Firstly a big thank you to the outgoing chairman and committee for all their hard work during the past year.

As the new committee takes up the challenge, I would like to emphasise to members that the committee comprises elected office bearers acting on behalf of the members and that any major decisions should, and will be made, together with the approval of the members. Remember also that this is your club that we have built together. We look forward to a year of enthusiastic participation by all.

The club is the second largest in the country and this is the year of our Golden Jubilee. Celebratory plans are well under way for a fly-away week-end, fly-ins, competitions and a gala dinner. Details will appear regularly in the Krautkoerant and everyone is invited to participate. We have a glider fleet to be proud of and we have the most lady glider pilots of all the other clubs in the country!

Our safety record has been excellent and the credit goes to our very competent and hard-working team of instructors and the instruction system which we have in place. Keep up the good work!

Finally I would like to thank you for placing your confidence in me and with your support I look forward to the year ahead with enthusiasm.

Thank goodness the AGM is over and we can now settle down again. Forty members took the trouble to attend, while some stayed away because of business commitments in other parts of the country. Others just showed the normal CGC disinterest. This was an AGM with a difference however, as the club has never before elected a lady chairperson (though there's no such English word, it's merely a fashionable liberal socio-political gender-blending). An old gliding sage said there was once a lady President, but never before a lady Chairperson. A definite "First"!

The secretary's refusal to stand for re-election leaves a vacancy but I'm sure he'll not be missed. It would be great if the members would bear in mind that all the officers of the committee also need your support and encouragement - otherwise it can be a thankless dispiriting business, this committee thing.

There's good news on the membership front as we welcome Helmut Schulz, Steven McCarthy, Michael McCarthy, Craig Brookson, Oscar Wiegerink, Andrew Lightfoot, André Swarts and Barry Dunman. Helmut is a long time model glider enthusiast so we hope that he enjoys the full-scale ones even more! Barry is an ex-glider pilot from some time ago, who has his own DH Chipmunk, so he's no stranger to taildraggers. Lets hope he gets back into gliding, apart from the tugging he will be doing initially. Lauren Mincher, Chris Dixon, Gas Marais and Alan Veasey have resigned.

Congratulations to Dr Graham Levitt on his recent PhD graduation - and now he says he wants to go overseas and study further! Congratulations also to Bill Griffiths on the acquisition of an Astir CS, although it appears to be something of a long-term project (see the small ads at the end of this Krautkoerant).

It is with great sadness that we report the death of veteran pilot and benefactor of gliding, John Ellis. John had recently had a major by-pass operation but was well enough to visit the Gariep camp in December (see Mike Pascoe's obituary which follows). It is also with sadness that we have to report the tragic death of Roelof Smit (see separate notice further on).

Although December is long gone, we must say a big Thank you to Alison and Sandy Hultberg for organising the 1998 Winelands Week. Flying was laid on every day for two full weeks over the holiday period and it's just a pity that inversions and strong winds conspired to take the edge off our cross-country expectations. Nevertheless, a lot of flying was done and we also say thank you to all the instructors and tuggies who made the Winelands Week a success.

Following his visit during the Winelands Week, Joachim Haeusler wrote from Germany thanking the club for the "warm welcome and the kind hospitality during our stay at Worcester". It would be a pleasure to see somebody (from the club) at Lübeck". His e-mail is Joachim.Haeusler@lehvoss.de

It's reported that Rob Tiffin as well as a few other members are pleased that the committee has finally provided carports for duty pilots' cars down at the launch point!

There were various unfortunate and unintentional errors in the last edition of the Krautkoerant - and people have been at pains to point them out - sloppy editing being cited. First of all, Boet Coetsee is not part of the Flying Panel (as stated) and Peter Clemence, who was not mentioned at all, is actually the Assistant CFI. Apologies chaps! While the editor takes full responsibility for these errors, it's actually an unfortunate fact that the minuscule amount of feed-back from the local members about the Krautkoerant, both directly and indirectly, is negative. If you want a professional product, then you must be prepared to pay for it, and I don't get paid. The club pays the bookkeeper, the barman, contracts out for domestic cleaning, garden maintenance and a vast range of other maintenance and repair work, but this policy is unequally applied. Perhaps it's time to find a professional to do the Krautkoerant as well? Fortunately comments from other clubs around the country and from overseas are more appreciative.

