Gyps Africanus - News Room

"GYPS AFRICANUS" – December 2000

"Gyps Africanus" will give serious WGC2001 competitors the opportunity to fly a full length competition at the same site and time of year as the World Championships which will be held the following year (18^th – 31^st December).

To improve the potential utilisation of gliders there will also be a smaller and less formal competition from Saturday 25^th November to Saturday 2^nd December inclusive.

Glider availability is a serious problem. There are two possibilities. In South Africa there are a number of ASW20a/b’s and Ventus b’s that may be available for hire or for reciprocal deals that would allow the owner to fly your glider in your own country. Contact details will be given in due course in a later issue.

There will be flying at Mafikeng from the beginning of November 2000 until the end of January 2001 and this creates another possibility. It would be economic to ship your glider to South Africa for the entire period and share the shipping costs with other pilots who could fly it before or after the competition. Brian Spreckley will co-ordinate the filling of containers in Europe so that it would not be necessary for you to try and find four or five more people to get the most economic use of the container. When the container arrives in South Africa, which is typically a three week journey from Europe, we will arrange the unloading, customs waivers, transport from the port of entry to Mafikeng and the unloading at Mafikeng.

The rules for the Championship will be published in November 1999 for approval at the March 2000 IGC meeting. They will also be used for our own National Championships this year so that by the time we get to 2001, start procedures and task philosophies will have been well tried and tested by most competitors. The start procedure will be based on the Australian system that allocates two start points to each glider on a random basis for each competition day. There will be no more than 20 gliders using any given start point each day. Our tasks will either be traditional closed circuit speed races or the assigned area speed task which is a new concept that was successfully used at our Nationals last year and in Spain and St Auban this year. The rules will limit entries to 2 gliders per class per NAC excluding of course the reigning World Champions who will have an automatic entry into the competition. The three traditional WGC classes will be flown and rules will allow for self launchers and sustainers in all classes where they comply with the class definition.

More information will be published in a later issue of the Bayer Flyer.
 

In December 2001 South Africa will play host to World, as pilots from all corners of the earth descend on Mafikeng for the 27^th World Gliding Championships. The event will be another milestone in the illustrious history of South African gliding. As a "practice run for both the pilots and the organisers we have a pre-Worlds and at the time of writing, this event is a mere 10 months away.

Previous pre-Worlds were given such names as Kiwi Glide, Lavender Glide and Bavaria Glide and it would have been very easy to carry on this unimaginative trend with Afri Glide or Safari Glide so we decided to break with tradition and introduce a little African culture. We have called our pre-Worlds, Gyps Africanus. This is the zoological name of one our great soaring birds, the Cape White Backed Vulture which is a frequent companion to thermalling gliders in Mafikeng area. The name clearly conveys the competitions African heritage as well as its clear connection to soaring.

We are now in the final phase of the count down to Gyps Africanus and while our preparations are well in hand there is still much to be done and we need your help. Since we won the bid nearly four tears ago many people have offered their services to us, we now need to call in the chips. We would like to ask those people who have already offered their services, as well as anyone else who wants to be involved to complete the form that is in this magazine and mail it or fax it to us as soon as possible.

That is one request, we have another. The wealthier countries will be shipping gliders to South Africa for both the Worlds and the pre-Worlds, but there are many other pilots who would love to the opportunity to fly Gyps Africanus, but they simply cannot afford to ship their gliders to South Africa two years running. In the spirit of Umbantu we would ask glider owners to "adopt" these visitors and help them to compete in Gyps Aficanus.

We have already received requests from pilots in New Zealand, America and Australia to hire gliders. We would like to compile a list of available gliders that are reasonably competitive (ASW20a, LS4 or better), well equipped ( including oxygen) and have a roadworthy trailer and would be available for hire.

The arrangements would be strictly between yourself and the visiting pilot and you could structure the deal to suit your objectives. Which may be to play host on a reciprical basis providing car and crew as well as the glider to a straight financial hire with little or no personal involvement. Obviously if you act as crew, you can ensure that your glider is treated as well as you would expect it to be, and you can handle the individual quirks of your glider and trailer! We know that most pilots would consider hiring their wives out before even considering letting anyone else fly their beloved gliders but we appeal to you to help our visitors and guarantee the success of our pre-Worlds. Lets really show the world the warmth of a South African welcome.

We are investigating the possibility of some special insurance cover for gliders that are hire or loaned as well as a dedicated repair facility to ensure your glider comes back in the same condition that it was in at the start of the competition.

