Christmas dinner at the Edinburgh Hotel on Friday the 6th of November turned out to be a lively affair. The evening started out with club members and their guests being fitted with Captain’s epaulettes follow by the big screen displaying a Lancair panel (Morrie Hoy’s in fact) combined with the sound of a Reno version of a Lancair doing a low pass just to get the guests into the right atmosphere. Next we were treated to David Harris flying a balloon or should it be called a helium filled airship around the dinner tables to the delight of the guests. Judith King conducted the raffles and awards were handed out for various achievements. We thank Judith for her effort in bringing the event together and also Chris Dearden for preparing the slideshow and the council and other helpers on the night.

On Sunday 25th November a crowd of around 40 attended the film afternoon for a screening of the just released James Bond movie “Skyfall” and a finger food meal in the foyer afterwards. An enjoyable get together for all who attended.

Saturday 1st of December your president attended the annual award ceremony of the Australian Air League where more than 150 smartly uniformed cadets aged from 8 to 18 years received honours for their years effort. It was great to see young aviation enthusiasts well disciplined, proudly taking responsibility for their careers in aviation and other fields. It was also with a sense of having made a connection to this young group of like minded cadets that I presented the cheque for $500 dollars from our club to be used for assisting a cadet with flying expenses in 2013.

The next morning the 2nd of December the weather was perfect for the annual brunch fly in at Murray Bridge. Brian Degenhardt parked his award winning RV right in front and Chris Dearden brought his and Steve Nelsons Xenos over from Goolwa for members to have good nosy around. Altogether there were 10 or twelve planes on the field and a few were taking passengers for joy flights which was great to see. Thanks again to Judith for organising the food and to everyone who helped in the kitchen at the barbeques and handling tickets and payments.

For the final meeting of the year on the 12th of November we heard Rob Wintulich give a most entertaining slide presentation and talk about the Chinese aviation museum and some of his exploits in and around Bejing. Sue Ball gave us a briefing on Dean’s RV12 building experience in Queensland. We heard from Andre Mielke about a most interesting club fly in event –planned for 16th and 17 March next year at Beachport in the south east just an hour or so flight from Murray Bridge and already we have a list of around 10 planes and 20 people that have indicated their interest. Brochure and flyer on the club website.

Remember no meeting in January. The next meeting is February 13th 2013 and club membership is due at the start of the year so please arrange to pay Trevor Chapman (membership councillor) as soon as possible.

Chris Moore

President Sport Aircraft Club

I pick the prettiest part of the sky and I melt into the wing and then into the air, till I’m just soul on a sunbeam. ~Richard Bach