Krugersdorp Spot Landing Competition and Airfield Festival 2019
By Russell Dixon-Paver
The 2019 edition of Krugersdorp Flying Club's Spot Landing Competition and Airfield Festival opened with fair weather, a relatively warm at 10C at 08:30 for just post mid-winter and only a light breeze from the North. The wind swung towards the West and strengthening slightly by the time all the spot landing flying was completed, making the pilots in the later slots work harder. The remark at the prize-giving was that the pilots fared better when the conditions were more challenging, but that will no doubt be debated for some time to come.
As always, there was a warm and friendly atmosphere, while there was no compromise on safety aspects. Parking guards had been arranged for the public to park outside the gates.
The field was bustling with stalls for various foods, clothing, crafts and items to keep the youngsters occupied between watching the aircraft coming and going. 26 South resident Restaurant was also supplying the hungry with their event "(Jack) Taylored" menu.
Numbers of entries for the spot landing event were down for 2019, no doubt, due in part to the co-incident date with the Nylstroom Tail-Draggers event. There were 28 entries, divided into 7 slots, with 26 finally competing. There were three lady entrants and it is good to see the ladies stepping up to this type of event.
Many aircraft were on display and here are a few of the more unusual ones…
Long Eeze and AN-2
Cars from the MG Car Club were on display, with some older models having been magnificently restored. An MG TC was doing short drives along the taxiway while it was not in use by aircraft. There were also other classic cars on display including Mini, Jaguar Chevy Pickup and Mercedes.
Sponsors of the prizes and participant goodie-bags had been generous and were thanked by KFC for their support of the event. Just some of the sponsors contributions shown here.
Winners of the various categories were as follows:
Overall Member Winner: Ricardo de Bonis in a Piper Cruiser ZS-PPW with a total score of eleven.
Greaser Landing: Leon Meintjes in a RV-10 N246RD with an excellent first of three landings, but when you grease it, the scores don't matter!
Member Lady Pilot Winner: Georgia Franklin in a C172 ZS-DPY with a total score of 27. Unfortunately, Georgia had already left before the prize-giving. Here is the trophy and prize package.
Non-member winner: Henco van Niekerk in a TA22 ZU-AMW with a total score of eight.
Student Winner: Issameldix Salem in a C172 ZS-DUS with a total score of thirteen.
Helivate had helicopters on display while their Alo III had been doing flips all day and was mostly visible from at least some part of the field all day. Visitors and members were provided with views of interesting angles of this machine in action, with some runs down the runway when it was not busy with other traffic - very well flown!
After most people had left, two Navions and the Helivate Alo III performed some breath-taking formations and flypasts, with one Navion equipped with a smoke system looking particularly spectacular in the late afternoon light.
The organising team and some of the marshals/judges were still present at the prize-giving and were a happy team after a well presented event.
Once again, a well-organised and safe event by KFC that was obviously enjoyed by all who attended. Thanks to all who worked hard to get everything arranged, not forgetting the unsung heroes and heroines behind the scenes for making sure all the details were taken care of.
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