually stop "BB", we ultimately had to jump out of the driver's cabin onto the concrete runway and hold her back with all our might.

This seeming unstoppability did not prevent us one memorable day from travelling with "BB" all the way from the "Kraal" to far-away Durbanville and back on an extremely public road to fetch some petrol drums. Not only were we driving without brakes, but the tyres were so badly worn that their inner tubes ballooned out of large holes in among the non-existent tread in many places. Thank heaven that the windscreen wipers (sans blades) were still crawling across the cracked windscreen with a tiny bit of tubing attached, since it was raining hard that day, which must have kept the local traffic cop in hiding with Ma and Pa Plaza during our epic journey.

One day some club member (in fact it was I) had the bright idea of converting "Brakeless Betty" from a general runabout to become the above-mentioned RRV, for the swift retrieval of gliders. This was achieved by unscrewing an L-shaped girder, about two metres long, from the large PWD-owned hangar which we inhabited at that time. This long girder was then bolted onto the front bumper of "Brakeless Betty", so that it stuck out horizontally by about one metre to the right-hand side. A large balloon tyre was then fixed underneath this protruding end, while two thick upright wooden planks formed a U-shaped receptacle above the wheel to accommodate the tail-end of the Cadet or Grunau Baby which was to be retrieved. During the fast and brakeless run back to the starting point the glider was thus being moved tail-first, with a club member sitting on the back of "BB" to hold the machine level by grabbing one of the wing support struts.

With a glider hitched on, drivers usually drove carefully. However, when "BB" was without a glider, it was very easy to forget that an erect member was protruding by one metre from the side of the car, leading to many a near-amputation of club members' and visitors' legs. It also caused at least one resounding crash when my friend Godfried Kroes drove "BB" too close to a concrete block half-hidden at the side of the runway. This collision dented the member visibly, but did not put it out of action.

Our speedy retrievals continued until Brakeless Betty's fuel pipe got so rusty that it also gave up its ghost. One day an enterprising club member (fortunately, this time not I) had the bright idea of converting "BB" to a gravity-fed fuel injection engine, doing away with its petrol tank altogether. This is how it was done (imitation not recommended) A bold pilot sat on top of the driver's cabin facing forward, legs wide apart so that the equally bold driver behind the cracked windscreen could still navigate a little. Slowly lifting a jerry-can full of highly volatile petrol with his bare hands during the bumpy ride, he delicately aimed a thin but consistent stream of inflammable petrol directly into the carburettor between his feet. And it worked!

I am still amazed that the whole exercise did not suddenly end in one huge fireball, creating the biggest thermal ever experienced above the "Republic of Fisantekraal"!

The club is currently negotiating a very difficult period. This appears due to a combination of members' growing financial constraints, a lack of support of club management by the members, and a general air of negativity which can only be attributed to the changing times and declining standards we are presently having to adjust to. The ultimate crux of the rather convoluted piece is intended to suggest a viable way forward for our club, which I believe still has so much to offer, provided we would just consolodate our efforts.

As members of this democratically constituted club, you get what you want usually by voting for it at the AGM (like the winch), but you also get what you don’t want by not standing up and saying aloud that you don’t want it. Either way, the choice is completely in your hands.

Most of us work in town; some even work hard and are quite stressed out by the end of the week. For me it’s a wonderful thing to be able come out to Worcester on a Friday evening and have a quiet wander round the dark deserted airfield, retire later with a good book and then enjoy a night of utter peace in my tiny hut. The quiet early mornings, especially when the wind is light, when you can meditate peacefully in the veld with your coffee, are something to be experienced. And then there’s always lots to think about for the coming day - planning tasks to suit the weather and all that sort of thing. Nice old-fashioned jobs to do like smoking a barograph foil to record the planned flight (oh sorry, you have a logger!). And all the other jobs – a transponder cable to fix, a tyre to change, an aileron drive to replace, or simply just preparing the ship for the day's flight. Once you have a glider there’s always something that needs attention. This goes especially the club ships, just ask the club maintenance officer.

