Well! This first month has been rocky indeed, to say the least. What with our tug needing more attention at its 100 hour check than was anticipated, postponing a very valuable course, committee portfolios being exchanged and the new office-bearers getting their teeth into things - it has been a difficult period.

Charles Ryan, our new Pupil Liaison Officer, has already organised a successful radio course for the student pilots. His post is something new, so if you are a student pilot, or are new to the club, and have any grievances or any questions at all, just remember that Charles is there to help you. Don't hesitate to contact him at 75 0436(h) or 531 1231(w).

Congratulations Hans and Sonya Prüter on their recent marriage. Congratulations also to Rien de Muijnk on the acquisition of a Standard Cirrus from up-country.

And finally, congratulations to Alan O'Regan and Chris Way who'll both be going to Bayreuth, Germany, for the World Gliding Championships during July and August. Well done chaps!

We received a lot of interested inquiries about gliding after Sandy's display at the Stellenbosch airshow recently. Thanks to Kim, Nicky, Gary and Peter who helped.

Our Golden Jubilee dinner will be a smart affair, and plans are well on track for August or September; I will keep you updated on the venue. Further arrangements for other Jubilee celebrations will be in the June issue of the Krautkoerant.

Summer might be on the way out but lets be positive - the winter wave season will soon be with us - an excellent opportunity to get those Diamond heights and those long glides to Swellendam!

Rather like athletes' foot, which is obnoxious and very difficult to get rid of, the previous secretary is back in the administrative saddle, having been co-opted by the committee. Don't they ever learn? Hopefully in his short break from the committee he has learned to curb his sharp tongue.

As far as members are concerned, we give a warm welcome to James Davidson, Grant Hearn and Quinton Hoole, but have to say farewell to Anthony Ridout, Shane Saunders and Susan Liegner (well, sort of, Susan).

Firstly, we must thank Mike Pascoe for the most generous donation of a microwave oven for the clubhouse. I'm sure all the Saturday night regulars, especially, will be most grateful for this. Thanks again, Mike. (What!! Don't tell me you didn't notice the old microwave had gone!)

Next, the committee would also like to thank Sebastian Siebert for his help in acting as courier for getting the time-sheets of the Motorfalke to Graham in Durbanville for the compilation of the monthly accounts.

Our friend and one time Chief Tug Pilot, André van Rensburg, sends the club greetings from Mauritius and says he is enjoying the A340.

A club need has been identified for a Parachute Officer. It is thought best that this post is occupied by a non-committee member to aid continuity, as committee officers must needs step down from their posts every year or two. The Parachute Officer's duties are to arrange for the annual repacking (in Cape Town) of all club parachutes, keeping a schedule of this, and to arrange any interim parachute maintenance that could be required to parachutes. As you can see, this is not a terribly onerous function, though an important one that has been neglected in the past. It would be very much appreciated if any interested members would contact Alison Hultberg at 856 1113(h) or 854 4094(w) to get more details.

The phone in the clubhouse is unattended most of the day. The committee considered getting an external bell fitted but as most members are either airborne, at the hangar, or at the flight line all day, there seems little point. What does seem a good idea is that all pilots who are in the habit of flying away from Worcester carry the club phone list on board with them. As so many members now have cell phones, and as these numbers are all listed, it could be a great help to you when arranging a retrieve after an outlanding.

In order to serve our members better and attempt to generate funds to cover costs, it has been decided to offer advertising space in the Krautkoerant to members. Should you be interested, at only R60 per half-page, please give me a call on 487 2451 (w) now.

The committee is continuing the search for a suitable second tug, as the tugless experience in March is not something we want to experience too often. Imagine what a help it would be on those booming spring days when everyone wants to be airborne at the same time, but you have to wait two hours and more for a launch.

And some more from the committee: those of you buying anything on behalf of the club that costs over R500.00 MUST remember to provide a tax invoice stating the name of the Cape Gliding Club on it. Otherwise we will not be able to claim the VAT back from the Receiver of Revenue.

The Daimler Benz Wings for Youth sponsorship officially ends in June, but we are phasing it out with immediate effect due to problems being experienced with the Soaring Society not meeting our costs on time. We had never envisaged at the start that the club would be out of pocket through this program, or have to finance it ourselves in any way.

