Members enjoyed a wonderful September club meeting that for the first time was a “sellout”, with 50 in attendance, the maximum allowed under current COVID rules.
We had a report from Greg Tabe about the outback Queensland fly away in July. Four aircraft and eight people were involved. Some amazing scenery to see and some idyllic locations were visited including Karumba and Adel’s Grove. Hopefully next year we can plan another fly away without the fear of returning home to 14 days quarantine!
Ian Pearce’s RV14A has flown for the first time and he gave us a talk about the whole aircraft build experience. He asked, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. Some very good advice to the prospective home builder.
The highlight of the meeting was a talk from Wing Commander Marija Jovanovich, the CO of 10 Squadron, RAAF Edinburgh. She gave us a rundown of her amazing flying career and the many different aircraft types she has been fortunate enough to fly, particularly during Test Pilot School in USA. One of her favourites was the Macdonnell Douglas F15 Eagle, with 2 hugely powerful engines and awesome climb performance.
What was apparent about her talk was her enthusiasm for aviation and pure joy when speaking about all things flying. Rather like many of our members who chose to build rather than buy an aircraft purely for the joy of doing so.
Last week nearly 30 members enjoyed a Flyin BBQ at Murray Bridge airfield under near perfect spring weather. Entry was by donation with all proceeds to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. We collected a very generous $232 on the day. We were also treated to an impromptu airshow when Chris Sperou decided to practice his aerobatic routine over the airfield in his Pitts Special. He certainly hasn’t lost any of his edge, delighting all of those present. His skills are amazing for a pilot of any age let alone someone who is north of 80 years old!
Coming up on Saturday,23rd October is a flyin to Kevin Traeger’s Strip at Lameroo, only 64nm east of Murray Bridge. The strip is about 3nm SW of Lameroo Township with 2 runways, an East West 1500m long and a North South 700m long. Elevation is 250’. Further information is available on Oz Runways. He has an interesting collection of aircraft, gyrocopters and machinery for you to see. BYO lunch and drinks to arrive from 11am. If you don’t have a plane you can still drive there. It’s just over 2 hours from Adelaide.
The club Christmas dinner is planned for Wednesday 24th November 6:30pm, at the West Adelaide Football Club, our normal meeting venue. We have booked the larger room next door which can accommodate up to 100 people so members can bring partners and guests. The menu will be an alternate drop 3 course Christmas themed dinner for $60 per person. Payment will need to be made in full no later than 7 days before the event. Payment can be made online to the club bank account, details below, remembering to include your name on the payment.
It should be a good night with all entry tickets going into the draw for wine, chocolates, movie tickets and meat vouchers among the prizes to be won. There will be a quiz to test your aviation and general knowledge and perhaps another paper aeroplane contest. So get behind this event as we have a big room to fill!
The next regular club meeting falls on October 13th. Our speaker will be Mr. Peter Ingman, an aviation historian, author of several books, and a member of the South Australian Aviation Museum at Pt. Adelaide. His talk will be on the history of South Australian RAAF bases, drawn from a book he had published earlier this year. Many of these facilities were built during WW2 to train aircrew for the war effort. Find out how they were used and what happened to them. You will also hear about other South Australian RAAF facilities that few knew existed. Intrigued? Then come along in October.
Blue skies,
Steve
A mile of highway will take you one mile. A mile of runway will take you anywhere!