But far more important and exciting than all this, there’s the flying – and the possibility to push your own limits just that bit further, endless possibilities even with a little 15m ship. The thrill of anticipation when planning to soar just that bit further than before, traversing some range where you’ve never been before. The quiet satisfaction of achieving it. Even on days of weak weather when long tasks can’t be flown, you can still enjoy a wonderful flight over the mountains closer to the field, and the odd chat with your airborne buddies on 123,4. FAWC is a glider pilots paradise, whatever venue you compare it with – we’ve got it all.

At the end of a long day's flying, after a cooling swim, you can enjoy a quiet drink and a chat with other pilots in the bar and compare experiences. Whichever way you view it, it’s the perfect situation in which to de-stress while doing something you love passionately. And if you stay over at the field, you can launch once more to try and do it all again on Sunday! There's a unique equality that exists amongst us here, from the newest pupils with only a few logged flights, right across the board to experienced competition pilots; from the private owners through to the club-ship pilots. Our set-up at FAWC has a special added value because it’s been achieved, not to exploit economic opportunities, but in spite of economic constraints. And it's been achieved by the unselfish efforts of many soaring enthusiasts (though a good number of them are only with us in spirit now) and is continuously being nurtured and improved by enthusiasts of similar mind, all without the rude overtones of the rat-race, and having to create a mass-appeal in order to generate more and more money (sure, we use professional services to a greater extent than ever before, but this has only arisen out of necessity, much of which is brought about by being situated out at Worcester, as well as members' apathy). And while we will have to try and be innovative in our future planning, we've already learned through experience that while marketing drives may be fine for attracting paxes, they seldom seem to attract the right calibre of person who becomes a future committed member. Those that tend to stay seem to seek us out, rather than having to be sought out themselves.

So in a nutshell, the foregoing are some of the aspects I like about our club and Worcester. It’s another world, set apart from the banality of the fast moving dog-eat-dog business world, where the key motivator is to turn a good profit, make more money. Others find their own particular enjoyments here at FAWC too. Some come for training, some specialise at instructing, others seem to enjoy a short flight and then tinkering on gliders and other mechanical contraptions. Some are happy to cruise around within glide of the airfield, others pit themselves against the clock and race tenaciously round set tasks. Some like to come late and go early – we’ve always had a few like this! Some seem to just want to relax around the pool, socialise or even do a bit of shopping in town (yes Darl, there are shops in WC!). That’s great – the combination of our gliding club and Worcester offers something for everybody, it really does. Naturally there are always a few irritating people around, but you get them in any group of humans. So as far as I’m concerned, short of a grass strip, we’ve got it all. A pretty viceless microcosm, give or take a couple of Saturday night Amarulas!

Yet others seem edgy. This is not enough, it’s too small. They need to have more people around them. There’s money to be made here too. Dollars, DM, Francs, who cares, MONEY! More people, more activity, more money. More turnover which they say will have benefits, not for specific individuals, but for the whole club. They believe that I am complacent in my views, that this club which I enjoy so much is not enough as it is. The fact that I like it as it is, constitutes a selfish attitude that won’t sustain the club. Head in the ground stuff. They believe that we have to get bigger. More commercially orientated. We should utilise sound business methods to grow the operation. Work hard at attracting more people, especially from overseas. Bigger must surely be better. It’s the way to secure our future, both the club’s future, the future of the airfield and most importantly, the future of gliding movement in general. Growing will mean more money which can be ploughed into, into, into... not individual pockets of course, but say, new gliders! There we are. Imagine a club Duo Discus! An LS8! And better facilities for all! Not this Micky Mouse stuff we have now, this rather third-world set up. We’re talking much better facilities, more facilities to cope with higher demand. Nobody could say we couldn’t use a few new gliders. Yes, we do need to work towards replacing the fleet, it’s so old and tatty. And if we could only get off our behinds and be creative, we could really put FAWC on the international soaring map. Not necessarily with a full-on commercial operation, but something like that. Sort of commercial, but disguised as a club. No one paid and no individual parasites to cream it. A busy gliding centre. Think prestige.