Our friend Ronnie Moore reports from the States on a rather amusing advertisement by the Chrystal Cathedral in Orange County for their Easter Passion Play, with "live animals and real, flying angels". As Ronnie says, no wonder they call it "La La Land!"

Finally, Lauren Mincher's refreshing story further on tells us that there's more to life than working all week and spending the weekend at the gliding club. What do you think?

Dave Boome passed away on Wednesday 31st March after a brief illness. Dave will be very much missed by the many pilots he taught to fly and by all those who benefitted from the huge input he gave to the sport. A great diplomat, Dave only had good things to say about people. A hard act to follow, Dave.

The most beautiful glider ever built, called "Minimoa", soared in and out of my life for three eventful years.

When I was eighteen years old, and had spent almost every weekend since my fifteenth birthday on the hard Fisantekraal concrete runways amid the Port Jackson bushes, I looked into the sky one day and saw the Minimoa's gull-wing shape as she approached the airfield. At that moment I thought that I would be quite content just to watch this, even if I would never have a chance to fly her.

And yet I did fly her, especially during a five-hour flight high above Table Mountain just one year later (together with Herbie, he in the S-18). Right now its very last flight deserves to be remembered - that of my friend Bernhard Crome, who spun with the damaged Minimoa into a field, killing himself almost instantly. This was exactly forty years ago, on 19th April 1959.

It happened after the Minimoa had an extensive repainting job (from blue to apple green); after having its huge 18-metre wingspan displayed in a Cape Town department store; after several wave flights starting from Cape Town which ended near Albertinia; after long thermal flights up-country (with Heinie winning the Gliding Championships at Rand Airport); and after our Club Captain's futile effort to fly the Minimoa through the hangar! All this deserves to be told later, but to begin at the end - here is my experience of the Minimoa's last flying day.

Bernhard Crome had come from Germany after a very unhappy love affair. He was an instrument maker employed by Stellenbosch University. I introduced him to the gliding club at Fisantekraal and was also one of his instructors on the Goevier until he went solo. Although extremely keen, he had a tendency to be rather quick-tempered.

In those far-off days our favourite way to gain a little extra height while flying behind the under-powered Tiger Moth tugplane was to haul back on the stick a few seconds before tow release. Now the Minimoa had TWO pear-shaped knobs on the left-hand side below the instrument panel - one for towrope release and the other one for activating the spoilers (no dive brakes in those days!). These knobs, hard or impossible to see clearly, felt exactly the same. It happened to me once that I pulled the wrong knob on one of these "pull-up" aerotow releases and got a big fright. Fortunately I figured out that I had pulled the wrong knob and could correct it; unfortunately I did not mention this potential danger to others.

The 19th of April was a warm and clear day. While Bernhard in the Minimoa was being towed into the sky by Sammy Samson in the Tiger Moth, I was sitting in Heinie's black Dodge, looking at photos of our recent Annual General Meeting. Suddenly there was loud shouting outside the car. I jumped out and saw a flurry of spinning planes and one separate, rapidly revolving wing fall down from the bright blue sky.

We all shouted, "Jump! Jump!" at the top of our voices. To my dismay I saw one and one only parachute open and almost immediately disappear from view behind the Port Jackson bushes. While starting to rev our cars to race to the accident site, Heinie had the presence of mind to send me to the nearest farmhouse in the opposite direction. From there I phoned Youngsfield aerodrome to summon a doctor by plane as quickly as possible.

Thus it happened that I did not know for a long time who of the two had been saved until, near the hangar, a car came towards me with the visibly shaken Sammy inside.

We never found out what had caused the accident. Bernhard had apparently not even started to open his straps in preparation for jumping out by parachute. Sammy's life was saved by Heinie's insistence that he should wear a parachute, and by the fact that he landed in a slight hollow - just enough time for the parachute to open. However, as Sammy told me last year at Worcester, he unfortunately landed on his back and suffered excruciating pain for years afterwards.

