From the Front Desk

Overdue Accounts
Please note that we will this week start blocking members with overdue accounts from access to the club and its aeroplanes. Please settle your overdue accounts as soon as possible. Contact accounts@capetownflyinfclub.co.za or (021) 934-0257.

Latest Rates
Some of you may have noticed that the Tomahawk rates have increased slightly due to fuel prices. Please see all updated membership & aircraft rates on the club website!

Telephone List
We've put together a list of telephone numbers in printer-friendly format for members to print, fold and keep in their wallet or license booklets. It includes numbers for instructors, fuel, ATC, emergency services etc. Please click here for your copy!

Club Rules
The Cape Town Flying Club rules & regulations are now available on our website. Please make sure you are familiar with these.

Safety Meeting: Weather Office Q&A

All members are invited to a safety meeting this Thursday evening, 28 February @ 18:30 at the club. The topic will be meteorology, with a question & answer session hosted by the weather office. Members are reminded that it is compulsory to attend at least two safety meetings a year.

State of the Fleet

KFV is having a good polishing done today, and all our aircraft should be sporting a nice shiny exterior (and extra airspeed!) soon. PMY is back in business and KSS will be back later this week, both having undergone landing gear surgery.

All the other aircraft are flying.

PPL Course Dates

If you would like to attend a course, please inform Beverly on (021) 934-0257. Limited space is available.

Deal Alliance Courses

1. Deal Alliance is holding the commercial ground school from 5th May to 4th July. Full time classes from 0700 - 1300. Download registration forms from the website www.dealalliance.co.za.
2. For those pilots who require Language Proficiency Ratings in accordance with the latest CAA amendment to the Part 61 Regulations, the relevant registration form can be found on the Deal Alliance website. Please note the changes that CAA has made to the Language Rating requirements. This amendment can be found on the CAA website www.caa.co.za
3. Deal Alliance will be holding an Initial CRM course on the 4th and 5th March
4. Deal Alliance will be holding a CRM Refresher on the 3rd March
   Registration forms to be downloaded from the Deal Alliance website.
5. General Radio Licence course and practical testing will be held in April. Date to be advised on website.

Aviation News

New Country, New Cities and New Pilot announced at the launch of the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series
Submitted by Alexia Michaelides

NEW COUNTRY, NEW CITIES AND NEW PILOT ANNOUNCED AT THE LAUNCH OF THE 2008 RED BULL AIR RACE WORLD SERIES

Sweden was today unveiled as the latest country to host a round of the incredible Red Bull Air Race World Series. The announcement that a race will be held in Stockholm for the first time was made by Bernd Loidl (CEO RBAR GmbH) in the dramatic surrounds of Hangar-7 at Salzburg Airport in Austria.

Bids from around the world were considered before the final calendar was decided. For the first time, Detroit will appear as the second city in America to host a round of the 2008 World Series. Valencia will also make its debut, marking a return to Spain. In addition Rotterdam is back on the calendar after a successful Red Bull Air Race in the Dutch city in 2005.

Ten cities in all will make up the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series calendar with the traditional season opener in Abu Dhabi on the 10th and 11th of April. The remaining cities, who all hosted a round in 2007, are San Diego, London, Budapest, Porto and Perth.

“This is an exciting time for the Red Bull Air Race World Series. With an adapted race format, a selection of spectacular and diverse host cities and the world’s best pilots ready to battle it out, I’m looking forward to an incredible 2008 season,” said Loidl.

Each race will comprise two days of competition: Qualifying and Race Day. A new race format will see all twelve pilots compete on Race Day for the first time.

South African Glen Dell will make his debut in the Red Bull Air Race World Series in 2008, with Dutchman Frank Versteegh and German Klaus Schrodt retiring from the sport. Dell, an aerobatic legend and past winner of the World Aerobatics Championships will be the pilot who takes to the skies and will represent South Africa in this premier race series. “Of course participating in the Red Bull Air Races is the ultimate culmination of an aviation sporting dream, is not something you can learn on a flight simulator,” commented Dell on his inclusion.

This means that twelve of the world’s top pilots will contest the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Series flying through the challenging, twisting race tracks just metres above the ground with points awarded for the fastest times and least number of penalties.

The overall winner will be crowned Red Bull Air Race World Champion after the season finale in Perth, Australia in November.

In 2007, there were four million spectators at the ten races held worldwide and over 400 million watched on television. In the Red Bull Air Race the world’s best pilots reach speeds of 400 km/h, enduring forces of up to 10 Gs as they navigate a low-level aerial race track made up of air-filled pylons.