Just imagine visitors from all over the world coming to FAWC! Think of what we as glider pilots could learn from the visiting pilots; how we could learn to fly further, faster, learn to use our fantastic conditions to their full potential. Learn about mountain flying and how to use ridge and wave. How to get away in thermals off the high ground when the valley is inverted. These pilots could show us what we’ve been incapable of grasping in 12 years of flying around the Worcester region (provided we are prepared learn, that is). Perhaps even lead and follow tuition could be arranged. Imagine! Imagine these visitors flying 750km out and return from FAWC! Or 500km at speeds of over 165kph average! Maybe a lucky few of us could even take a back seat ride to see first-hand exactly how it’s done (if we could afford the price, that is). Many more of us might eventually learn enough to be able to compete in the Nationals and show those hot-shot Gauties a thing or two! Finally much of the ignorance of proper cross country flying could be eradicated.

Further spin-off at FAWC could be a seven-day-week operation with a resident tug pilot (you’ve seen that the good weather is always during the week!). You could hire out your glider for a tidy sum (or even a large sum), your hut, your spare car. Maybe you could even hire out your wife, to au pair for the visitors’ kids, surely some of the visitors will have kids. Remember, everything has its price, and wives also have to earn their keep. This way you could make something to pay towards that new glide computer or whatever new toy you have in mind, but are too hocked up to afford. An ASW27, your next overseas trip, or simply to pay off your long overdue flying account. You might even be able to render a service and earn a livelihood at the gliding centre. You could even live at the airfield, it’s very cheap there! Why, the possibilities are simply endless. The important thing to remember is that there are always people ready to give their money away, you just have to find them and take it.

Just imagine what the club could do to support local tourism and boost local Worcester commerce. It could be astronomical! The municipality will applaud us! The local Chamber will salute our business initiatives. Guest houses will compete for our guests’ custom, even offering special rates to glider pilots. The runway might get tarred, a fuel depot built, other airport facilities installed, a mini aviation metropolis! All the result of an entrepreneurial approach. Why did we never think of it before? Historically we’ve just been too stupid, too lazy in fact, to do it. Or have we?

But to be serious again, is this what we really want?

Unfortunately in the midst of all this progressive thinking you always get the sour grapes brigade (well, it is the Valley of the Vines, I suppose). Those old dinosaurs who can’t abide change and refuse to move with the advancing times. These backward-looking, self-satisfied and selfish individuals spoil it for rest of the group (the club) which stands to gain so much from such a dynamic business-type approach. But some seem to have their heads in the sand. These ostriches simply refuse to support the idea of a fresh club-business approach that patently has spin-offs for all members (well, a few at least). These moribund traditionalists are the people who have no vision, are content to stay in a struggling impoverished old-fashioned gliding club environment, year after year. And these are the ones who never fly in comps, are hardly ever seen pushing gliders around, and never venture much more that 500km at a time (and then take nearly all day do it). I suppose these people are part of the reason why gliding has hit the slippery slope of vastly declining numbers world wide. No vision for the future. No vision for making bucks off their hobby and growing it into a fruitful, dynamic business. No dynamism, no bucks, you die. You become like the dinosaurs, EXTINCT! (perhaps they also ran out of bucks?).

Dear reader! I have to confess right here and now to being one of these no-good dinosaurs!

But sometimes I also get unhappy when I think of the club’s future. Though perhaps for different reasons, because I’m not yet convinced we need to create a burgeoning gliding centre, with lots of visitors, a club Duo Discus or a club LS8. Or even a Skylaunch or Tost winch. Two tugs have certainly become difficult to afford, but surely even the zealots now accept that the winching initiative at Worcester has been a dismal failure, and due to our normal weather conditions, will never be a proposition for cross-country pilots to get out of the valley, regardless of its dubious advantages for training. And contrary to most people, I also believe that our club has actually become too big already, with too much equipment requiring too much maintenance by too few suitably qualified people (a problem that merely trading wood for composite ships will not reduce, though this is not the main issue here). It needs repeating: too much work required by too few people. Any ideas to host visiting migrant glider pilots at the club, however enthusiastically conceived, is not going to relieve our present situation, whatever and whoever’s ships the visitors fly. And coupled to this, as I've said previously, advertising and signing up new members and pupil pilots willy-nilly, any person for a member, is not necessarily a wise policy either, though if they pay their entrance amount and monthly subs, I suppose that helps a bit. We’ve already found by bitter experience that so few people these days have any measure of commitment to gliding. So many newcomers seem to have to shoehorn their gliding participation between all the other pastimes they dabble in. Just dabblers, with little actual concern for the club as a body, and no input to make. They touch the surface of as many things they can, but don’t ever get really committed any one thing. Many of these simply waft off into inactivity after a few hot and tiring days on the launch point, at best after a few months. Of those that stay, some continue only to pitch when rostered for duty. It’s too slow and too tiring for them (and for many, after the first burst of enthusiasm is spent, it’s also too expensive, despite our interest-free credit (but yes, receiving the entrance fee and monthly subs, as I said, does help). Gliding is little use for show-offs either, because the audience they would like to impress, thanks to the sun, wind, flies, airborne grit and boredom, are simply not around at the airfield to be impressed, so they discover that in gliding there is no glory, as it's not exactly tailored towards enthralling spectators (although we have a couple of pilots who continue to try).