Like me, did Bernhard also pull the spoiler knob trying to release, and in his panic forget about the release knob? I think so. Sammy reports that just before release Bernhard pulled up steeply, then dived down on the Tiger. As the streamlined Minimoa gained speed rapidly, Bernhard probably tried to turn away as fast as possible, but his wing collided with the Tiger's tail and broke off. But we shall never know for sure.

Now that the fine-pitch scream of the Harvards at full-bore has died away, and the jets have screeched their hot tires on the tar for the last time in a while, Stellenbosch airfield can return to its fairly quiet little self. While not quite Oshkosh, this show was "the stuff of dreams" made real. There really are no other words for it.

For the nostalgia buffs, plenty of oldies lined up, together with fast jets for the noise freaks, and every conceivable thing that flies, in between. The nice part was that you could walk right up to them all and peer under cowlings, up tailpipes and into cockpits. But as with our own gliders, woe to him who touches an "aerie" in front of its owner (rather touch his wife, he's probably bored with her by now!). Well, what about the highlights? It was ALL highlights...

Impressive amongst the homebuilts was a superbly finished all-South African Bushbaby (in lime-green and orange!), just completed by Boet Loubser from Louriesfontein for a customer, and an immaculately finished all-composite Europa, just flown out from England by John Lusher, its constructor. Both off-the-shelf kits, but not for the faint hearted or the procrastinator. Other homebuilts of note: a superb Pietenpol Aircamper of 1929 design and a two-thirds scale Mustang, which really is hard to beat, especially when you hear the throb of its inverted six cylinder Franklin Ranger engine, aerobatting over the field. For the more ambitious homebuilder, Louis van Wyk was there to give a masterful demonstration of the amazing capabilities of his single-seater gyrocopter.

If watching aerobatics is not quite your "thing" and you're sick of seeing the Smirnoff Pitts team doing the Smirnoff switchblade and the Smirnoff barrel roll and the Smirnoff this and that ad nauseam, chances are you've never seen Stu Davidson rolling his Sukhoi straight off the deck on take-off; I mean straight off the deck, and into the most breathtaking sequence of aerobatic manoeuvres ever seen. Each one spectacular - one after the other - this is aerobatics with a difference! His highly polished act quite simply separates the talkers from the other chaps and leaves the boys wondering if they'll ever become men, or why they even bother with flying at all.

Nostalgia buffs were seen staring dreamy-eyed as a silver C47 "Memphis Belle", complete with its proper Prat and Whitneys, was put through its paces above the field. This 1941 aircraft was reputedly operated for a time off an aircraft carrier by the CIA to monitor drug trafficking out of Mexico. Those of you, who thought the "Crunchy" Stearman came from Pofadder, think again! Stu Davidson's nine cylinder Pratt and Whitney powered, big, bright yellow bi-plane was something straight out of a traditional barnstorming act of yesteryear, with his poor wind-swept wench strapped to a post above the upper wing - well, she was there most of the time!

No show would be complete without a gliding demo. Sandy, flying Alison's ASW 19, was duly towed to 3000' by Alan Totman in the Pawnee and released to the accompaniment of suitably gentle ballet music over the public address. His water dumping act was only eclipsed by the sheer volume of the Heyns company's mighty Mil 8 fire-fighting helicopter and the immaculate 1998 Airtractor "state of the art" turbine powered crop sprayer.

Of course it's always the noisemakers that steal these shows; in this case amply catered for by Stu Davidson in his LET L39, Peter Cilliers in his "ancient" 1963 Lear 23, and Ralph Garlic in a BAe Strikemaster. The prize for grace with pace must go to the Dassault Falcon which made a dramatic series of passes, demonstrating that these planes are capable of much more than a fast straight line from a to b with the company chairman on board.

The Stellenbosch club deserves to have made a few bucks off this spectacular show, as it really is something that will be remembered for a long time. So if you find me staring glassy-eyed into space while gently shaking the piggybank next to my ear, you'll know why.

It is striking to see, looking through the phone list, that only 15 members are listed who were with the club at the time of the big move to Worcester. Of those 15, some have all but faded off the scene as well. As most of the older crowd is no longer with us, perhaps some of the newer members would be interested to read this piece.