South African to compete in Red Bull Air Races
Submitted by Alexia Michaelides

South Africa’s Glen Dell will make his debut in the Red Bull Air Race this season with nearly 30 years of flying experience under his belt. But the South Africa Air Force veteran and commercial pilot knows that he will still be light years behind the other Red Bull Air Race pilots at first because there is no substitute for World Series race experience.

“Experience counts hugely,” said Dell, 45. “I expect that the pilots who have been racing for four years and more will make up most of the top places with the odd podium being taken by a less experienced RBAR pilot.” The Red Bull Air Race is not something you can learn on a flight simulator. “As the new pilot in 2008, I’ll try to learn the ropes from the experienced pilots and from the managers and race directors as well.”

Despite all his flying experience, Dell has a modest set of targets for 2008: “My goal is to learn as much as possible in 2008 and be considered a competent Red Bull Air Race pilot with the potential to do well in 2009.” He said one good omen may be the new format in 2008, which he senses could give him a slight advantage. “I believe that the 2008 format may be advantageous to the less experienced pilots”.

Dell, the son of an airline pilot, had his first flight lesson at the age of 16. He was in the South Africa Air Force from 1980 and that’s where flying became his passion. After eight years flying helicopters, Dell switched over into the cockpit of a commercial airline in 1988. He has more than 23,000 hours in 250 different types of aircraft, including Boeing 747s, 767s and 737s as well as Airbus A340s. He also works as an airline instructor.

Dell was born in Johannesburg and grew up on a farm in Queenstown, South Africa. He has three sisters. He now lives in Saddlebrook, Kyalami, a village midway between Johannesburg and Pretoria. He said he feels most “at home” at his home airfield “Kitty Hawk”, east of Pretoria.

An experienced aerobatics pilot, Dell won 20 titles at the South African championships between 1985 and 2005, crowning his aerobatic achievements in 2004 with the Advanced World Aerobatic Championship title in Sweden.

He has been eager to break into the Red Bull Air Race World Series for several years now and is delighted that he is finally getting the chance in 2008.

“I’m really looking forward to being part of possibly the most dynamic team in modern sport,” said Dell, who attended the Training Camp and remembers the “insane feeling” flying through the four gates of the Quadro the first time. “I’m also looking forward to visiting some of the most beautiful cities in the world and complementing in any way I can the success of the Red Bull Air Race in 2008. I think the growing popularity of the race stems from the dynamic concept and the work done by the whole team to present it in such a professional and crowd-pleasing manner. I’m naturally very proud to be part of the team this year.”

Red Bull Air Race World Series results

New to Red Bull Air Race

Flying achievements

8 times South Africa National Aerobatic Champ. Advanced
2004 Advanced World Aerobatic Champ, Sweden

Aviation History

Hiding an Airplane Factory
Submitted by Anthony Berkow

During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting and trompe l'oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.

The Student Pilot

Contributed by Steve Davies

Steve Davies is busy with his PPL at CTFC with Tony Russel. After every lesson, he writes his impressions and thoughts on the flight. Although initially just for his facebook profile, they make excellent and highly entertaining reading. Every week we will present one of Steve's "Facebook notes"

Entry 9: Dual Check

The pic (on the left) is Fisantekraal taken from a Comair 737 on the way back from Joburg.  I’d noticed incoming jets to the south of the field whilst doing circuits, and my seat was on the right side of the aircraft.  So I had my camera at the ready in case we got a view.  And this shot is the result.

At Cape Town Flying Club, students must do a flight with a “guest” instructor every ten hours. (Not sure it that’s just club policy, or part of the the standard PPL rules). The idea is mainly to check that your instructor is doing a good job, but its also nice for the student to get some different input from someone else.

I’d actually flown a bit past ten hours; Peter Erasmus and I were going to fly the week before but that didn’t happen. Why? Maybe 50% the weather and 50% the effect of OMG-it’s-early. But Sunday afternoon we got it together and headed off, as usual, to Fisantekraal to continue my very slow progress to decent landings...

We had yet another windy day, north-westerly wind giving us a bit of left cross-wind on runway 01. If I say so myself, my radio work was good - I think I sounded like I knew what I was about, so we were cleared to take off in between two commercial jets, with an early right turn.

The flying was bumpy, especially in the lee of the Tygerberg hill. What definitely put me in my place, though, was when Peter invited me to take my hands off the controls briefly. The result was the aircraft flying more smoothly by itself than when I was in control. I’m sure that’s not the effect we’re going for!

