Last month we had our Club AGM at the Public Schools Club.  The encumbent Council members agreed to stand again and were duly elected. In addition we had Barry Windle nominated and he too has joined the club council making a total of seven members. At the council meeting following the AGM the council agreed that all the council positions would remain unchanged.

They are: President- Steve Nelson; Secretary, Sonex & Hangar Manager- Chris Moore; Treasurer, Membership and Public Officer- Greg Tabe; Website and Newsletter-Chris Dearden;  Audio Visual and Council Meeting Host- Rob Wintulich; Meals- Bob Scrymgour and Barry Windle. Barry also holds a position on the RAAUS National Board which is significant for our club interests.

Last week my wife, Dominie and I, flew to Echuca for the annual Antique Aircraft Association of Australia Flyin. This year the special theme was the 80^th anniversary of the first flight of the Auster for which 22 of the type turned up. A total of 135 aircraft visited over the weekend with at least 8 Tiger Moths and 5 Chipmunks in the mix.

The highlights for me were two genuine antiques in the 1929 Curtis Robin and a 1927 Westland Wigeon owned by entepreneur Dick Smith. The Wigeon took out Grand Champion Antique and the Robin won the President’s Choice.

The AAAA always put on great event and later this year, on October 11-13^th they will host another flyin close to home at Clare Valley Airport. Whether you fly or drive to it, it will be a great opportunity to see some superbly restored and maintained old aircraft.

Those of you who were at last months club meeting will know that Michael Crossley, our club chef resigned and has left the Public Schools Club along with his staff who manned the bar and served meals. I know you will all agree with me that he provided excellent meals and service.

The Public Schools Club committee have struggled to find a replacement chef and staff so they have taken the decision to close for 3 months or more to carry out significant renovations to the building.

We hope to be able to return there once renovations are complete and new staff have been found.

In the meantime meetings for the next 4 months will be at The Edinburgh Hotel, High Street Bar, 7 High St. Mitcham. Meals will continue to be ordered online with a choice of 5 mains. See below for details, including amended pricing.

After July the council will review the situation at the Public Schools Club.

The speaker for April is Ziggy Kusiak, an RAAF Aviation Medical doctor and husband of Marta Najfeld who was our guest speaker last October. Ziggy will be speaking about “Aviation medicine and the GA pilot”. It will also include discussion about health issues we need to be aware of as we age. It should be very interesting.

The council have managed to line up some interesting speakers for the next few months. In May, member Mike Holtby will speak about his RAF service in the 1950s. In June we have Steve Johnson, local DH82 pilot, who will speak about ownership and operation of the ubiquitous Tiger Moth. 2019 celebrates the centenary of the Smith brothers epic England to Australia flight in under 30 days. In July aviation historian Mike Miln will speak to us about that flight.

For those of you who have not yet paid your annual membership fees they are now due. Please arrange payment of $75 online (details on the club website), or by cash to treasurer Greg Tabe at the next meeting.

On Sunday April 14^th the club will be doing another Bunnings BBQ fundraiser at Kent Town. We are still looking for one more volunteer. If you can help then please contact Greg Tabe.

In closing it is my sad duty to inform you that Stephen Dines, CASA inspector of experimental aircraft passed away on March 22^nd. Many of you will have had dealings with him during the construction of your aircraft projects. He had a huge amount of expertise and will be sadly missed.

Blue skies,

Steve

A mile of road will take you a mile, a mile of runway will take you anywhere.

I hope you have all had relaxing holidays and an enjoyable start to the new year.
Our last club event for 2018 was the Flyin BBQ at Murray Bridge on December 16th.
We had 30+ persons roll up along with several aircraft including Greg Tabe’s brand new Bristel, looking very sharp in it’s yellow, black and white livery and leather seats.

There was also a decent turnout in beautiful weather conditions for the annual American River flyin on Kangaroo Island last week. I saw about 20 aircraft there including the aircraft of club members Chris Moore, Greg Robertson, Ted King, Chris Dearden, Steve Nelson and Geoff Constantine.
Your club council has already had their first meeting for 2019 last week and have started event planning for 2019.

To get things started let’s have a look at what is coming up in the near future.

On February 9 the Southern Districts Flying Club are hosting a CASA Safety seminar at Strathalbyn.

On February 15-17 Oz runways are hosting another seminar at the Mt Gambier Aero Club Flyin following their successful event in Clare last year. Details can be found here or the club calendar.

The biennial Avalon Airshow is on again this year, less than four weeks away on 1-3rd March. If you have not yet seen this show you need to get it on your bucket list as it is the largest airshow in the southern hemisphere. A combined civil, military and industry trade show, there is something for everyone. The Friday night airshow is very special if you have never seen a night airshow. Details here.

Following positive feedback from last years event the council decided that we would revisit Swan Hill for a simple fly away weekend on 6-7 April. The distance is not far and there are plenty of good accommodation options. We would arrive early Saturday afternoon, enjoy an early dinner together before going to the Pioneer Settlement for the evening “Heartbeat of the Murray” laser light show.

Following breakfast on Sunday (and a sleep in due to daylight saving ending) we would head out to visit the very attractive Lake Boga and the Flying Boat Museum. After that we would be dropped at the airport to fly home or via Nhill to check out the aircraft museum there. You just need to let me know if you are coming and book your own hotel accommodation.

Guest speakers lined up for the next three months are:
February 13th : Paul Baishont “Navigating the ATC system”.
March 13th AGM : Rob Wintulich “Scout Jamboree air activities at Tailem Bend”.
April 10th : Ziggy Kusiak “Aviation and your health”.