1988 was a memorable year for the Cape Gliding Club, as it was then that it finally moved permanently to Worcester, after being based at Fisantekraal for 36 years. Now after 11 continuous and successful years at Worcester, we can look back and trace the events that led up to the club becoming so well established here.

In June 1949 the club had been re-formed subsequent to it's disbandment at the outbreak of WW2, and was then called the Cape Peninsula Flying and Gliding Club. Flying started in December 1949 on a farm next to the Bottlarei Road at Koelenhof. This was mainly on a Grunau IX "A-frame" primary glider, using a Ford V8 powered winch fitted on an old International truck chassis.

1951 saw the club move to the farm of Groot Fisantekraal where members built a hangar, but stayed for only 10 months before moving to Fisantekraal Aerodrome in 1952. Auto-tow superseded winching here and the Granau IX was fitted with three wheelbarrow wheels. At this stage the fleet consisted of a Grunau IX, Grunau Baby II, Cadet, Wolf, Minimoa and a Tiger Moth tug.

Later, in March 1955, a Goevier two-seater was imported from Germany for £1050, of which £500 was donated by Sir Thomas Sopwith (of Camel fame).

Throughout the period that the club was operating at Fisantekraal it continued to be the dream of some members that the club would one-day move to a more suitable soaring site. To this end the hangar was designed and constructed such that it could easily be dismantled. The club was always looking for new sites. There were many occasions when a group of members would drive out to a prospective site in order to investigate its potential and safety aspects. Regular fly-outs to some of these sites were always good fun and broadened flying experience, though they were not always successful from a safety or soaring point of view.

The first visit to Worcester was on the Easter long weekend of 1956, but the weather produced only a great wind and lots of dust (doesn't that sound familiar? Things like this don't change). The members eventually packed up early and towed the Goevier home behind the Tiger on the Sunday.

The second time was in 1962, when there was to be an air show at Worcester, but as the tug pilot had been arrested in Cape Town for some "political" crime (not difficult in those days), there was no soaring.

The third and last unsuccessful visit to Worcester was in 1978/79 when a group of members went on a weekend "high performance" camp. The wind was so strong that after rigging only one glider, the Super Cub tug was sent back to Fisantekraal, there being no hangarage available and a front was clearly on the way. When the glider trailers were collected on the following weekend, the wind was still blowing! It was understandable that after these experiences there was little enthusiasm to return to Worcester.

In October 1985 a weekend camp was arranged for Piketberg. This had to be cancelled at the last minute owing to an unforeseen excavation across the runway, and as a last resort the venue was changed to Worcester, where CFI Koos Basson rolled out the red carpet for the club. This time the weather was perfect with no wind and thermals till sundown.

A month later it was tried again, with the same perfect results. And so it carried on.

At the following AGM, members mandated the committee to investigate the feasibility of relocating permanently to Worcester, and at a subsequent Special General Meeting, the members voted by 25 votes to 20 to move the entire operation permanently to Worcester. While this produced much muttering behind the scenes from an anti-Worcester lobby, things nevertheless went ahead.

The move was completed in two months, with only the hangar reconstruction forming part of a professional building contract. All the other work was carried out as part of a team effort by the members themselves, with a lot of support from the Worcester Flying Club.

So here we still are, though now with a fleet of nine club aircraft and a host of privately owned ones. Both the club and many of its members in their private capacities have invested a lot of capital into Worcester airfield, which has developed incredibly, and indeed is continuing to develop, from a semi-deserted small-town type air strip with only a club house and two hangars, to the well established little flying establishment that we have all come to love so dearly.

Trevor had a similar thunderstorm experience, in a way, to our own Trevor and Mark, as related in the February Krautkoerant. Here are his own words:

I was flying at 10000' with a pupil in a K13, watching a storm develop to the east of our field. Over the last 13 years I cannot recall a storm approaching the airfield from the east - they always approach from the west - strange. We flew towards the storm watching the lightning and a beautiful rainbow developing. Only then did I notice a lot of dust being lifted up in front of the storm, and as it was headed directly for our field, I decided to lose height and land. At this stage the storm was still about 15km away but as the situation looked serious, out came full airbrakes and down we went with a steady side-slip for good measure.

