Page 47 - World Airnews Magazine December 2020
P. 47
SAPFA FIGHTERS
HOT CONDITIONS AIRBUS RECEIVES ORDER
The SAPFA landing nationals took place in FOR 38 TYPHOONS
Brakpan. This report from Rob Jonkers
APFA holds a landing national championship every
Syear. This year it was to have taken place at Stellen- he Bundestag, the German parlia-
bosch as part of the start of the World Rally Flying Champi- Tment, has approved the acquisiti on
onships but had to be postponed to next year - same time. of 38 Eurofighter Typhoons for the Luftwaffe,
At least SAPFA was been able to redirect the original plan in a deal estimated to be worth around €5.4
and hold the championships at Brakpan. billion.
With the rains earlier on in the week abated, the weather The delivery of the Airbus fourth-genera-
turned to a sweltering 34 deg C. This plus the airfield elevation tion fighter jets should start from 2025.
at 5300 ft, resulted in a density altitude of around 8500 ft - not The order is particularly beneficial for Air-
the most ideal conditions for high altitude landing accuracy. bus, affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
At least the wind was relatively calm although gusty at “The decision of the German Parliament to
ti mes. buy 38 Eurofighter, known as the Quadriga
There were 14 competitors in total - eight in the unlim- project, is a very strong message, not only for
The scoring team of Mary de Klerk, Frank Eckard, Sandi Goddard ited class and six in the sportsman’s class. Many of the the German Air Force but also for Europe, in
and Lizelle Kruger reviewing slow motion video footage competitors were out practicing for a good part of Friday particular for European defence manufactur-
to gain proficiency in their accuracy, as the previous ers.
week’s training camp had been winded out with high More than 100,000 jobs are based on
cross-winds. programmes like this,” said Dirk Hoke, chief
From the results it showed clearly that practice makes executive officer of Airbus defence and space.
all the difference. One has to create an airfield mind map The new Typhoons will be delivered in their Tranche 3 multi- heed Martin F-35 was one of Germany’s commitments towards
of markers, turning points and altitudes especially for role variant and will replace the Tranche 1 air superiority vari- European defence sovereignty. Indeed, picking the US fifth-gen-
glide approaches - to get a repeatable landing point. ant currently operating within the Luftwaffe. eration fighter jet would have undoubtedly soured the rela-
The competition consists of two sessions of four land- The Eurofighter consortium regroups Airbus defence and tionship with France. Dassault Aviation and Airbus are currently
collaborating on a project to replace both the Typhoon and the
ings, one a normal powered approach with any flap, the space, based in Spain and Germany, the Italian group Leonardo Rafale by 2040, called the Future Air Combat System (FCAS). Q
second a glide approach that starts 1000 ft abeam the and the British manufacturer BAE Systems.
landing line with any flap, the third another glide ap-
proach with no flap and the fourth a powered approach GERMANY'S COMMITMENT TO THE EUROPEAN
over a 1.8m barrier located 50m from the landing line. DEFENCE INDUSTRY
Jabiru ZU-CZW on a glide approach The barrier proved to be the most challenging for most The 38 fighters are the first instalment of Germany’s long-term
- even though the glideslope represents a normal landing acquisition plan of 93 Typhoons from Airbus, 30 Boeing F/A-18
state. First up were the unlimited class in two groups of four Super Hornets, and 15 of the variants for electronic warfare, the
and thereafter the sportsman’s class in two groups of three. EA-18G Growler.
The officials also tried out video recording for the first The decisions on the remaining should be voted in the German
time (high speed camera settings) as this will be the parliament throughout 2021.
planned standard for world competitions - an improve- As a member of the NATO nuclear sharing agreement, Germany
ment from the gasometer system previously used. has to maintain a fleet of fighter jets capable of carrying out a
After the first session, lunch was had. Then the second nuclear strike.
session commenced at 1pm when the highest density altitude Certifying the Typhoon for such missions was considered for
conditions were present with turbulence thrown in. The C182 some time. But the process was too long as the nuclear-capable
turning downwind to final on the glide at best glide speed saw Panavia Tornados are set to retire by 2025, 2030 at the latest.
more than 1000ft per minute rate of descent, which did not Some argue that the United States simply refused to comply.
leave much space to do the final runway heading line-up and Whichever reason may lie behind the decision, Germany eventually
arrest the descent to stabilize for the flare - needless to say the chose the Super Hornet as a replacement for the aging Tornado.
accuracy was not easily achievable to hit the landing line.
MFI-17 ZS-OKR on the glide approach After all the landings were completed, the officials Choosing a mix of Typhoons and Super Hornets over the Lock-
debriefed the scores and reviewed the video footage to
ensure the exact touchdown points were scored. In the
unlimited class, in first place multiple SA landing and
world champion holder was Hans Schwebel in a C150 ZS-
NBT, in second place Fanie Scholz in a Sling ZU-FZF and in
third Jonty Esser in a C150 ZU-BLL.
In the sportsman’s class, in first place was Andy Gouws
in a C150 ZU-BLL, in second place Hilton Wolff in a MFI-17
ZS-OKR, and in third Kevin Cloete in a C182 ZS-KDC.
Many thanks to the Brakpan Aero Club for hosting this
signature event, the SAPFA team of Frank Eckard as the
competition director, Nigel Musgrave as the safety officer,
Mary de Klerk, Sandi Goddard, Lizelle Kruger as scoring
marshals, assisted by Tarryn and Ian Myburgh, Martin Mey-
The Brakpan airfield apron busy with competitor aircraft arrivals er, Hendrik Loots as line judges and barrier holders. Q
World Airnews | December 2020 World Airnews | December 2020
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