The Leading Edge in Asia’s Sport Aviation

Newsletter Issue 8 Nov 2009

Lake Woodland Issue Club News Paul Norrie, Editor Terry Hockenhull, President Welcome to the rainy Since I penned the last newsletter, season issue. The a lot has happened at the club. As months of July, August you may know, Jeff HilI passed and September bring the away in May this year leaving the most rain to this area of club without a General Manager. A the Philippines. Typhoons big ‘thank you’ to Marc Obrowski are also a frequent occurrence. The Philippines who ably stepped into Jeff’s shoes, experiences about 20 typhoons each year. With this albeit on a temporary and part-time amount of rainfall, it can take a few days before the basis to look after matters while we water drains off the runway and suitable flying went through the process of finding a new manager. conditions return. When the skies clear and the sun Out of the blue came Christian Gehrig who had seen comes out, we can encounter most glorious flying an advertisement for the position (placed by Rolf conditions. It is usually calm and the landscape is Dunder) a couple of green as far as one can see. As we come to the close years back. Having of the rainy season, I look forward to many more just ordered a perfect flying days. Fascination from the Enjoy factory in Czechoslovakia, Angeles City Flying Club Chris focused his www.angelesflying.com/ attention on finding a Aero Club new home for www.groups.yahoo.com/group/Aero_Club/ himself and his Yahoo Groups ACFC www.groups.yahoo.com/group/acflyingclub/ aircraft in either the Al Malcolm’s Yankin’ and Bankin’ Philippines or www.yankinandbankin.com Thailand. Very much on the off-chance

1 Club News that Angles City and Christian Gehrig 2 Club Operating Hours & Hangar Access the club might nicely fit the bill, Christian flew over in July, was interviewed 3 Fire Safety in the Hangar by the Board of Directors and appointed as 4 Ultralight Cross Country Adventures probationary General Manager. Christian’s youth, enthusiasm and interest in aviation left us confident

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that he would be able to take over the reins of the club and handle matters Christian Gehrig’s Fascination in all of our best interests. In fairness, Christian achieved much during his short time with the club however, the arrival of his Fascination has made him more aware than ever of the delights of flying in the Philippines and he has graciously agreed to step down from the position to free up more time to engage in his personal activities, sports and recreation.

At the same time Christian applied for the job, Tony Willis, formerly with the Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers – British Army popped into the club to inquire about the position. We are delighted that Tony has now agreed to take on the position of General Manager, and he started on 2 November, 2009. Tony has a great background in running hotels and country inns as well as his army background, and I feel that once he is settled into the position, he will bring a degree of stability (which we have been sadly lacking over the last year) to our club operations. The next piece of news is that we now have a new club logo. It took many weeks to get our designer to come up with a simple image that reflects our club and sport. The brief given to the designer stated that we are a full service flying club offering ultralight flying and instruction to members, and joy rides (TIFs) to casual visitors and tourists. We are targeting upwardly mobile Filipinos, both male & female, and foreigners (Koreans, Japanese, Europeans, Americans and Asians) all in the age bracket 16-60. The logo must represent fun, flying and our location and use no more than 3 colors (blue, green and red). The image should show some movement, rather than a static image and when viewed by a potential customer or member, the logo must reflect that ultralight flying is easy to learn, fun to do and safe. Our landscape, including Mt. Arayat, should be included, while keeping the image simple and easy to reproduce on T- shirts, caps, posters and other marketing materials. Hope you like it guys! It took over 20 revisions to finally get it right! Some of you will have seen the new logo gracing our signs that now direct our visitors and guests from Angeles City to the club.

Unfortunately, we have been beset by appalling weather over the last couple of months and this has meant that we have posted the lowest flying hours for the June to October period in over 5 years. As I have said in the past, we need to keep our flying hours up. Nonetheless, we now have a solid income stream by way of hangar rentals and membership, and provided these are paid on time, we are in the enviable position of being able to weather out the bad months. Let’s just hope that the lack of flying over the last couple of months will prompt you all to get out to the club on more clement days and fly! Lake Woodland We hear Helge Halstad, former owner of the GT500 (before selling it to Roy Vivash & Al Malcolm) is still in Europe and currently suffering through a serious illness. We all wish Helge a speedy recovery and a return to the Philippines. New members have been slightly neglected so I thought it might be an idea to include a mention of all those who have joined the club since January this year. They are Peter Soderberg who joined the club in early January. Brian Ewald joined our club in March this year, followed by John Dickey in May. John is an Australian national who works in the oil industry and was seen at the club nearly every day for about 3 weeks while Boy Guevarra put him through his paces on the basic flying instruction program. Congratulations to John who soloed in RP-S1457 on May 24; he plans to make a return trip to the Philippines (and the club) towards the end of the year. Carlos ‘Inaki’ Sievert, area manager for

