Laura McDermid
Whenever the annual calendar of events is put together at the beginning of the year, October always seems like a million miles away. And so inevitably the EAA Sun ‘n Fun fly-in arrives far sooner than anticipated.
The Spar up the road from where I live is already selling Christmas cake and I know that when Boney M starts blaring through the speakers, the battle for any semblance of control over the remainder of the year will dissipate faster than a logical thought in the chaos of a mind gripped by year-end panic.
On Friday morning, Neil Bowden, chairman of EAA chapter 322, offered Seamus The Flying Dog and I a lift to Airspan Executive Airfield in Rustenburg, the appointed event for Sun ‘n Fun, in his much loved Sling 2 ZU-OSH.
I knew that we would be in for a sweltering weekend when I saw the heat waves shimmering on the tarmac as Neil turned final for Runway 21.
We unpacked the Sling and proceeded to the huge hangar which houses the entertainment area and pub to set up our stand. The management at Airspan had made a superb effort to accommodate the event and the restaurant staff were in full swing preparing meals.
Safety Officer Nigel Musgrave arrived with Kulani, a regular ATC at FALA, both offering up their valuable time to be at this event. Nigel had some positive feedback about the CAA relaxing the regulations regarding the participation of ATC at unregistered airfields, now permitting them to offer their services (at their own cost) provided that a safety officer is always present.
By late afternoon more than a dozen planes as well as a few cars had arrived. Fifteen rent-a-tents had been arranged near the conference centre with a few folk bringing their own tents and caravans.
The clouds coalesced to offer some respite from the scorching heat, but the predicted storm thankfully stayed away.
Following a refreshing shower in the spotless ablution facility, I spent quality time catching up with friends around the braai that evening.
The following morning I was woken before 06h00 by the sound of the first aircraft flying overhead. Soon the airfield was a hive of activity with planes arriving thick and fast, amongst which was my own chariot, ZU-MJB.
The day’s activities got off to a great start with an Air Nav Rally which Tarryn and Iaan Myburgh had organised. Our take off time was scheduled for 10h16 which afforded my navigator and wonderful husband Stuart, time to plot the course.
We took off amidst a cacophony of endless radio calls. Having heard all the chatter, a random pilot on his way to FALA developed a bout of FOMO and requested a fly-past which Nigel emphatically denied.
As it is, I had to dodge planes left right and centre and was pleased when we finally were in the clear to the north of the field. The course was challenging but it was good to get back in the proverbial saddle. All girl team Adrienne Visser and Tarryn Myburgh took home the trophy – Stuart and I unfortunately just missed out on a podium finish.
By midday the ambient temperature was in the deep thirties and there were spots on the taxiway where the tarmac was melting into puddles of black goo.
A soft serve machine helped to cool things down and the hangar proved to be a great respite from the relentless sun.
Neil and some of the crew from Sling had organised a Cleco contest which was styled on the one in Oshkosh, which kept the folks entertained until the afternoon activities resumed. Hans de Beer completed it in a whopping 33.26 seconds, an amazing accomplishment considering the ‘world record’ stands at just 28 seconds.
The two talks offered in the air-conditioned conference venue were well received. John Comley repeated his very popular presentation on forced landings into trees and Paul Ludick spoke about Wouter Botes’ SAA Flight 406 Rietbok recovery mission.
The STOL and Spot Landing event began at 16h00 with 7 aircraft ranging from an Aircam to a Sling TSi. The winner in both the STOL Handicap and STOL Open was Sean Cronin in a Bat Hawk with a takeoff distance of just 50m.
The Spot Landing was won by Dale de Klerk in the very capable Orion Cub ZU-IVS.
Considering the hot runway, I was amazed at how well the contestants did.
That evening following a delicious meal of roast meats with all the trimmings, President of the EAA, Paul Lastrucci kicked off the much-anticipated award ceremony:
Best Vintage Aircraft – Ethan Levin, Cessna 140 ZS-TCA
Best Restoration – Greg Rooken-Smith, Decathlon ZS-MHV
Best LSA – Scott Williams (all the way from Himeville), Bearhawk ZU-ISP
Best Wood Aircraft – Mike Davis & Tony van den Heuwel, Osprey GP4
Best Homebuilt Aircraft – Etienne Doman, Sling LSA ZU-SBK
Longest Distance Flown to Event – Peter How Gariep Dam 303NM in his beautiful Thatcher CX4 ZU-BHX.
The well organised event proved to be a resounding success; Nigel recorded a total of 163 movements on Saturday and I counted 70 aeries over the 2 days. I am told that this is a fraction of the turnout in the event’s heyday. However I remain optimistic that General Aviation is on the rise – perhaps there is an opportunity to revive Margate as a possible venue. Only time will tell.