On the club management side, have you any idea what it takes to find competent members to make up a club committee? This year's AGM was no different to the norm. Do you know what happens when the committee is not competent, or is merely a group of meeting-holding talkers? (nothing, club matters just go downhill). While I'm not suggesting for a moment that either the committee or the bulk of members are incompetent, I do firmly believe that as a club we have already spread ourselves to thinly. And to return to my main point, I believe that an increased membership or even an influx of visitors, rather than improving the present situation, will exacerbate it. Right now there are simply not enough competent managers with technical skills available to run the show efficiently, even during the present week ends only operation, never mind about all week. Plenty of willing hands perhaps, no managers. It's interesting to look back to the old days when the club was a dictatorship run by one man, the Club Captain. "Work days" when there was no flying permitted, were then frequent - I wonder how this would go down now with the membership now, especially considering that we have so much more equipment compared to those early days? Perhaps it's what we need?? A prime maintenance illustration is the K13 refurbishment project: notwithstanding the enormous efforts on the part of a small and dedicated group of members, it's already been in progress for some years, and it's anybody's guess how long it will still take to complete. And so to the crux of the matter: what I believe we really need to do in order to remain a healthy club is forget about ambitious plans for hosting visitors and to rationalise the operation by down-scaling, or to use the trendy buzz-word, we need to "right-size". (Oh, I can hear it: HORROR! He’s talking poppycock again! He should be muzzled!)

Fine. It would be nice to run a full-time glider-training operation, but who will do the work? If it's staffed by paid professionals, who will be able to afford it - rather go power flying. An all-week big-time operation with foreign pilots, flying both their own as well as hired gliders? Have you thought of who will be there to carry the can for this all-week flying? Who will manage it? Not the club’s CFI you can be sure – why should he. The CFI of another club? Or some local self-styled SSSA representative? Or have glider pilots suddenly become so responsible that no supervision will be necessary? Will that be legal? Who will ensure that we don’t end up with pilots climbing into the Cape Town TMA at the Quarry or Victoria Peak, without bothering to contact Cape Town air traffic control, either because they can’t speak the lingo, or simply because they just don’t care, or because they’ll be leaving town in a few days? ("the big splat will never happen to me syndrome"). Who will organise and run other aspects of this set up for the visitors, and if they try to, why? You can bet they won’t be doing it entirely "for the club". Pro deo. But then again, why shouldn’t they take a little fee for their time and hard effort? Any visitors with overseas currency will find it’s peanuts anyway. But, dear member, it will also cost you and your Rands might not go quite as far as you hope in this amazing international gliding centre. If the week day tuggies are earning money, why shouldn’t the week end ones make something too? But remember whatever the arrangements are, you can’t buy or sell accountability and responsibility, so I ask again, who will manage, carry the can and bear the responsibility for the show?