After losing about 3000' in about two minutes, we joined left-hand downwind at about 800', turning base, then final about 300 metres from the threshold, now at about 300'agl. Indicated airspeed at this stage was 120kph, but unknown to us, the wind speed on the ground had picked up to about 100kph, and had actually blown the plastic chairs at the launch point away! Up to this stage we had no idea that the wind speed was so strong as this is almost unheard of in the OFS. It then dawned on me that at 120kph our ground speed would be almost zero and at the rate we were descending, the chances of making it to the threshold were becoming remote. Below us the terrain was a mass of rocks and ant heaps, and as I eased the stick far forward, we were only about six to nine feet above the ground, fortunately with an airspeed of 150kph.

However, we were still over 200 metres away from the threshold. Fortunately ground-effect and a decrease in wind speed near the ground saw us narrowly make it and just squeak onto the runway with no airbrake. My pupil told me later that she had been praying for a safe return to terra firma, and I'm sure that must have saved the day.

A big lesson to us all - never underestimate the weather!

Lauren started her backpacking tour of South America in February. This will take her through parts of Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Equador. In Santiago she hopes to do some gliding at the local club and by mid-June will be in London to attend her brother’s wedding and do some special education teaching. The final trip will be a three-week vacation in the States before returning early in the new year and hopefully going solo soon thereafter.

Landing in Ushuaia at 10pm with the sun only having set half an hour previously, it is 6° C, having left Buenos Aires in a sweltering 36° C. I wake up on Friday to a beautiful sunrise over the Beagle Channel, with snow capped mountains in the background.

Day 3 in Ushuaia was spent walking 20km up the Martial Glacier. Made Lions Head seam like childs play and was exhausted when I returned.

Wow , wow, wow.. had the most awesome week. I went to El Calafete for three days hiking around the mountains of the Fitz Roy range. Although the weather was ‘bad’, it produced the most exquisite rainbow across the glacier for the entire three-hour walk. I hiked with a Canadian guy and Aussie gal to Fitz Roy itself and have never seen anything so beautiful in my life - as we reached the top the clouds opened up for us to see the snow-capped peaks. We set off for the Glacier Porito Moreno with the intention of seeing it by full moon which we not only did but spent the night in the reaches of the glaciers freezing tentacles of ice and watched the sunrise reflect its light on the glacier and clouds above. We slept on the walkways in front of the glacier - I had on thermal underwear, cotton long sleeved shirt, tracksuit, ski-pants, two pairs of socks, gloves boots and mittens and my feet inside a plastic bag - I was still cold but it was worth it.

The ecstasy of travel has been intruded by the agony of life. Whilst sailing on the ship from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt, we had a tragic event in which a 24 year old Swiss woman fell ill with stomach cramps on Saturday morning, and by 2am the next morning had passed away. It reminded me of the importance and beauty of the connections we have with people which are more majestic, more awesome, more wondrous and more important, than seeing the Moreno Glacier, the Fitz Roy range or the Torres del Paine. I was also reminded, during my supporting of Ursula, the sister, of my gratitude for the skills I have acquired through Life Training, and the reason why I want to be a trainer of the programme.

"Dave, I need your help, I bought a Piper Tri Pacer today and Toni will kill me if she finds out. Would you like to buy a half share and register the plane in your name."

The caller was Wim Leyte and the date 10^th February 1972. I didn’t have the R1200 for the half share but a contract was drawn up for payment over 12 months. I was now the proud co-owner of ZS-CET.

Now I have to tell you that "Charlie" was not a new aircraft, built in 1954 she had already seen 18 years of hard service. Basic engine instruments, a compass, an old Plessey valve VHF radio and an HF radio with a wind up trailing antenna left the panel looking rather bare. The Lycoming 0-320-A produced 150 HP and the only "optional extra" fitted was an auxiliary fuel tank, located under the rear seat. A glider tow hook was considered essential and was fitted before we took delivery.

My first solo flight had been in ’65 at Youngsfield but I only had about 12 hours power time. In those years glider time did not count, so the first objective was to complete my PPL. On Friday 29^th September ‘72 the mailman delivered my PPL.

