Last month our meeting reverted back to our early 2019 venue at the Public Schools Club. Whilst there were still social distancing issues to deal with, it was like welcoming back an old friend. The ability to start with drinks in the bar, eat in the dining room and conduct the meeting proper in a spacious and quiet meeting room was appreciated by all.

A few things have changed in how the Public Schools Club is managed now, and we have to pay a deposit each month to confirm our booking and guarantee a minimum spend on the night. This equates to about 20 diners plus drinks. Any shortfall must be covered from our club funds. Not a problem last month where 38 diners turned up, but does need to be kept in mind during the quieter times of the year. This is when it is cold, wet and dark outside and one is tempted to stay at home rather than venture out to a club meeting. Your council will do our best to engage interesting guest speakers to entice you out no matter what the weather is.

John Siebert’s Harrier presentation last month was fantastic. He would be one of the few individuals to have flown both the British and American versions. The Harrier is a technological marvel made possible by its unique engine design. John explained not just what the aircraft was like to fly, especially in the hover, but also how to fight in it.

For October we are privileged to have Rod Lovell as our speaker. His talk will be taken from his recently published book, From Hero to Zero. It relates to his successful ditching of a Douglas DC3 in Botany Bay in 1994 and the subsequent adverse accident report that curtailed his career as a professional aviator. Signed copies of his book will be available for sale on the night.

We can accept a maximum of 42 persons for dinner in the dining room. More seats are available in the meeting room because it is larger, so if the dinner option is booked out you may still be able to book just for the speaker. Check the club calendar for details.

Last month we also hosted a BBQ at Murray Bridge airfield. The poor weather forecast conspired to keep a lot of people away, but for those who did turn up we did not see a single drop of rain, and circuit training was being conducted. Funny how often that happens at Murray Bridge. Let’s hope we can get a good forecast for our December BBQ.

The postponed workshop visit from 29^th August has been rebooked for Saturday 31^st October at 2pm. Details are on the club website and you will need to book online or at the October Club meeting to get the address details and comply with Covid contact tracing requirements. Please note that you have to be logged in to see the Calendar entry as it is a members only function.

Please be reminded that Friday, November 20^th is our Club Christmas dinner. This will be at the Feathers Hotel, Greenwall Restaurant with a similar format to last year. Expect a 3 course meal, raffle prizes and a good night out. I will send a clipboard around next meeting to advise your attendance.

Blue skies,

Steve

If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito- Dalai Lama

It has been an interesting month for club activities. At our last meeting at the Feathers Hotel we reached the room capacity of 24 and several people had to be turned away. I am not aware of this happening at any time previously in our club history.

I approached management at the Feathers Hotel to request one of the larger rooms in the hotel that would hold 30-35 people. I was told this would not be possible as those numbers would not provide sufficient profit unless we could guarantee 50 people minimum. As I cannot remember the last time we had 50 people at a meeting, apart from Christmas functions, the committee was left with a choice. Continue to turn members away from meetings, or find a larger venue elsewhere. The committee felt that it was not fair to paid up members not to be able to come to the regular meetings, so finding a new venue it was.

You will remember that until March last year we met at the Public Schools Club in the City. They have undergone a significant revamp along with a new Secretary, Treasurer and Catering Manager. Having made them aware of our previous history with the club, they were quite receptive to having us back.

Business is tough at the moment, so the PSC was only able to justify opening for us on a Wednesday night if I agreed to a minimum spend process. After some negotiation I was able to secure the venue as long as we have at least 20 diners and $100-200 spend over the bar. Based on previous history I felt this was achievable. The venue is not number limited like the Feathers, so I encourage everyone to come along and bring a guest if you wish. The future success of our meetings depends on the support of its members.

The meal on offer is a 2 course dinner for $35 per person, which changes each month. For September we can expect Chicken Parmigiana, fries and salad followed by a Fresh Fruit platter. You book online as per usual, advising any special dietary requirements, which can be catered for. Payment on the night for the meal will be by cash or credit card to Bob Scrymgour or Greg Tabe, who will then settle up with PSC. Drinks and any other bar purchases will be for your own account.

We have a couple of interesting speakers over the next 2 months, so given the extra space we have, I am hoping for a good turnout.

For September, member John Siebert will recount his days as a Navy Pilot flying the Harrier Jump jet. A unique V/STOL aircraft is a type that very few Australian pilots have had the opportunity to fly. Come and hear his story. Also, there will be a report on the Club Safari to Alice Springs and return.

Lined up for October is speaker Rod Lovell who was originally booked for our AGM. Rod is the author of the book “Hero to Zero”, the story of his successful ditching of a Douglas DC3 in Botany Bay in the 1990s, and the less successful accident investigation findings that followed. He will give a PowerPoint presentation based on his book. For those who want the full story he will also be selling signed copies of his book on the night.