I’m also not using the trimmer well, which leaves the aircraft wanting to climb or descend. Trimming properly leave the aircraft properly balanced so it will naturally fly level. In my defence, the trims on the various Tomahawks do vary quite a bit. Tomahawk trim works with springs, and some of them are quite sproingy and hard to use. Other aircraft have trim tabs which are little mini elevators in the elevators. These “proper” elevators trims are nicer to use than the Tomahawks’ springs.

At Fisantekraal runway 32 was in use. I remember that I overdid my dead-side descent, coming down rather fast and arriving at 1200 feet above sea level quite a while before crossing the runway threshold.

As for the circuits - well the circuit part was fine. As Peter said afterwards, all my mistakes are coming in the last 10 seconds before landing: Too much flare resulting in balloons. too tentative with the rudder resulting in landing squiff. 

One weird thing about landings that I’m still trying to get instinctive is this: As you descend towards the runway you have four main things to keep under control: the first is getting the aircraft tracking along the runway centre line (ie, flying “straight”). That’s done as you’d expect with the ailerons, co-ordinating with the rudder (if you remember to do that...). Second you need to get lined up pointing straight down the runway. If there’s a cross-wind, the aircraft will naturally point somewhat into that crosswind and actually flies in what’s called a crab. You don’t want to land in a crab. You straighten things up with a good shove of the appropriate rudder pedal as you are about to touch down, with some opposite aileron to avoid turning the aircraft.

The third and fourth things are your speed, and your “aiming point” where you plan to have the aircraft ready to touch down. This is where things get weird. Speed? Obviously the throttle, right? Everyone knows you put your foot down to go faster. Aiming point? Obviously you change that by using the elevator to change where the nose is pointing. Only thing is that that’s wrong - it actually works backwards: To change your speed you raise or lower the nose. To move your aiming point closer or away you adjust the throttle. There is interaction of course - but thinking of it this way round works well if you aren’t too far off the right speed and angle of descent.

Peter suggested imagining that your throttle - a lever in your right hand - controls the aiming point. Move it away from you (giving more power) and your touchdown point will move away. And vice-versa.

So I think all I can say about the circuits is that I’m still learning and don’t feel I’ve really got it yet. Not saying I’m not making progress, but I do feel a bit stuck.

So spare a thought for me.

Oh - by the way - I sent off for my student pilot’s licence. That permits me to fly solo when my instructor says I’m ready. Your first solo is quite a milestone for any student! But I think I’ll have to get these pesky landings right first.

Steve

Aviation Incidents

Stuck in an F-22
Submitted by Anthony Berkow

Last week, Lockheed Martin announced that its profits were up a hefty 60 percent in the first quarter. The company earned $591 million in profit on revenues of $9.2 billion. Now, if the company could just figure out how to put a door handle on its new $361 million F-22 fighter, its prospects would really soar.
On April 10, at Langley Air Force Base, an F-22 pilot, Capt. Brad Spears, was locked inside the cockpit of his aircraft for five hours. No one in the U.S. Air Force or from Lockheed Martin could figure out how to open the aircraft's canopy. At about 1:15 PM, Chainsaw-wielding firefighters from the 1st Fighter Wing finally extracted Spears after they cut through the F-22's three-quarter inch-thick polycarbonate canopy.

Total damage to the airplane, according to sources inside the Pentagon: $1.28 million. Not only did the firefighters ruin the canopy, which cost $286,000, they also scuffed the coating on the airplane's skin which will cost about $1 million to replace.

The Pentagon currently plans to buy 181 copies of the F-22 from Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest weapons vendor. The total price tag: $65.4 billion.

The incident at Langley has many Pentagon watchers shaking their heads. Tom Christie, the former director of testing and evaluation for the DOD, calls the F-22 incident at Langley “incredible.' 'God knows what'll happen next,' said Christie, who points out that the F-22 has about two million lines of code in its software system. 'This thing is so software intensive. You can’t check out every line of code.'

Now, just for the sake of comparison, Windows XP, one of the most common computer operating systems, contains about 45 million lines of code. But if any of that code fails, then the computer that's running it simply stops working. It won't cause that computer to fall out of the sky. If any of the F-22's two million lines of computer code go bad, then the pilot can die, or, perhaps, just get trapped in the cockpit.

One analyst inside the Pentagon who has followed the F-22 for years said that 'Everyone's incredulous. They're asking “can this really have happened?' As for Lockheed Martin, the source said, 'Whatever the problem was, the people who built it should know how to open the canopy.'

Given that the U.S. Military is Lockheed Martin’s biggest client, perhaps the company could provide the Air Force with a supply of slim Jims or coat hangers, just in case another F-22 pilot gets stuck at the controls.

