2018 Folded Wings Memorial Jet Weekend

The event was held on the weekend of 24th to 28th October at the Gariep Dam Airfield. This years jet event was the 9th Jet event organised by Jets-r-us.

Pre-registration is essential prior to the event, as it gives the organiser an idea of who comes from which day and till when, as well as to allow for catering each day, the Saturday evening function and to arrange for the memorabilia.

A total of 28 pilots pre-registered with only one not arriving, and an additional 2 pilots arrived for Saturday only. On arrival on Wednesday most pilots parked their trailers to peg out their territory for the next 4 days. The weather was good but rather warm. After trailers were parked, accommodation booked into, all necessary arrangements with various parties that get involved with the weekend done, it was off to the local watering hole. It has become a tradition for all to meet at Tjalatyd on the first night of arrival.

Official flying started on Thursday morning and continued until Sunday around 12h00. The weather stayed good with a constant breeze mostly down the runway until Sunday mid morning when it picked up and got confused and started blowing 180degrees in different directions 50m apart. The wind caught Neville by surprise on landing and Dion his spotter did not know what was happening.

The temperature increased everyday making it rather unbearable in the hot sun. We soon found a solution to the problem by using the fire cart as a sprinkler system. It was enjoyed by all, young and old, as when they heard the petrol engine start up they all came running to have a refreshing shower.

Considering the heat the pilots did very well, the quality of flying by all was of excellent quality. Well done to all pilots. The weekend went off with no major incidents. One person needs a mention as his motto in life while flying a model aircraft is, if something goes wrong he will fight it down to the ground and never give up. Danie Potgieter test flew Marius Lensing’s beautifully finished Raphael jet powered by a 14KG turbine. On the start of the 4th circuit into wind above the runway both ailerons went into severe flutter destroying both servos. Danie very calmly carried on flying another complete circuit with the owner standing next to him saying “Moer hom net daar neer in die veld”. To Marius and everyone present surprise the plane touched down on its wheels in front of all on the runway. Danie instantly became Marius’s all time hero. Well done Danie “Jy kan maar”.

A special thanks to all who attended, pilots, helpers, family, friend etc. It was once again awesome to spend time with all.

On Saturday evening we had a sit down supper at the local bowling club. The local “tannies” made some awesome boere kos which was enjoyed by 48 people.

Special thanks go to all our sponsors as well as organisations that helped to make the event once again a huge success.
Saturday evening supper was partly sponsored by SAMJA
Other sponsors were
Sanjay Kana
Marko Sweiswerke
Jets-r-us
Denny’s Electrical

Thanks to the Aventura Resort for making available their water cart as a stand by fire prevention vehicle and Gariep Nature Reserve for arranging standby personnel in case of an emergency.
See you all in 2019!