February Update
Another big year for WA aerobatics on the way!
Annual General Meeting Results
The AGM for the WA Chapter was held last night at The Brisbane Hotel. Neville is compiling the draft minutes from the meeting, but below is a summary:
- The President (myself), Secretary/Treasure (Neville) and Committee (Kevin, Gary, Christophe and Dieter) have been re-elected to the same positions for 2016.
- The club is progressing well against our strategic plan, and is one of the largest and most active in Australia
- We have agreed to trial a competition at Cunderdin in April 2016
- Recruitment, fundraising and seeking of sponsorship will continue (see below)
- We’re going to prioritise the acquisition of some box markers and radios for contests at away-fields
- We are going to pursue training up dedicated admin/scorers, a chief judge, and a relief contest director
Masters Donation
It sounds like we’ve had a bit of a win with Masters (Home Improvement Store) – the Bayswater Store Community and Compliance manager has given me a verbal agreement to donate 4 x pop-up gazebos, 8 x deck chairs and an esky for the judging line. This would be of great help for the club, and if it does come off we’ll be very grateful!
Fundraising
We’ve had a big discussion regarding fundraising for the club, and have settled on a few potential strategies. We’ll continue to pursue sponsorship for competitions, with offers to display sponsor logos on aircraft/shirts/hats/posters/etc. For general cash dollars we, are going to try and get our club on the waiting list for a Bunnings sausage sizzle – there could be at least a 6 month wait, but if we do manage to lock one we’d need a few volunteers for the day.
Busselton Aerofest (March 6th)
The Busselton Aerofest is on again and it’d be great to see some club members down there. Unfortunately I can’t make it but if any club members do get down there and meet people interested in aerobatics, please get their email address and phone number and send it on to me. Bunbury now has a Fuji online for aerobatics too, which we’re going to try and recruit through.
Wyalcatchem Fly-In (March 19th)
Another regional fly-in opportunity for club members. Some details from the University Flying Club below:
“Pilots, aviation enthusiasts, and friends are invited to take part in the Wyalkatchem Fly-In 2016 on Saturday, March 19th. Wyalkatchem previously hosted a fly-in and sausage sizzle in 2013 to celebrate the new runway openings, it was a great day out and gave the local community the opportunity to find out about aviation from local and visiting pilots.
There is no formal flying program on the day; However, there will be a number of free activities on offer once you arrive:
- Free Breakfast for early arrivals
- Free Sausage Sizzle for Lunch
- Free Entry to Wylies Swimming Pool
- Free Bus Transfers into Wyalkatchem town
- Free guided tour of the Wylie CBH Museum
- For those wanting to overnight it, the event coincides with the “Wylie Ball†(Formal) on Saturday Night
- No landing fees
The sealed, lighted, cross strips are the result of the commitment and a massive input of voluntary work from the local community, the airport plays a crucial role in the Region with Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft using the airfield and transfer station for day & night mercy flights, (often, several times in a week) and several flying schools also use the field for Nav exercises.
RSVP: If you plan to be attending please register your interest to assist with catering and preparation to president@uniflying.org.au. Download the poster at Fly-In-2016-Wyalkatchemâ€
April Autumn Competition (April 30th – May 1st)
The committee (and local gliding club!) is very keen on a mini competition over the weekend of April 30th. Some members are going to do an exploratory/meet&greet trip up there at the end of February, and we’ll be seeking both council and Rotary support for the competition.
The current idea is to have a Known, Free and Unknown for each category (bar Entry and Graduate). Advanced guys will likely be using a default free, if the AAC doesn’t come up with one very soon I’d recommend the IAC’s Known (which contains the 5 published figures anyway).
To encourage people to take on supporting roles at competitions, we are offering either a per diem (cash/cheque payment) or entry fee waiver to those willing to take on a CD/CJ/Admin/Starter/Scorer role. Full time judges are also offered a per diem. We’ve had some expressions of interest already which is fantastic, if anyone else would like to nominate please let me know!
Super Sportsman
Over the years I have had many Sportsman level pilots express some frustration with the gap between Sportsman and Intermediate. The planes they are flying (typically Super Decathlons) are capable of much more complicated manouevers than Sportsman level, but they are unwilling to put them through Intermediate because of the snap and more-than-quarter vertical rolls occasionally required.
The committee has decided to trial a “Super Sportsman†known this year, which will be a one-flight addition to the Sportsman category. Results from this flight will not count towards the overall Sportsman scores. The sequence will introduce some intermediate-level figures that the SuperD is capable of flying safely, with no snap rolls or vertical rolls up of more than ¼.
If we have enough interest (2 or more) we’ll run it at the April and perhaps State Competition.
WA State Competition
It’s early days yet but we’re pencilling in the WA competition for October again, likely October 7th to 9th.
Christen Eagle Share for Sale
There is still a share in the Christen Eagle for sale. It’s a great 2 seat aerobatics plane that is in many ways better and easier to fly than a 2 seat Pitts. It’s got over 1000 hours left on the engine, a good syndicate setup and pricing structure, and can take you all the way to Advanced…plus you can take someone else up to enjoy the ride! Bowe has now dropped his asking price to around $24k.
Donations/Sponsors
The club would appreciate any help with money donations and/or getting hold of some equipment to help run our competitions and training days. On the wish list are:
- VHF Radio base stations and power supply
- Laptops
- Hand-held radios (UHF)
- Caravan 🙂
Arrangements can be made for receipts or display of logos if you wish to donate through a business – give me a call and we’ll see what we can do!
Safe flying and see you all soon!
Adam Gibbs
President WA Chapter Australian Aerobatics Club
0439 468 299
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