My ever-trusting wife, Sheila, who had been my first passenger in a glider, agreed on the following day to be my first passenger in "Charlie". We decided on a flight from Fisantekraal around the Peninsula. As we were taxiing to runway 21, Hubert Spaun asked if he could come along for the ride. After Hubert had strapped himself in the seat behind the pilot, we took off and after obtaining clearance from ATC, proceeded on a clockwise Peninsula round trip. By the time we were at Fish Hoek we were a bit bored and decided to skip Cape Point and proceed directly to Kommetjie.

Llew Strydom at that time kept his yacht at Hout Bay so we decided to have a look to see if he was on board. A low-level inspection of the harbour showed no signs of life on board "Mary Ellen". We then set up for a slow southerly climb out over the bay, perhaps there would be something worth seeing at Sandy Bay.

At about 1000 ft, over the sea almost exactly between the heads, a strange crunching noise was heard from the direction of the Lycoming followed by a sharp drop in RPM and a smoke trail that could even be seen from the cockpit. This sort of situation is no problem at all to a pilot, after all I had recently completed my training and had learnt all about emergency situations and how to deal with them.

The Tri Pacer is often described as "a flying milk-stool". As an owner I was a bit hurt by this description, but expecting to be a glider at any second, I decided it must be the similarity in glide angle that had given rise to this quaint description. Training dictates that you take stock of the situation, determine the worst case scenario, decide on a plan of action and execute that plan. Full throttle gave us about 1500 RPM, enough to give us about a 1 in 15 glide angle. Unfortunately something was being picked up every few seconds by rotating parts of the engine and the chance of maintaining even reduced engine power seemed very slim. Our action plan would have to assume that the engine would quit at any moment.

Beckoning straight ahead was Long Beach at Kommetjie, kilometres of deserted flat beach, if the motor quit, we would not even make half way. Behind us was Hout Bay with a beach packed with people enjoying the spring sunshine, also beyond engine off glide angle. On both sides, within glide distance were shear cliffs and a large swell that we had seen clearly during our recent low level inspection of the harbour. The decision was to turn west and keep within gliding range of the shore, hoping that the prop kept turning long enough to get us clear of the cliffs and closer to the harbour area.

Sheila and Hubert were informed of the action plan and told to prepare for a wet landing, remove shoes and jerseys etc. At this point we sent out a Mayday on VHF. The Plessey valve set was U/S at the time and we were carrying a portable base station. Our low altitude and the mountains around us plus the internal aerial meant that no one heard our call and we decided to concentrate on flying the plane.

The few minutes it took to return to Hout Bay seemed like hours but luck was on our side and the Lycoming kept grinding away. Overhead the harbour we had enough height to make a decision on landing. The car-park was full of cars, the roads were not suitable, so I made the decision to fly a right hand downwind leg over the land, followed by a right base leg and final, planning to ditch in the surf at the west end of the beach as there did not appear to be any swimmers in this area.

This information was duly conveyed to the passengers. Hubert then informed us that he could not swim and made the suggestion that we land on the golf course. The pilot decided that water was preferable to trees and assured the passengers that we would land in shallow water and they would be able to wade ashore.

Downwind checks were completed and the passengers requested to open their doors and get ready to brace themselves. The Tri Pacer has door locks similar to a car, a knob that you pull to unlock. As we turn on to final, Hubert sticks his hand, clutching the door lock knob, under my nose and informs me that it is broken. After assuring him that the door will still open I instruct the passengers to brace themselves for "landing".

In those days there was no yacht club on the beach but there was a small river ran out down near the harbour end. This small area of beach between the river and the harbour wall was therefore clear except for a Hoby-Cat on a dolly that was about to be launched. The gentleman launching this craft saw us, presumably assumed we were aiming at him, and disappeared at high speed up the beach, single handed, with Hoby-Cat in tow.

A 10-degree adjustment to starboard would put us on dry land. Two problems had to be overcome, firstly we would have to clear the small river before touchdown and secondly we had to stop before the harbour wall. Not wanting to get wet I decided that we could ground loop after landing, one wing in the sand would slow us down before hitting the wall.

