As the event was organised by the Pietersburg Flying Club, the organisers saw it fit to also allow some of their fixed wing members to partake in the day.  The next demonstration was by one of these members who presented to the crowd the flying art required while performing crop-spraying or fire-bombing.

CropSprayer from Pietersburg Flying Club

Both of these require intense concentration and precision flying and a few passes were carried out while simulating spray work, followed by one pass simulating a fire-bombing run.  The importance of this type of operation was also again highlighted by a reminder of the devastating fires that raged in the Lowveld the previous year.  Some of the local Radio Flying Club members were also allowed to fly their aircraft in the quiet periods between the main demonstrations and a few very nice models were observed.

The next demonstration was of a type of flying often seen around the Northern Province, namely game capturing flying.  The demonstration involved a R22 helicopter herding two “rhino” into a selected corner of the airport for darting.  Some excellent flying by the R22 left the crowd awed as to the agility of this small “workhorse” helicopter and the ability of the pilot.  The theme for the day from the Capital Sounds Broadcasting team was “The Sixties”, also further enhanced by a number of girls dressed in “sixties polka-dot” clothes, handing out sweets and the main food stall being named the “Lollipop Roadhouse”. The next item fitted well into the theme, with a race held between a modern BMW and a Super Decathlon.

Gotcha!

 The race took the form of six laps down the length of the main runway and was admirably won by Johnny O’Reilly, the chairman of the club, flying his Super Decathlon.  The fixed wing component of the day was concluded by a demonstration flight of two light and affordable aircraft, namely the Lambada and the Sport Cruiser.