And now for the gory details! Appeals to members to remove their own rubbish from Worcester seem to have fallen on deaf ears, as Jacques and I were forced to take GOK's trailer full of overflowing club refuse drums to the local dump once again. However, as we did not relish wading through a stinking landscape of deceased and rotting cow heads, windpipes, lungs and assorted entrails, we (that means you) will be paying the local municipality for this service in future.

A vote of thanks must be passed to Ed Verpraet who has been most helpful in sorting out all manner of niggly little problems at Worcester, from taking care of upsets with the pool, fixing electrical faults in the clubhouse and getting the soakaway pumped out during the Winelands Week, to mention just a few. He also does a great job checking the daily time sheets and collecting the cash. Thanks Ed! (Ed, by the way, has been down at Onderstepoort where the students have been implanting some new fangs, all through the kind offices of Marianne Thomson).

Thanks are also due to Ronnie Moore for donating a lot of Sailplane & Gliding and other magazines to the club. While Ronnie is no longer a member, I know he is an avid reader of the Krautkoerant on the web at his home in big LA.

Eastern Province Gliding Club have just put us on their mailing list, and a very good newsletter they produce too. Congratulations on your new venture and thanks, Ken & Co. Can you believe it, the only other gliding club newsletter we get comes from Carol Clifford at the Magaliesberg Gliding Club. I'm sure there must be others.

Also deserving thanks are the generous sponsors of the new pupils' logbooks, which are definitely better than anything we've had before. The sponsors are Hot Art Ceramic Fireplaces (Alex Kielczynski), Prima Response Marketing (Peter Farrell) and Ruff Stuff 4x4 Accessories (Mark Siegelberg). Thanks chaps, for your generosity!

If anybody has been left out in the "Order of Appreciation", I do apologise, and please rest assured that at least some club members appreciate your contribution. But I really don't know everything that is going on! (only most of it).

The newly elected committee is made up of the follow people. Please contact any one of them if there is anything about club matters, however trivial it may seem, that you need to know more about.

The principal members of the flying panel are:

The annual camp at Gariep dam has acquired a reputation over the years as being a tough place to fly. This is a place, however, with the most fantastic weather over a wide span of countryside for those pilots interested in long fast tasks. I visited this camp again for the first time since 1989, since the timing suited my schedule and tugs and ground support would be available. There has been a huge growth in the size of the camp with some 40 gliders present at the peak of the camp. Many of these gliders are self-launch gliders from foreign countries. The pilots included Germans, Austrians, Japanese and English pilots as well as South Africans.

My own personal goals were modest, being to fly and have fun, hopefully improving my times around a 500-Km course.

One morning as I walked from the "clubhouse" towards my glider to start preparations for the days flying I was approached by Helmuth Fischer with the question " Did I know of anyone who would be willing to fill the back seat of his Nimbus on a 1000 Km O&R record attempt ?" The answer was a quick "Yes - me" and the fun was on. I quickly informed my crew of the new arrangements, got water and in-flight food ready and then transferred to the Nimbus. The back seat is usually occupied by Debbie, Helmuth's wife, and so is arranged for every comfort from barf bags to a blanket in case it gets cold.

We quickly completed preparations and towed to the launch point. No hanging about now, nor do we need to wait for a tug. Ready straps tight etc and then engine up and on and away we go. The initial climb on power takes us into a thermal and as soon as we are centred engine off and we start the task with a climb to about 2000m AGL. The whole flight is documented by the GPS data logger so there is no messing about with photographs or being identified through the start gate. The turn point for the flight is a GPS defined point 500 kms away from Gariep in the vicinity of but north of Hotazel.