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Petron Corporation, also joined the club at the end of May and soloed in our Quicksilver on July 30. Rene Luspo who works with ABS-CBN soloed on July 26, although he was only able to manage a single circuit due to weather. However, I’m pleased to report that we see Rene at the club most weekends building his hours and clearly enjoying the whole experience of flying in the Quicksilver. Colin Velasco joined the club in August with his brother Kevin Velasco and John Jansen. John is a general aviation (GA) pilot so it took him a couple of hours of familiarization before he flew solo on August 20. James Stanford Wolf is an engineer in Ohio USA. He has a lot of flying experience in multi-engine planes and also powered paragliding. He soloed on his second day at the club in October 26. James First Solo Initiation says he had no plans to try flying ultralights however, his girlfriend brought him to the club as a ‘surprise’! James expects to be back in the Philippines in January next year. Our latest two members are Daniel Mcluskey and Martin Russell.

Acquisition of a New Aircraft: A couple of months ago, we heard the sad news that Allan Stevens had passed away from cancer. Some of you knew Allan; others just knew him as an infrequent visitor from Hong Kong who bought the old yellow Drifter about a year back and had it rebuilt at the club. Peter Heilveil, one of our more seasoned club members and pilots agreed to assume all debts on the aircraft (outstanding hangar rentals, parts, rebuilding and maintenance charges, etc.) with a view to purchasing the plane from Allan’s estate. Your Board carefully considered his proposal and we all agreed that this would facilitate prompt settlement of a sizable outstanding account and guarantee future hangar rentals. A few members had proposed that the club acquire the white Drifter as a club aircraft either by purchasing it from Allan’s estate or alternatively declaring the aircraft abandoned and securing ownership through legal process. While we recognize that the club is woefully short of aircraft at the moment, the Drifter has never been an overly popular aircraft. Indeed RP-S1458 (grey Drifter) flies less than a third of the hours flown by our Quicksilvers and S-12! Similarly, there was the suggestion that the club undertake the same process that Peter proposed. This was briefly considered but rejected for a number of reasons. It would have been very costly in time and would probably require a significant outlay of money in order to go through the legal proceedings necessary to transfer ownership from Allan’s estate. We would then have had the option of keeping the plane for members, at a high cost to the club, or selling it. Peter was prepared to take the risk; the Board felt it imprudent for the club to do the same since we could lose money on the deal.

The latest news, hot-off-the-press, is that Peter has managed to finalize a deal with Allan’s wife and will soon take legal ownership of the Drifter. There is still some work to be done to get the aircraft flying again and I know Peter is raring to go on the final rebuild, painting and flight testing.

The club had also gained an asset, in settlement of outstanding and overdue accounts, in the form of a motorized glider, which was assembled at the club some years back. We found a buyer for the aircraft who was prepared to acquire it at a fair price, invest money on parts and assembly and hopefully get the aircraft flying.

Perhaps it might appear that we are disposing of real and potential assets of the club in a somewhat cavalier fashion. However, the Directors have agreed that we are desperately short of aircraft and we should do everything within our power to raise the necessary funds to purchase a new airframe and engine. It is of course, a matter of waiting for the right deal to come our way. We have looked at a couple of aircraft already, and providing we can raise a total of US$12,000, we should be in a good position to consider purchasing a reliable replacement aircraft (perhaps an X-Air or another S-12). This will take some of the pressure off the S-12 and the Quicksilvers, and provide a second airplane suitable for cross country flights.

If you have visited our website recently, you will see that the club S-12 (RP-S1291) was out of action. Parts have been delivered and the aircraft is back in the air. As our most popular aircraft, we lose significant income when it is out of

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action. We are taking steps to carry more spares for the S-12, and our other club aircraft, so that when mishaps occur, we can get the aircraft flying again quickly without having to wait for months to get the parts from the USA.

