Column #12 – Navigation Flying Rally
I was recently persuaded by World Precision Flying Champion, Nigel Hopkins, to try my hand at the Central Flying Academy Navigation Rally Championships that he had organised. What an experience!
The competition date had been set for Sunday the 15th of February and the first team would get their envelope containing clues to plot the route at 6am. The previous weekend, the teams that had entered the competition had an introductory briefing, given by Nigel, where we learnt the “art of plotting under pressure” and how to navigate and fly accurately. We were also explained the penalty system. You will get penalised for being 2 seconds out on your timing, maximum penalties for missing a turn-point, and penalised according to how far off your spot-landing is. You’ll also receive penalties for incorrectly identifying turn-point photos or not finding the ‘dreaded’ en-route photos – so basically, as you can tell, there is not much room for error!
The day of the Rally had arrived and my partner in the Rally, Gary, and I arrived at Grand Central at 6am. We would be the first team to receive our papers as we were flying the fastest aircraft in the rally – an ex-military Cessna 185. We were handed an envelope which contained the clues to plot our route and numerous photos which would have to be identified in-flight. I started plotting like mad straight away, as Gary went to do the easy bit – preflight! The route was going to take us from the South East of the Hartebeespoort Dam, around the Western side of the dam, up North over the ridge towards the Roodekopjes Dam and eventually to Brits. After a few minutes we had to hand all our hard work back and wait for our take-off time which was planned for 7am.
Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side, and as we got airborne, we had to turn back due to fog which had developed in the Magaliesburg valley. Eventually, 2 hours later we took-off again. We had to be at the “start line” 15 minutes later. Each aircraft has to be fitted with a GPS logger – this little device logs every move you make and counts every second, so there is no way you can “cheat the system”! One is not allowed to orbit in order to correct for time, as this logger will pick it up. You therefore have to continually use flaps and pitch attitude to adjust your speed in order to get to the turn-points at the correct time - it is not for those who have weak stomachs! During all this, you still have to try lookout for en-route photos, which are in random order!
Eventually we ended up back at Brits and Gary managed a “Bingo” on the spot-landing. This means that we were given no penalties for the landing as the aircraft’s wheels touched down on the allocated painted block. After all the hard work, we were all “awarded” with a breakfast prepared by the folk from the Brits Flying Club. The GPS loggers were then plugged into a laptop and it was here that we all saw for the first time how good, or how terrible, our navigational skills were!
Prize-giving was held back at Grand Central Airport. All teams were given certificates for their places and the “Toilet Seat Award” was given to the team who did the most dodgy spot-landing! Gary and I managed to walk off with the First Place Trophy for overall winners and spot-landing winners!
Taking part in this well-organised Rally and being given invaluable tips by the World Champ is definitely an excellent learning experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who would like to challenge themselves and to master the art of precision flying!
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