Please be reminded that the 2019 membership fees are now due. The cost is $75 each which can be paid at the February club meeting or directly into the club’s bank account. If you choose the latter option please remember to add your surname in the comments box. Don’t forget also if you introduce a new member who subsequently joins, you will receive a $25 refund on your membership fee.

The club AGM is held in March and nominations are now open for members to join the council. Some council members have held positions for a long time so we would welcome new blood and a fresh perspective. Also, if you have any agenda items for the AGM please send them to the secretary, Chris Moore.

Blue skies,

Steve

To invent an aeroplane is nothing, to build one is something, to fly one is everything.
-Otto Lilienthal, Pioneer aircraft builder

Forty five members and their guests enjoyed a fun filled Christmas dinner at the Public Schools club on November 23rd.

The venue was very nicely decorated in the Christmas spirit with a superb 3 course dinner prepared by our chef Michael Crossley.

There were raffle prizes galore with an almost 1 in 3 chance of winning. Thanks to all those who donated prizes. Chris Moore conducted an aviation quiz that had even the experts thinking hard!

The winner of the Best Aircraft award this year went to Ted and Milton King for their truly unique Lightning Bug. A diminutive aircraft in size but capable of better than 180 knots in the cruise. Once flight testing is complete we will have a better idea of it’s true capability.

On November 24th I flew to Clare Valley airport for an Angel Flight fund raising seminar hosted by Oz Runways. I flew there in my Onex on it’s first long distance flight. I received numerous favourable comments from those who had not seen it before. In all about 30 aircraft and almost 100 people attended.

There was a briefing from Oz Runways staff about the latest features of their App following a major update. This was followed by talk from Marjorie Pagani, CEO of Angel Flight Australia, about the vital work done by Angel Flight Pilots to benefit the country and outback communities. If you own a production built light aircraft and enjoy cross country flying you really could help out by flying patients from remote areas to the city for medical appointments. Please consider volunteering. You will be reimbursed your fuel costs.

The signature speaker at Clare was Matt Hall, of Red Bull Air Race fame. His talk consisted of a race by race commentary of the 2018 season he had just completed, finishing runner up for the third time. A fascinating insight into the life of air racing, complete with his own in cockpit videos of each race.

The view from the cockpit clearly demonstrated just how demanding this sport really is. Entering the course at 200 knots, flying 30 feet above the ground, rolling at 400 degrees per second and pulling up to 12g is not for the faint hearted! The top competitors are so evenly matched that this year the top 3 finishers in race 6 were within 8/100 sec of each other! In other words the distance between first and third was 7 meters, less than the length of the aircraft!

Matt was also seen last weekend at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival in Victoria Park providing an aerobatics demonstration in some seriously strong winds and drag racing some of the high performance cars. He beat everyone except the F1 vehicle.

Coming up this Saturday 8th December is the club’s first ever Bunnings Sausage Sizzle fund raiser at Bunnings Kent Town. We have enough volunteers this time but please consider if you can spare some time for the club the next time we host this event. In the meantime pop down to Bunnings this Saturday and buy a sausage (onions on the bottom!) and a drink.

The guest speaker for our final meeting of the year on December 12th is Bev Roediger, a GA flying instructor with some 42 years experience. She would have started out instructing at a time when there were very few professional female aviators in the business. Bring your partner and come along and hear her story. It is called “Learn from others mistakes because life is too short to make them all yourself”.

Please use the online booking service to book a meal before the meeting.

Also don’t forget the Club Christmas BBQ at Murray Bridge Airfield on Sunday December 16th at 1030am. Drive in or fly in and enjoy a lovely BBQ for just $10 per person. It will be an opportunity to see Greg Tabe’s brand new Bristel aircraft. I currently have 30 people coming along so please let me know if you want me to add your name to the list so we can get the catering right.

Blue Skies,

Steve

Our two greatest problems are gravity and paperwork. We can lick gravity but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming. Dr.Wernher von Braun

Greetings from Wales.

My wife and I are currently touring UK and we have spent the last week in South Wales.

Lovely coastal scenery and some marvelous Norman Castles around the Pembrokeshire district.

You may not know that during WW2 Pembroke Dock housed the largest flying boat base in the world ,with many RAF Short Sunderlands based there right through until the late 1950s.

All that remains today are some of the military buildings and a small museum in the the former chapel. The last Sunderland that was recovered from Pembroke Dock is now on public display at the RAF museum in Hendon.

I also happened upon a genuine WW2 air traffic control tower a few miles down the road at a former RAF airfield called Carew Cheriton.

I did also visit the RAF Museum at Hendon earlier in my trip which I hope to bring a report on when I return home.

Please be reminded that tickets are now on sale for our annual Christmas dinner at the Public Schools Club on November 23rd.

Tickets are just $55 per person for a 3 course meal , a welcome drink plus coffee and tea.

There will also be lots of raffle prizes given away which is included in your ticket.

You will be able to pay by cash or credit card at the October meeting otherwise online directly to the club bank account. Payment will need to be made by November 16th.

Our guest speaker for October has changed at late notice.

I have been lucky enough to secure a very good replacement in Marta Najfeld.

Marta is a glider pilot who has held 3 world records in closed distance events and is currently a ground school instructor at Flight Training Adelaide.

Her talk is based on her Masters thesis about synthetic vision for aviation applications where direct vision for the pilot through windows is replaced with cameras. A very interesting concept. Come along and see what you think about it.

It is entitled “ Vision beyond sight”.

Blue skies,

Steve

‘Flying is the second greatest thrill known to man, Landing is the first ‘