As soon as we have made our start we set out on the long flight northwards. All of this first leg is into a headwind but we still achieve some 140 KPH over most of the leg. The flight path is a zigzag one as we pass under each developing wisp of cu so that the already amazing glide slope of the Nimbus is further enhanced. The best thermal of the day is just on 5 m/s on the averager. The course is marked with a wonderful street after we have negotiated a course around a storm. We reach Lime Acres more or less on schedule but here the sky changes and we are faced with a large blue patch that is negotiated quite slowly until we reach the clouds on the far side. The lift is disappointing now but on we go past Sishen and Hotazel to reach "Turn Point 5" which the logger announces with a series of beeps. This is just as well as there is nothing to identify this point on the ground. Nowhere much to land either for that matter if this should have proved necessary.

It is 4 p.m. as we turn and start the return leg - the 2^nd 500 of the day. Now a tail wind is really pushing us and we are making good 260 KPH towards home. Then troubles begin with thunderstorms all around and with great cunning and skill Helmuth flies the big bird between the storms. The fact that the wings are full of carbon which conducts electricity rather well, and that I am virtually leaning on the main spars in the rear cockpit gives me a very acute interest in the weather all around us. The radio keeps reminding us of the lightening activity as each time we see a flash the radio objects to this misuse with a harsh crackle.

Slowly we approach the Orange River and recognise first Oranjerivier and then Petrusville. By this time we are down to some 2000-ft AGL and in spite of searching the little patches of sunlight we find no further lift. Overhead the local airfield we start up the motor and climb slowly to 2000 m AGL and then shut off again and glide back to Gariep. The flight time was 8 hours and 5 minutes probably about 15 minutes with the motor on and the distance covered as a glider 900 kms.

This was an amazing experience from a number of points of view. To see how a really top distance pilot flies was a fantastic educational experience for me, to enjoy at first hand the performance of the Nimbus was a real treat and the convenience of a self launch glider was really well demonstrated.

Thanks Helmuth for the ride.

Roelof Smit, a member since October 1996, died tragically on 24/12/98 when his car slipped on an icy road while he was in Canada.

His ashes were strewn from an aircraft flying above his home in Cecilia Forest, above Constantia. This had been his expressed wish, prophetically, only some weeks before his untimely death.

Roelof was an excellent doctor, artist, musician and glider pilot. At his funeral on 28/12/98, we presented a wreath on behalf of his friends at the gliding club. We will surely miss him.

It was with a great sense of loss and sadness that we learnt of the death of John Ellis recently. John had undergone major surgery and was recovering slowly when he experienced a severe setback and died.

John was an aviation enthusiast - he had flown many different types of aircraft from military types to airliners, and of course gliders. His vast experience of all aspects of flying were much appreciated by all who had occasion to ask for his advice and help with any aviation problems. He was always willing to give anyone who asked the benefit of his wide experience, wisdom and common sense. He had taken over as the Soaring Society's "instructors instructor" at a time when the system for training new instructors was somewhat of a shambles. He very quickly got the system into shape and started training a small group of people to handle instructors' training. This vital aspect of our sport received a huge boost from John's enormous efforts, and good instructional technique is one of the legacies that will remain of his efforts on our behalf.

Many people met John on instructors' courses, and an abiding memory of those courses is his mastery and insistence on the precise use of words. I recall seeing a K13 on a course rear up at the beginning of an aerotow take off roll into a truly horrible nose up position with the tail skid on the ground. Later enquiry revealed that the "pupil" - John - had been told to pull the stick back, and he had done this much to the alarm of the trainee instructor.

This last year - 1998 - was the first occasion in 13 years when John had not flown in the SA Nationals. He had come to the Gariep dam camp hoping to be able to fly his LS8 - unfortunately his recovery had not yet reached a point at which he could safely fly. He acted as official observer for all the badge and record flights attempted from the dam.