Please be reminded that our Christmas dinner is booked for Friday 20^th November in the Greenwall restaurant at the Feathers Hotel, the same venue as last year. Numbers are not nearly as limited in this much larger restaurant so we hope that a good number of members and their partners will attend. Save the date.

Blue skies,

Steve

The most difficult thing is decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.  – Amelia Earhart

The relaxing of COVID19 requirements saw an improvement in the turnout for last month’s club meeting where 20 attended. Hopefully everyone will continue to do the right thing so we don’t repeat the debacle happening in Victoria.

Regarding club meetings, we are now having our meals as well as the formal meeting in the Dalton Room with a 24 person limit imposed. Online registration through the club website is required so we can monitor the numbers attending. If the maximum of 24 is reached you will be advised during registration that the meeting is full. You can then advise Bob Scrymgour that you would like to waitlist so if anyone registered cannot attend due illness etc, then we can still fully utilise the room.

This keeps the hotel management happy so that they will continue to provide the meeting venue free of charge. The council will monitor the numbers attending so if too many members are missing out then we will need to reconsider the venue.

Coming up on August 29^th at 2pm is a workshop visit with a difference. No aircraft but a garage full of Classic cars including a Rolls Royce. Councillor Barry Windle has organised this one with Nigel Steel-Scott who is opening up his garage in the Adelaide Hills. There is also a lovely garden to view so you might like to bring your partner as well. Afternoon tea will be served. You have to be logged in to see the Calendar entry. This is a change in club policy where we will no longer publish personal information like addresses and phone numbers on an open website without permission.

There was a positive response from the membership to have another Club BBQ get together at Murray Bridge sooner rather than later. We have set a date for September 19^th at 11am. Format will be the same as the one held in June.

On a sad note I report the passing of member Mick Wright, after a brave battle with cancer. Mick was very generous in sharing his time and knowledge of all things aviation. He helped many owner/builders in their projects, helping to see them through to final inspection and weight and balance. He was instrumental in introducing an RAAUS maintenance course for members to improve their technical knowledge. He will be sorely missed. The club council will examine a suitable way to acknowledge Mick’s legacy.

I do hope you have been taking advantage of the superb winter flying days of late. Sunny, still and NO turbulence. Absolutely brilliant!

Blue skies,

Steve

In the Alaskan bush I would rather have a 2 hour bladder and 3 hours of gas than vice versa. –Kurt Wein

It seems as if we have weathered the worst of COVID-19 and can look forward to our lives getting back to some sort of “normal”. It remains to be seen what our new normal will look like.

Just this week pubs and restaurants are reopening with conditions applied, and as a result I am able to announce that our regular Club meeting on June 10^th will go ahead at the Feathers Hotel.

There will be some differences though, so please note the following:

• We will dine at the Greenwall restaurant as per usual, and remain there for our meeting after the meal, however, we are limited to 20 PERSONS ONLY.
• The meal choices on offer will be from the a la Carte menu to be ordered on the night. Main courses range from $20 to $34.
• The hotel is doing double sittings and we are booked for the second sitting starting at 7:30pm. You will not have access to the restaurant earlier than that as it will be getting cleaned from the earlier sitting. The meal time is limited to 2 hours so we are expected to wind up by 9:30 pm.
• Drinks with your meal are available but must be taken sitting down. No standing in the Lounge bar is allowed.
• The meeting will be limited to MEMBERS ONLY for the June meeting and I am hopeful that number restrictions will be further relaxed in time for the July meeting.
• The meeting format will be low key with no guest speaker. It will be a chance to mingle with people you have not seen for 3 months and talk aviation. I will invite anyone from the floor to report their interesting activities during the lockdown. It might be a building project, work done on your existing aircraft or a new aircraft type flown.
• To book for this meeting you will need to log on to the club calendar and register. The first 20 bookings will be successful. If you are too late you will be advised accordingly and you will not be able to attend.
• It goes without saying that if you are unwell on the night then please do not come but advise a committee member so we may be able to admit someone else.

I do hope this temporary measure does not stay for long and we are able to return to what we are used to very soon.

Back in May the committee met and planned a BBQ at the Windsock Lounge at Murray Bridge Airport on Saturday June 20^that 11am. This was to be our first event post COVID and will go ahead as well as the Club meeting.  Again it is a low key event to allow members to mingle and chat (socially distancing of course!). You can fly in (weather permitting), or drive.

Food will be simple egg & bacon sandwiches, tea, coffee with cake and biscuits. Because you have not been getting much for your membership of late, this event will be free for members. I just ask that you advise of your attendance so we can get the catering right.