You may call this type of talk negative (I call it realistic), but I get unhappy when I imagine standing in my own club house at the end of a good days flying, aircon buzzing in the background, flypaper swaying in the breeze, listening to a crowd of noisy foreigners talking a language I don't understand - Kurdish, Sebo-Croatian, Greek? It has happened (though not one of these tongues). Perhaps if I fly faster I’ll return early enough for a seat, but that’s little incentive to get my average speed up. And even if I could converse in the appropriate tongue and even if the visitors would condescend to talk to me, I’d probably be treated like a local ya-hoo who hasn’t made one 1000km flight compared to their 12. It’s hardy appealing and certainly not what I’ve been waiting for all these years with anticipation. I feel unhappy that so much of the main club business would probably revolve around when the next bunch of tourists was arriving, where they would be put up, whose glider they’d be hiring, and who’d be their crew (paid of course; why not, it’s only fair). Who were the "big" names and who’s butt had to be kissed first (the designers, the pilots, or the manufacturers?). And then while the visiting VIP’s soar off into the distance having paid for an optimum launch time, I’d be equally unhappy that nobody would be interested in lining me up for an aerotow in my ancient ship because their palm was not sufficiently greased as the visitors had done. To say nothing of having to pay per kilometre for a retrieve when by chance I land out somewhere in the sticks near Nieuwoudtville.

We in the Cape Gliding Club could easily be headed towards this (horrendous? wonderful?) situation, maybe not 12 months in the year, but at least at the height of the soaring season.

Fortunately what I say here is not going to be the last words on these issues. We also have a democratic club constitution and there are SSSA rules laid down for the management and running of gliding clubs and airfields, so one must only trust that whatever proposals are put forward, these will be adhered to, as well as cognisance taken of the members’ concerns (such as these). Fortunately, in addition to this, many members have spent years putting in much personal effort towards developing the club into what it is now, and will not merely watch while the club spirals downward. They may also not be too keen on any form of "commercialisation", unless it could be proved beforehand that it would be for the good of all.

But if this is the way that the majority of members do want to go (which I somehow doubt), I really have no complaint with them on a personal level, none at all. But all the same I must add my one very strong and heartfelt proviso: please can the expansionists, business boffins and money addicts form another club and leave the Cape Gliding Club and its dinosaurs to gently glide off into extinction, as they have enjoyed doing for the last 51 years. After the real soaring, it’s the major part of this club’s appeal.

This is the new committee: if you have suggestions or complaints about anything please contact one of them directly instead of the usual behind the scenes back-stabbing, grumbling and complaining.

Chairman: Alison Hultberg
082 565 4627, 854 4094 (w)

Treasurer: Graham Anderson
083 450 4525, 975 3498 (all)

Secretary: Quinton Hoole
082 378 2800, 671 2124 (h)

Maintenance Officer: Andrew Lightfoot
083 228 7517, 697 4077 (h)

Member: Rob Tiffin
083 676 0367, 510 2826 (w), 761 4928 (h)

Member: Louis Moore
083 433 2401, 788 6286 (all)

Member: Jacques Willig
082 572 9922, 713 0194

AND THE NEW FLYING PANEL...

CFI: André Leeb du Toit
782 2362 (all)

Assistant CFI: Andrew Roos
448 4678 (w), 685 2841 (h)

Member: Nicholas Oberhofer
083 378 5295, 685 2681 (h)

Safety Officer: Sven Olivier
082 779 5907, 671 4238 (h)

Chief Tug Pilot: Rien de Muijnk
789 2347 (all)

Rien de Muijnk

Fuel prices and maintenance costs are steadily increasing which translates into increased tug charges. It is therefore important to run the tugs as efficiently as possible. Glider pilots could help considerably by being ready to go before the tug lands. This would save unnecessary idling or worse, cutting of the engine resulting in restarting and frustration on the part of the tug pilot and others involved, to say nothing of compromising safety by congesting the runway. Sitting in the cockpit of the tug for three to four hours becomes uncomfortable, so please don’t keep the tug pilot waiting while you dither and get ready to go. These chaps are doing a voluntary service primarily for your convenience.

André Leeb du Toit

In gliding clubs the world over, much damage done to gliders, often very expensive and time consuming to repair, is caused by poor ground handling procedures.

The subject here is therefore "Ground Handling". This applies to everyone, though Instructors are expected to set the example and promote safe ground handling.

At least three persons are required to take a glider in or out of the hangar. One person should take charge of the operation and he should man the tail. A second person should hold, but not push, one wing and the third person should be at the front monitoring the other wing.