John had run the issue of licenses and badges for the SSSA for some years with quiet efficiency, and was still performing this duty as well as being the safety officer for the SSSA at the time of his death. On a local level John was an Honourary member of the Cape Gliding Club, and as a keen and interested gliding historian (especially of SA gliding history) was keenly anticipating a visit to the Cape again in this the club's 50^th anniversary year.

Soaring in South Africa is the poorer for his passing and we will all miss him. Our deepest sympathy to Leonie and all John's family.

A pax rating is an honour not a right, and pilots who aspire to a pax rating must show a consistently high standard of flying and a high degree of airmanship and responsibility. The rating is awarded for flying from the front seat only with the pax in the rear seat with the stick removed. The requirements for a pax rating are a satisfactory check flight after completing a GPL and a minimum of 50 hours and 100 launches. A pilot must be in current flying practice before flying with a pax - that is more than 3 launches of the type to be used for the pax flight in the preceding 3 months.

The pre-flight briefing. The pilot must give the checking instructor a briefing including what will be done, an introduction to the instruments and the use of the parachute. A "sickness" bag should be available but it may not be necessary to point it out to the pax. The pax pilot is to be reminded that his (her) passengers are to sit in the back seat without a stick. If the potential passenger is having a trial flight with a view to joining the club then he (she) should fly with an Instructor.

The check flight is carried out to determine that the pilot is safe, smooth and consistent as a pilot and can handle the glider correctly. This check flight requires the full "annual check" according to the pro-forma. In addition the pilot should demonstrate the ability to talk to his passenger and point out local landmarks as well as explaining what is happening during the flight. As the checking instructor you should ask the potential passenger pilot a few questions of the sort that a pax may ask during the flight. It is not necessary to subject the potential pax pilot to the sort of situations that an instructor might experience – control grabbing etc. Note that as the checking instructor you are NOT required to fly without a stick in the back seat.

A pax pilot must show a responsible attitude to the people he flies with and must make them comfortable, and ensure that they feel safe in the glider. No aerobatics are permitted when carrying passengers. There may be very occasional exceptions to this rule and pilots who are rated for aerobatics may exercise discretion in this regard. In general only aerobatics qualified instructors should do aerobatics with those passengers that specifically request this.

Once a satisfactory check flight has been accomplished the pax-rating form must be completed and signed and handed to the CFI. A pax rating is awarded by the flying panel and not by an individual instructor. A pax rated pilot is never permitted to instruct.

The back seat rating. This rating is for instructors and ex instructors and should only be awarded to those less experienced pilots who are near to attending an instructor’s course. The CFI and the flying panel will identify these pilots, and only these instructors (the flying panel) may clear a pilot to fly from the rear seat.

A special note for instructors flying with more experienced pilots. An instructor who is carrying out a check flight with any other pilot remains P1 throughout the check flight, even if the pilot being checked has more hours and experience than the instructor does. While the checking instructor may not expect trouble he should be alert and prepared for trouble at any time. If things go sour take over early, its’ your neck and your responsibility to ensure safe flight.

In view of the recent spate of accidents and incidents the Flying Panel has decided that in future any person involved in an Accident or Incident will be required to present their report to the Flying Panel at the next F/P meeting. Here the report will be discussed with all concerned in a constructive and friendly manner. In no way is it the intention to hold an 'inquiry', 'hearing' or 'witch hunt' - instead it is to discuss the accident or incident at length, so as to glean as much information as possible and so take steps to prevent a recurrence.

This should be seen in the spirit it is intended. However, if the party concerned should refuse to attend such a meeting with the Flying Panel, they will be grounded until such time as they do attend.

Both Cape Town and Worcester experienced massive thunder storms on the night of Friday 4th December. On arrival at the airfield, my enquiry about the weather prospects for the day was answered by the wily old Ed saying that he no longer tried to predict the unpredictable. By 11am we could all see that the thermals were booming up to 7000' in the moist unstable conditions. Being way down on the flying list, I didn't expect to get a launch much before 2.30pm. However, the club flights got off to a slow start with Nicky Oberhofer taking an instructional flight, followed by Mark Siegelberg. Alex Kielczynski (for whom Rika Olivier had forfeited her launch position to - must be true love?) and Peter Wooley both experienced equipment failures on the start line, so suddenly it was my turn for a launch!