Member Chris Malone has put together an itinerary for an outback safari flight to be flown as soon as Northern Territory border restrictions ease and AVGAS and accommodation are assured. Details are shown below. I expect that will happen in the next 2 months. Chris is looking for expressions of interest before it is confirmed. The itinerary may also be subject to amendment. If you are interested please Email Chris malone or Tel 0429 178 464.

I look forward to catching up sometime during June.

Blue Skies,

Steve

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the aeroplane takes off against the wind, not with it  -Henry Ford

Safari July 2020 To Jabiru/ Kakadu

Subject to border opening, accommodation, and fuel availability

What an interesting month it has been in isolation. Hopefully you have embraced it positively and used the extra time at home to catch up on those tasks you were always putting off.

It might be gardening, cleaning or home maintenance but equally it could be servicing and washing your aircraft.

I do hope the aircraft owners amongst you are keeping your flying recency up and your engines ticking over. My understanding is there is nothing to prevent you from flying solo and indeed in some countries in lockdown they are allowing flying every 28 days to maintain your aircraft engine health.

You will also be aware that both CASA and RAAUS have provided extensions on requirements to renew medicals, BFRs, instrument ratings and the like. Check out their websites for details if you are affected.

You may have heard this week that the 2020 EAA flyin at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has been cancelled. Understandable given that preparations begin in May and USA is largely still in lockdown. Also, international airline travel is probably still a long way off for all of us.

I have seen that EAA are continuing to offer Webinars throughout May and June with lots of interesting subjects discussed. You can sign up on their website for live participation or pick up an older webinar anytime.

Regarding our own club activity, I know that there will not be a meeting in May but signs are hopeful that the easing of restrictions coming imminently, could make a June meeting possible with social distancing applied. I will be liaising with the Feathers Hotel as to what this would look like.

The easing of travel restrictions at least within the state means that we could soon organise a local fly away day trip to say the riverland or the south east as we had originally planned.

If any of you are finding the lack of social contact with other club members difficult, RAAUS have offered clubs the use of their Zoom video conferencing account free of charge so we can meet online.

You would need to have your own PC and internet connection, and be familiar will Zoom to join in.

I would like to hear from you if you are interested in using this format and if we get enough takers we can do this until face to face meetings resume.

As you know, last month we held our AGM almost exclusively by proxy. There were 4 council members in attendance and 17 proxies. Thanks to those who returned their proxy so we did achieve a quorum.

All the constitution changes were carried so I am pleased to announce that we can now formally offer social membership to the club at half the normal membership rate for those who meet the criteria for this category. Details are on our website.

The club council was re-elected unchanged from last year.

They are:

• Steve Nelson     President
• Chris Moore       Secretary
• Greg Tabe         Treasurer & Membership
• Chris Dearden   Webmaster
• Bob Scrymgour Meals
• Rob Wintulich    AV & Meeting Host
• Barry Windle     Ordinary Member

So keep an eye on the club website for the latest updates and I hope to see you all in the flesh soon.

Blue Skies,

Steve

The only thing it would be nice to have more of would be M & Ms. –Astronaut Shannon Lucid, after 6 months isolation on the Mir Space Station in 1996.

How the world has changed in just 3 weeks since our last club meeting. Limitations imposed on our daily lives to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 has changed literally everything we previously took for granted.

The experts are still unsure how long this whole process will take to return to normal but in the meantime we have to get used to our “new normal”. The good news is that there are the first signs that the rate of spread is slowing down.

So I ask that you all stay safe, apply the guidelines, and we will all come through it.

Needless to say that formal club meetings and other club activities are suspended for the time being but that is not to say that you cannot still keep in touch with each other by phone or the various video platforms.

We still have an AGM to conduct on April 8^th to allow the club to continue to function. This will be a purely administrative meeting. Fortunately, all the current councilors have agreed to stand again and there have been no new nominations received so the process for re-election is simple. Because of the latest limits imposed on group sizes I can no longer allow members to attend the meeting in person. You can of course still have your say by submitting a proxy to the club secretary.

As of yesterday only 3 proxies had been received so it is imperative that all members make their best effort to submit a proxy before the deadline of 1130am Wednesday 8^th April, so that we reach a quorum.

Presidents Report, Treasurers Report and Accounts available via these links.

Download and print this Proxy Form. You then add your personal details, a mark in the box (for, against or abstain) for each item and submit it to the club secretary.

This can be done by scanning and emailing (cpmoore@internode.on.net) or by post. If all of that fails for some reason then sending a photograph of your proxy would be acceptable as long as it is legible. So please act on this email as soon as you receive it.

As there are no events or club activities to report on I suspect this will be the last Plane Paper you will receive for the time being. The club website is still available to check out any updates that may be posted there, so continue to monitor it.

Rest assured, when things return to normal the club council has a number of events planned and ready to implement.

 COVID free skies,

 Steve