In the absence of our President, John Siebert, off 4WDriving in the northern sunshine, I have been asked to pen the report for July.
The Lameroo visit on 31st May was a great success in spite of fog at Goolwa, Murray Bridge and Rollos delaying departures from those airstrips. Nine aircraft including visitors from Gawler arrived from early to 1230 after the fog cleared and 3 mini-bus trips got everyone to Mallee Spirits for lunch and gin tasting. Unfortunately some members had to pull out of the trip. Kevin Traeger’s hangars were opened for the early arrivals and his collection of aircraft is always a highlight of a visit.
Mallee Spirits is a new destination operated by Ron and Robin Valentine in a converted shearing shed a few kilometres south of YLAO. They have events for every fortnight and the site is now a venue used for local family celebrations as well as tasting and catering for visiting groups. The lunch cooked by Ron was well received and for the non-pilots various gin styles blended by Robin were tasted and purchased. They are terrific hosts for such visits.
We’ll keep in touch with Mallee Spirits and hopefully we can visit again to coincide with one of their entertainment events.
On Saturday 14th June 7 members worked with organiser Greg Holland to cook and sell more than 500 sausages (35Kg!) and raise about $1400 for the Club. It was another successful day but preceded by some stress over whether we could have a working payment system in time, given the handover of the ‘Square’ had not gone smoothly. Even phone calls to Mt Isa to get account details from John Siebert failed to resolve the problems which were ultimately only resolved with a new account and dedicated mobile phone for the purpose. Well done to Greg Holland and the members who volunteered to help on the day.
Our regular members meeting in June heard from participants in the 2025 Safari. David and Sherri Pocock, Greg Tabe and Greg Robertson contributed to an entertaining report on some fabulous flying and accommodation. Of course there were technical issues that made some legs more challenging, including the use of hair dryers to dry out wet electronics! These trips provide great opportunity for learning, developing skills and for members to get to know each other in different settings and are highly recommended by this year’s group if you get a chance to join a trip in the future.
Your Council met on 18th June and is working behind the scenes on the rest of the 2025 speaker and events program, improving our website, publicity and promotion, a new membership recruitment offer for 2026, and the RFDS fundraiser coming up at YMBD on 23rd August.
The next members’ meeting is Wednesday 9th July. Please book in via the Club website. Our scheduled speaker, Air Commodore Steve Fielder, has been called away to a PNG aviation graduation parade in Townsville. John Siebert will tell us about his exchange service with the USMC. This presentation mirrors the briefing given by Colonel Tom White USMC about his exchange service with the Royal Australian Navy.
Safe Flying
Barry Windle