Happenings:

The latest aircraft parked in our hangars is Mike Bradley’s Ridge Runner, which arrived at the club in the last week of August. Powered by a wee Rotax 503 with a seat in the back (jump seat) barely large enough for Mike’s baby, the Ridge Runner will hop skywards within 100’, climb at 1200-1400’ per minute and cruise at a respectable 90mph. Not bad. We look forward to Mike getting some serious stick time on this beauty and joining us on cross-country flights from time to time. Mike is away in the USA at the moment (where he is undergoing some instruction in tail-draggers), but should be back early in the Ridge Runner New Year.

Wolff Heinrichsdorff has been in the United States getting his Private Pilots License (PPL). Our postponed trip (from May) to ferry his Super Petrel to Leyte should be back on the cards for November/December. Of note, the Mayor of Tacloban, Hon. Alfred Romualdez has extended an initiation to ACFC members to fly their planes to Tacloban City. It might be appropriate to organize this event, providing there is sufficient interest, during the same period that Wolff and I ferry his plane. Leyte and Samar are both renowned for stunning scenery and very hospitable people. So let me know if you are interested in participating in this event.

Helmut Fink’s GT400 is now flying. Painted in the colors of the German national flag with a creative use of the German Cross on the aircraft registration numbers, Helmut seems ready to participate in any and all club events and cross countries. Indeed, he was in his GT400 for the cross country to Poon Cota/Iba and Plaridel! Not the speediest of aircraft, Helmut retains the moniker ‘Captain Slow!’ Bob, now responsible for the final assembly and painting of the Mike Schemm & Owen Stull’s Stearman is doing a great job finishing the plane in what can only be described as a show winning paint job. It’s noteworthy that in order to get a high gloss finish on the plane, Bob is often in the paint booth at 5 a.m. spraying in the cool of dawn, before the humidity and temperature reach fierce levels. Many of you see the progress that has been made on the aircraft over the last year and it really can’t be too long (can it?) before this beautiful lady takes to the skies over Woodland once again. Rolf Dunder has had a couple of bad months. Having moved his Fascination to Manny Gallego’s field about 10 miles northeast of Paniqui, heavy rains have left his plane stranded in the hangar and unable to fly from a waterlogged runway. Hopefully, as the periods of heavy rain reduce in frequency and duration, his field will have the chance to dry out and we will see Rolf back at Woodland from time to time.

Charley Boorman – By Any Means:

About 3 months ago, I received an email from a UK production company responsible for ‘’ (a documentary television series about a 19,000-mile journey of actors Ewan McGregor and from London to New York through Europe and Asia on motorcycles in 2004) and ‘’ (a second adventure trip by McGregor and Boorman from John o’Groats in Scotland to Cape Agulhas in South Africa via Europe and Africa in 2007). The company produced ‘By Any Means I’ in 2008, a series featuring Charley Boorman completing a journey from Ireland to Australia using 112 modes of transport and only traveling by plane when absolutely Charley Boorman necessary. This recently aired on National Geographic Channel.

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In March this year, Charley Boorman announced that a sequel, tentatively named ‘By Any Means II’, was in the works. This would take him from Sydney to Japan via the Pacific Rim. Filming started on ‘By Any Means II’ on 18 May in Sydney and ended in Tokyo on August 9th. The production company asked if we could fly Charley Boorman and his cameraman, from Woodland to Subic as one of the modes of transport used in the new series. On arrival in Subic, the team would hitch a ride on a sailboat from Subic Bay Yacht Club to Taiwan.

On Saturday 11 July, Charley turned up with his crew for a quick peek at our facilities. Like all visitors to the club, he was stunned by the number of planes in the hangar, our great club, friendly atmosphere and evident enthusiasm for all things aeronautical. We discussed logistics, looked at a couple of options for mounting cameras on the 3 planes we were planning to fly and made plans for an early departure on Sunday. Charley proved to be an irresistibly likable fellow with a passion for his current TV hosting job. Clearly, he is game to try anything and seems to find fresh delight in everything he does.