Towing gliders without wing dollies requires the use of a rope longer than half the glider's wingspan, with a person on the wing tip. In strong wind conditions more than one person may be needed. Car windows must always be open, music and cell phones turned off, for communication between wing man and driver.

Always hold the inner wing when turning.

When towing the glider cross-wind (e.g. between the hangar and the taxi way) bear in mind that the weather-cock effect of the wind on the glider fin will tend to swing the glider into wind. The downwind wing should then be held, so that by holding back on the wing the weather cock forces can be counteracted and the rope kept taught. If the upwind wing is held the only way to keep the glider going straight is to push, which will result in the glider striking the tow vehicle, causing damage. Even without pushing, the glider will weather cock causing the wing to strike the vehicle. This very nearly happened recently while an Instructor was doing the towing!

In very strong winds is may be necessary to have someone strapped in the front seat of the glider.

Use a rudder stop to hold the rudder firmly - otherwise the rudder can be severely damaged when towing downwind. Both GUU and GHB have these.

When using a Kombi (or bakkie with a high canopy) ensure that when towing a T-tail glider with a tow-out bar, that the tailplane will not foul the vehicle in a turn. This has happened in the past and it caused a lot of very expensive damage.

At the 15 RNY park the glider with the nose towards the runway, and at the 33 RNY with the tail towards the runway. This is so that wind forces tend to hold the canopy open when entering and exiting the glider. However, ensure that the canopy is locked if unattended so that it is not blown open, causing expensive damage. In the past canopies usually got broken at the 33 end and this rule was introduced with good reason, but of late has not been adhered to. Canopies currently cost well in excess of R10000.00 and the gliders are not insured.

There have been a few incidents of gliders being pushed onto the runway with traffic on final (in front of a Dakota some time back and more recently in front of the Arrow ZS-NCD). It is also all too common with gliders in the circuit. This is unacceptable and steps must be taken to eliminate this dangerous practice. In this regard, pay special attention to the next point.

As with power flying, it is the P1 glider pilot’s responsibility to satisfy himself/herself that the runway is clear and that no traffic is in the circuit before proceeding onto the runway. The pilot should listen out on the radio (which means it should have been switched on) and ask those around him to LOOK and check that the circuit is clear. Glider P1 should then make a radio call... "Worcester Traffic this is glider ‘Call Sign’ about to push on and line up on runway 15 for glider launch" The Duty Pilot, or any conflicting traffic, may answer that there is traffic in the circuit. Wait for the traffic to land and clear the runway. Only after glider P1 is absolutely satisfied that it is safe to enter the runway, should he give the instruction to the ground crew to push on to the runway. Note however that an A/C may call... "Holding (or orbiting) on Base/Downwind". Although in this case it would be good Airmanship for that A/C to then call... " ‘Call Sign’ is re-established on Base/Downwind", this may not always be forthcoming (as recently happened). Glider P1 should be aware of this - though it stands to reason that an aircraft orbiting on base is very soon going to commence a final. Under no circumstances push on in front of it. Once hooked up the Tug Pilot is in charge of the combination including radio transmissions.

The current position regarding the new "fines system" is that the "Special Projects Fund" has been enriched as a result of certain violations of regulations and operating procedures by the following gentlemen: Alex Kielczynski, Nicky Oberhofer, Colin Sanderson, Mark Siegelberg, Gerhardt Waller and Jacques Willig.

Repeated transgressions will carry a progressively higher fine, doubling up for each violation. Perpetrators should see the first R10 fine as a "spot fine" which should be considered a warning. Thereafter they have the right to appeal to the Flying Panel if they feel that they have been unfairly treated.

The "fimes system" applies, at this stage, only to flying transgressions, i.e. matters under the control of the CFI. It should not be taken lightly – even forgetting to sign the DI book is a violation. Flying a glider without a valid LS1, not signing the DI book, flying without a valid medical, and not making a "push on and lining up" call will carry fines of R10+R20+R40+R80 = R150. Unnecessary radio chatter on 126,5 could add another R160. You have been warned!