As if the latest canopy shenanigans weren't bad enough, on May 1, Defense News reported that there are serious structural problems with the F-22. Seems the titanium hull of the aircraft isn't meshing as well as it should. Naturally, taxpayers have to foot the bill for the mistake (improper heat-treating of the titanium) which is found on 90 aircraft. The cost of repairing those wrinkles? Another $1 billion or so.

Lockheed Martin’s F-22 spokesman, Joe Quimby, did not return telephone calls.

Source: http://www.counterpunch.org/...

Cathay Chief 777 pilot fired after low-level flypast stunt
Submitted by John Nicholas

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has fired a senior pilot for carrying out an unauthorised low-level flypast in Seattle during the delivery flight of a Boeing 777-300ER last month.

The incident took place on 30 January at Everett Airport immediately after Cathay took delivery of the new 777-300ER. After takeoff for Hong Kong the captain – chief 777 pilot Ian Wilkinson - returned the aircraft to the airfield and made a low-level flypast with the landing gear up.

One industry source close to Cathay tells flightglobal.com that the aircraft was at just 28ft-30ft above the ground.

On board were around 50 or 60 people, according to another industry source, including Cathay chairman Christopher Pratt.

Cathay confirms that “the pilot in command of the flight concerned had been dismissed as he had not sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by. A second pilot involved has also been subject to disciplinary proceedings. Both disciplinary actions are subject to an appeals process”.

The airline adds that “Cathay Pacific has a well established approval process for fly-bys and a number had been conducted in the past as display flights at air shows with proper approval in place.

“The approval process was not followed in this case, resulting in disciplinary actions. Following the incident, Cathay Pacific has issued a notice to all cockpit crew reminding them of the company’s policy for conducting fly-bys.”

Cathay says it is still conducting an internal investigation into the incident, “including the collection of flight data, and interviews with the crew involved”.

It also says it has “taken the initiative to inform the Civil Aviation Department of the case and a report will be submitted to the department once the investigation is complete”.

The first officer was not dismissed as he reportedly did not know permission had not been obtained for the manoeuvre but he has been removed from training duties for six months.Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has fired a senior pilot for carrying out an unauthorised low-level flypast in Seattle during the delivery flight of a Boeing 777-300ER last month.

The incident took place on 30 January at Everett Airport immediately after Cathay took delivery of the new 777-300ER. After takeoff for Hong Kong the captain – chief 777 pilot Ian Wilkinson - returned the aircraft to the airfield and made a low-level flypast with the landing gear up.

One industry source close to Cathay tells flightglobal.com that the aircraft was at just 28ft-30ft above the ground.

On board were around 50 or 60 people, according to another industry source, including Cathay chairman Christopher Pratt.

Cathay confirms that “the pilot in command of the flight concerned had been dismissed as he had not sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by. A second pilot involved has also been subject to disciplinary proceedings. Both disciplinary actions are subject to an appeals process”.

The airline adds that “Cathay Pacific has a well established approval process for fly-bys and a number had been conducted in the past as display flights at air shows with proper approval in place.

“The approval process was not followed in this case, resulting in disciplinary actions. Following the incident, Cathay Pacific has issued a notice to all cockpit crew reminding them of the company’s policy for conducting fly-bys.”

Cathay says it is still conducting an internal investigation into the incident, “including the collection of flight data, and interviews with the crew involved”.

It also says it has “taken the initiative to inform the Civil Aviation Department of the case and a report will be submitted to the department once the investigation is complete”.

The first officer was not dismissed as he reportedly did not know permission had not been obtained for the manoeuvre but he has been removed from training duties for six months.

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/...

Videos

Paid for whole runway, will use whole runway
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWtdtuspnoM
Submitted by John Nicholas

South African Gripen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGgIbPt7hXE
Submitted by John Nicholas

Promotion: Kagga Kamma Easter Special

Fly in to experience the untouched Cederberg wilderness for only R1990 per person for 2 nights - all meals and trips included. Spend an optional third night in our luxury open-air room - only R500 p.p. extra.

4-star lodge with accommodation in luxury air-conditioned "caves" & huts. Game/nature drives, ancient rock paintings, sundowners overlooking the Ceres Karoo, quad bike safaris, 4x4 routes & hiking trails, stargazing, health & beauty salon.

Weather permitting and subject to availability, Valid until 31 March 2008. 50% discount on normal ratest to local Senior Citizens on weekdays.

www.kaggakamma.co.za - info@kaggakamma.co.za - Tel: (021) 872 4343 - Fax: (021) 872 452