By Andre Venter
I arrived at Krugersdorp on a very cold windy morning, which is the norm this time of the year at FAKR. My first priority was to get some much-needed coffee followed by a great breakfast, while waiting for the coffee from one of the many vendors I noticed jackets and beanies for sale, I’m sure this vendor did well throughout the rather cold day.
At 8:00 a briefing was held in the clubhouse where the emphasis was placed on enjoying the day rather than the intense pressure normally placed on competitors by themselves. Charles Prartley was the designated safety officer for the day assisted by Steve George keeping things running smoothly from the ATC tower.
The chosen runway for the day was 26 which made the event way more interesting for the spectators as all the landings took place very close to the clubhouse, with a 90˚ crosswind it didn’t make too much difference to the competitors which end of the runway was used.
The first of the three groups got airborne aircraft got airborne and attempted the first of their three landings. Dieter Block decided to enter his helicopter into the competition, unofficially, with slightly different rules, he had to get the rear of the skids on the ground as close to the line as possible and any penalties were measured in centimetres rather than in meters as for the fixed wings, thoughts are that helicopter category should definitely be included in future competitions.
While the competition was under-way Helivate Helicopter Services offered the visitors a flip in their Alouette III affectionately known as “The Beast”. All the spectators enjoying the winter sun at the clubhouse were entertained by Vibez.Live who were transmitting their show live from the airfield. Karl Jensen decided to visit and had two tries on trying to land on the line he gave up on his third attempt.
Originally twenty-five pilots had entered but unfortunately, two had two withdraw, twenty-three aircraft is a wonderful turnout for a competition in this strained economy which is keeping more and more pilots on the ground.
By 12:30 all of the pilots had completed their three attempts and it was time for the judges to calculate the final scores. As per normal the competition was divided into three groups Students, Members and Non-members. All the competitors made their way to the clubhouse for prize giving and a great plate of curry and rice.
The winner of the Members category was once again Dale de Klerk, he seems to make a habit of winning this competition. Second place belonged to Peter Taylor in his Maule and Third in the member's category was earned by Charles Partley.
The Greaser Award for the smoothest landing went to Leon Meintjies
The first student home was Nelri Duvenhage
Armand Willemse was the best-scoring non-member
Special thanks must go to all the sponsors for making this event possible without their support it would just not be possible. Nandi Foxcroft, the Krugersdorp airfield powerhouse, once again went above and beyond to make sure the competition was a great success.