Trailers may also be required by teams who are just shipping their gliders in containers and even if you don’t want to hire your glider the use of your trailer would be very helpful.

Please don’t delay; let’s have the offers of help, details of gliders, trailers, cars etc as soon as possible. Details to Carol Clifford Fax: 011 622 5363 or Email bobcar@global.co.za or normal mail to 1 Leicester Road, Kensington, 2049 Johannesburg.

The competition area around Mafikeng can be characterised as flat, with some occasional ridges with shallow slopes not exceeding 200m above ground level. The elevation of Mafikeng airport is 4187ft above sea level. The flying area stretches from northeast of Mafikeng and west thereof. The economic activity of the area is predominately agriculturally based, with maize production to the east and south of Mafikeng and cattle farming to the south-wet and west. During November and December the maize fields are freshly ploughed and prepared for planting. This provides excellent out-landing possibilities. However, even in the predominantly cattle farming areas maize fields can be found so flying over this area does not pose a problem for out-landing in general.

The meteorological conditions in South Africa are very varied. The tropical conditions over the eastern coastal regions change rapidly into savannah over eastern highveld which slowly change to semi-arid and eventually arid conditions on the west coast. The extreme southwestern areas enjoy a Mediterranean like climate. Mafikeng lies in the region between the savannah and the semi-arid conditions. The sub-tropical high pressure belt, which dominates the weather during the winter months, has moved somewhat southerly and split over the central interior. This results in tropically sourced air flowing southwards from the equatorial regions to the central and eastern interior. The moisture content of this air mass can vary from very moist to somewhat dry, depending on its track from the source region. Dry somewhat stable air (superior air) is found to the west of the moist air and is very often separated by a very narrow dividing line. The position of the dividing line or surface convergence is the main factors affecting the weather in the Mafikeng area, as it is in this region that over-development will occur. The intensity of the over-development will is dependent on the properties of the two air masses and the influence of solar heating. The position of the convergence line pendulums backwards and forwards from a fulcrum somewhere over northeast Botswana in sympathy with the surging of the Atlantic high pressure cell along the south east coast of the continent. This results in four different types of development.

1. Under the influence of the tropical air mass. Generally clear sky’s in the morning with cumulus developing between 10.00 and 1100hrs with bases between 1000 and 1300m above ground. By 1300hr the base will have increased to 1500-1800m above ground with 4 to 5 octas. Over-development if any, will be limited to isolated storms only. The flying day will be from 10.00 to 18.00hrs.
2. Under the influence of the "superior air mass". When the superior air mass is dominating the region the skies will generally be clear with small amounts of convective cloud developing after 13.00hrs at cloud bases of 2000m to 3000m above ground level. The flying day will be from 11.00 to 18.00hrs.
3. In the vicinity of the convergence Area. The day starts off much the same as when the tropical air dominates, however once the convective activity begins, clouds over develop rapidly to form thunderstorms by 13.00hrs. The activity is generally only a few hundred km’s wide and correctly set tasks can be flown.
4. Under the influence of deep tropical air. Overcast and rainy conditions prevail, making flying impossible.

R. Bradley
General.

The political climate since the General Election last year remains stable and the new South African Government is committed to market orientated economic policies. In particular tourism as a growth area has been given one of the highest priorities which automatically encompasses the difficult issue of crime and violence which is recognised by government as a major threat to the tourist industry. The large cities are the worst effected, while the rural areas which include Mafikeng remain safe. We have had very frank discussions with the Provincial and Municipal leaders in Mafikeng , Mafikeng is the provincial capital of the North West Province, and they not only understand the situation but have begun a publicity campaign to highlight the value of tourism to their economy. Last year R30M was allocated to a program to improve local tourist infrastructure. We believe that the value of The World Gliding Championships is fully appreciated by all members of the local community and that the gliding fraternity can look forward to warm welcome and a safe stay.
 
 

Airfield and Infrastructure.

1. The airfield has been privatised and during the next two years R3m will be spent on rejuvenating the facilities. We have been in discussions with the group who have taken over and have written authority for the full use of the airfield for gyps africanus in 2000 and WGC2001.
2. We will have unrestricted use of the terminal buildings and hangars as well as the old military fascillity on the east side of the main runway. The competition organisation will be run from the main terminal building.
3. The additional standby runways have been graded though there is still more work that needs to be done at the south end of the field. This will be completed this year. We will also be doing some maintenance work on the area to the east of the main runway which would effectively create another landing and takeoff area that is 2.5km long by 70m wide.
4. We have prepared a tie down area adjacent to the edge of the standby runway where we plan to use the containers and shade cloth to provide a protected area for picketed gliders
5. Ballasting water will be provided to this area.