Are you Duty Officers remembering to hold a "Pre-Flight Briefing" each day before the flying commences? This is most important and it should be attended by the Tug Pilots, Duty Pilots and all Duty Instructors. The Senior Instructor should discuss the flying conditions, weather forecast for the day, and the instructional training with the Assistant Instructor, including the part to be played by the Duty Pilot (especially with regard to gliders entering the runway, and the correct radio calls as described above). He should also satisfy himself that the helpers at the launch point know how to connect the rope to both the tug and glider, as well as know the launch signals (and emergency signals). He must also ensure that the ropes are checked for adequate condition and length.

And finally, a point on the prevention of wheel-up landings: an aircraft calling final should now add to the standard call "...wheel down and locked".

The SSSA has issued the following:

Pushing gliders at the launch point is hot and thirsty work. Since Marieta left us we have been starved as far as runway snacks are concerned. Now that’s changed. Nanja, wife of resident microlight instructor, Peter Müller-Brunke, is providing savory rolls, chips, cold soft drinks, mineral water and fruit juices at the launch point. Prices vary according to what’s on offer, but rolls are about R4.50 and soft drinks are R3.50. This initiative obviously needs to be supported to be viable for Nanja, so its future is now is totally in your hands.

A trust system of payment is operating fairly well, so please remember to bring loose cash as limited change is available in the daily kitty. We’re grateful to Nanja for this, a service which I’m sure will be popular with members and visitors alike.

Nanja is also providing Sunday morning breakfasts in the Worcester Vliegklub club house. An English breakfast, which includes two fried eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, jams and filter coffee costs R20.00. Or you can just have coffee at R3.50 a shot. Members who have tried it already report favourably and it's certainly cheaper than Café Mozart!

In order not to shoot ourselves in the foot, the daily rate for visiting members has been dropped from R150 to R50/day.

However, should you be in the hiring business, or thinking of getting into it, you will be expected to contribute your little bit from this towards the club in order to help finance the growing expenditure on the Worcester facilities.

If you hire your hut or glider for reward, you are now asked to contribute 10% of your takings to the club. Howls of disdain can be heard already - "it's my own hut/glider - how can the club expect this?" Why indeed. In answer to that question let us use just one simple example. Your paying tenant or glider pilot uses, among many other things, the toilet facilities - nature dictates that he does this or else he bursts. At current rates it costs the club nearly R1000 every six weeks to have the soakaway pumped out, a situation exacerbated by additional usage by visitors over and above "normal" club member usage. The 10% contribution towards this seems the only fair "user pays" alternative. Your contributions will be accepted on trust with the onus resting with you, the one who hires out. While one hut owner has already complained strongly, we have had a large contribution from another one who lodged a tenant at Worcester for an extended period. This system is

also already supported by one of our main aircraft hirers, who says he has no problem with the set-up described here.

The money to maintain and improve the facilities enjoyed by the visitors who hire huts and aircraft has to come from somewhere. Short of increasing the annual hut levies across the board, this seems the most equitable system as it reaches only those who profit off their huts and gliders while not penalising the other, less commercially orientated members. And really, can you honestly complain about 10%?

The Editor has been asked yet again to appeal to the ever growing number of dog owning members to PLEASE pick up the coils and other sticky morsels these canines are apt to leave deposited about the lawns at Worcester. No doubt if a member was to defecate on your lawn at home you would be less than amused, so if the wording of this notice offends your finely developed sense of decorum, then you will have some idea how strongly others feel about you and your dog.

LETTERS

Dear Quinton

Please record my apologies for not being able to attend the AGM as I am not sure when I will be leaving the hospital. The doctors have instructed bed rest at this stage.

It would be appreciated if you would pass on my thanks to all the members who helped me at the scene of the accident, because all I can remember is the wing hitting and then being in hospital. Also a special thanks to members who have come to see me in hospital as well as those who have phoned me on my cell (082 890 1298).

For the record I think all my injuries have revealed themselves; they are:
1: A crushed left ankle.
2: A broken right ankle.
3: A broken bone in the right leg (tibia).
4: A cracked bone in the lower back (sacrum).
5: A torn thigh in the left leg.

As soon as I am mobile I will be flying at Worcester once again.

Yours in gliding, Craig Hawtrey.