Sunday morning was glorious with deep blue skies and a few puffy white clouds lounging around at 4,000 feet. For the first time ever, a TV crew turned up at the club on time. I had asked Harold, our cook to be in the kitchen by 7:00 to prepare a hearty breakfast for us, and the mechanics to assist in mounting cameras, stowing gear and prepping the planes. Our intrepid pilots (myself with Charley in my S-12, Peter Heilveil with Claudio in the club Drifter RP- S1458 and Helmut Fink with another cameraman in Mike Lorza’s X-Air) were all Terry Hockenhull & Charley Boorman itching to get airborne in the belief that the weather would probably hold only until midday, by which time we should be back at Woodland airport. An 8:30 departure saw us heading southwest, passing about 5 miles to the south of Clark airport. We crossed the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) Angeles Exit (over Ayala’s new Marquee Mall), heading towards the lahar fields and Pio, before picking up the new Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway (SCTX). Calm conditions and great visibility made this an extremely smooth flight, especially as we climbed the ridge and prepared to land at Subic Bay International Airport. The tower cleared us to land on runway 25. Throttling back with flaps extended, we made a sedate and stately descent across the outer marker, over the water and onto the runway for a very smooth touchdown. We quickly taxied off the runway to the ramp complaining bitterly that the air-bridges at Peter Heilveil & Claudio Von Planta the passenger terminal could not be lowered enough for an airline style egress from our planes!

On the tarmac we filmed a further short segment for the show and it was during this that a somewhat flustered looking Filipino with ID card a-swinging came sprinting out to us. Contrary to my expectation to be told to stop filming immediately, it turned out we were in the presence of no less than the Assistant General Manager of Subic International Airport. He asked where we were from and in a somewhat pleading voice, asked if we might consider coming to Subic more often or even moving our aircraft there on a full time basis. No guesses why; the absence of any other aircraft on the ground made us all appreciate that this is a grossly underused facility.

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Clearly, we were welcome and it is an easy 45 minutes flight. There is nothing complicated about flying into Subic, even for the novice cross-country aviator. Certainly, there are enough pilots in the club who have made the trip and can provide all of the advice necessary to lodge a flight plan, secure clearances and make the trip safely.

By Any Means II is currently airing on BBC (in the U.K.) with syndication to Nat Geo or Discovery planned for early next year. We should get some good press out of this and I feel it will definitely help our marketing. As soon as we have a copy, we will make it available to club members. Of interest, there will also be a boxed Helmut Fink & Cameraman DVD set of the series and a book launched at the same time. The episode featuring our flight to Subic was aired on Sunday 25 October and the book was released to coincide with the start of the series in early October. Although I haven’t seen it myself, I understand that 2 pages are devoted to Charley’s experiences with the Angeles City Flying Club!

Having dropped the film crew off, we still had to make the trip back to Woodland. We hitched a ride to the nearest gas station and filled up our canisters to ensure we had enough fuel on board for the return trip. Subic Tower gave us permission to start engines and taxi to runway 25 where we lined up, advanced throttles gently and departed to the right making a broad sweep over Subic Bay. We waved a cheery farewell as we passed over the Yacht Club basin in the hope that Charley and crew would see us, and then continued the climb to 1,500 feet to clear the ridge. With no wind and great visibility we enjoyed an easy flight back to Woodland, touching down a few minutes after noon. Within 45 minutes, the heavens had opened Peter Heilveil, Helmut Fink, Charley Boorman, and rain set in for the rest of the afternoon! Cameraman, Terry Hockenhull, Claudio Von Planta

Cross-Country to Poon Cota and Iba:

A phone call from Al Malcolm while I was busily teaching medical equipment salespersons how to negotiate in Malaysia sowed the seeds for a cross-country to Poon Cota, Zambales province on Sunday 23 August. Paul Norrie, Al and the every irrepressible Helmut Fink had made the inaugural trip to Poon Cota in May, 2009 and the pictures of this beautiful strip nestled in the foothills of the Zambales Mountains (on Al’s site wwwyankinandbankin.com) made this a highly desirable trip while Al was here on days off from his real job flying large tin boxes (A320’s) The best laid plans and all of that! With five planes set to make the trip; Al in his GT500, Helmut Fink in his little German beast GT400, Jean Francois Jadin (JF is one of our members from Al Malcolm and GT500 Helmut Fink and GT400 Malaysia) in the club Drifter RP-S1458, Chris (Crash) Mason and me in our S-12’s and finally, Mark Gillet riding alongside me as official photographer for the trip, we all took a while to get sorted out and ready for departure. JF needed to do a couple of