On take off we flew into a strong thermal and with 6m/s plus on the vario, released over the chicken houses at 2000' and climbed away to 4500', averaging 2,5m/s. I contacted Mark on the radio, who was already crossing Nuy heading south east, and I immediately headed off in that direction, with thermals on the way taking me up to 7500'. On reaching Nuy, Mark was already approaching Robertson and by the time I was at Rooiberg, Mark was abeam at 5000' on his return journey, having been thwarted by poor lift and heavy sink in the Robertson area.

It was at this stage that we both looked back towards Worcester, some 30km away, and realised that there was a massive storm descending from the north, with numerous lightning strikes and dark clouds forming. After a while we decided to head back home, land and hopefully hangar our ships before the full brunt of the storm hit. As we neared the town we realised that this would be impossible. Lightning strikes, often four or five at once, bombarded Worcester and black rolling clouds raced along the ground - it would have been stupid to attempt to land in that lot! So around we turned once more and headed towards the more tranquil skies of Robertson. Our decision to head back was confirmed as correct, when Jacques Willig radioed us to say that the wind speed was gusting over 100kph and that torrents of rain were falling over the airfield. He kindly agreed to round up a retrieve crew to fetch us at Robertson.

Fortunately for us, the dark clouds overhead had not yet overdeveloped in spite of the odd splatter of rain on the canopy, and we managed to climb and keep ahead of the storm, easily making Robertson airfield. What a welcome sight it was too, still bathed in sunlight, 1,6km of gleaming tar runway and light north westerly winds. We knew however, that the storm was right behind us and coming up fast! Mark went in first as he was lower and pretty soon we were both safely on the ground. However, we barely had time to tie down the aircraft when there was a rush of wind and the wind sock popped up like a party whistle.

Just over the hill we could see the massive thunderheads, lightning giving them an eerie glow. One particular cloud had the beginning of a cloud funnel hanging almost down to the ground. "Ow me Gawd!" I thought, all we need is a twister now, and held onto my wing for dear life as the wind picked up to about 100kph. What a blessing it was when some of the Robertson club members pitched up at the airfield (they were organising their Christmas party for the evening) and assisted us to put the gliders in an empty hangar - what a relief to know the gliders were pretty safe. But then, suddenly the storm seemed to veer towards the south and Riversdale, and we were spared the full fury of the wind and rain.

Another welcome sight was our retrieve crew with the trailers. They certainly looked a bedraggled lot, having got soaked to the skin in the process of getting the trailers ready and hitching them up. To Rika, Alex, Nicky and Helmut, thanks guys (and gal), we owe you, big time.

Anyway, a useful piece of information for anyone with a cell phone who lands at Robertson, is that there is an answering machine in the clubhouse which gives a list of names and telephone numbers of club members who could assist you to unlock the gate or open up a spare hangar. They told me that they also sell Avgas from their ground storage facility, should we ever run short.

Nobody ever said being duty pilot was an easy job. It's a lot of hard work, there seem to be less and less people available to push more and more gliders. On the start-line it's usually hot, gritty and windy, but the whole club depends on the job being done properly. Recently some duty pilots have simply refused to do their rostered duty, indicating a particularly bad "stuff you" attitude towards the Chief Duty Pilot, and in fact all the members who come to fly. The committee has resolved that in every case strong action will be taken against such people, should this happen in future. Gliding clubs all over the world work on the principle that everyone must contribute something towards the club in addition to just paying the monthly subscription, and members who won't accept this must either change their attitude or find some other past time or group where it's more acceptable to be a parasite. It's not nice to have to say this, but we can't run the show without duty pilots, instructors or tuggies.

