Sports Aerobatics at Wings Park airfield
EASTERN CAPE REGIONALS AT WINGS PARK AIRFIELD
Over the weekend of 16 to 18 April I was invited to attend the Eastern Cape regional aerobatics championships at Wings Park airfield situated about 25 kilometres outside East London.
The Wings Park flying club was amazing with the level of hospitality for the visiting pilots that competed as well as several pilots that flew into Wings Park for the day on Saturday 17 April. My assignment was to cover the aerobatic, meet and photograph tor many Jabiru owners based at this airfield and to view the new conference / wedding venue that has been built adjacent to the beautiful, thatched club house. Thank you to Steve Onions for providing me with the history of Wings Park airfield.
On Friday afternoon I was collected from the main East London airport by Neil Grobbelaar in his Beechcraft Bonanza and flown to Wings Park. With the assistance of the Jabiru owners, we parked 12 aircraft in front of one of the larger hangars so that I could climb onto the roof of the building to take the aerial picture shown here. Then it was my turn to fly with Neil again with the rear door of the bonanza removed so that I could conduct an air-to-air sortie of the new Savannah Aircraft Venture 4 followed by a beautiful red and white Yak 52 as the sun was setting. A delicious dinner was prepared for everyone in the clubhouse, before the pilots were whisked off to spend the night at a delightful game lodge not too far from the airfield.
Wings Park airfield
The accessibility for hangarage for private aircraft operations had become somewhat limited within the East London region therefore several persons came together to discuss the possibility of establishing a private airfield. The founding members were Willie Pieterse, James Wardle, Patrick Hill, Roger Roskilly and Steve Onions. The team looked at several areas and finally Patrick discovered the ‘Bursey farm’ and the owner was approached to sell his farm. The team negotiated a memorandum of understanding based on establishing a suitable runway for powered fixed wing aircraft to very light aircraft and microlights. They also established a helicopter landing pad and a place for model aircraft to operate.
Spokesperson for Wings Park, Steve Onions explained that once the offer to purchase the farm had been accepted by the previous owner an initial executive committee was established in December 2006 to prepare the required documentation that would become the basis on which ownership would be managed and how the airfield would be governed in the future. Perhaps the most important aspect for the establishment of Wings Park was that no individual would profit from the airfield development and that all future profits would be ploughed back into the infrastructure that followed.
The most suitable part of the farm was chosen for the runway and hangar development as well as the fantastic clubhouse and fuel depot. In February 2007 bush clearing was followed by the establishment of the runway and hangar park. The first fly-in happened in May 2007 when several light sport aircraft landed on what then was a short runway. In July 2007 heavy earth moving equipment was brought in to start with the preparation of the main runway, which required considerable ‘cut and fill’ to the huge dip in the runway. In August 2007, a start was made on the building of the thatched club Boma and by October the same year the position of the runway had been well established and a revised hangar layout was prepared. By February 2008, the now completed and grassed runway saw the first Piper Chieftain land at Wings Park, whilst at the same time construction of the hangars started. By February 2011 twelve hangars had been completed or were in the process of completion and by July that year the Boma was nearing completion. In August 2011 Wings Park invited the EAA to join them for a fly-in weekend and I was fortunate to be part of the first official visiting team to this delightful airfield. Then in January 2012 the underground fuel tanks arrived for installation and the pump station was built for both Avgas and Mogas.
The most recent development at Wings Park has been the building of a conference centre / wedding venue that overlooks the runway and the game reserve below. Using the supplemental income from renting the farmhouse and grazing land to subsidise airfield costs. The primary focus for Wings Park is that of an airfield and aviation centre for not only its 50 shareholders but also for the entire aviation community, commercial operators, aviation clubs and the public.
Aerobatics contest
Saturday dawned with a cloudless sky, but a strong fresh wind that increased in intensity through the day. After a thorough briefing by Annie Boon (competition director), shortly after 09h15 the competition got underway with the Sportsman Class entering the dedicated aerobatic box first. They were followed by the Intermediate Class and Advanced Class, finally three pilots competed in the Unlimited Class. After a short break for lunch the second ‘unknown’ sequences were flown and the competition was concluded shortly before sunset. Throughout the day several visiting aircraft arrived and the pilots and their passengers were warmly welcomed by the members of Wings Park.
Judging the competition
Chief aerobatics judge John Gaillard assisted by Quintin Hawthorne, Helm Ludwig, Jonnie Smith, Cindy Webber as well as several judges scribes were stationed in the patio of the new conference centre, which was an idea position to view the well-marked aerobatic box ahead. Contest director Annie Boon was assisted by Natalie Start who managed the scoring. Altogether a field of 19 pilots took part within the four categories of the aerobatics competition.
The evening banquet prize giving was held in the new conference / wedding venue complete with a four-piece live band. Medals were awarded the first three pilots in each class and the big surprise was that Garry Gleason won the Unlimited class flying his tiny Pitts Special.