Short final, full flaps, this needs to be a fully stalled landing on the spot just after the river. Looking good, hold off, start the flare, that’s strange, the seat is moving! The rear seat passenger is dutifully bracing himself with his feet against the back of my seat. No time now to enter into a discussion about this state of affairs, all I can do is exhale, make myself as small as possible, and hug the wheel to my body.

The main wheels touch down with the nose still high, barely a metre past the river. Now comes the decision, do we need to ground loop or not. The Tri Pacer does not have independent wheel brakes leaving only rudder and wheel steering control, for this we need some speed. For the third time that day we get lucky, the sand is softer than I had thought and the large 600x6 nose wheel shows no sign of digging in, in spite of locking the main wheels with the single lever brake. We come to a stop less than three metres from the harbour wall.

The mood of the occupants of "Charlie" changes dramatically, Sheila produces a camera and photographs are taken. An elderly gentleman shakes his cane walking stick at us while admonishing us on our reckless behaviour, we never did get a chance to explain that we were not there by choice. By this time a fair crowd has gathered, and in the crowd I see our close friend Llew Strydom. Apart from being a yachtsman, Llew is also a pilot and I can’t understand why he is watching us from a distance and not offering assistance. I go over and greet him. "I saw you fly over from my house with smoke pouring out of your engine and land on the beach and thought that can only be Dave Starke. Now I want to see you take off with that sick engine."

With help from Llew we move the aircraft to the parking area and tie down for the night. The local police agree to post a guard until we collect the aircraft (try that today). Back to Llew and Pat for a very welcome bite to eat and a drink. Hubert polishes off a bottle of brandy all on his own and still seems sober.

Sunday morning Wim and I collect George Balne of Cape Aero Services and we remove the wings and nose-wheel. The wings are loaded onto one Volkswagen bakkie and the fuselage towed on the main wheels to DF Malan airport. The problem turns out to be a broken valve, which has made a hole through a piston.

This was the first of many adventures we had during our "Travels with Charlie". If your editor likes this one, we will report the next exciting episode. (Yes, I do like it! ed.)

Yes, it's a true story. Two school boys from Fish Hoek, unhappy with their home lives and wanting to "run away" to Johannesburg, broke into the club hangar, stole the Motorfalke and headed east over the mountains, landing at Robertson where a kind petrol station manager helped them to re-fuel.

Shortly after take-off from Robertson, the young pilot became concerned by the high oil temperature, and proceeded to put down in a field 30km from Worcester, the landing going very well until a fence "just popped up" in front, during the hold-off. The Motorfalke was extensively damaged, but the pilot and co-pilot were unhurt.

As it was a bone fide theft, the insurance company paid out and the result was a totally rebuilt Motorfalke. DCA (the forerunner of CAA) pressed charges, but as no representative from that august government body bothered to appear at the subsequent hearing, the boys were acquitted. We heard later that the pilot continued his part-time career, but concentrated his efforts on motor cars.

In case you are wondering, the year was 1988, the scene of the crime, Fisantekraal.

A new list of club rates has just been drawn up. Charges have been carefully tailored with a view to keeping costs to a minimum, while also ensuring that aircraft cover their own costs. These rates are applicable from 1st May, and the new list is on the back page of this newsletter.

Please note that owing to increased usage of GIG, the syndicate system will cease at the end of June. Thereafter the aircraft will be charged out at normal rates only.

Please note also that in order to try and arrest the alarming escalation in the incidence of damage to club equipment, the committee will be holding the persons responsible liable for repair costs where damage is deemed to result from irresponsible action.

Adapted from the BGA Instructor’s Manual.

We often hear people saying that someone showed "good airmanship" in certain circumstances or indeed failed to do so. What do we mean by "good airmanship?"

Airmanship includes a good lookout, considerate behaviour in the air, keeping ahead of events, and being courteous to other air users. It is not carrying a parcel by the string. It is not only protecting ourselves from harm but avoiding putting others at risk and being helpful to them as well. Airmanship is good manners and caution, it is not aggressive behaviour or "bad mouthing" people on the radio. Good airmanship means that nothing very dramatic happens – it goes unnoticed. It is at its most obvious when it is absent.

Assess your physical and psychological condition before you fly. You can use this mnemonic as a reminder.