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circuits to refresh himself on flying a tail dragger; most of his flight time is in small tin boxes! (172’s). Still, we were all ready for departure at 8:30 with a flight plan filed for Poon Cota with Iba as an alternate, Binalonan and return to Woodland by late afternoon. On previous flights towards Iba, I had flown to the west of Clark airport and crossed over the ridge near Pinatubo however, on this occasion, with no Operation Balikatan military exercises in JF and Drifter operation, we decided to take the Crow Valley route. We entered the valley over the beautiful Capas National Shrine (Paggunita Sa Capas) in Capas, Tarlac. Since my fellow pilots all seemed curious about this striking monument, I’ll throw in a bit of history here. The shrine was built and is maintained by the Crash Mason and S12 Philippine Government as a memorial to Filipino and American soldiers who died in Camp O’Donnell at the end of the Bataan Death March. The shrine encompasses 54 hectares of parkland, 35 hectares of which have been planted with rows of trees, each tree representing one of the deceased. The new memorial wall and obelisk were unveiled on 11 April 2003 and the 70-meter obelisk towers above the grounds of the former internment camp. The obelisk is surrounded by a black marble wall engraved with the names of the Filipinos and Americans known to have died at the location. On the three large wall segments that almost encircle the obelisk, Paggunita Sa Capas there are statistics about the total numbers of prisoners and deaths, together with poems for peace. History lesson over. Our five ship flight progressed up Crow Valley, crossing the ridge at 2,500 feet before turning onto a northerly heading over the foothills of the Zambales Mountains, descending to 2,000 feet. Occasionally, irritatingly low clouds meant a deviation from course or a descent as we passed about 10 miles to the east of Iba, Zambales. Again, GPS’s generally kept us all in the right direction although both Al and I had to do a fair bit of shepherding to keep our flight together. Flight duration looked like being a little over 70 minutes, so Mark and I homed in on JF’s Drifter to visually check his fuel status. With him having a little over a third of a tank left it meant Mountain Flight we were going to make it into Poon Cota, with plenty of fuel to spare. Having had the foresight to load the planes with a total of over 70 liters of spare gas, we were also confident of making the next stage to Binalonan.

We flew up the valley towards the mining camp of Poon Cota, spotting the east/west runway just to the north of an 800’ hill. A bit disconcerting, as downwind is flown out of sight of the strip, and the descent on base and finals requires losing nearly 1,000 feet of height before getting a good look at the runway! Cap’n Al told us all to land after the second tree; good advice, as it turned out since the strip, although long, is very narrow and the tree would definitely have interfered with our touchdown. A log in the middle of Poon Cota runway the strip also determined caution, nonetheless we all landed safely.

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The reception party we got on touchdown was cool, to say the least. Despite hearty invitations to return the last time Cap’n Al & Co were here, we were politely reminded that the strip is officially closed and we should ask permission from their head office before we plan to use their property. Nonetheless, a subsequent charm offensive on the mine manager and staff meant that we will probably get permission if we want to do another flight in the future!

At this point the weather was beginning to close in, and making it over the Zambales Mountain range to Binalonan was definitely a non-starter. We all agreed to Final approach head back to Iba where we would ‘do’ lunch, refuel and plan our flight back to Woodland. We had to back-track the full length of the runway (removing the log on the way), and departed in reverse order.

Crash Mason soon disappeared out of sight and once again, Al and I found ourselves flying in circles trying to find out where he had gone. With confidence in Crash’s piloting skills, we eventually headed on to Iba in the hope he would find his way there on his own. As it turned out, he was already overhead and the first of us to land at Iba.

Although the weather was great, we saw it rapidly deteriorate as we organized fuel and headed to Palmera Resort for lunch. On arrival back at the field, it was pretty evident we

weren’t going anywhere despite Crash’s assertions that by 3: 30 to 4:00 pm, clouds would disappear and we would have fine weather for the flight back to Woodland. A huge waterspout off the beach caused a great deal of excitement and not a little trepidation about the fate of the planes should it choose to make landfall over the airfield However, as it turned out, Crash was quite right. A 4:00 pm departure in a

Waterspout, Iba very light drizzle (with plans to fly to Subic if our planned route back through Crow Valley was stopped by rain or clouds) saw us heading southeast. By the time we were at the ridge ready to cross into Crow Valley, the clouds had gone and we were in beautiful, clear conditions with no wind or turbulence for perhaps one of the smoothest flights back to Woodland ever!