In a similar vein, duty instructors who think it's cool to disappear on cross-country flights, should in future consider the paxes and pupils that you are inconveniencing. If you think this refers to you, you are probably right. Is the "stuff you" attitude responsible here as well? It will be interesting to see what will happen when the tuggies start to go randomly AWOL while on duty.

During the holiday season we have had a lot of visiting pilots at the club, both local and from overseas. Will duty pilots and instructors please try to remember that our reciprocity arrangements allow members from other Southern African (ie Soaring Society of South Africa affiliated) clubs to fly at club rates, while overseas club members must pay a small additional daily membership fee of R50.00 for each day that they fly at Worcester, whether they fly our club ships or somebody else's private one.

This brings us to Self Launching Gliders. While you may not know the pilot's name, please always log the take off and landing times of these SLG flights, together with the registration in the usual way as we do for all syndicate ships. We need this information for our records as well as those of the SSSA. Many of these aircraft are flown by visiting overseas pilots and as I said before, these pilots are all liable for our R50.00 daily membership fee which the duty pilot should collect on the day, as it's very difficult to collect after the time.

Finally, concern is being expressed about unnecessary chatter over the radio on 124.8 MHz. Please try and keep your chatter to the designated chat frequency , namely 123.4 MHz. We have also had a couple of incidents concerning the use of bad language and other somewhat uncouth chatter over the air by our members in recent months. This is unprofessional, uncivilised and unnecessary. While allegations made about the legitimacy of another pilot's birth, or the sedentary habits of the entire South African population may reflect the broadcasters' personal and rather contemptuous attitudes to their fellow pilots, they are of little interest to the rest of the traffic on 124,8 MHz.

An extravaganza of an air show is to be held at the Stellenbosch airfield on Saturday 27th March, all day. For those of you who are tired of the usual local air show offerings, this one promises to be something completely different. Plenty of food and drink will be available. For more details contact Alison on 854 4094 (office hours)

As I sit here awaiting the first snows in Canada, my mind wanders into a warmer climate as I think back to Leili and my visit to the Cape Gliding Club last April. As you head into your summer season, my glider has been put into a barn for the winter. Gliding for me has been a little limited this summer, as I was extremely busy at work, and elsewhere. However, there were some compensations as the "elsewhere" included joining the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association, where I got checked out on the big yellow beast. Imagine 600 horsepower and the ergonomics of a 1938 design (one of our four club Harvards was built in 1941!)... just about the exact opposite of the few glider cross-country flights I managed this year.

One of the members of our club (York Soaring Association) is a graphics type, and has his own website including photos of where I fly. You can find it at:

http://www.starblanket.com/~roberto/blanik.spml.

Our club website is:

http://www.agile-graphics.com/york/

All our best, and wishing you a superb season, as I reach for what's left of the Amarula.

pede.foster@ibm.net

Among the recommendations of the safety audit that was conducted last year, was a recommendation that club management compiles a member/pilot data base. Everyone was duly given forms to complete and return to the club's box number. If your name is NOT among the following 25 members, it means that your data sheet is still outstanding:

Clemence, de Muinjk, Fussell, Hultberg, Hultberg, Johnson, Leeb-du Toit, Levitt, Levitt, Matchett, Mountain, Olivier S, Pascoe, Pottage, Prüter, Ryan, Schuster, Torrance, Verpraet, Versveld, Willig, Wooley, O'Regan, O'Regan & Coetsee.

You may not have co-operated because you find this too bureaucratic, troublesome, or perhaps you are just ignorant, slapgat or lazy. Either way, the committee deems it a worthwhile project in the interests of safety and just generally being organised, so it would be a great help if you would complete and return the data sheet in order that the committee can finish the job. Please post to PO Box 4154, Cape Town (stamp R1.10).

About four years ago I helped organise on behalf of Hans Kaiser, for two of his German colleagues, a glider flight from Kimberley main airport with their ASH25's. One of these pilots, Walter Binder, offered to take me along, but I was already booked to fly at Gariep at the same time.

Two weeks before the last camp, Hans Kaiser visited me and told me that Walter would be flying from Gariep this year. On the third day of the camp, Walter and I met and I finally got my invitation to fly with him.