We have added our local regulations and other changes to the October 99 version of Annex A and submitted these to Ake Petterssons rules committee for comment. Their comments have been received and incorporated into the rules. These will be available for all NAC’s to view within the next month. A subset of these rules will be used for gyps africanus. The rules for the scoring of the assigned area task have been changed in the light of experience with this task in 99.
 
 

View the rules

Download the rules

Operations.

1. The Mafikeng TMA which was 50nm radius has now been reduced to 10nm and will be totally deregulated for the period of both competitions. Beyond that the only restrictions are Johannesburg and Bloemfontein CTAs on the east and southeast extremities of our task area, but they are 250 to300km away and impose no practical constraints on task setting. We are in contact with the Botswana authorities and are confident that we will get access to their airspace which will open up the north west sector for tasks.
2. We will be using Cessna 182’s as our main tug aircraft and have more than sufficient for our total requirement.
3. The organisations team leaders have been appointed and these people are putting their own work groups together. The core organisation for gyps africanus consists of 21 people this we believe to be practical and efficient.
4. The scoring system consists of two main components, task verification and scoring. We will be using Dave Robertson’s Task-Nav system for down loading logger traces and task verification. He has completed extensive work on the system, which now has the capability to automatically verify the randomly allocated start points and automatically calculate the maximised distance flown in the assigned area task. This system was extensively tested and is very efficient. The data from tasks is input directly to the scoring system. This system has been written by Crabb Computing and is widely used in the UK. Both systems have been updated to include the latest changes to the IGC scoring systems as documented in the rules.
5. We will only be using two task types, assigned speed tasks and assigned area tasks. Assigned area tasks have evolved since the initial idea was developed. The overall concept remains the same but the calculation has been refined. The new principals were used in several European competitions last year and at our Nationals in December and give a fair result. It will be used again in Europe this year and at gyps africanus.
6. The SA Weather Bureau has allocated a forecaster to the WGC organisation and he is working closely with the organisation. Though there have been many cutbacks in the met service over the last few years we are confident that we will have a first class service at Mafikeng in 2000 and 2001.
7. The weather during the proposed championship period has over the past three years has been poor and very different from what was expected. Gyps Africanus will be run as planned in the last two weeks of December 2000, however if we have another wet year we will consider moving the event back one month to November. During the last three years November has been much dryer then December, but the 70year statistics do not reflect the major difference we have seen in the last three years.

Accommodation.

There is a full range of accommodation available and visitors should consult our web site for details and booking instructions. Bookings for gyps africanus should be made as soon as possible as we believe there are other events on at the same time which may take the prime venues.
 
 

Local Business.

Local commerce and industry have been invited to participate in the organisation of the event. Their role will be to provide the commercial infrastructure at the airfield, food and beverages, street café’s, memorabilia, banking, local tourism etc. There has been great enthusiasm for this and at our last meeting 3 weeks ago some 60 companies attended a meeting to set up a local committee to organise these activities. The Provincial Tourist board has taken the lead to form this committee.

This is the name that we have given to the "practice" competition that will be held this year. The invitation, entry form, contact details rules and local information has been distributed to you.

Join us for a unique Christmas – South African style – and bring all your family. The people of Mafikeng and the Soaring Society of South Africa (SSSA) invite pilots from the member countries of the I.G.C. to compete at Gyps Africanus 2000 to be held at Mafikeng International Airport, N.W. Province, South Africa in December 2000 as preparation for the 27^th World Gliding Championships to be held at the same venue in 2001.

This event will provide the opportunity for pilots to become familiar with the conditions and facilities at Mafikeng.

1. PARTICPANTS:

• All pilots of FAI member countries are eligible.
• Each National Aero Club (NAC) should submit the number of pilots that wish to participate.

• Several pilots may share one glider.