Illness. It may sound obvious but you do not have to be a hospital case to be too ill to fly safely. Even a mild headache may interfere with your concentration. Blocked ears or nose, or upset gut may all distract you from doing what you should be doing. If unwell don’t fly.

Medication. Drugs can cause drowsiness, altered vision or nausea and may produce allergic reactions. Why did you need the drug in the first place? Remember that many over-the-counter cold and flu remedies may produce these symptoms as well as prescription drugs. So-called "recreational drugs" are used because they alter your brain function – do not fly within 48 hours of using any of these agents. (Dagga, cocaine heroin etc etc.).

Stress. Recreational pilots often use flying to unwind and relax. Leave your troubles behind when you fly otherwise you may find yourself in some more different and even worse troubles. Any mental preoccupation that prevents you from concentrating on flying puts you at risk. Preoccupation with anything else will replace the essential concentration on your flying with whatever is weighing on your mind. Emotional stress can make you preoccupied and leave you vulnerable to mistakes that might be dangerous.

Alcohol. Alcohol interferes with co-ordination and judgement, and nobody who is sober will dispute this. The old "8 hours from bottle to throttle" really only applies to small amounts of alcohol (1 or just possibly 2 drinks in the evening). The military demand 24 hours between the last drink and flying. Remember that a hangover leaves you markedly impaired for flying.

Fatigue. Have you slept well and are you rested? Remember that a large number of launches on a day may (will) leave you feeling very tired.

Familiarity. Are you in current flying practise? Are you familiar with the site and aircraft type? Have you read the aircraft manual? Recently? Ever? If in doubt get a check ride.

You’re healthy – Is the glider? DI done? Thoroughly? Have you done a walk around? Positive control checks done?

Eating. Have you eaten – you may become hypoglycaemic – a low blood sugar can impair concentration and may even lead to loss of consciousness. Food poisoning won’t help. Remember that it is very easy to become dehydrated particularly in a warm climate.

Recently there has been a spate of unnecessary "accidents" with the tug which could all easily have been avoided. This has resulted in heavy financial losses to the club. In order to discuss these issues, a tug pilots’ meeting will be held on Monday 3^rd May at the Stellenbosch Flying Club at 19.00hrs. It is expected that ALL tuggies will be present at the meeting.

In the meantime, will all tuggies please take the necessary steps to ensure the safe and efficient operation of our tug.

In closing I would like to thank the tuggies for their time and effort with regard to the performance of tug duties.

As regards duty pilots, this year has so far been very difficult, with members swopping duties without notifying the CDP. It is imperative that you let me know with whom you have swopped, otherwise I end up phoning three or four other people before I find who is really on duty.

It is an actual fact that the club's entire activities, as well as the success of the day's flying, is in the hands of the duty pilot.

We now start flying at 9.30am. Everyone who wants to fly on that particular day must participate on the flight line, not merely park your glider at the launch point and disappear for a swim or something else, then return and expect to get a launch just because their name is on the list. You are expected to assist other gliders in some way.

The new Flight Control Centre is unfortunately being sadly neglected. I would like every duty pilot, at the beginning of their particular day, to please sweep it out and give it a clean - treat as if it were a glider, and chamois down the shelves and surfaces. Also, please report any damage or flat batteries to me, as it is infuriating for the next day's duty pilot to turn up and find things dirty or unserviceable.

The aim this year is to get activity levels up again (hence the earlier start time), and also get our breakages and damages down. It will be tough to begin with but with everybody's participation, we can pull it off. We all have a lot of energy, so lets really get things moving!

Do remember that you are ONLY on duty once every three or four months, and as I said before, on that day you are an extremely important person. If you don't pitch for your duty, without at least arranging for a stand-in, the ensuing chaos you cause on the flight line will be viewed in a most serious light. It shouldn't be necessary to say these things, but in the light of a few bad experiences recently, it has nevertheless become necessary.

Please look at this in the positive way it is intended.

Damage incurred to club equipment: First R2000,00 of repair or insurance excess (at Committee discretion).

Fines: At Committee discretion (after one warning).

Note: All rates are subject to change without notice. E&OE