UP COMING EVENTS
Our Next Event
President's Trophy
Air Race
24th to 26th May 2018
Come and join us and claim your bragging rights !
With only days to go and deadlines looming, our race organising team with the Bloemfontein Flying Club are working towards making this event better than before, and in the background have been working on quicker race result outputs with the intention to be able to debrief teams on their scores as they come to hand to ensure agreement of results prior prize giving.
We have also appointed Ron Stirk as Jury Member to be the PRO for the event, and any queries will be welcome to take up with Ron at any time.
Entries are still OPEN and we are waiting for you to Sign Up
Once you have registered online, further instructions will be communicated
While the entry fee is R3500 and we are required to ensure all competitors are members of SAPFA and Aero Club as well as have a FIA licence, the winners have an opportunity to not only have bragging rights but also to walk away with a number of sponsored prizes.
Although this event has changed over the years, this race has had an esteemed history since 1937.
Please help us keep the Spirit of Aviation alive for PTAR !
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Virginia Navigation Rally 2016
Virginia Navigation Rally 2016
Durban Wings Club hosted the annual Virginia Navigation Rally on Saturday the 5th March. While the skys were clear and sunny, a very strong wind was blowing down the coast, this challenged the competitors to slow their aircraft down while flying south and trying to get the most speed while returning up the coast.
PTAR 2016 - Provisional Handicaps
In an unprecedented move,
The South African Power Flying Association releases the 2016 PTAR Handicaps before Entries open
Chairman of the South African Power Flying Association, Frank Eckard stated that ....” due to the constant improvement in systems, methods and technologies, SAPFA is able to publish a List of Handicaps, for more than 260 aircraft that have competed in the PTAR over the last seven years, before entries open….…and 12 weeks before the race”
Competitors are encouraged to Click Here to view their handicaps.
Rand Airport Challenge 2016
SAPFA Rand Airport Challenge – 30 January 2016 by Rob Jonkers
The South African Power Flying Association held the 12th Consecutive year of the Rand Airport Challenge on Saturday the 30th January 2016. It was an excellent weather day for flying, with no convection clouds brewing, although there was around a steady 15 kt easterly wind. This attracted 14 teams to participate in the rally, 5 in open class and 9 in the fun class, with 4 newbie first timer teams, which is a welcome sign that there is good interest in the sport.
World Air Games 2015 - Dubai
by Cally Eckard
The World Air Games were held in Dubai in the first two weeks of December, and were the first to be held since Turin (Italy) in 2009. The World Air Games comprises many disciplines, and new ones are introduced each WAG as new technology, apparatus and sports appear in the aviation world. Amongst these are various types of skydiving, aerobatics, and disciplines involving gliders, paramotors, microlights, balloons, air ships and helicopters. The selected South African team were Frank and Cally Eckard for General Aviation (ANR), Nigel Hopkins for aerobatics and Paul Jackson for paramotors.
The Eckard team were selected from their results in the World Rally Championships in Poland in 2014, but the discipline implemented at the WAG in Dubai is a new one, called Air Navigation Race (ANR) and this is the first time it has been used in an international competition. For most of the teams it was therefore a brand new sport requiring a brand new set of skills. Instead of flying along a track and crossing turnpoints, the planes are given a zigzag “corridor” on a map, and are severely penalised for infringing out of the corridor. Only the start and finish points are timed. The competitive section only takes about 15 mins, and navigation is on a much smaller scale than rally, and requires good communication and teamwork between pilot and navigator. Software has been developed to enable the map and track of the plane to be seen online in real time, making it more spectator-friendly.
For more information go to the World Air Games website at https://www.wagdubai.ae/ under the Press Section you can view all the photos and videos. The opening and closing ceremonies were spectacular and worth watching.
Brits Fun Rally
The Peter Hengst Memorial Fun Rally was held at Brits on Saturday 21 November with 7 teams having entered.
The event was split with 3 teams electing to be scored under Fun Rally scoring rules and 4 team being scored under advanced scoring rules.
The challenging route made for some interesting results.
Sean Murphy and Carl were clear winners in the fun class with a score of 560 followed in second place by Andrew and Hugh Lane with a score 1520 and with Nic Christodoulou and Andre Kluyts in third place with a score of 1648.
The competition in the open class was a lot tighter with the first 3 places being separated by only 61 points. Frank and Cally Eckard took first place with 532 points, Hans Schwebel and Ron Stirk in second place with 562 points and Rob Jonker and Martin Meyer in third place with 593 points.
As usual the Brits Flying did not disappoint and provided a fantastic venue with good food and cold drinks.