1. LOCATION:

• Gyps Africanus 2000 will take place at the International Airport, Mafikeng, North West Province, South Africa.
• Co-ordinates of the airfield: Lat. 25:48:030S Long: 025:32:500E
• Altitude of the airfield: 1277 m. amsl
• Runway: 4+ km. Tar runway

1. CLASSES:

Standard Class 30 gliders maximum
FAI 15m. Class 30 gliders maximum
Open Class 20 gliders maximum
2. DATES:

• DEADLINES

• DATES OF CONTEST:

1. DOCUMENTATION:

Flight documentation shall be with IGC approved flight data recorders. Before the first competition day, each participant must bring his flight recorder/s together with a calibration certificate.
2. REGISTRATION & ENTRY FEES:

• The Preliminary Entry Form must be submitted by the National Aero Club no later than:

• The Official Entry Form together with Flyer No. 2 will be mailed ONLY to those NAC’s from whom the Organisers have received the Preliminary Entry Form.

• The Official Entry Form and the Entry Fee for each pilot, US$400.00, shall be submitted and paid no later than:

1. BANK DETAILS:

• Entry Fee for Glider/1 Pilot US$400.00
• Additional Pilot/s US$50.00 per pilot

1. COMPETITION DIRECTOR & OFFICIALS:

 

Contest Director	Dick Bradley
Deputy Directors
	Operations	Brian Spreckley
	Administration	Carol Clifford
	Scoring	Paul Armstrong
	Met	Helmuth Fischer

2. COMMUNICATIONS:

• C. Clifford, 1 Leicester Road, Kensington, 2094 Johannesburg, Rep. of S. Africa
• Fax: (27) 11.622.5363
• Email: bobcar@global.co.za
• Web Site: www.sssa.org.za

1. GLIDERS & EQUIPMENT:

• Glider’s Certificate of Airworthiness or Permit to Fly, not excluding competitions
• Proof of 3^rd Party Insurance to the amount of SA Rand 2,500,000
• Personal medical insurance is required for all team members, covering accidents & sickness, including any local hospital costs, as well as the costs of transport back to the team member’s home country.
• Glider Pilot’s Licence or equivalent documents, with aerotow rating
• Glider Log Book

• Parachute
• GNSS flight recorder/s
• Radio communication equipment
• Contest number in accordance with the Sporting Code
• Oxygen
• A minimum of 2 litres’ container/s of drinking water
• Suggested survival equipment – torch, space blanket, cellular phone (not for use in flight, but to assist with communications when outanded)

1. CLOUD FLYING INSTRUMENTS & NAVIGATIONAL AIDS:

No instruments permitting pilots to fly without visual reference to the ground may be carried on board, even if made unserviceable. Navigational aids for visual flight are permitted.
 
2. TURN POINTS:

The list of turn points will be included with Flyer # 2 as well as on the SSSA web site.

They will also be available for uploading from the Scorers upon registration.
 

3. FREIGHT:

We have secured a waiver on any importation charges and we have an assurance from Port Authorities that providing containers are shipped out of S.Africa within 3 months of their arrival that wharfage charges will be refunded. This would save R8000 on shipping costs. Containers would have to be consigned to a specific Clearing Agent and the next Flyer will have the full procedure for the importation of containers to qualify for these savings.
 
4. HIRE OF GLIDERS:

It is hoped that a limited number of gliders will be available for hire. A list will be published in due course both on the web site and with Flyer # 2.
 
5. HIRE OF VEHICLES:

Participants who require vehicles with/without tow hooks may contact Carol Clifford initially.
 
6. VISAS:

Information re visa requirements will be given in Flyer # 2.
 
7. TRAINING:

It will be possible to train at Mafikeng prior to the contest, but this must be requested to the Organisation before 30^th September 2000 latest.
 
8. INTERNATIONAL CAMP:

There will be no International Village arranged for 2000 but there will be a full range of services available at the airfield.
 
9. ACCOMMODATION:

A variety of accommodation is available. School dormitory rooms (2 beds per room) but can be used as single rooms with dinner, bed & breakfast included, a variety of bed & breakfast establishments as well as hotel accommodation. Enquiries and bookings may be done through the local Mafikeng Tourism Board – web site: www.tourismnorthwest.co.za
 
10. MISCELLANEOUS:

• Self-launching gliders in any class will be permissible.
• Electricity power is 240v. round pin plugs. 2 pin adaptors can be purchased.
• Laundry facilities will be possible at all accommodation types.
• Various tourism activities other than gliding can be arranged.
• Cellphone reception is good in the whole of the task area and arrangements will be made for hire of cellphones as well as purchase of local SIM cards.

DICK BRADLEY

CONTEST DIRECTOR

March 2000
 
 

Encs: Flyer # 1

The Rules

Preliminary Entry Form

Airfield layout and locality plan of the airport