Walter has a factory in Germany called Binder Motorenbau which specialises in design and installation of self-launching systems as well as performance enhancement of gliders.

The man has quite a pedigree, with some 6000 gliding hours, he has held 10 world records and was the guest of honour at the Barron Hilton Flying M Ranch in 1984, for a flight in the Swiss Alps. He has flown over four 1000km tasks in Germany and over 20 1000km tasks in South Africa during his visits here over the past 12 years. This includes a 1200km and a 1250km flight.

Walter has the original prototype ASH25 which he has modified from a 25 metre, to a six-section 27 metre wingspan with a one-piece blown canopy. It has a larger and more powerful motor and an array of specially positioned fuel tanks from which he can pump fuel around to obtain the optimum C of G. He has also installed an electric trim on the horizontal stabiliser which he constantly adjusts to trim out for various speeds during flight, rather than adjusting the trim on the elevator. The optimum setting is monitored by a bank of about 10 LED's. For example, lights to the right indicate trimming the stabiliser up for fast flight and vice versa. This is also complimented by a vario-type instrument measuring the air pressures over the stabiliser via two static type holes, one each on the upper and lower surfaces. In short, absolute optimum trim with minimum induced drag at all speed ranges.

The rudder and elevator are also modified and are being tested for the ETA project, which is Walter's brainchild. This is a monstrous 30,8 metre wingspan glider with an aspect ratio of 51,33 and an all up mass of 920kg. This glider promises to have a Delta 10 (10 points better) than the best glider to date. Translated this equals an L/D of 1:72 theoretical with a probable actual L/D of 1:65. Interestingly Walter has measured numerous flights in big ships and has never been able to achieve better than 1:55 whereas performance claims are advertised at around 1:60.

Dr Reinold Kiekert is heading the design team while Hansjorg Streifeneder is building the wings. Walter is building the fuselage and tail surfaces as well as building the curing ovens. The prototype is scheduled to fly at the end of 1999.

It is estimated that on a 1,2 m/s netto day, only dolphin flight would be required, with thermalling eliminated altogether.

The flight with Walter was a real education, not that I do not understand the principles of cross-country flight, but simply observing how it is done. We flew from Gariep to Victoria West and Prieska (and return) - a very relaxed 800km, five hour flight, with a cloud base of around 13000'. While the day was consistent, it was not a bomber. Walter only cruised at 200kph and flew through the weaker lift at 160kph. The complete flight was manoeuvring through constant energy with long runs before selecting only the very good thermals.

Some points of note on the flight:

• Walter did not chase the McCready
• Limited band of speed ranges - 200kph cruise, 160kph through weaker lift, minimum 120kph when testing the potential lift.
• Almost immediate centring during the first turn in a thermal
• Always thermals left (for southern hemisphere) unless thermal is obviously on the right
• Makes deviations up to 30° to follow a cloud street around the blue
• Never wavering in decision making - looking and thinking ahead
• Never wasting time in testing a potential thermal - half a turn and then out again

These are the basics for successful cross-country flight which most of us are familiar with, but to have the privilege of experiencing how precisely and how tactfully this can be achieved has been one of the highlights of my flying career.

As I always claim, the skill of the pilot far outweighs the advantage of just having a super hot ship.

The British WW2 troop carrying glider, the Horsa, was about the size of a Wellington bomber, with a wingspan of about 25 metres, a fuselage of 20 metres, and weighing more than seven tons loaded. A complement of 25 troops was the usual load, together with equipment. The side-by-side pilots sat in a very exposed perspex enclosed cockpit, each with a spade-grip control column and the usual rudder pedals. The minimal instrumentation fitted comprised an ASI, altimeter and a blind-flying device, nick-named the "angle of dangle", which denoted the glider's position in relation to the tug. Besides the pilots were two handles, one for the huge flaps which could be set for 45° or 90° as and when required, and one being the release.