What a trip! It took a bit of organizing, but it is testament to the fun and satisfaction we can all get from flying. As long as there are one or two experienced pilots and the radios work well, there is no reason why even relatively low time pilots Mark Gillette, JF. Crash Mason, Terry shouldn’t savor the thrill of a big flying adventure. Where to Hockenhull, Helmet Fink, Cap’n Al next, I ask?

Plaridel:

A couple of weeks back, Al Malcolm, Roy Vivash, Helmut Fink and I took a quick flight to Plaridel in our respective GT500, GT400 & S-12. Al will be writing this trip up for the newsletter, but it was a smooth trip down, made all the

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more simple by the helpfulness of Air Traffic Control at Plaridel. This is a very busy little airport and despite the fact it is within 40 minutes of Woodland, is not for the inexperienced pilot. The most amazing thing about this trip was that we accomplished the flight a week after the Philippines was badly hit by Typhoon Ondoy. Much of our flight was over miles and miles of flooded farmlands.

In Conclusion:

By the time this newsletter gets out, I guess we will see the first few Christmas decorations appearing in malls, stores, restaurants and bars. We have had an eventful year at the club, but things are looking up and I see a bright future for us all. We will try to organize a club event in November or December. Whether this is a club cross-country to Paniqui or some flying competitions for all you budding ‘aces’, I’m not sure yet. But please participate and get involved.

Cheers Aye!

Club Operating Hours & Hangar Access Terry Hockenhull Over the last couple of months, there have been a number of queries about access to the club outside of normal operating hours. (08:00 hrs. to 17:00 hrs. except Wednesday when the club is closed). Full details are posted on the club notice board however, the following procedures apply:

Access to Club Grounds:

• The club environs (including the pool) and airfield may be used outside of normal club operating hours by all bone-fide ACFC members providing that on entrance to the club, registration is made with the duty guard and the member similarly signs him/herself out on departure.

• Outside of club hours, non-members (guests) are not permitted access to club grounds without prior approval of the mangement.

• Outside of normal club operating hours, the hangars, offices, kitchen and fixed structures are out of bounds to all members & guests. Access to Hangars for private aircraft owners:

• With prior approval of the management, members who own their own aircraft may be allowed access to the hangars. This will accommodate work on aircraft or flying operations outside of daily hours of operation. The following conditions apply:

• Approval must be sought at least 24 hours prior to required access. The individual will be provided with the combination to the locks on the side and main hangar doors. • The member is fully responsibile for all activities conducted within or outside the hangars until his departure from the club or resumption of normal daily club operations. • The member will, on conclusion of his stay in the club, request the duty guard to check that main doors and side doors are correctly secured and the duty guard’s logbook signed to this effect. • If an aircraft is removed from the hangar to facilitate flight operations, both the main doors and side doors will be closed and locked before departure from the airfield. The member is to request the duty guard to check that main doors and side doors are correctly secured and the duty guard’s logbook signed to this effect.

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• Before commencing flight operations from Woodland Airpark, Clark Tower must be contacted by radio (118.7Mhz) informing them of flight operations. This may be to open a flight plan for a cross country flight or as an advisory that an ultralight aircraft is operating in Charlie 1. • On conclusion of flight operations within Charlie 1, Clark Tower must be contacted by radio informing them of cessation of flight operations.

• Main doors to the hangar may be left open while work is being carried out on the member’s aircraft. However, if the member leaves the hangar for a period in excess of 15 minutes, main doors and side doors must be closed and locked.

• Before departure from the hangar, the member will physically walk around the hangar to ensure all electrical tools and appliances have been disconnected, and hangar and aircraft are safe and secure.

Early departures or late arrivals: • Departure from or arrival back at the club may fall outside of normal club operating hours. Pilots are advised that this may necessitate the payment of overtime to staff who stay late or arrive at the club early and should be avoided if at all possible. • Where an early ETD or late ETA at the club is envisaged, the pilot should take steps to advise management. One mechanic may be on hand to assist with aircraft preparation or parking of aircraft and closing the club. Should overtime payments be required, members will be asked to pay these charges.

• In the case of late flight arrival, the pilot will physically walk around the hangar to ensure his and all other aircraft are safe and secure. • The pilot will request the duty guard to check that main doors and side doors are correctly secured and the duty guard’s logbook signed to this effect prior to departure from the club.