The Horsa was a handful while on tow, but once released it became, as one pilot put it, "incredibly smooth, a strange silence in the cockpit" (sounds a bit like the Goevier).

On tow, speeds of up to 250kph were safe, if improbable. Best glide when fully loaded was at about 130kph, losing about 1000'/km (this equals about 1:3! -a lot steeper than our gliders with full airbrake deployed). The very docile characteristics allowed a descent at a 1:1,5 angle with the flaps right down, after which the pilot could round out and make a controlled spot landing. Sounds frightening.

The committee has received a proposal from a member, Otto Tönges, to use the airfield and club facilities to run a commercial gliding facility. Opinions canvassed so far seem extremely divided, so in fairness to the proposer, the whole concept as

put forward is presented on the next two pages for you, the members, to form your own opinions. Only grammar and spelling have been altered from the original document.

Possibly in Otto's hangar.

If David (Starke) hangar if allowed - otherwise in trailers.

European pilots on German gliders will have no problem as a PPL is valid for all Euro countries.

European pilots on RSA gliders will have to be checked out by the local CFI or instructor. This would be mainly at week-ends or by special arrangement.

A charter or rental to "single" pilots.

A German high performance pilot to instruct from the back seat of a German glider - eg Klaus Wedekind.

A local instructor such as Martin (Greunert) for ridge soaring.

Kitchen, bar, swimming pool, toilets and showers. What the club has to offer at the moment is sufficient. An air conditioner should be installed in the bar. There should also be more order, cleanliness and tidiness in the clubhouse.

The grass should be cut from time to time. There should be no parked cars between the runway and the taxi-way. There should not be bits and pieces on or close to the taxi-ways at the intersections as long as planes are landing and rolling off the runway.

The weather forecast should be obtained either by fax or internet.

The club should have numerous glider pilots, not only those with a motor-glider (self-launching) licence during the week.

The club should organise a tug pilot.

Also Capetonians. Those who are available should be rostered, and their transport costs subsidised by those using them.

A problem exists here as only a maximum of two to four launches are possible between 10.30 and 14.00.

A possible advantage is that club members may be interested in flying during the week as well.

Advertisements could be placed in the Aerokourier.

There will be another two more articles, one by Klaus Wedekind, the other by myself.

Bookings will be through my office in Germany, without commercial interest.

Payment for glider rental will be strictly in Germany in Dm or Euro currency.

A deposit equal to the insurance excess will be required, possibly including tugging fees, club fees and camping fees. The club would then need a German banking account.

Booking pilots would have to complete a "personal particulars sheet" with all relevant data to be e-mailed to the CFI (and/or others) to provide a reference.

On the arrival of overseas pilots the club should provide briefings and check flights. Ed Verpraet did it perfectly in 1998. Briefings to cover:

Airspace

Local procedures

Weather

Local phenomena - wave, convergence etc.

Landing fields

Radio procedures

DTC radio.

Hotels, guest houses, restaurants and shops. It may be able to convince the municipality that tourists, which are quite rare in Worcester, could increase. The airfield creates an asset to the town and region. The Worcester Advertiser has already expressed interest.

They learn - they can see what can be achieved with a glider these days.

Owners and syndicates can rent out their gliders.

Huts can be rented out (up to R70/night).

Cars can be rented out.

Weekday flying.

An increase in cash flow from:

Fees from glider rental:

Single seater self launcher - 270 Dm/day.

Two seater self launcher - 300 - 500 Dm/day.

Single seater gliders - 170 Dm plus 20 Dm insurance/day.

Tug - 15 to 18 tows during the week plus tug pilots' travelling expenses.

If the club agrees to this proposal I would like to get input, advice, other ideas and written conformation. I would also need a list of members that are definitely offering their huts for rental plus their rates. I also need a list of members offering their gliders for hire, including the type, instruments fitted, trailer and rates.

I would also like to force(?) the concept in Germany in order to have guests from October onwards.

Please e-mail your decision. I am leaving on 17th February 1999.

Thank you, Otto Tönges