Fire Safety in the Hangar Paul Norrie In recent months we have become complacent with fuel in containers being stored in the hangar and aircraft refueling being carried out inside the hangar. We need to remind ourselves that gasoline and other chemicals used in our club can be quite volatile and can present a significant fire safety hazard.

Please be reminded that no fuel is permitted to be stored in the hangars. Fuel in containers can only be stored on club premises in the designated fuel shed. Fueling of aircraft must only take place outside of the hangar

It is also common sense that absolutley no smoking is allowed inside the hangars.

There is no fire insurnace coverage for any of the aircraft or the hangars. A fire or explosion within the hangar could be catastrophic.

Private Owners Aircraft (POA) are accepted for storage in the hangar with the understanding that the club is in no way responsible for any loss or damage, however caused. Please do your part and help to reduce the risk of fire or explosion due to a careless accident.

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Ultralight Cross Country Adventures Cap’n Al Malcolm, Head Yanker & Banker A fine Saturday after another typhoon had just passed saw the intrepid flyers of the ACFC itching for another cross county trip.

Helmut Fink had earlier mentioned to me he would like to go to Plaridel in his recently rebuilt Quicksilver GT 400. We all agreed that since we hadn’t been there for some time, it would be appropriate to visit again. I filed the flight plan with Clark Flight Operations Briefing Station but they wouldn’t accept it as VFR was still closed in the Clark Zone, so I left it with them unsigned and headed out to the club hoping the weather would later clear.

At around 1pm our planes had been preflight checked, fuelled and many stories had been told, so I called Clark FOBS and asked for the weather at Plaridel. They were very helpful, going as far as calling up Manila ATC to obtain the latest Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) for Plaridel (I didn’t even know they had one there). They confirmed VFR was now open in Plaridel. Our three planes taxied out for runway 08 at Woodland; Helmut Fink in his GT 400, Roy Vivash and myself in our GT 500 and Terry Hockenhull in his Rans S12.

We headed south into a fifteen knot headwind but as it was only about thirty miles to our destination, we weren’t overly concerned about fuel or time. Although it was quite a nice day, visibility was limited to about 8 kilometers. After leaving the tower frequency ten miles south of Clark, we were amazed to see that most of the farmland was covered in water left over from the recent rains. Whole villages were cut off and many houses were still under water. The North Luzon Expressway was a thread running through a muddy sea for as far as the eye could see. I found it hard to believe that Plaridel airport could still be above water. At ten miles north of Flooded Farmland Plaridel we made our initial contact with the tower, and they told us to report overhead at 1000ft. Runway 17 was in use, but they omitted to tell us if we would need floats or not for our arrival. We still could not see any land ahead and at that point I started calculating the fuel required for us to get to an alternate airport. Arriving five miles north of the airport we could pick out Plaridel town, looking like an island in the sea of mud. Forty five minutes after leaving Woodland, Plaridel tower told us to join a right hand base for runway 17 and all three of us subsequently landed without a hitch.

Plaridel is a very busy little airport now that it has at least 3 flying schools, quite a number of planes based there, and lots of future Indian and Saudi Arabian airline pilots.

We found a parking space just in front of the tower and went inside North Luzon Expressway to talk with the air traffic controllers. They are always friendly with us and seem genuinely pleased to see us. Administration work completed, it was time to find something to eat. Located beside one of the flying schools was a little old lady was selling boiled eggs, freshly cooked banana rolls and soft drinks. Here we had our breakfast while admiring her pet python lying comfortably in its cage just a few feet from Final RWY 17 us.

ACFC Newsletter 11

With our stomachs full, we fired up the hogs and were kindly given a priority intersection departure while three Indian student pilots were holding short in their C152’s. Terry took the lead; Helmut was next with Roy and me taking up the rear. Roy took the controls and flew our GT500 north following the NLEX for a few miles, then headed towards Mount Arayat. Guided by our trusty GPS receivers we subsequently found our way back to Woodland. Visibility was again limited and Mt Arayat was only visible when we were about eight miles south of this landmark. Since we had a nice tailwind for the return journey, our stick time from Plaridel back to Woodland was only twenty five minutes.

Plaridel is the nearest controlled airport, apart from Clark, and being a nice little hop it is one we should do more often. I am sure there are some good eating places near the airport and surely there are other attractions we don’t know about.

Let’s make it a regular destination on our cross country calendar.

For more stories; www.yankinandbankin.com

ACFC Newsletter 12